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

“Do you have a guarantee for me or will you let Kresnik gather enough power to restore himself into Prometheus?”

Hades snarled. “King Valentine was far too lenient with you last night. I would also have taken you from behind, but kept you screaming my name until you begged for release.”

“It’s a good thing that Valentine’s my fiancé then,” I snapped. “Sex with you must be so frustrating.”

Hades spluttered. “I’ve never left a woman unsatisfied.”

“I’m not entirely satisfied with the way this conversation is going,” I muttered.

“Fine,” he snarled. “My Hell ring is on the grounds, hidden beneath a pile of leaves. I threw it from my finger before my body burned.”

“So?”

“Its bearer rules the Fifth Faction of Hell.”

“But I thought you were the king of it all.” I slipped my hood over my head, preparing myself for a trip out of the house.

“Does Logris have a single monarch?” he asked with a sneer. “What about the human world? Over a hundred billion people have lived and died compared to the nearly eight billion that are alive today. Why would you think that a single being could rule them all?”

I headed for the door, bristling at his words. Now that he explained the numbers, it did seem naive to think Hades ruled an entire realm. That didn’t mean he had to be such a dick. If I had to guess, Hades had also lost his divinity and couldn’t return to frolic among the other Greek gods.

“Not everyone goes to Hell.” I pulled on the door handle.

“You’d be surprised how many we’re forced to admit,” he drawled.

“Do you rule Europe Hell, then?”

“My domain is worldwide,” he said, sounding like he was directly between my eardrums. “I rule over the Hell for supernaturals.”

A shudder ran down my back. He made it sound like the world was full of souls bound for eternal damnation. As soon as I stepped out into the hallway, Hades fell silent. I glanced over my shoulder, but the space between the door and the four-poster bed was empty. Either he’d buggered off or he’d turned himself invisible.

I continued down the hallway, casting a glance over the portraits of the bronze-skinned man with the sun shining through his hair. No wonder Kresnik had depicted himself as a god.

Hades didn’t make a sound as I continued down the marble-and-iron staircase, and my insides fluttered with the onset of nerves. He still needed to show me the location of his ring, so I could hold it as a guarantee that he would fulfill his end of our bargain.

With a few whispered instructions, Hades led me along the turquoise hallway and into an entrance hall of gray-and-black marble tiles arranged in concentric patterns around a circular table. A brass candelabra stood atop its surface with flames that flared to life upon my approach.

I staggered back, placing a hand on my chest. Was that thing watching me?

“Some places have ward stones that govern their security,” he whispered into my ear. “The Flame has fire. Extinguish those candles, and the wards will fall.”

Wax drizzled from its candles onto a large round coaster etched with ancient symbols. They were probably part of the ward system, too. I gulped, wondering if I should blow them out now or later.

“We’re not touching those flames until I get my body,” he snarled. “Is that understood?”

I nodded, silently adding that I also wanted Valentine restored before the Supernatural Council descended on Kenwood House. The last thing we needed was for someone to think he was an enemy and destroy his body.

At the double doors, I placed a hand on the brass handle and pushed, but it wouldn’t budge. Magic pulsed at my fingertips, inviting me to push back. I snatched my hand away. The moment I shoved fire magic into that ward would be the moment Kresnik realized my secret and subjected me to a ritual to steal the rest of my magic.

“If the door is sealed by magic, we’ll try a side exit,” said Hades. “Failing that, you can always walk down into the Flame and up through one of their exits.”

I inclined my head and continued down to a ballroom of eighteen-foot-high arched windows that overlooked Hampstead Heath. The men I’d spotted earlier in the day stood around a roaring fire that danced and billowed in the wind.

The exit at the end of the ballroom was a fire door that only required me to press down on a metal bar to open it. I stepped out, and a blast of tree-scented air blew over my cloak. If the wind was this strong, what would it do to all of Hades’ particles?

“Are you alright?” I whispered.

“Quite cozy, actually.” His voice echoed within the confines of my hood.

I stumbled forward. “When did you sneak into my cloak?”

“The real question is how much of me is swirling around your delectable body?”

“Where are you?” I stopped walking and grabbed the cloak’s fastenings, ready to tear it off and let him drift into the wind.

“In the hood,” he said with a chuckle. “Is there someplace you’d prefer me to linger?”

I curled my hands into fists. “If you so much as venture an inch below my neck, I’ll—”

“Calm yourself, Innamorata.”

“Don’t call me that,” I snapped.

“Touchy,” he crooned.

I squeezed my eyes shut, exhaling one calming breath after another. This wasn’t going to work. Hades didn’t take me seriously. Not even when he depended on me to help him reform his body. My hand rose to the bridge of my nose, and I tried to puzzle out how much we really needed him.

Kresnik had lost control of my power, which meant that it was returning to me. Without the firestone encasing my heart, it was only a matter of time before I could return to being a phoenix. Once I had that magic, I could find a way to take control of Valentine and make him lead me to his heart, then we could warn the Supernatural Council of Kresnik’s resurrection.

There were probably a hundred things