Red Blood (Series of Blood Book 2), Emma Hamm [little red riding hood ebook free .TXT] 📗

of the flower grew long and twitched as it stretched in length. It twined around Mother’s arm like a snake.

“Maiden?” Mother asked.

Sauntering towards them with a swagger in her step, Maiden reached into the Mother’s knitting basket and plucked out a needle. She pressed the tip into the fleshy pad of her thumb with a sharp jab. A tiny bead of blood welled upon her skin and was immediately pressed onto the bright yellow of the dandelion.

What had started as a droplet of red grew. It twisted and turned until it devoured the tiny dandelion whole. Threads of color changed before Lyra’s eyes until the dandelion was no more. In the Mother’s hands was a perfectly round and smooth ruby stone.

“There we are.” Mother’s voice deepened with emotion. “Here are the answers you seek.”

Lyra knew strong magic when she saw it. She understood the strange electric quality the air had taken and how her hair had raised on her arms. She did not flinch nor did she find fear where others might have.

“What offering would you ask me to give?” Lyra asked.

Magic always had a price. In the magical dimension, they might have gotten by without worry. But here? In the human realm things were much different.

“We only ask that you seek to protect our home before all others.”

“Done.”

Burke shifted in his chair. “You cannot promise that, Lyra.”

“I can.”

“We do not have the numbers to protect both this swamp and Haven.”

“No,” Lyra agreed. “We do not. But I know who does.”

The Mother slowly turned her head towards Lyra. A great smile spread across her face, although Lyra doubted it was only because she was pleased. “That is precisely what I was asking. We appreciate your offer.”

“I cannot tell you for certain that he will agree.”

“For you, he will. You have three questions to ask before the magic will dissolve.”

At this, Lyra did look towards Burke. He looked towards E, who slowly nodded. “Shall we ask the questions in riddles?”

“I believe a more direct route is always a reasonable place to start,” Mother said.

“Are the four people who shall fulfill this prophecy set in stone or are there multiple people who would fulfill the prophecy?” Burke said as he rubbed his chin.

The stone began to rotate in the Mother’s hand. It twisted and turned until the force of its wild spin lifted it from her palm. Mother stared directly at the red stone and began to answer.

“No. Four people and four people alone will suffice to fulfill this prophecy. If one shall die then all is lost.”

“That’s a relief,” Lyra said on an exhale. “At least we don’t have to start chasing people around and begging them to be part of a prophecy.”

“Lyra, can you take this seriously?” E asked her.

“I am taking this seriously. That’s me taking it seriously.”

E shook its head. “Second question: how many of the people in our prophecy have we met?”

The Mother hesitated for a moment. Her answer was tentative. “Two.”

“You don’t sound so sure of that.” Lyra was immediately suspicious.

“I am not. Nor is the magic certain of it.” Mother leaned in closer to the red orb, and her eyes widened. “Three. The answer is three, but the third is very difficult to see through any magical means.”

“What does that mean?”

E immediately jumped into the conversation. “That is not our third question.”

Mother nodded. “Agreed, that is a separate question from the magic. It appears that the third person whom you have met is cloaked. There is magic and darkness so thick around this person that it is difficult to even see who they are.”

Lyra assumed that was Wolfgang. He was powerful enough to hide himself from magic such as Mother was using. “But if that’s the Graverobber, then who is the second one we have met already?”

“I can see the Graverobber clear as day.” Mother laughed. “He is a secretive man but also a friend.”

The man never ceased to amaze her. He was friends with the Trinity? Her brow furrowed. Why hadn’t he told her that? It would have been useful for him to just ask if they could speak. Although, she didn’t really know him well enough to ask him to speak on her behalf.

E leaned forward. “Then our final question will be, who is the third?”

“Are you sure about that?” Lyra asked. “That could be a wasted question. Shouldn’t we ask who the fourth unknown person is?”

“If we get a hint as to who that third person is, we’re one step closer. We’ve already met this person. It would be easy to find them.”

“Someone in this room has met them,” she corrected E. “We’ve all met a lot of people.”

“Hence the question.”

“Right.”

At Mother’s questioning look, Lyra nodded. Though the question might not get them to where they wished to be, at least it would be a step closer. Lyra thought it would be more useful to ask who the person they didn’t know was. But no one wanted her opinion on this apparently.

The red orb spun faster as Mother stared into it.

“My apologies,” Mother whispered. “It is difficult.”

She leaned closer and began to mutter. The hair on Lyra’s arms rose again as tension began to grow in the room. From the words, it appeared almost as though Mother was arguing with whatever it was she was attempting to see.

The words began to sting her ears. Lyra’s eyes squinted, and she grit her teeth to try and ignore the pain. Whatever magic the Mother was using, it was strong enough to cause everyone in the room pain. Or perhaps it was the magic the creature was using to prevent her from seeing it.

Lyra threw herself to the floor as the orb shattered. Shards of sharp red stone flew throughout the room, and the expulsion of magic caused the stones on the floor to crack. Mother’s head was flung backwards although Maiden managed to catch her before she hit the ground. A thunderous sound accompanied the starting wreckage.

She blinked a few times to try and