Passion of the Vampire King (Blood Fire Saga Book 5) by Bella Klaus (read novels website txt) 📕

“That’s enough,” Captain Zella snapped.

I pressed my lips into a firm line, holding back a retort. He was right. Wizards and witches weren’t known for their desire to amass wealth, but not all of us lived in this kind of rookery.

The female enforcer opened the vehicle’s door, letting in a gust of fresh air. As everyone exited, I pushed myself off the back seat, stepped down into the street, and stared at the rookery. When people wanted to insult me at the Academy, they’d either tell me I’d end up living in the sewers or in a place like this.

I’d only seen a rookery from the outside, and my insides roiled at the prospect of stepping inside. If Aunt Arianna hadn’t been my caretaker, if I hadn’t gotten an internship and then a full-time job in Valentine’s property company, and if my life had been any different, I might have ended up here.

“Which one is it?” asked Captain Zella.

“I hope you’re not scared of heights.” The male enforcer pointed to the very top.

Captain Zella took the lead. “Foibles mean nothing when Kresnik has already infiltrated an important part of our infrastructure.”

All four of us trudged up the external staircase, which had no handrails or barriers between the steps and an ever-increasing drop. The doors here were half as narrow as average, and only a few of them had windows to let in the light. I tried peering inside, but the glass was opaque.

“What a shithole,” the male enforcer muttered.

The female enforcer grunted, but Captain Zella told them to be quiet.

I took the stairs two at a time, my body warming under the warmth of the morning sun. Sweat beaded on my scalp, and a cool breeze swirled around us, chilling the top layer of my skin. My fingertips trembled, not with a fear of heights or what we might find inside Coral’s apartment, but from the Panacea water wearing out.

Palpitations reverberated through my chest. I needed Valentine. Now. As I trudged upward, I dropped my gaze to the diamond ring on my finger. With a blast of magic, I would be at his side in an instant, but I also might end up in the middle of Kresnik’s breakfast or brunch briefings. After the stunt I pulled with Hades and his wards, I doubted that the monster would spare me for Valentine’s sake.

My pulse boomed between my ears, blocking out the sounds of the breeze. Every ounce of moisture evaporated from my throat, and I licked my dry lips, wishing I’d taken something from the breakfast table to stay hydrated.

As we ascended, the air became thinner, making my head spin. It was probably my imagination. We weren’t that high up because people who lived at the top of tower blocks breathed absolutely fine. I didn’t dare look down.

My steps slowed, and I placed a hand on the wall to steady myself, but got stung by a snap of magic.

“No vandalizing,” said a mechanical voice.

“How much longer?” someone groaned.

I couldn’t tell who had spoken because blood roared through my skull, screaming at me to get some thrall. My stomach twisted with the intensity of my craving. If it got any worse, I would spend the rest of the day curled into a ball until Valentine summoned me to Koffie.

After what felt like an eternity, we reached the very top, where the stairs leveled out to ring around a wall of tightly packed doors. I blinked away the fog in my mind, calculating that these interiors couldn’t be more than the size of closets.

Captain Zella turned to the enforcers and pointed at a door covered in chipped black paint. “This one?”

“That’s right.”

She rapped on the door, stepped back, and waited. The black paint melted and swirled, forming a demonic face that breathed a surge of dark magic that slammed into my chest.

Cold shock spread across my insides. I stumbled back and tumbled off the edge of the open stairs.

A scream tore from my lips as Captain Zella and the other two enforcers fell alongside me. As I plummeted toward my death, a pale face stepped out and peered down at us. This had to be Coral’s brother, but why had he attacked?

Chapter Twenty

I tumbled backward, the narrow doors and spiraling staircase whizzing past me as I plummeted off the ledge. My gaze fixed onto the face of the man peering down at us, who was probably the perpetrator of the attack.

Behind him was the sky, a pale expanse that stretched beyond my field of vision. Would this be my last sight before I hit the ground? I didn’t dare turn toward the street. We were probably tumbling toward the enforcers’ vehicle.

Cold terror squeezed my lungs, robbing me of air. If I didn’t do something now, I would die. Adrenaline surged through my system, forcing magic out of my chakras and into my meridians. I pushed out my power and flames erupted from beneath my cloak, halting my fall.

Turning around, I surged down, reached out a hand for Captain Zella, who wrapped her fingers around mine with a sharp tug.

“How are you doing this?” she asked, her voice breathy with terror.

“My fire magic.” I glanced over her shoulder, where the male and female enforcers flailed through the air. “Let’s save the others.”

Without waiting for her reply, I continued downward toward them, but an invisible force tugged at my ankle and yanked Captain Zella and me back toward the top of the building. My stomach lurched, and I drew in a noisy gasp. This was worse than any type of elevator because we could see our surroundings.

The other enforcers also surged upward from beneath us and landed at the top of the stairs.

Captain Zella and I returned to the landing to find the man standing in his doorway, clad in a baggy t-shirt with a curry stain down its front. He wore a pair of baggy Bermuda shorts that looked as though