Bonds of the Vampire King (Blood Fire Saga Book 7) by Bella Klaus (reading e books .txt) 📕

back of her hand on my temple, the way she did when checking for a fever. “Is there something wrong?”

Valentine reached across the table and took the menu from my loose fingers. “Focus on your aunt. I’ll order us an all-day brunch.”

As he walked to the other side of the apartment, I dropped my gaze to my lap, drawing so much air into my lungs that I felt they might burst. “So much happened these few weeks that it’s hard to know where to begin.”

“Start with when I spoke to you in your cell,” she said.

All the breath in my lungs whooshed out with a sigh of relief. That part of the story was easy. With a nod, I told her how I’d almost escaped but got caught and used my engagement ring to reach Valentine in the palace’s mausoleum.

After skimming over the part where the blood lure curse turned Valentine’s brothers into feral beasts, I turned to Aunt Arianna and met her wide eyes. “There wasn’t enough power to generate any flames, and that’s how Valentine got to rise as a preternatural.”

Her shoulders sagged. “This is my fault.”

Valentine emerged from the kitchen area with a huge tray and set it on the low table. “If you hadn’t masked Mera’s fire magic, my colleagues would have had her executed.”

And Hades would have taken possession of my soul. Without the chance to get to know me as a person, he would have forever considered me a fascinating beast to be kept within a golden cage.

The mingled scents of savory food and warm chocolate filled my nostrils, and my stomach gurgled with the reminder that I hadn’t eaten in ages. Valentine’s all-day brunch turned out to be a massive tray crammed with dishes. In one quarter, eggs baked in saucer-sized mushrooms sat in a bed of steamed chard and rosemary-roasted potatoes and roasted tomato halves.

In another section sat perfectly formed varieties of eggs Benedict, some with slices of ham, others with smoked salmon, and some with spinach. My mouth watered at the selection. I reached for the third quarter containing avocado toast and selected a piece topped with asparagus, red onions, and cherry tomatoes.

Aunt Arianna picked up a chocolate-covered Belgian waffle from the fourth quarter and exhaled a long sigh. “The faeries I bargained with must have ended the enchantment to give you the use of your magic after I disappeared.”

I bit down on my toast, my eyes bulging. “You owe faeries money?”

The corners of her lips turned down. “It’s as His Majesty says. They couldn’t catch you with fire magic or you’d die. Since I already had an escape route to Atlantis, I made a deal to save you that I’m incapable of repaying.”

“Which is why you never returned to Logris?”

She nodded. “Faeries can be quite vengeful creatures. At least here in Atlantis, everyone is afforded a level of privacy from pursuers.”

“How much do you owe?” asked Valentine.

Aunt Arianna’s cheeks turned pink. “I couldn’t possibly divulge—”

“I insist on paying,” he said in a voice of steel. “We would like you to attend the wedding and be part of our family.”

Now it was my turn to flush. After all the disasters that happened since getting engaged, I’d forgotten about walking down the aisle in a fancy dress. I placed a hand on Aunt Arianna’s, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Please. When Logris is safe again, I’ll need you close.”

She bit down on her waffle, eating it with slow, deliberate chews the way she always did when thinking through a problem.

I held my breath. Aunt Arianna was an independent witch, frugal with her money, and took care of us both without needing charity. She’d never borrowed anything over the years—not even a cup of sugar. Relying on Valentine to pay off her debts had to sting, considering she didn’t trust vampires, but I hoped she would push aside her pride and accept his help.

“My children will need to know their grandmother,” I said.

“Alright,” she said, her voice choked with emotion. “I’ll write down the amount after brunch.”

“And the name of the faerie who holds your bargain,” Valentine added.

She nodded and took another bite of her waffle. “Thank you. It’s reassuring to know Mera has a fine protector.”

Warm gratitude filled my chest, and I exhaled my relief. Aunt Arianna had always disapproved of my relationship with Valentine, saying that high-ranking supernaturals only had one use for innocent young Neutral girls. Maybe she was starting to warm to Valentine after all.

I pressed a kiss on her cheek. “Thanks for helping with the safe house in Notting Hill.”

“It was mostly thanks to His Majesty and his staff.”

“I told you to call me Valentine,” he said.

Nodding, Aunt Arianna shifted in her seat. “I mostly worked alongside Kain and Caiman, who helped me source large quantities of firestone, and I made additions to the wards to stop your magic from burning the place down.”

I nodded, remembering digging up the ward stone wrapped with my hair.

She twisted around in her seat and met my gaze with a frown. “How did you find Aurora and convince her to help unlock your magic?”

“It’s a long story.” I bit down on my avocado toast.

“We have enough time, don’t we?” She glanced at Valentine, who nodded. “Tell me everything.”

My gaze swept across the table, where he’d laid out three teacups and a bone-china pot that matched the apartment’s pale decor. There was no point in telling Aunt Arianna the sanitized version of events that Hades had shared with the Supernatural Council. She had a way of sniffing out lies that rivaled an Inferno hound.

Pouring out three cups, I continued my story from the point where we arrived in Kresnik’s derelict mansion, telling her about Jonathan’s attempt to abduct me, teaming up with him to rescue what I’d thought was the rest of the coven, to finally meeting the residents of the Flame.

Aunt Arianna barely touched her waffle, only taking a sip of tea when I took a bite of my brunch. She stared