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

rest of the Lords. Allegiance. Fealty. A promise of death and in reward we will receive more power.”

Lyra took in a deep breath. “But he can’t do that, right? There’s no way he could offer more power other than maybe a larger territory. And either way, the power will only be for a little while because he wants to kill all of us.”

“The other Lords are not privy to that information.”

“You haven’t told them?”

Wolfgang raised an eyebrow. “Do you believe I speak to them so frequently?”

“Well you all run in the same crowd.”

“That does not make them any more than acquaintances,” he muttered.

“Wolfgang.” She gave him a censoring look. “Did you really not think this was important?”

“Of course it’s important. And yet I am not a man who enters a battle without looking at all the angles.”

He plucked the letter from the air above the table. The parchment crumbled beneath his fingers and turned to ash that fluttered to the ground like snow. Everything around him was always so delicate when he was angry.

There was a small part of her that was thrilled when he showed how much power he held at his fingertips. It was the part of her that was still a frightened child being used as a show animal to entertain men and women. The same creature that had let herself be convinced a contract was a good idea to sign.

That side of her had gotten Lyra into too much trouble. She always let it guide her when she knew what roads it would lead her down. Even now, there was a pit in her stomach that whispered Wolfgang may be a bad idea.

But she couldn’t let him go.

A shaky breath slipped from between her lips as she watched him. “Okay then. You burned the letter. Poetic, but what does it mean?”

“I do not plan on following Malachi’s bidding.”

“Good. So what are you going to do?”

“Protect my people.”

He turned away from her to place his hands once more on his desk. His fists were clenched in anger, and he glared at the corner of the room as though Malachi himself stood there. Lyra did not know what to do for him. The tragic figure before her was not the strong Magician she always imagined him to be.

She was hesitant to speak to him. “Why do you look like you’re thinking that’s an impossible task?”

“I am not myself.”

“Weird thing to say.” She walked closer to him and peered over his shoulder. “You look the same to me.”

“I have weakened myself with meaningless uses of magic and am paying the price.”

She didn’t know if she should touch him. From the angry curve of his shoulders, she doubted it would end well if she tried to do that. In that moment, Lyra realized how rarely she reached out to touch him willingly. Wolfgang was usually the one who made any kind of contact between the two of them.

Was she frightened of him? The thought danced through her mind until she came to her conclusion. As E had said, she would be foolish to not be frightened of him. Because of those thoughts, she backed away from him.

“How can I help you?”

“Leave.”

Her heart thumped hard against her ribs. “Leave? But I don’t want to.”

His fists pounded against the desk. The sound echoed in her ears as he spun and advanced upon her. His hand raised to point at her. The blue light of his power glowed from beneath his skin as it trailed from his palms and into his sleeves. Veins curled between the blackened runes and light pulsed in anger.

“You have distracted me from my purpose.”

Fear and anger coiled in her breast. Like a beast, they combined to unfurl into spite. “Me? I have distracted you? Did you forget that you were the one to ask me to meet you in person? That you were the one who lied and said you were something you are not?”

“You were the one who pursued me.”

“And you let it happen! You brought me down here!”

His thin fingers flexed into claws as his arm snapped forward. He grasped her face in a vise like grip and pulled her towards him again. Fingernails dug into her jaw, but it was the electricity dancing upon her skin that made her swallow.

“How you vex me,” he said as he leaned towards her. “Even now, I am too weak to punish you.”

Her lips trembled as his breath fanned across them. “You couldn’t even if you wanted to.”

The clenching of his hand suggested he may attempt to change her mind. His snarl was anything but human. She worried he despised her now.

But he did not hurt her. That dangerous blue light did not pulse all the more angry. Instead, it slowly died out as he leaned towards her. Time slowed as he ever so gently pressed his mouth to hers.

It was everything a kiss had never been before. She had been kissed hundreds of times. Men had grabbed her passionately. They had clutched her to their chest as though they wanted to become part of her. They had kissed her slow and sweet. None of them were like Wolfgang.

Before their lips even touched, he fed her his breath. She could taste him on her tongue just by the exhale of cherries and wine. In turn, he breathed her in. He did not devour but delicately sipped upon the air she gave him.

Butterfly light, he touched her. A single moment of flesh against flesh. Not an explosion of heat nor a blinding spark. But a gift of gentleness and the softest of whispered endearments.

He did not kiss her. No, the word wasn’t right. This wasn’t a kiss. It was brushing of soul against soul. He shared with her a part of himself no other had laid claim to and left his mark in a delicate swirl around her.

Lyra wasn’t certain she could breathe. Suddenly, she wasn’t herself. Not anymore. Or not just herself. A piece of him now existed inside