Blue Blood (Series of Blood Book 3)

by Emma Hamm

  He leaned into her further, still holding her in the dip, until his breath fanned across her lips. His wings beat slowly to balance the two of them.

  “Come back to my tent with me tonight,” he said.

  “No.”

  A spear seemed to strike through his chest. “No?”

  He had come to recognize the sly smile she answered him with. “I don’t think either of us really wants to be confined to a tent where anyone could hear us.”

  “Loud?”

  “Very.”

  He growled. “Why do I feel like this may leave me scarred for life?”

  “Physically and mentally.” Her teeth flashed in the firelight. “But I promise you’ll enjoy yourself.”

  He nipped at her lips, not caring who saw. “Now?”

  “Now.”

  Pulling her back up was effortless, but letting her step away from him was another story. Reluctantly, he let her pull from the circle of his arms.

  She kept her hand in his. He calmed himself with that knowledge as cold air chilled him to the bone. Though he couldn’t see himself, Jasper was certain his skin was singed pink. The flames still covered her body like clothing, and he could not wait to see what else she could do with them.

  “Come on, Fairy boy.”

  If anyone laughed or cheered, Jasper didn’t hear them. His attention was consumed by her glowing, blood red hair and the flames licking at her thighs.

  She drew him deeper and deeper into the forest. The roots of the trees called out to him. The leaves sang a song as ancient as the blood flowing through his veins. Fairies were connected to the land more than any other species. They were part of the life that grew here, and he now felt the call of his ancestors.

  He lost his breath when she pulled him down onto a bed of moss. He lost his heart when she welcomed him with open arms. He lost his soul when her flames disappeared and long limbs were revealed. And by the time his hands had explored every inch of her unusual body, he had given her every bit of himself that existed.

  Afterwards, they lay with limbs tangled around each other. He couldn’t help but stroke her hair. His hand lingered on the elegant lines of her back and the hollow between her shoulder blades.

  “Do you believe in fate?” he asked her.

  She nuzzled into his neck and hummed, “I used to.”

  “Not now?”

  “If I believe in fate, then I was always meant to be locked away while my family and friends died. Then I was always meant to be lost and incapable of controlling myself, unable to do the things I want to do.”

  He pressed his lips to her forehead. “I’ll help you learn control.”

  “If you can do that, I shall name you a god.”

  “Will you now?” He rolled her over onto her back. “I must not have paid enough attention to you then. You should have called me a god already.”

  She laughed and spread her arms wide. “By all means, you can try. But I get to play with your wings again.”

  “Why are women always so fascinated by them?”

  “Because they’re pretty.”

  He lurched backwards as he straddled her hips. “Excuse me? Mood. Killer. They aren’t pretty. They’re functional and dangerous.”

  “They’re pink.” She patted one gently.

  “Dangerous,” he growled while leaning down to kiss her.

  “Delicate,” she said against his tongue.

  Jasper was obviously going to have to show her how wrong she was. And he did just that amidst the ancient trees and babbling brooks of an enchanted forest.

  He awoke to the smell of smoke. It stung his nostrils and filled his lungs until he coughed. His hand flexed against Mercy’s warm shoulder.

  Curling around her, he muttered, “Mercy, stop burning things. It’s waking me up.”

  “I’m not burning anything.” Her raspy voice was deeper than usual.

  “Something’s smoking. Make it stop.”

  He didn’t want to get up. He had been in the most lovely dream, in which he and Mercy had slept together on a bed of moss. Jasper’s mouth curved into a smile as he remembered it wasn’t a dream. They really had enjoyed themselves, perhaps too much, underneath the canopy of ancient trees.

  Two hundred years certainly hadn’t made her any less creative.

  He coughed again and released her to roll away. His entire body rocked forward with force before the fit subsided. The smoke was really becoming unbearable.

  “Mercy.” He grabbed her shoulder, shaking hard. “Mercy, come on. What’s burning?”

  “I don’t know.” She tucked her head underneath an arm. “Stop bothering me. Sleep time.”

