Black Blood (Series of Blood Book 4) Emma Hamm (popular novels txt) 📖

“Dangerous.”

“I think it’s time to meet them.”

He froze, stiffening against her. “Them?”

“You know who I’m talking about.”

She wanted to meet them. In person. For the first time since this had started, Lydia felt like it was finally safe to meet the people whose lives she had irrevocably changed. They deserved to know her face, to recognize her voice, at the very least to meet her.

“Do you think that’s wise?”

“Yes.”

“Are you ready?”

“That’s sweet of you to ask, but yes I think I am ready.”

“All right then.”

“Really?” Lydia craned her neck to see him. “Just like that? No argument?”

“None at all. If you want to meet them, and you think it’s time, then it’s time. They are at Jasper’s family home on the edge of an enchanted forest. There’s plenty of open air and space in case something goes wrong. Of all places, I’d feel comfortable taking you there.”

She hadn’t expected him to be fine with it. Stunned, she blinked at him in silence until he laughed.

“What?” Pitch asked.

“Who are you, and what did you do with the man I love?”

“Did you think I wouldn’t bring you?”

“I thought I would have to pull all your teeth out until you agreed to it. And then you’d bring an army with us.” Lydia furrowed her brows. “What’s the catch?”

“There isn’t any catch.” He brushed strands of her hair behind her ears, cupping her face in his palms. “I happen to agree with you. I think you should meet them.”

“Why?”

“Because you want to. And because I think it will help you find the last piece of the puzzle. If you see them, speak with them, touch them, then you might finally see the end.”

The “end”. The thing that had eluded her for over four hundred years, and thousands of years before that when Sil had held the magic. There was no clear ending yet, too many options and too many choices created a fog over all of their futures.

Lydia could see it was there. She could see one thread growing stronger and stronger, but every time she tried to touch it, it electrocuted her mind and sent her body into seizures. She wasn’t meant to know that ending.

“So we’re going?” she asked.

“Yes, we can go anytime you want.”

“Even right now?”

“Are you ready?”

Lydia nodded, her hair sweeping down her shoulder in a waterfall of pale strands. “I’ve been waiting for you all morning. I thought we would argue with each other for the rest of the day and we might make it to the house by supper time.”

“Why supper time?”

“Because Jiminy is planning on making lasagna, and that sounded good.”

Pitch chuckled and stood. “What’s their breakfast like?”

“Pancakes.”

“I’ve always liked pancakes. Why don’t we see if Jiminy is as good at breakfast as he is dinner?”

“Jiminy doesn’t cook the pancakes.”

“He doesn’t?”

She arched an eyebrow. “Wolfgang does.”

Pitch burst into laughter again, his frame shaking with mirth. He yanked her into his arms. “Wolfgang isn’t going to give us anything we ask for.”

“No, but I don’t like pancakes that much anyway.”

Shadows stuck to them. They tangled up her legs and twined into her hair. His shadows had taken a liking to her horns lately, stringing themselves between the tines in the same way she wore her jewelry.

Stick tendrils yanked her from the room and flew between the shadows of the world. Her body splintered into nothing, protected by the bubble of Pitch’s form which was her shield. They could have traveled the world if they wished. Disappeared into the mountains or deep beneath the sea.

Someday, she told herself. Someday they would do all the things they wanted to do. Today, they would meet the people who she trusted to make the right choices. To save the world.

They materialized in the garden at the back of the house. Her bare toes curled in the green sprigs of grass and she inhaled the sweet scent of fresh cut lawn. White dandelion seeds bounced in the air, lazily making their way toward their new home. The warm-hued logs of the cabin framed white painted shutters and white lace curtains that blew through the open windows.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

“It’s primitive.”

Lydia elbowed him hard.

“Primitive can be compelling!”

“Primitive can be compelling,” she repeated with a snort. “It’s a cute little home in the woods. What isn’t there to love?”

“I prefer stone.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s sturdier. If I’m going to build a house, then it’s damn well going to stand the test of time.”

She rolled her eyes. This topic wasn’t worth an argument, but she desperately wanted to. Ridiculous man, not enjoying the appeal of such a quaint little place.

But, Lydia would probably miss the splendor of his house. He didn’t need to know that.

“Are we going in?” she asked.

“Whenever you’re ready.”

“Are you introducing me?”

“I can.”

“What if they don’t like me?”

“Are you going to keep asking questions or do you want to rip the Band-Aid off?”

She sighed and gave in. “Band-Aid.”

Pitch held out his hand for her to take. His grip was warm and strong, helping to control the shaking of her fingers. He lifted her hand to his mouth and pressed a kiss against the back.

“They will love you.”

She walked up the steps to the porch with him and whispered prayers to the wind. They might find her ugly. It was a real concern she had, considering the way she looked now. Lydia wasn’t like the other creatures which were so inhuman that their differences weren’t ugly but strange. She was still humanoid.

They might resent all the things she had done to them. She had to tell them though perhaps not yet. Maybe she would tell them after they already liked her after a friendship was forming. But then breaking that friendship would be even harder once she had a taste of what that would be like.

She missed having friends. She missed that bone deep connection Pitch couldn’t provide. It wasn’t the same. A lover was one thing, but a friend who could judge and be judged without fear or reprimand? A Gorgon and a Wisp