The Blood Reader

The Blood Reader Chapter 10

Hi, everyone!!!  If you are looking to enter a contest based solely on content and not a popularity contest then please come check out the comment_squad  and the Majestic Awards!!!

This chapter is dedicated to MyraWards and if you love a good love story (don't we all) then please read and show some serious love to Sing for Me and All My Loves (GO A-TEAM GO)!!!

The tinny music boomed across the breadth of the room, echoing off the high walls and glass windows. Everything and everyone shook, whether they wanted to or not. Karam escorted me arm in arm, to the center of it all.

A few blue couples nearby raised their hands in the air, swaying in time to the rhythmic beat. Karam mimicked their actions, and within seconds gray fumes began flowing from beneath his tailored clothes to merge with the listless white smoke as it coiled around our knees. It was harmless enough until something slimy slithered against my skin.

My body automatically jumped back while I stared at the growing haze, unblinking. "What was that?"

Karam chuckled loud enough for everyone close to notice. "This is your first Oblar, I take it?"

I had no idea what he was talking about, but oddly that was fast becoming the pattern for this evening. "An Oblar...that's?" I stopped myself as Karam raised a perfectly triangular arched navy eyebrow. "Right. It's my first."

"Well, then it's entirely understandable that all of this would be a little unnerving." He spun me a couple of times on the tips of my high heel, and I fell off balance, smashing into something hard and moving.

"Luckily, she won't have to worry about that for too much longer," Garreth countered while settling me upright. His strong hands lingered on me, overwhelming my already confused senses. "Isn't that right, Astra?"

Something nipped at my calf, and I flinched. The force sent me straight into Garreth's chest again. "Something just bit me!"

Karam bent down, swatting the fog away from our lower extremities as it continued to rise. If this kept up, pretty soon this cloud would devour me and everyone else whole.

He stood, puffing out his mid-section to the point the light blue buttons on his shirt bulged and popped open. "Astra? I thought you said your name was Alana?"

Shouldn't he have been more worried that his shirt was coming undone than my name? "Um, yeah. Ummm." I shot Garreth a help me look.

He offered a one shoulder shrug and forced me to stand even with him. "Astra? Alana? Close enough, don't you think?"

"If you say so...?"

"I'm Garreth." He added a deep bow that sent his long brown hair flopping forward. "An ambassador from the Laumeier realm. Here as a guest of your governor tonight."

Even though I'd just met this "Garreth" a little while ago, the slight wavering in his voice gave him away. There was no doubt in my mind that he was lying.

Karam shook his head. He didn't believe Garreth either. "I wasn't aware of any other dignitaries in attendance tonight."

"Oh yes." Garreth carefully stalled. Without drawing attention to himself, he sneaked something from his pocket only a few seconds before the muffled crackle of glass as it broke, pierced the air. A faux forced cough later, and a glowing, bloody mist blew from Garreth's hand to Karam's face.

Vibrant red blotches speckled the surface of his blue skin momentarily. It seeped into the pores and disappeared altogether.

"I was added to the guest list just today." Garreth continued with an amused grin.

Karam's incessant head shaking was lasting for far too long. Then it stopped when his eyes glazed over, no longer appearing blue but now a milky white.

"Yes, of course." Karam's open mouth emitted the words. Only Garreth was the one whispering them as well. He was controlling the blue man. But how?

"Run along and forget this conversation ever took place," Garreth replied calmly. "Or that you ever met Astra."

I waited until Karam was out of earshot before saying, "You didn't have to do that to him. Whatever you did."

"Probably. But." Garreth's much darker--angrier--eyes pierced mine. "It's best not to draw attention to ourselves, don't you think?"

I huffed and took a couple of strides toward the exit. I needed to clear my fuzzy head and to think—logically. Not like this. Not with Garreth compounding my easily bewildered state.

___________________________________________

It's a little short but there is another update all primed and ready to go for Friday!

Please remember to vote/comment and let us know what you think!

XOXO