  “I can’t sleep.”

  “Learn how to be a little hardier, then. It’s just smoke.”

  He looked around, trying to find the source of his distractions. But there was no fire around them. In fact, he couldn’t find anything that even sparked with light, only the haze of heavy smoke drifting around them.

  Night had not yet released its hold upon the land. Shadows stretched all around them. They were not lightened by any source as the moon was sinking, and the sun had yet to raise its head. Strange that he could smell smoke when there wasn’t anything burning nearby.

  “Did we light a campfire?” He asked, scratching his head.

  “No,” she grumbled. “Go to sleep.”

  “But there’s smoke.”

  Mercy let out an angry huff of breath and sat up. Her hair stuck out in all directions. A twig was tangled above her left ear. Jasper couldn’t help but smile at her when she looked so rumpled. He raised a hand to gently pull the twig away.

  She glowered at him. “Why do I care if there is smoke?”

  “Because we don’t know where it’s coming from.”

  “We rarely know where such things come from,” Mercy said. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him. When he did not back down, she made another angry sound. “Fine. Fine, I’ll ask Ignes. Just hang on.”

  “You can ask Ignes?”

  “He’s not that far away. Besides, the fires should be dying down at camp by now. I should probably get back to him, so we don’t regret it later.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut and went still as stone. Jasper tried to discern whether or not her chest was rising, but it appeared she wasn’t breathing. Perhaps she didn’t need to breathe. He’d have to ask her later.

  This was taking a while. He stood to pull his clothing back together. His shirt had been stretched over the two of them to keep the night chill away. The borrowed pants had been haphazardly laced in an attempt at decency, but Mercy was another story.

  The fiery dance had burned away all of her clothing. He shivered when he remembered the way the fire had revealed long, smooth limbs. But that left very little for him to offer her other than the shirt he had been wearing.

  “Ah well,” he muttered as he reached for her. “I’m getting used to seeing you in nothing but a shirt.”

  And he certainly wasn’t complaining.

  While she attempted to contact Ignes, he lifted her limp arms and pulled the shirt onto her. The buttons were slightly harder, as she was holding her knees to her chest and didn’t seem to want to move her legs. But he reached boldly with deft fingers to button quite a few before he felt her jerk.

  He looked up to see her eyes wide-open and unseeing.

  “Mercy?”

  She didn’t seem to hear him. Instead, those ombre eyes stared straight ahead. He could see her lips moving, but even when he pressed his ear close to her, he couldn’t make out what she was saying.

  “Mercy?” Jasper waved a hand in front of her face. “Mercy, can you hear me?”

  Perhaps it was a bad thing to interrupt her while she was talking to Ignes. He didn’t even know if she were talking or using the eyes of the Phoenix to see what he was seeing. Jasper knew very little of what she was capable of. He wished that she was a more open person, but prying information out of her was like opening individual clams
. Each time he thought one would hold a pearl, it was a useless bit of generic information.

  Then he saw a single tear roll down her face.

  “Nope,” he told her. “That isn’t going to happen. Mercy, wake up!”

  When she didn’t respond, he shook her gently. Even that didn’t seem to pull her out of the trance. He reached up to lightly smack her cheeks.

  “Nothing,” he muttered. Leaning back onto his haunches, he looked around for something that might help.

  “The moss,” Bluebell said quietly. “It has water in it.”

  “Is that a good idea?”

  “It’s something. I think there’s trouble.”

  He reached down, grabbed a handful of moss, and twisted to drip water onto her head. It wasn’t much, but the cold drops trailed down her cheeks.

  She flinched hard and gasped. Panic made her scuttle backwards on her hands as though he were attacking her.

  “Hey hey hey.” Jasper held his palms up. “I’m not going to hurt you. What’s going on?”

  Another tear dripped down her face. “The village.”

  “What?”

  “It’s burning.”

