Thrall of the Vampire King (Blood Fire Saga Book 4) by Bella Klaus (elon musk reading list .txt) 📕

as it clicked shut behind her, I slipped my fingers into the pocket of my cloak. A leather tome lay atop the reaper dagger, but there was no sign of Valentine’s dome. My brow furrowed, and I examined the next pocket only to find it empty.

Cold shock punched me in the gut, knocking all the air out of my lungs. Valentine’s heart was missing.

He must have taken out the dome while I’d been recovering from the effects of his thrall. He must have given it to Kresnik. If Kresnik now had Father Jude’s memories, he would know the importance of that heart. Hell, his two henchwomen would have told him anyway.

Shudders ran down my spine, and tears stung the backs of my eyes. How on earth was I going to save Valentine when I didn’t have his heart?

I swallowed several times in quick succession, trying to process the extent of our predicament. The Supernatural Council would recover from its recent defeat, and they would return with an army of ward breakers and every enforcer—demon, angel, and otherwise—that they could muster. I didn’t want Valentine fighting on the losing side or any side at all.

It didn’t matter that Kresnik wielded the power of a phoenix and a dragon and an ifrit. His numbers were limited to the few hundred people within the Flame, and the Supernatural Council had allies all over the world, such as Valentine’s family in New Mesopotamia. They could draw upon the power of legions.

A knock sounded on the door. My head snapped up, and I turned in its direction to find Coral stepping into the room. She wore a pinafore dress that ended at the knee and stepped in with her shoulders slumped.

“Healer Calla said you were here.” She rubbed her temple.

I gestured at the empty chair. “How are you doing?”

“Not as bad as you.” She lowered herself into the seat and rolled her shoulders.

“Thanks to these blood stabilizers, I’m feeling a little more like myself.” My gaze dropped to the red spheres rolling about in the box. If I ate two a day, there might be enough to last me three months.

We sat in silence for several moments. I wasn’t sure if Healer Calla or Aurora had brought her here to find out what I would say. Of all the people in the Flame, I trusted her and my other teammates the most, since we’d all been robbed of our power. That night, none of them gave me the impression they were handing it over in service of their lord.

“Did you know what the ceremony would do?” I asked.

The corner of her mouth curled into a smile. “What? That I’d been fathered by a combined entity, infused with an immense power, and left to suffer and simmer for twenty-five years? Then when I finally mustered up an ounce of purpose and self-respect, it would get taken away?”

A sad laugh bubbled from the back of my throat. “Good point.”

“So…” She reached into the collar of her jacket and scratched. “We’re sisters.”

I turned to her and smiled. “Strange, isn’t it?”

Coral nodded. “Did your family ever mention your father?”

I shook my head. “You?”

“Nope.” She rocked back and forth on her chair, and rubbed her shins. “My mom died in childbirth, leaving me with an older brother who acted like I was the biggest burden since Sisyphus got forced to roll that boulder up a hill.”

My brows drew together. Coral never used to fidget so much. “Sorry.”

With a snort, she ran a hand through her hair and paused to scratch her scalp. “I used to think this place was a holiday camp. It looks like we just paid the check.”

Swallowing back a surge of emotion, I bit down hard on my lip. That was the most accurate portrayal of our situation I’d heard since Kresnik handed me to Valentine as a reward.

“What happened to your face?” Her eyes narrowed.

My hand drifted up to the bridge of my nose, but I forced it down. “I fell.”

“Did you?” She drew out the last syllable.

My heart jumped into the back of my throat. I know what she was implying. She thought Valentine had hurt me, the way that those vampires had hurt her. If I insisted on the truth, it would sound like I was covering up for him. If I told her things were different with Valentine, it would sound like I was lying to myself.

I exhaled a long sigh. “That’s what happens when you try to roll out of bed under the influence of thrall.”

Her features softened. “Do I know that feeling.”

“Is there an antidote to thrall?” I asked, my chest tightening with dread. If she said no, I wasn’t sure how I would react.

“Apart from finding a stronger vampire to tell him to back off?” She shook her head and scratched the back of her neck. “Nothing else ever worked.”

My breath hitched, and a surge of nausea rose to the back of my throat. I pressed my lips together, tamping down the disappointment, and let my gaze drift around the bare room. “What are you doing here, anyway?”

“We still feel like shit since that ritual,” she said. “Without our magic, it’s been constant butterflies in the stomach and ants crawling under my skin. I’ve thrown up twice.”

“Oh.” I placed a hand on my belly. At least that explained her scratching. “That’s what it is? I thought it was general anxiety.”

“Nope.” She rose to her feet. “Want to see the others?”

I stepped off the examination table and followed Coral out of the treatment room. Racon and the twins sat on a bench on the left side of the door, while Gail sat with Clarence on the right. Healer Calla frowned over a leather tome she’d placed on the counter and leafed through its pages.

Most of my teammates rubbed their arms, and some of them scratched, looking like they were infested with parasites.

I leaned into Coral and whispered, “When did these symptoms start?”

“The morning after,” she muttered.

Coral didn’t need to elaborate. The