Red Blood (Series of Blood Book 2) by Emma Hamm (rm book recommendations .txt) 📗

“Yes.”

“There’s something off about you.” And there was. She hadn’t noticed it the first few times she had seen him, but the edges around his body were wrong.

It was the only word she could think of. Wrong. The edges that usually defined the lines around a person weren’t there for him. Sometimes she thought he was solid and then other times it appeared as though a part of him would dance away from her eyes.

“Working for a Lord can do that to you.”

“I imagine it could.” She brooded as she stared at him. Lyra didn’t trust that admission in the slightest. He was hiding something from her, and she intended to find out what.

“Why shouldn’t the Graverobber side with Malachi?” he asked her.

“He wants to the end the world.”

“That could be a good thing.”

“He wants to kill everyone but himself.”

“That would be unfortunate.”

She clenched her hands in her lap. “You don’t seem disturbed by the possibility.”

“I am not.” He grinned at her. “Those aren’t my decisions to make. There have been countless attempts to end the world, and all of them have failed. Why should I believe this creature has any chance to do so?”

“Because he is a Void.”

Finally she managed to wipe the smug smile off of the Red Blood’s face. Shock flickered on his expression before it was smoothed over once more. Lyra ignored Jasper’s angry voice in her ear as he scolded her for revealing too much.

“All Voids are gone,” Wolfgang corrected her.

“They aren’t. There are one and a half left in this realm.”

He arched a brow. “And a half?”

“Now that’s a secret far too large to admit to you.” She would never give up Wren’s secrets that easily. “Your turn.”

“My turn for what?”

“What is the Graverobber?”

He remained silent.

“No answer to that one?”

“No.”

“Fine. When can I meet him?”

Again he remained silent. Lyra was beginning to grow frustrated with this human who so clearly thought he was more important than she. He didn’t have any right to ask her to answer questions without giving her a response.

Her eyes drifted to the line of his shoulder. What should have been a clear defined edge simply…wasn’t. She didn’t know if it was her own vision playing a trick on her or if this man truly wasn’t entirely solid.

“What are you?”

Wolfgang smiled then. A slow lazy grin that spread across his full lips and revealed dimples in his cheeks. “You’re wasting your questions to find out more about me?”

The moth shifted to whisper more angry words into her ear.

“I don’t think they’re wasted questions,” Lyra murmured. “Somehow I think you are far closer to the Graverobber than you are letting on.”

He seemed uncomfortable by the close inspection she was giving him. But before her gaze he seemed to lose some of his bluster. “You would be correct. What questions do you have for me?”

“Are you dead?”

Wolfgang choked on the air he had drawn in at her question. “Excuse me?”

“I didn’t promise to explain my questions. Are you dead?”

“No. Not that I am aware of.”

“You don’t have a solid form.”

One of his brows arched. “That would be quite the trick. What makes you think that?”

She fluttered her hand at his shoulder. “That’s what I wasn’t realizing. You don’t appear to be here sometimes. Your form keeps disappearing and reappearing.”

Only then did he seem truly interested in what she had to say. Gone was the nonchalant man who was ignoring her questions entirely. Instead, he leaned forward with curiosity burning in his gaze. She hadn’t realized how uncomfortable she would feel with the full weight of those eyes upon her. It was almost as though he were peeling back her layers just by looking at her.

“You are just a Siren, and yet you are far more connected to the magical world than you should be. Why is that?”

She swallowed. “My life story is not yours to know.”

“It will be.” He was vehement as he spat the words at her. “I will know that story before all others.”

Lyra didn’t know how to take that. Those words were possessive, as though he was far more interested in her than he had let on. How could he be?

Her eyes narrowed. “Brave declaration for a man who has no power.”

The two of them studied each other once more. Lyra felt as though she had looked at this Red Blood more than any other man. The details of his face were burned into her memory. Fine, delicate crow’s feet fanned out from the corners of his eyes. Faint dusting of stubble covered his jaw and chin. Long fingers drummed against the table with impatience or something else.

Finally, Lyra broke the silence. “Was there more about Malachi that you wanted to know?”

“No.”

“The only reason why you wished to speak with me was to determine what my opinion of the man was?”

Wolfgang smiled slowly. “Essentially, yes.”

“What game are you playing,” she whispered.

“No game; the Graverobber is curious about you.”

Lyra froze when he mentioned those words. She knew who owned her contract. She owed a debt to someone whose name was not attached to the Graverobber’s. It made sense that he would come searching for her. It did not make sense that the Graverobber was suddenly interested as well.

Anger made her careless as she growled, “And why is that?”

“Curious that you are so insulted by that. There are many females who would be pleased to have one of the Lords interested in them.”

“Many women are foolish.”

The moth in her ear shifted until she could hear Jasper yelling at her. “Lyra! Damnit, you’ve got company. Your boy brought in helpers.”

“What?” she responded as she glared at Wolfgang.

“I didn’t say anything.” He arched a brow.

“I thought we said we were coming alone.”

“We did.” He paused to cock his head. He quickly noticed how tense her body had become. “But you did not follow that rule, did you?”

“It’s a good thing I didn’t. Your men are coming in hot.”

“Not my men.”

She blinked slowly and ignored Jasper’s outraged yelling that the Red Blood was