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

He didn’t answer except to bristle.

Ignoring him, I continued, “Sometimes, you’re going to ask me to do something, and other times, I’ll ask you. We’re in a hurry right now, so excuse me if I don’t mind my P’s and Q’s in front of demon royalty, but I really need you to look at the hallway so I don’t get caught by Kresnik. You know, so he doesn’t confiscate the jars and drop them in the ocean?”

He didn’t reply for several moments, and I bit down on the inside of my cheek, holding back a rant. Two weeks ago, he was sentencing me to death, followed by an eternity in Hell. Days later, he had me trapped in the Supernatural Council, wanting to crack me open to keep my fiery soul as a pet. I got that following my instructions was a step down but he needed to understand that he wasn’t a king right now—just a floating pile of ash.

“Since you asked so nicely, nobody in the corridor is giving me cause to believe they’re approaching the infirmary,” he said with a sniff.

I let his haughty tone drift over me like an accidental fart and stepped out of the bathroom. After jogging across Healer Calla’s bedroom, I eased myself into the infirmary’s reception area and dusted myself off. That had gone a lot smoother than I’d anticipated, but my fingers still trembled, and my heart still thrashed against my ribcage.

“Look lively,” Hades said. “The old woman is coming back.”

“With him?” I asked.

“Alone.”

I strode into Aurora’s room, where the steam had cleared. She still lay on her front, with Dharma salt piled on her back. It was now a sickly yellow, bordering on orange, having absorbed the heat of her wounds. Some of the tension around my chest loosened, and I exhaled my relief. Maybe she might be able to rest.

My gaze dropped to the jug. The sweet tea I had made was gone, leaving half the ice. I rushed to the jug of warmer tea to replenish her drink.

“Thank you,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion. Tears shone in her eyes, making my chest tighten. “The pain is just about bearable.”

“That’s wonderful news,” I murmured. “I’m so glad it’s working.”

“Is this something you learned from Arianna?” she asked.

I picked up the tea and stirred the mix with a wooden spoon, letting the honey rise to the surface. This was the first time Aurora had shown an interest in my life besides the development of my power.

“Aunt Arianna showed me the basics, but I trained under a Master of Crystals, who taught me herbal medicine.”

Aurora exhaled a long sigh. “Thank your master on my behalf. She did a wonderful job.”

My throat thickened. I wanted to tell Aurora she could travel down to Mayfair herself and visit Istabelle. Istabelle probably knew a better way to remove the heat simmering under Aurora’s skin, but something in the tone of the woman’s voice said she wasn’t expecting to ever leave the Flame.

I poured the rest of the tea mixture into the jug of ice and pushed the straw toward Aurora, so she could drink.

The door opened behind us, and soft footsteps shuffled inside. There wasn’t any point in turning around, seeing as Hades had already warned me about who was coming.

Healer Calla cleared her throat. “Our Lord would like you both in attendance for this evening’s meeting in ritual room one.”

I nodded and turned back to Aurora, who had stopped drinking. With a hand on her shoulder, I gave her a gentle pat, encouraging her to continue.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the outline of Healer Calla hovering around the door. She clasped her hands together, standing there like a wraith and not speaking until I glanced over my shoulder and forced a smile.

“Thank you.” I met her gaze, trying not to cringe as the woman leaned forward with her lips parted. Right now, I didn’t care to interpret the expression. I just wanted her gone. “Was there anything else?”

She smiled back. “Nothing at all.”

I continued gazing at the woman until she retreated out of the room and closed the door with a soft click.

“She’s jealous,” Aurora rasped.

I turned to meet her half-lidded eyes. “Of what?”

“Healer Calla believes every child born in the Flame belongs to her, even though no one has heard of her ever having given birth.”

I brought a small trash can over to the side of the bed, lifted off the gauze, and tossed away the tainted Dharma salt. All traces of redness across her back had gone, leaving behind thick whitened scabs. I had little experience with severe burns, let alone those inflicted by fire whips, but it looked like she was healing.

After applying another layer of my burn salve, more gauze, and the rest of the Dharma salt, Hades’ power crackled across my hand, indicating that it was time to leave.

“I didn’t have any breakfast this morning, so I’m going to see if there’s anything in the refectory…”

“Don’t leave,” she said.

My brows drew together. “What’s wrong?”

“I know how to restore your power.”

A breath caught in the back of my throat. Had Kresnik confided in her about his waning phoenix flames, had she guessed I was already taking my magic back, or none of the above?

My tongue darted out to lick my lips. Just because Kresnik had whipped her, that didn’t mean she had turned against him. I didn’t need Hades whispering a warning in my ear to know I had to exercise caution. People in this community had an inexplicable amount of loyalty to that tyrant, even in the face of his most horrific abuse of their young people.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

She beckoned me closer, keeping it up until my ear was level with her mouth. “When you transformed, the firestone that encased your heart dropped to the floor of the ritual room. I picked it up and slipped it into the pocket