  His mind strained to comprehend the information; unless Ignes got carried away, there was no reason for the village to be burning. Until he remembered that they weren’t two people on a honeymoon. They were being hunted by the worst kind of person.

  “They found us,” he said.

  “It’s my fault. This is all my fault.”

  “No.” He yanked her into his arms. It was an awkward embrace. He knelt precariously on uneven ground, and she sank into him, limp. Still, they both needed the touch. “It’s my fault too. We shouldn’t have stayed here as long as we did.”

  “I thought it would be safe.”

  “Me too. We have to go.”

  At that, Mercy pulled away from him. She wiped fiercely at the tracks of tears on her cheeks. “No. We have to go and see if anyone survived.”

  “They’re strong. They have a real Giant, for god’s sake! We can’t go back there. We know Malachi is there.”

  “Ignes is there.”

  Jasper rubbed a hand down his beard and shook his head. “How far away can you get from him?”

  “No.” Mercy shook her head and stood up. “We’re not doing what you’re thinking.”

  “We can just wait a little while until they’ve gone.”

  “No.” She was already walking away from him, barefoot and furious. This would always be the way Jasper remembered her.

  He sighed and jumped to his feet. “We can’t just go in guns blazing. You can’t even wield fire if you don’t have Ignes.”

  “I never said that.”

  “Yes you did. Many times.”

  “That’s not how it works. If he’s using power and isn’t on me, he draws from my life force. It’s the same for me.”

  “So you’re saying that we’re going to walk into that village, you’re going to add more fire into the mayhem, and you’re going to pull the lifeforce out of your Phoenix, who might already be weak? You don’t see the issue here?”

  “I’m not adding anymore fire. I’m just using what’s there.” She turned her furious gaze towards him and stopped, pressing a hand against his bare chest. “Teleport us to the center of the village.”

  “We don’t know what’s there.”

  “I do. I looked through his eyes, and I saw exactly who’s there.”

  “And who is that?” Jasper asked, although he knew he wouldn’t get an answer. When she remained silent, he sighed and drew her firmly into his arms. “You’re going to be the death of me.”

  For a moment, sadness seeped from her pores. “I never said I wouldn’t be.”

  He teleported them immediately, because he didn’t want to know what her words meant. He couldn’t process her displaying such vulnerability now. There was a battle to be fought and won. The fewer distractions, the better.

  It was a good thing he set aside those concerns, as they teleported into Hell.

  Everything was ablaze. The smoke was so thick, he could barely inhale. And worst of all, the air was tainted with the smell of burning flesh.

  He tightened his hold upon Mercy and held a hand up to his mouth. “Here?”

  “Yes.”

  Her voice was the deep rumble of a volcano. It was the eruption of magma and the deafening roar that came after. He understood now that he had to let her go. Otherwise, he wasn’t certain he would come out alive.

  Jasper heard her raspy exhale of a breath as she stopped breathing entirely. He squinted into the light burning the back of his eyes. He couldn’t stop watching her. Everything that burned around her seemed to bend to her will.

  She lifted an arm and pushed back the heat. Some of the flames died instantly, while others leapt to the next fuel source as though carried on a gust of wind. From where they stood in the inferno, he was unable to see if anyone had survived.

  “Mercy!” he shouted. “Do you see anyone?”

  “Yes.”

  “Who is it?”

  “Him.” Her growled response was barely audible over the crackling flames. But he knew who she meant.

  He charged forward. “Mercy, no.”

  But he should have known she would not be commanded. She lifted her hands above her head and let out a war cry that would have put a Harpy to shame. And when the echoes of her screams died down, the flames parted to reveal a man they both hated.

  Malachi.

  He stood in the center of the camp, where Mercy and Jasper had danced only hours ago. The long tail of his braid was a silhouette against red fire. Jasper recognized the expression on his face as one of sheer glee. Malachi began to laugh when he saw Mercy striding towards him. Her, the tall Amazon with power and anger on her side. And him, the cold, cold man who underestimated the rage barreling towards him.

