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

the surface, inhaled a deep breath, and exhaustion overtook my senses.

After what felt like hours, a hand shook me awake. It was Coral, staring down at me through stricken eyes. All the nausea had gone, replaced by the invigoration of a good night of sleep.

“What’s happened?” I pulled myself up to sitting and yawned.

“Healer Calla needs your help.” Her voice shook. “Some of the others returned from the mission in a terrible state.”

My mouth dropped open, every remnant of sleep vanishing from my mind. I jumped down from the bed, holding out my arms for balance. “Let’s go.”

Coral pushed open the door, letting in groans and coughs and cries of pain. A dozen injured bodies lay on the floor of the reception area, each looking on the verge of death. The nearest man bled so much from a chest wound that his denim jacket and sweater had turned red, and the man next to him had his throat cut but still managed to rasp for help.

I clapped a hand over my mouth to suppress a gasp. Standing around the walls were others with less life-threatening wounds. A woman with cropped hair as red as mine clutched a bloody stump and leaned against a man holding a hand over his eye.

“What on earth happened?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

They’d been sent unprepared into Logris to retrieve their targets, and they’d faced the wrath of trained enforcers with magic.

Healer Calla glanced up from the other side of the room where she knelt in front of a slender young woman, holding both hands over her heart chakra. “Mera, check for pulses and any other vital signs. Call me immediately if someone is fading.”

Coral hurried to the middle of the room, indicating with a sweep of her hand that she would work toward me.

I dropped to my knees, still trying to puzzle out the point of sending these people to their deaths, only to bring them back injured. Despair hovered above us in a cloud thick enough to make me choke and the sounds of pain continued to fill my ears.

My gaze skipped over the first two men, whose situation was dire but who were still alive. The third man lay with his ebony eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling. I placed my fingers over his pulse and nothing resounded back.

“Healer Calla,” I yelled. “He’s faded.”

The old woman scrambled to her feet and hurried to my side, panting hard. “Is he still alive?”

I placed my hand over his crown and heart chakra and concentrated. “His heart isn’t beating, but his magic is still there.”

“Alright,” she said with a sigh. “Push your awareness into his heart chakra.”

I glanced over my shoulder at the empty shelf. “But I need quartz to channel magic.”

“Healer Calla,” Coral shouted from the middle.

The old woman rose to her feet and hurried to Coral, leaving me not knowing what the hell to do next. I was back to being a Neutral, and nowhere near as powerful as before. It was one thing to shift the power of a crystal into a person’s body, but I didn’t have enough to bring a dead person back to life.

Despair curled around me like smoke, but I shook off those thoughts. No patient ever got better if a healer gave up on them before they’d even started. I tried pushing my magic into my hands, but a jagged power approached, making every muscle in my body stiffen.

“Stand aside,” said a sharp voice.

My head snapped up, and I met the blazing eyes of Kresnik. I rose to my feet and backed away from the man, waiting to see if he could help.

Kresnik flicked out his hand and produced a blazing sword, making all the injured people around the infirmary gasp. He sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth and plunged the sword in the man’s heart. After leaving it there, he strode along the line of casualties to where Healer Calla crouched beside Coral.

Smoke curled around my senses, making my spine tingle. A large hand wrapped around my bicep and pulled me into the corner.

Valentine’s larger body formed a barrier around mine, and he stared down at me with flashing eyes. “I told you to stay in our room.”

“Then you should ask your lord to stop sending his henchwoman to drag me out of bed.” I yanked my arm out of his grip, but it tightened. “Let go of me.”

Valentine leaned into me, filling my sinuses with the mingled scents of woodsmoke and red wine. I backed into the corner, trying to put as much distance between us as I could, but he drifted closer, filling my senses with his presence.

My throat dried. What the hell was he doing? People out there were on the brink of death—some of them had even died—and Valentine was chastising me for not following his commands? I raised my chin, forcing myself to meet his gaze, daring him to mesmerize me with those violet pupils.

“What are you doing to me?” I hissed.

“Do you want to end up like those people lying on the ground?”

I flinched away from his dark eyes. “What are you trying to say?”

Valentine bared his teeth and scowled. It was the kind of glower that told me to use my common sense.

“You knew this would happen?” I whispered.

“General Sargon,” a voice shouted.

He released my arm and stepped back, giving me a glare of warning before he turned away. I stared at Valentine’s broad back as he walked toward Healer Calla. The old woman stood beside Kresnik, her features ashen.

“Everybody clear out and form an orderly line outside,” she said in a monotone.

As the injured people piled out into the hallway, I backed toward Father Jude’s old door and wrapped my arms around my middle. This situation was becoming more and more curious with each passing revelation. Kresnik stealing people’s magic, sending them to their deaths, then allowing them to return so he could save the day by healing them?

My gaze dropped to the