Silver Blood (Series of Blood Book 1)

by Emma Hamm

  “Lyra, I really don’t have the patience for this right now.”

  “You could do with a little patience. And faith for that matter.”

  Burke watched a droplet of water trail down her temple and leave a dark smudge against her light blue sweater. He was pushing it. Really, he was pushing all of them. Burke had never been an emotional man, but he found he was becoming one.

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Fine.”

  “Lovely.” Lyra clapped her hands before reaching into her pocket. She drew out three cords which held stone runes at the end. They were plunked onto the table as though they weren’t the most important things in her possession.

  Burke glared at her.

  “Oh don’t get your lacy little panties in a twist,” Lyra scolded him. “I got the damned things for you, didn’t I?”

  “At what cost?” Jasper asked her. A shadow had crossed over his expression.

  The same shadow darkened Lyra’s expression before it was wiped clean. “Nothing I can’t handle.”

  Burke realized how little he knew about the people he worked with. On a daily basis they had taken each other’s lives in their hands, and yet he didn’t know them. They knew each other. But then, Jasper and Lyra had always come as a package.

  He didn’t know what it was that he had asked Lyra to do. For all he knew, he had asked her to step into more trouble than she should have. Or to risk her own life for him.

  “Thank you,” he said quietly.

  Everyone stared at him as though he had grown a second head.

  “Oh come on.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

  “You don’t thank me.” Lyra zeroed in on him with a questioning gaze. “You don’t thank anyone. You just do your job.”

  “I just thanked you. Don’t make a big deal out of it, Lyra.”

  “Oh I’m going to make a big deal out of this for a very long time to come.”

  She swung her legs back and forth as she watched him with a direct gaze. Burke started to squirm under her gaze before he finally broke.

  “What?” Exasperated, the word burst from his lips.

  “Oh nothing. Just waiting for you to grow a couple horns and start laughing devilishly.” Lyra started to do exactly that herself. Fingers tapping against each other, she laughed like the villain in a horror movie.

  “We’re done with that,” Burke interrupted her as he leaned forward to snag the three amulets. “And these are?”

  “Amulets.”

  “I can see that, Lyra.”

  “Amulets to get us across the border without being seen or detected.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Lyra, I swear to God, it’s like pulling teeth. Just explain the damn things already.”

  “There’s the man I know.” She stretched her legs out until her entire body was lying on the table among them. “So here’s the deal. Amulets are only good for so long. We’re going to need to be teleported as close to the facility that they’re keeping her in. We’ve got about ten minutes before we’re found out.”

  “So they’re useless.”

  “Not if we get in and get out.”

  “That was the best the Harpies could do?” Burke snorted. “Hardly worth our time.”

  “Watch your tongue.” A few drops of water splattered onto the table. “I went through a lot to get those damned things for you. We’re going to use them.”

  “Of course we’re using them,” he countered. He wrapped the three of them around his fist and lifted them to press against his lips. They were his ticket to getting her back. To fixing his honor. To keeping her close to him when he hadn’t had a chance to have her close to him. “Jasper?”

  The big man rolled his neck on his shoulders and shrugged. “I can get us there.”

  “You sure?”

  “Never been wrong before.”

  Burke stood up. “Then let’s go.”

  Gaia intervened then, though she usually preferred her soldiers to figure things out on their own. “Hold on.”

  “We don’t have a lot of time.”

  “No you don’t, but there are important things to know.”

  Burke slowly sank back into his seat.

  “Malachi will have many people watching the perimeter of his facility. You will need to be more cautious than ever. We do not, I repeat, do not want you walking into the building and attempting to blast the place to the ground. You are to get in, get the girl, and get out. Without letting anyone know that you were there.”

  Stunned silence kept the three of them from answering. All of their wide eyes met before they turned to look at Gaia.

  “That’s impossible.” Lyra was the first person to say it. “He’s going to have a ridiculous amount of people guarding her. We’re not going to get her silently.”

  “That is your task.” Gaia stood and the rest of the Five moved with her. “Good luck.”

  Burke, Jasper, and Lyra remained around the table. They were all caught in their own thoughts. The mission they were about to go on was likely to take at least one of their lives. Or perhaps they would succeed and no one would find out they had stolen the girl.

  “That’s just bullshit,” Lyra grumbled.

  “Impossible,” Jasper agreed.

  “But necessary.” Burke had always been the voice of reason. “We’ll manage. Weapons?”

  Lyra raised up onto her knees. “Silent, do we really need them?”

  “Yes.”

  Both of them turned their eyes towards Jasper and raised their eyebrows. He was staring down at his fingernails as though he didn’t know they were staring at him. Looking up, he mock pointed to himself. “Who me?”

  “Jasper,” Burke growled.

  “Just ‘cause you two are lazy doesn’t mean the teleporter has to go and get everything for you.”

  Burke blinked and Jasper was no longer in front of him. They didn’t ask him to teleport because they were lazy. They asked because he was faster than them walking all the way to the other side of Haven and back. Time was of the essence now.