  Jasper followed on her heels, hoping he could prevent whatever was about to occur. He believed in her. She was stronger than anyone he had ever met before. Still, this battle would not end well for anyone.

  “Ah ah.” Malachi wagged a finger. “Careful. You wouldn’t want to lose anything important, now would you?”

  He lifted a gloved hand, from which a dark shape dangled. Mercy’s sharp inhalation confirmed Jasper’s fear; it was Ignes. Of course it was. Malachi had no qualms in using loved ones as leverage

  “Let him go.” Flames snaked around Mercy’s wrists.

  “I don’t think I will. Not until you listen to me.”

  “You have nothing to say.”

  “I do, and you have little choice.” Malachi’s hand curled harder around Ignes until Jasper could hear a soft shriek of pain. “Now, little Phoenix, you are very powerful. But I need to whisper something in your ear.”

  Jasper stepped forward. He even dared to put a hand against Mercy’s shoulder.

  “Don’t,” he warned her. “You cannot trust him.”

  Malachi laughed. “No, she cannot. You know that more than anyone, don’t you, Jasper? But the reality is this: I will kill this little Phoenix if she does not obey. I have no care over whether it remains alive or not. It’s better for me if it doesn’t. But if she does come to me willingly, they will both live.”

  Jasper’s eyes burned with hate as he locked gaze with the evil man. “You once told me that the only truth about you is that you lie.”

  “It makes it entertaining doesn’t it?” Malachi leaned forward with a grin that seemed jagged in the strong shadows.

  “We are not on your chessboard,” Jasper growled. He stepped forward aggressively.

  He wanted to protect Mercy. Jasper had always been the one to protect people, just like he had protected Lyra and the other people in his life. The strong had to protect the weak, or the balance of the world would be unbalanced.

  But he had somehow forgotten that Mercy was not one of the weak.

  She walked away from him as a pillar of fire. From where he stood, he could see the flesh burning off
of her body and revealing the molten core within. She was nothing more than cooled lava by the time she reached Malachi’s side. But more than that, he swore he could see the distinct outlines of wings growing from her spine.

  “Give him to me.” Her voice echoed.

  “In a moment.” Malachi grinned when her hand lashed out to grapple onto his arm. “Oh, Mercy. Did you think I wouldn’t come prepared? Water Elementals are painful to your kind, aren’t they?”

  Steam rose from their point of contact. Jasper could only hope that Mercy was close enough to Ignes that the creature was healing her. But Ignes was no longer moving in Malachi’s hand. The little lizard was limp and swung with every movement as Malachi gestured.

  “Come here.” Malachi ran a finger down Mercy’s cheek. “You are such a beautiful creature. It’s a shame you cannot be mine. But you have to pay for killing my men. Surely you knew that.”

  “I will kill you someday.” She uttered the oath as though it were a prayer. “That is a promise.”

  “Don’t make promises you cannot keep, child. They’re petty.” Malachi patted her cheek once more and lifted Ignes for her to see. “Now, I need to make certain you are no threat to me. It’s a shame you had to choose this path. It is not the one I would have chosen for you.”

  Malachi drew her into his arms in a mock embrace as he squeezed one last pitiful cry out of Ignes. Jasper could see Malachi press his lips where Jasper’s had been only moments before.

  He launched himself forward. Two Minotaurs caught his shoulders, but they were unprepared. Pink Fairy Dust hit them square in the face. Jasper’s wings beat at one while he grabbed the other by the head and twisted.

  More Minotaurs rushed him, five men pouncing to hold him down as Malachi disappeared into the smoke. They only released him when their leader had left. Jasper might have followed them if he hadn’t heard Mercy’s pained cry.

  Her hands cradled Ignes to her chest. The Phoenix was unmoving and frighteningly silent.

  Jasper stepped forward, but he did not know what he could do. Instead, he crouched in front of her as she cradled Ignes in her hands.

  “I’m sorry,” she said to the Phoenix as tears made of fire slid down her cheeks. “This never should have happened.”