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

sound healing had been such a threat, why had Healer Calla allowed me to perform the session?

What did Kresnik find so objectionable about a New Age treatment I performed all the time on humans?

The man was a puzzle, and no amount of thrall could distract me from wanting to uncover his secrets.

Sound healing was supposed to calm the energy body, and it had worked on smoothing out the jagged edges from where Kresnik had torn out my teammates’ magic. It was also supposed to remove negative attachments, but Kresnik had used me to connect with each of my team members—I had been the conduit for their power.

The breeze in my dreamscape shifted, and I rolled above the clouds. Had I stumbled onto something dangerous? It would explain why Kresnik wanted Valentine to kill me. Did it mean we each still had a kernel of the magic he had imbued in us from conception?

The clouds thinned, and my body drifted down, landing on the mattress with a gentle thud.

“How long do you intend to lie there when a maniac is plotting to take over the entire world?” the voice asked.

“Who is that?” I murmured.

“This is becoming rather tedious, don’t you think?”

Annoyance tightened my skin. Who did this voice think he was? And how had he gotten into the room when Valentine had said Kenwood House was inaccessible to all but Kresnik and his inner circle? My muscles spasmed as though trying to twitch awake, but a second later, they gave up, and I melted back into the mattress.

“Don’t go back to sleep,” the voice said, but it was too late.

I flew across the night sky on a silver spoon, among stars that twinkled like diamonds. A pearlescent moon shone down at me, its smile as wide as a cat’s. I wondered which human song or nursery rhyme my mind had stolen these images from, but the dreamscape dissipated into the breeze.

The next time I awoke, it was to an empty stomach that wouldn’t stop spasming and rumbling. I grimaced through the discomfort, and squeezed my eyes shut, not able to remember the last time I had eaten. Was it the morning of the ritual?

“Awake again?” the voice drawled.

“Get a life,” I muttered under my breath.

“Do you think I have nothing better to do than watch a cow slumber under the influence of vampire thrall?”

Annoyance tightened my skin, and I clenched my teeth. “I’m not a cow.”

“Really?” he drawled. “Because if it looks like a cow, gets fucked like a cow, and feeds a vampire like a cow, I guess it’s an upstanding young woman.”

“You’re a dick,” I muttered.

“Or a queen,” he said, drawing out the last syllable. “Wasn’t that what you were mooing about on the palace steps?”

My heart accelerated, pounding hard enough to rattle my ribs. Blood roared in my ears. Who was this asshole and what gave him the right to spy on Valentine and me? He even knew about what happened at the ball and was prepared to use that knowledge as a weapon.

I cracked an eye open to scan the room for the intruder, but all I found was the four-poster bed’s golden canopy. My gaze darted to the left, where orange flames danced within the fireplace, illuminating Kresnik’s portrait. On the right, pale sunlight streamed through the window from an overcast sky. I couldn’t tell if it was morning or evening, but it was time to deal with this pest.

“What are you, some kind of lecher?” I asked through clenched teeth. “Is your existence so bland that you have to spy on girls and offer up snarky commentary on their lives?”

“Please,” he said, his tone dismissive. “I’ve had an eternity of beauties, each far more dazzling than you. King Valentine fucks like he’s barely seen his first millennium.”

The tightening in my belly spread up my diaphragm, making it hard to breathe. My mind tumbled through my options. Was this Kresnik’s attempt to turn me insane so I hurt myself? Was this another of his schemes to engineer my death? Or had his shadow found a way to slither out of Hell along with his soul and was now infiltrating my room for revenge?

“Are you a ghost?” I asked.

“Hardly.”

“Kresnik or any of his offshoots?”

Jagged magic crackled against my skin. I’d offended him. Good.

“Of all the cows and all the Neutrals, why did the mighty Vampire King get degraded by the dullest?” he said.

The words slammed into me like a kick in the gut, making me flinch. How dare this wretched old man accuse me of ruining Valentine’s life?

“You don’t know anything about us,” I snarled.

“Enlighten me.”

My muscles tensed, and a burst of anger seared the edges off the thrall, bringing my mind back into sharp focus. What was this, some kind of reverse psychology? If he was so knowledgeable, why didn’t he work out the answer for himself? I shoved my elbows into the mattress, trying to push myself up. If this really was someone trying to drive me crazy, I would frustrate him until he buggered off.

Sparks crackled across my fingertips like tiny bolts of static as I shoved against the mattress, trying to get my muscles to cooperate.

“What did you just do?” he asked, all traces of superiority gone.

Ignoring him, I twisted around on the bed and pushed myself a few inches off the pillow. The crackling sensation spread over my entire hand, settling on my wrists.

“Get up,” he hissed.

“Why?” I rose onto my hands and knees, facing an ornate headboard of gold swirls. One more heave, and I would be off this bed.

“Just do as I say.” His voice quickened, rising several octaves.

I rose to my knees, threading my fingers through the swirls for balance. My muscles ached from the effort, and sweat beaded across my brow. Valentine needed to understand that this thrall of his was only making me vulnerable. If I’d had full control over my body, I’d have been able to walk out the moment the voice came a-snarking.

Eventually, I turned