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

by the urge to see if the creature pressed against me tasted as good as she smelled.

Valentine smiled. “Feel the effect you have on me, Innamorata?”

I shook my head, my tongue sliding over a retracted fang. “Do you always want to consume me?”

“All the time.” His eyes hardened, and strands of flame-red hair caressed his porcelain cheek. “It’s a testament to your strength that I didn’t lose control and kill you while I was a preternatural.”

As he stepped away from me, my heart lurched, and every instinct screamed that Valentine belonged to me—he was mine. I stepped forward, wanting to pull him close, but he disappeared to the other side of the room.

“Where are you going?” I snapped.

He raised a little palm. “Let’s not get too excited until you learn how to operate the body of a vampire.”

With his scent no longer clouding my judgement, I also stepped back and frowned, not quite believing that switching bodies had turned me into someone so possessive. “You’d better go before I start craving more than your blood.”

As Valentine walked to the door, his steady heartbeat pulsing through my arousal and his red hair waving at me like a flag, I finally understood what it felt like to be a predator.

He pulled down the handle, stepped out into the hallway, where one of the guards from before awaited, and blew me a kiss.

I raised a hand, my heart aching at his absence. Something about that body called to mine. Maybe it was attraction or a soul connection. Whatever it was between us couldn’t be ignored. I walked to the other side of the room, sank onto the sofa, and searched for the remote control.

A menu appeared on the screen, offering an array of entertainment options—movies, TV shows, items from the Hatch, but no Supernet and no human television.

“Damnit.” I tapped my pocket, realizing I’d forgotten to take my phone.

The door opened, and the small guard from before slipped inside with a hand behind his back. He grinned, revealing a mouthful of gapped teeth. My brows drew together. His companion had called him Lieutenant Cien, but wasn’t he supposed to knock before entering?

“Good shag, Your Majesty?” he asked in a voice as oily as rancid butter.

I rose off my seat and fixed the pathetic little man with a venomous glare. “Who dares interrupt me?”

Cien raised his hand, revealing a small device that filled the room with red light. I tried lurching forward but got caught in the forensic magic that made it impossible to move.

“I have a message from Prince Draconius.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a white blade. “He wants you to prepare to die.”

Chapter Seventeen

The dial on my heart rate notched up to eleven, and I clenched my teeth, using all of Valentine’s vampire strength to break free of the enchantment, but it wouldn’t budge.

Cien advanced on me with tentative steps, wielding the dagger in front of him like a shield. Its ivory handle and near-transparent blade could mean only one thing—it was made of solid flame—the exact type of weapon that Valentine had used to commit suicide.

Rage coursed through my veins, burning much cooler than my usual hot fury. It made sense considering a vampire’s body wasn’t naturally attuned to fire.

“Don’t look at me like that, Your Majesty,” Cien said in that oily voice. “Prince Draconius said a scratch would be enough to do the job. You’ll heal, leave a pristine corpse, and in a few hours, you’ll rise from the dead.”

So that was his plan. To render Valentine preternatural again so he could charge in as the hero and gain favor with New Mesopotamia and the Supernatural Council?

A tight fist squeezed my heart, making my chest constrict. Did Prince Draconius also arrange an assassin for me? Valentine would be defenseless without his vampire strength.

Magic spun around my chakras, ready to burst out into my meridians to lash out at the cowardly assassin. He had to use forensic magic to hold down Valentine’s vampire strength. I forced my power down, waiting for him to get close enough to strike.

Cien stopped three feet away and rose onto his tiptoes, waving his hand over my face. “Just checking,” he said with a nervous chuckle. “It’s always hard to tell with vampires if these enchantments are actually working.”

How I wanted to strike out with a hand and wrap my fingers around his scrawny neck. With Valentine’s large hands, such a feat would be possible, but Cien edged forward, keeping his body pointed toward the door.

“One scratch,” he whispered to himself and double-checked the remote control keeping me rooted to the spot.

A growl rumbled from deep within my chest, making the assassin’s eyes bulge.

“Bloody hell,” he muttered under his breath. “I’m not cut out for this cloak and dagger shit.”

As he stepped toward me, the weapon slipped out of his fingers, skittering inches from his feet. Realization struck me upside the head with a slap. I was using Valentine’s powers of telekinesis, the same magic he’d employed to throw his brothers halfway across a mausoleum when they’d tried to drink my blood.

I focused on the dagger, making it slide closer. Cien needed to be a foot away for my fire attacks to work, but if I could make its blade rise off the floor, I might be able to give him the scratch.

The assassin’s fingers closed around the weapon’s handle. He rose to his feet, the pulse in his throat fluttering and his gaze drifting to the chain around my neck. “What’s this?”

My breath caught. Was he going to rob me of the engagement ring?

He stepped closer, raising his fingers toward my sternum with a gleam in his eyes that suggested he’d already planned how he would spend the gold he’d get for pawning my diamond.

Just as the scent of his nervous sweat stung my nostrils, I pushed every ounce of magic into my meridians, through my skin, and in an even larger blaze of fire than ever, I transformed.

Shock