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

Act would be punishable by death. It’s possible that the light mage could have come from overseas.”

“What’s everyone in Logris going to think? She looks exactly like a phoenix. How many people will consider that she didn’t burn the stage or melt the pole?”

The Shifter King grunted his approval. “Be thankful that you have alibis. Before the music stops, our enforcers will have that wench in magical cuffs.”

I glanced at the teapot, and thoughts of Lydia rolled to the front of my mind. The young woman knew her king better than I did and had warned me not to interfere, but I couldn’t sit back enjoying the food she must have brought without saying anything that might make him look favorably on her.

“Thanks for the afternoon tea.” I raised the hotdog. “This is the best I’ve ever had.”

Puffing out his chest, Beowulf slipped his thumbs into his belt and preened. “Shifter hospitality is more about substance than style.”

“These burgers are really good,” Kain said around his mouthful.

“Who made this?” I asked. “A faerie chef?”

“One of my shifters,” he said with a broad grin.

“Wow.” I shook my head. “What I wouldn’t do for someone like that to make me food every day.”

His smile faltered, and he walked out of the room without a word.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Kain leaned into me and asked, “What was that about?”

I glanced in the direction of the closed door. Shifters’ ears were almost as good as vampires, and I couldn’t risk Lydia’s safety by gossiping about her. Instead, I mumbled something about how the afternoon teas I’d had in London couldn’t measure up to what we were served here.

Kain picked up a teapot and held it up in question. I positioned a cup for him to fill and then another.

“How long am I staying here?” he asked.

“Until Valentine gets out of prison,” I answered.

“I can’t believe they jailed him.”

My gaze rose to the screen, where the phoenix spread out her wings and shook her shimmy. “It’s not like the cameras caught any clear footage of him flying after Kresnik and me.”

“Maybe that’s why they’re punishing him.”

“Huh?” I poured milk into my cup and turned to meet his glower.

“He’s not a normal vampire anymore, is he? He’ll be able to do more than just fly, and they’re all worried about how much more powerful he’s become since returning from the dead.”

I took a long sip of tea, its slight citrusy scent telling me that it was Earl Grey. “If that was the reason, wouldn’t they have arrested him after Kresnik disappeared? Why wait until now?”

“My politics professor explained the unspoken hierarchy of the Supernatural Council.” Kain reached for the tongs and placed two slices of lemon into his tea. “The Angel and Demon Kings are the most powerful because their species are the oldest now that gods are obsolete.”

“You mean nobody worships them?” I asked.

He nodded. “Even if they have immortal bodies, they still can’t do much more than the most powerful angel or demon.”

The music rose to a crescendo, and I glanced up at the screen. Sarah the phony phoenix turned her feathery back to the camera and twerked her fiery tail feathers. I rolled my eyes and reached for the top layer of the tiered plate, letting my fingers hover over the coffee cake before selecting the chocolate fudge.

“Kresnik said he created humans.” I bit down into the richest, gooiest chocolate cake this side of Hell and hummed my appreciation. “After that, he turned a select few into shifters, vampires, witches, and mages. If the Supernatural Council believes that, I suppose angels and demons would consider themselves superior to the other races.”

Kain nodded. “My Supernatural History professor said they evolved from a different set of gods than the Greeks. Now that Valentine is something else, his colleagues probably don’t know what to do with him.”

“I hope you’re wrong,” I muttered under my breath.

“Me too, but let’s see if they invent an excuse to keep him behind bars when the seven days are up.” He bit into a mini hotdog, washing it down with a swallow of tea.

I stared at Kain’s profile, marveling at the depth of his knowledge about the Supernatural World. Having tutors and access to a king didn’t hurt, but it looked like Valentine was doing a great job in grooming him for leadership.

“Has anyone said when you’ll be able to join the academy?” I asked.

“Blasphemer,” a voice roared over the sound of the music.

I stiffened, my gaze snapping to the screen. Sarah fell onto the stripper pole, her wings outstretched as though held up by an invisible force.

“Those enforcers don’t mess around,” Kain muttered.

A shudder ran down my spine. “I don’t think enforcers would—”

The camera panned out to reveal an ifrit stalking across the television studio, his feet melting holes into the linoleum floor.

Kain shuffled forward in his seat. “Is that—”

“Kresnik.” The word fell out of my mouth like a curse. He’d escaped. Escaped after less than three days behind the ninety-nine wards. Escaped and wanted to lash out at the faker pretending to be his creation. With hands that wouldn’t stop trembling, I set the teacup down on its saucer.

“Should we call someone?” he whispered.

“Yes,” I said, but my hands made no move to my phone. Maybe terror had taken control of my limbs—maybe it was a morbid curiosity about what Kresnik would do next. Maybe I couldn’t move until I’d seen Sarah punished for doing something that could potentially earn me a permanent cell not nearly as nice as Valentine’s.

One of the studio employees rushed up to Kresnik, holding a mic. Why, I had no idea, when his bellow had been loud enough to fill our speakers. Kresnik shot out a fiery arm, knocking the man several feet in the air. He landed in a twisted heap, his headphones melting onto the floor.

A security guard approached Kresnik with his palms up and said something I couldn’t hear through the new-age music. Kresnik flicked his wrist, making