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

Her body burned along with the world. Pain like she had never felt before surged through her nerve endings and exploded from her fingertips. Lightning spread through her body as Wolfgang muttered a spell like none other before now.

No Magician had ever done what he could do. No Magician could whisper a spell that had never been written down. He created a spell of his own and froze time around them.

Malachi’s army stopped. Everyone stopped.

Lyra breathed in the scent of the air and slowly pulled herself up by Wolfgang’s shoulder. His armor bit into her palm. She stared around them in confusion before she managed a weak question.

“What’s happening?”

He ignored her. Instead, his voice boomed with power as he called upon the Void. “Malachi.”

The word rang with power. It burned against her tongue and slid down her throat. It wrapped around the soft bit of her soul that protected his.

“I never thought you’d call.” Malachi’s voice reminded her of an eel. Slippery, devious, and mysterious, the sound appeared though he physically did not.

“You will leave this place.”

“I did not think you would succeed. My prophetess will lose her life for that mistake.”

“No one would ever have prophesized that I would live,” Wolfgang murmured. “For no one has ever truly understood my power.”

“I will not leave. My army will demolish yours, and I will take the rest of the Lords under my wing.”

“You will lose.”

Malachi’s answer was echoing laughter. Lyra pressed her palms against her ears and wished for the comfort of Wolfgang’s arms. Instead, the Lich King held her brutally still.

“I will destroy you, Malachi,” Wolfgang declared.

“You can try.”

Wolfgang’s spell ended just as quickly as it began. Shouting, the crackling of fire, pops of magic, all of it was overwhelming as she tried to catch her breath. Her body was weak and in pain.

His unnatural eyes stared through the army of people as though he had not just spoken with the most powerful creature they had ever battled. Lyra worried. He was supposed to be caring enough to save them all. But if she didn’t know better, she would think he was deciding whether or not to help.

“Wolfgang?” she whispered.

He looked down towards her, and she couldn’t help but raise her hand. She missed his gaunt cheeks and the scar on his brow. Her fingers danced across his cheekbone and felt the ridges of his exposed teeth. She trailed the lingering touch along his jaw to hold his attention.

“You must help them,” she said. “Otherwise, who are you?”

He grumbled. The sound was a deep growl that rattled his ribs against her chest. But he began to stride forward with her.

“We fight,” he growled.

She was relieved. At least he was on their side for now. That was enough for her, even though her eyelids threatened to fall and send her into the Dreaming World.

“Lyra!” Burke shouted. “Look out!”

She flinched against Wolfgang’s armor and felt the shake of magic as it struck his shield. Her neck craned to see where they were walking and immediately she felt faint.

A creature was walking towards them. It was immensely massive, the same size as Wolfgang if not larger. Its armor was made of glowing red lava and great horns rose from its head. Red eyes glared at them as steam rose from the helmet in a great exhale. It batted aside its own soldiers with great meaty arms.

“What is that?” she cried out.

“Elemental.”

“You sound excited.”

“I am.” Wolfgang’s teeth clacked together. “It will be a great battle.”

“Are you forgetting that I’m stuck to your chest?”

“You will assist me.”

She pounded her fist against his armor. “This is not my Wolfgang! My Wolfgang would never put me in harm’s way!”

“Remain quiet.” He squeezed her hard. “Your Wolfgang is gone.”

They were the words she did not want to hear. They were stalking towards his prey as though she were a barnacle stuck to a whale. This was not what she wanted. Worse. This was not what Wolfgang would have wanted.

Her hands raised to frame his skull and force him to stare down at her. “We do this my way and my way alone. You fight him. You end this now. And then you give me my Wolfgang back.”

The Lich King appeared amused. “You are fierce for one so small.”

“You are not the first to tell me that.”

He nodded. “Stay quiet now.”

She hoped the nod was in agreement to her plan. She held onto that hope as pain bloomed at her hip. She didn’t know what he was doing until a long whip of electricity spun from his fingertips.

He cracked it towards the hulking Elemental who hardly flinched when it struck its shoulder. Lyra heard the faintest grunt. The Elemental picked up its pace until it was running towards them.

The Lich King squeezed its skeletal hand on her waist and spun at the last second. His other hand raked across the Elemental’s back and left deep blue gashes that sunk through its armor. Lyra’s ears ached as the roar of outrage echoed around her.

She was stuck to the Lich King’s armor. She could do nothing but endure the pain and hope that the battle would end in their favor. Whiplash made her vision skew as they continued to twist back and forth.

Only once did the Elemental manage to strike them. She took most of the damage. Her leg was caught on fire that barely touched her thanks to her enchanted leather. Still, it managed to frighten her enough to send her heart racing.

“Wolfgang,” she cried out. “End it now!”

He grunted, but her fearful tone must have cut through to the man she knew. A great swath of angry electricity arched up from her hip. She tossed back her head and screamed in the way only a Siren could.

The Lich King amplified her cry as he charged forward. A great sword made of blue fire and lightning formed in his hand as he thrust its length through the Elemental’s rib cage. It growled, groaned, and