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

his dark magic to her body as well as his own. But that knowledge was sharp like the edge of a blade. She would hold the secret close to her soul and only give it life when the timing was right.

Try as she might, she couldn’t turn away from him. He now not only made her thoughts whirl but he also caused her pain. But the devil of a man standing before her spoke truth. They were each a half of a larger creation. A creature the world had never seen before.

“Okay,” she whispered.

Wolfgang’s harsh expression smoothed for a few seconds in pleasure. “We shall need to practice.”

“Not today. Today, I need you to agree to do something for me.”

The pleased expression faded quickly as he realized what price she was going to request. “No.”

“You don’t get everything in life handed to you, Wolfgang. You know what I’m going to ask you. The Five need us. My team needs us.”

His shoulders tensed, and he slowly turned away from her. Once more, his hands braced against the table, and his head dropped as he stared down at the worn wood. “I need privacy.”

“We don’t have a lot of time for you think about this.”

“Tomorrow. All I ask is tomorrow.”

She rubbed her hands over her arms as the air grew cold around them. Apparently they were over the honeymoon phase of their infatuation with each other. But anger was something she was comfortable with. Anger was something she understood.

“Fine.” Lyra flicked her hair over her shoulder and made her way towards the door. As a final say, she glanced once more towards him. “But you should know, Bones isn’t going to wait much longer.”

“Bones will wait as long as I tell him to.”

“Considering what happened in the swamp, I think you’re wrong.”

Wolfgang snarled but did not respond.

“Pitch said to tell you that contracts can be broken.” Lyra said the words as a last ditch effort to have him look at her. She needed some kind of reaction from him.

He did not move. Still as stone, he let her walk out the door and back into her world of light.

She stormed into her apartment in Haven and looked around at the chaos. Lyra’s mind was whirling with the oddities that had infected her life. Wolfgang. Jasper’s strange behavior. Pitch. Bones.

All men.

Every single problem that had arisen before her was related to a man. She wouldn’t have it. She couldn’t sit around and wait for the men in her life to figure out whether or not they were going to allow her a restful night’s sleep. She needed to leave. They were destroying her life.

Just look at her apartment! She placed her hands on her hips and glared at the mess. There was dust on her shelves. Clothing was haphazardly tossed across the furniture and floor. Her oasis of relaxation and calming colors had turned into a mess.

There wasn’t time to clean. She was constantly dancing between fleeing Bones, avoiding Jasper’s questioning gaze, and breaking down Wolfgang’s secretive nature. At what point was she going to break?

She stepped on a sharp edge of mirror that hadn’t been swept up yet. The glass cut into the soft arch of her foot and caused her to trail long streaks of blood on the floor. Every step was an aching pain that lanced directly into her wounded heart. She didn’t care. There wasn’t the smallest vacant space in her mind that could spare the space.

The couch was fairly clean, so she sat herself down to wiggle the piece of glass out of her foot. A face that was not hers was reflected as soon as it sat in her palm.

Lyra let out an angry scream and chucked the glass piece at the wall.

“I’m done! I’m done with all of you!”

With the scream came a wave of anger that crashed over her. The shattering sound of glass eased some of the red rage that blurred her vision. Her hand found a vase of its own accord, which she then tossed against the wall.

Pieces of clay flew back towards her. One sliced open her cheek, but she could not bring herself to care. This was not the moment to indulge in pain. This was a moment to release all the frustration and anger that had built up inside of her.

Tilting her head back, Lyra let loose the Siren scream that lodged in her throat. The sound, which would have dropped any living creature to the ground, shattered every solid object in the room. Vases, glasses, plates, even the wooden legs of furniture burst in a rain of jagged edges and splinters.

And in the end, Lyra was left standing in the midst of all the rubble. Her chest heaved with angry gasps that could not be contained. Her fingers curled into fists, and her nails dug into the palms of her hands.

There was no relief from this anger. From the confusion. From the pathetic way she wanted to crawl back into Wolfgang’s grave and beg him to tell her pretty things that would distract her from her problems.

“Quite the show.”

Shadows in the corner of her apartment shifted. Pitch stepped towards her and ignored the long filaments of shadow that held onto his body. He never appeared to notice how much the darkness clung to him. Or how much it suited him.

As per his usual appearance, he was dressed in immaculately pressed dark clothing. His red silk shirt was unbuttoned to reveal his sculpted smooth chest. He had no idea how much it annoyed her that he was essentially perfect in every way.

She grit her teeth. “Now is not the time, Pitch.”

“You’re looking for a fight? For someone to release that anger inside of you?”

“Yes.”

Pitch quirked an eyebrow. “And you think that person should be me?”

“It’s not personal,” Lyra growled. “You’re the only person in the room other than me.”

“You can try.” He shrugged. “But you won’t win.”

“Watch me.”

She launched herself at him. Lyra was tactical in the way she fought.