  Moments later, Jasper was back with his arms overloaded with weapons. He dropped the mess of metal and blades onto the table with a shattering clank. Clapping his hands as though dusting them off, he crossed his arms and stared at them.

  “Happy?”

  “Yes,” Burke replied.

  The three of them had done this many times. They got to work strapping on as many weapons as their bodies could carry. Throwing knives, guns, swords, magical orbs, everything that they might need in every possible situation.

  Burke yanked hard on the last strapping that held a curved blade against his thigh and looked at the other two. Lyra was just finishing tying a bag of cursed objects onto Jasper before the two of them gave him the thumbs up.

  “You ready?” he asked them.

  “To die?”

  “Not today.”

  Burke rolled his eyes as the two of them spoke over each other.

  “You two are ridiculous you know that right?”

  “Yes.” Again, together they spoke as one.

  He held out the amulets towards them. They hung low over their clothing and close to their heart. They had forgone armor in hopes that it would make them faster. Burke hoped that they managed to complete this mission.

  “Jasper?”

  “Yeah I know. Teleport. Get to the right place. Get the girl. Teleport. What would you do without me?”

  “I suspect we’d be losing the war.”

  That seemed to cheer the big man up. Lyra grabbed one of his shoulders and Burke grabbed the other. Blinking, they disappeared from existence and reappeared in another place entirely.

  Snow drifted around them as the wind instantly buried them in a snowstorm.

  “I hate the cold!” Lyra shouted into the wind.

  “Where are we?” Burke shouted back.

  He could see her fumbling with something attached to her arm before Jasper moved in front of her to create a shi
eld against the snow. Lyra looked down once more at what Burke could now see as a map and froze. She groaned and shook her head.

  “Not very close boys. Amulets were only good for one jump.”

  “What? What use are they!”

  “Magic doesn’t react well to other types of magic, Burke! I can’t control that!”

  “Useless!”

  Jasper grabbed onto his arm and growled at both of them. “We’re going in hot then.”

  “So much for them not knowing?” Lyra’s feral grin was enough to make adrenaline run through Burke’s veins. He knew what that grin meant. She was incredibly brutal when she fought. He had never seen anything like her in a battle.

  “New plan.” Burke managed to grit out through chattering teeth. “Kill as many of them as possible.”

  Jasper teleported all of them once more.

  Wren moaned. There was something dripping down her lip, but she didn’t know what it was. She couldn’t reach it, and she couldn’t open her mouth to lick it away. Everything hurt. Not only physically but also mentally. It felt as though someone had reached into her brain and stirred everything around.

  “I’m so sorry, sweetie.”

  A gentle hand wiped away the liquid on her lip. Blood. She realized as she managed to swallow. The copper taste made her stomach want to rebel.

  Her swollen eyes opened to look at the man in front of her. He was dabbing at her sweat covered face as though he cared. Maybe he did?

  “Who are you?” she rasped.

  “Malachi.”

  “Do I know you?”

  “Yes.”

  He replaced the towel in his hand with a glass of water. She opened her mouth automatically, not knowing why she thought she had to. Deep gulps of water managed to clear her mind only slightly.

  The room around her seemed warped. The walls weren’t right. They were moving, or maybe shimmering. In some way it all seemed different and strange. Not real.

  “Am I in the hospital?”

  “Yes.”

  The odd walls wavered and suddenly she was in a white room. White walls, white floors, white curtains that blew in a wind she could not feel. She was reclining on a bed that didn’t feel comfortable but looked comfortable. A pillow she could not see was pressed against her back. Or maybe it wasn’t a pillow; it felt as though rocks were underneath her legs.

  She tried to raise her arms to rub her eyes but couldn’t.

  “My arms…” Wren craned her neck to try and see why she couldn’t lift them. For a moment, it looked as though there were chains holding her down. Her heart sped up until the chains dissolved before her eyes, and she was held down by padded straps.

  “You’ve been in an accident, dear.”

  She looked up at the man in front of her. He was so handsome. So kind looking. The smile on his face didn’t seem natural though. Just like the rest of the room around her.

  “What happened?”

  “I don’t think you’re ready to hear that yet.” He settled himself down on the bed beside her. “How are you feeling?”

  “I don’t know.” She licked her lips. “I feel… wrong.”

  “That’s natural. You’ve had quite the head wound.” He reached out to brush a hand against her cheek. “You’ll be better soon.”

  “Are you my doctor?”

  “Not qualified to be a doctor, no.” He chuckled.

  “Then who are you?”

  “Just someone who requires you to get better.”

  He looked as though he was going to say more, but his head cocked to the side. Wren thought she could see another person standing in the corner. A rippled shape that looked there but not at the same time. He was looking at it too.

  “Do you see-?” She pointed to where the shadow was.

  His head snapped around to look at her before looking at the shadow again. It disappeared instantly.

  “Do I see what?”

  “I-” She didn’t know what to say. “I don’t-”

  “Shh.” He pressed a finger against her lips. “Don’t strain your mind. This is natural. Just relax. I’ll be back soon, you should rest.”

  “I should rest,” she repeated as she leaned back on the bed.

