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

“I need to talk to you.”

“I said not now.”

Lyra then noticed that he wasn’t wearing his robe. She had become so used to the long trailing fabric that seeing him without a robe felt awkward. As though she had walked in on a private moment. Velvet pants encased legs that were wiry and long. A plain white cotton shirt billowed around his frame though on any normal man it may have been a tight fit. He was tall and yet appeared so fragile at the same time.

“You haven’t been eating,” she murmured.

He sighed, and his shoulders slumped. “No, I have not been eating.”

“Now, I don’t know much about Magicians, but isn’t eating a requirement for life?”

Perhaps sarcasm would startle him out of his strange daze. Yet even her attempt at making a joke didn’t get her a reaction. Lyra placed her hands on her hips and frowned.

“Wolfgang, you could at least turn around when I’m talking to you.” The words felt like déjà vu.

She watched his fingers curl into fists upon the table. She thought perhaps this was his breaking point. This was the moment where he would come to his senses and realize he didn’t actually want a Siren in his life. That she was too much work and far too self-centered for him to be bothered with her.

But he turned around. The billows of his shirt parted down the line of his chest to reveal the damage that was done there. Her eyes trailed along the lines of scars that scooped between the hollows of his ribs. Runes twisted and coiled around his body like snakes trying to strangle him.

The darkest tattoo was a collar that ringed around his throat as black as night. It ended in a V above his collarbone. He must have endured a considerable amount of pain to place that spell upon his body.

“What is it, Lyra?”

She looked into his gaze, into those beloved mismatched eyes that sank so far into his face. Jagged edges of cheekbone and jaw cast shadows as the light touched his flesh.

“We have to talk about the Five,” she began.

“I thought we were done talking about them.”

Lyra twisted her hands and began. “I’m not usually the kind of person that cares about other people’s emotions.”

“I know that.”

“But there are some—”

“Who?” he interrupted her.

“My team. My team is starting to feel as though there may be no prophecy. That perhaps Wren was a fluke. A stroke of luck. I’m starting to feel bad about my own selfishness and that is not an emotion I am used to.”

Their gazes still haunted her. She could remember them as though they were standing in front of her. The dejected way they had reported to the Five with no findings and no luck. Not to mention the way that Aether had stared at Lyra as though she knew there were secrets she was hiding.

She wanted to hoard all of Wolfgang’s time to herself. But even more than that, she didn’t want to put him in harm’s way. Wren had nearly died because of what Malachi had done to her. What would she do if Wolfgang was put in the same position?

“I do not follow the Five’s rules.”

“What if I asked it of you?” Lyra licked her lips. “What if it were me asking? You don’t need to agree to anything, just meet them. Let them know you are alive and that the prophecy is real.”

Wolfgang shook his head. His muscles tensed and coiled before he suddenly pushed himself away from his desk. He strode towards her with that awkward limping gait to pull her towards him as soon as he reached her.

His fingers tangled in her hair. She heard him take a deep breath as he pressed his face against the soft strands wrapped around his fist.

“You could ask anything of me, and I would be your slave.”

The relief she felt in that moment was immeasurable. He would do it. She would fix things and then they would return here, to his home, and she would figure out what it was that had so captivated her about this man.

Red Blood or not, Wolfgang had become part of her. Strange, considering she was a Siren and had never thought herself capable of attachment.

“So you’ll come back with me then?” Her voice was muffled against his shoulder.

“Soon.”

“Now?”

“We have other problems.”

Slowly he pulled away from her. She looked up at him and rewarded him with a soft smile when his thin fingers caressed her cheek. He always lingered when he touched her. He had once said that the warmth of her skin reminded him what living was supposed to feel like.

Turning on his heel, he gestured to his desk. “Behold. Orders from the great Malachi.”

The air above the table warped as he waved his hand. It parted like water to reveal a letter floating in the air. Red words glowed on the faded parchment.

“What?” she asked.

“Your Malachi has been in touch with me for a few months now.”

“Wolfgang, please tell me you’re not considering…” She couldn’t finish the thought. Lyra didn’t know what she would do if she found out Wolfgang was working for the man who had nearly killed her friend.

He tsked. “You still insist upon thinking the worst of me. No, I am not working with him. But I did want to find out what he was up to.”

“I already told you that; he wants to destroy the world.”

“Yes, we know the end. But we don’t know the middle.”

“You’re speaking in riddles again.” Her brows furrowed in confusion.

“Do try to keep up, Lyra. What I’m saying is that we don’t know how he’s going to get to the end. Only that he wishes to destroy things, with no army? With no means of destruction?”

“The Five have been sending out spies, but they haven’t found anything out.”

Wolfgang shook his head. “Of course they haven’t. He’s much more careful than that.”

“What does he want with you?”

“The same thing he wants from the