  He left the room, and she tried to remember what was happening. Every time she tried to remember anything her mind seemed to stretch too thin. She was trying to think too hard, and Wren was frightened that everything felt so incredibly fragile all of a sudden. Her body, her mind, everything felt as though she was going to break.

  Shatter like glass.

  Glass.

  She remembered glass. She remembered the sound of breaking glass as her heart contracted, because someone had died. Something had died.

  Pain nearly split her head in two. She gasped and writhed on the bed. She couldn’t hold her head. She needed to hold her head.

  “Please,” she whispered as a tear leaked out of her eye. It dripped down the curve of her cheek and tangled in the mess of her hair.

  The pain didn’t go away.

  “Please. Help me.” Her voice didn’t sound like her own. She thought there should be something else there. More voices? That didn’t make sense. What had happened to her? She tried to swallow but was instantly distracted as more pain spread through her entire body.

  “Someone. Please.” She was begging the air. There was no one here that would be able to help her. No one but the man with the dark eyes and the dark hair. The man whose hands were gentle but whose eyes desired pain.

  “Easy, little one.”

  She stilled. The pain seemed to disappear, but in its place she quaked with fear. A voice. Her eyes searched the room, but she could not find anyone. Sweat had made her hair wet, and she could not brush it aside.

  “Who’s there?”

  “Wren.” The voice sounded sad.

  “Your name is Wren? Where are you?”

  She heard the sound of a moan. “You are Wren. My dear little one, what has he done to you?”

  “I’m Wren?” She repeated. The name sounded wrong. That wasn’t right. She wasn’t a bird. She wasn’t free.

  “You are Wren. I am E.”

  “That’s a letter.”

  “Yes it is.” The voice chuckled. “But you named me.”

  “I don’t know how to name anything. I can’t even remember my own name.”

  “Wren. Your name is Wren.”

  “It doesn’t sound right. Birds don’t live in hospitals. Birds don’t lose their memories. Birds don’t ache like I do.”

  “Some of that is my fault.” The creature whose name was E replied with sorrow. “I need to focus on something in the room that looks wrong. Wren, he’s manipulating your mind. None of this is real.”

  “Of course it’s real. It feels real.”

  “But something is wrong, isn’t it? You’ve seen things that aren’t right. This is our chance. He’s gone, and you need to wake up.”

  She sniffed as more tears stung her eyes. But the voice was right. Something was wrong here. She really had seen the shadow in the corner of the room. She knew it had been there even though he said there was nothing.

  Wren looked down at the soft padding on her arms. They hadn’t looked right either. In fact, they looked downright wrong. They were supposed to be soft, but they felt as though they were biting into her skin.

  They were. The harder she stared at them, the more she could see that there were red rings around her wrists. How was something so soft hurting her?

  “That’s it.” The voice said. “You’re getting it, darling, just a little bit more.”

  She didn’t know what a little bit more was. But the padded straps disappeared and in their place were rusted metal shackles that rattled as she lifted her arms. But she could lift them now. She hadn’t been able to do that before.

  Wren groaned. “I’m going insane.”

  “You’re already there. Sorry about that. Now the rest of the room, Wren.”

  “Why does it matter?” Her words were a
ngry. “I can stay here. This is safe!”

  “I cannot stress this enough. You are not safe right now.”

  The words made her worried. Maybe she wasn’t safe. She couldn’t be. Her mind was fracturing and things around her weren’t right after all.

  “I’m not safe,” she whispered.

  “None of this is real.”

  “None of this is real.” The room fell away, and the white was replaced by dark stone walls.

  “This is not happening.” The bed beneath her became a dirty stone outcropping that was cutting into her skin.

  “I’m not here.” Wren whispered as dirt streaks and red abrasions replaced the skin that had once been smooth.

  Her heart skipped a beat, and her mind ached again instantly. She had stretched herself too far. She was mistaken. She wasn’t safe. She wasn’t herself. She wasn’t anything or anyone anymore. Wren couldn’t breathe.

  “It’s okay. It’s okay, Wren. Let me take over.”

  That was the best thing this imaginary voice in her head had suggested yet. It was so easy to fall back into the waiting arms that enveloped her in her own mind. There was softness there. A darkness that wasn’t filled with monsters waiting for her.

  Instead, she felt as though she was wrapped in careful arms. She was a caterpillar being safely tucked into a cocoon that would someday be her safety. In the last moments, Wren remembered everything.

  “E?” she whispered.

  “Yes?”

  “I know you said you didn’t have any power, but I’d really like you to destroy them all.”

  “With pleasure.”

  E wrapped Wren into its arms and held the fragile mind as though it was the most precious treasure. And it was. In the limited ability of the human mind, there was not a lot of places to be lost. But in the unending depths of Legion, she would be safe.

  “I’m so sorry,” it whispered.

  Souls emerged as black smoke to curl around Wren’s soul. They filled in the places where she was weak. Patched the rips and tears that were already threatening the life of her soul. They stitched her together and tied pieces of themselves to her.

  They saved her the only way they knew how. By binding her to the thousands of souls that existed inside the creature that had managed to survive thousands of years. It made Wren just as much a part of itself as any other soul.