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

force of the blow made Aurora spin around the room and land on a lit candle before falling onto the floor. I ran toward her but Kresnik grabbed the hood of my cloak and threw me onto my knees besides Healer Calla’s cooling corpse.

“Heal her,” he snarled.

I glanced in Aurora’s direction. Gail and Coral rushed to her side, as did a few others I guessed she had trained over the years.

“Now!” Kresnik threaded his fingers into my hair and gave my head a hard shake, bringing my attention back to Healer Calla.

“We need to take her to the infirmary,” I said between ragged breaths. “Maybe if we get some blood replenishers, we can call an ambulance—”

“Imbecile.” He released my hair and wrapped his large hand around the back of my head. “Use your flames.”

“But I don’t have—”

Kresnik snarled, his fingers digging into my skull. “Hemera Griffin, I have tolerated your lies and tricks and subterfuge for the sake of my precious general, but no more. If you continue the charade of hiding the magic that rightfully belongs to me, you will meet the same fate as your mother.”

My eyes rotated to the raging madman, whose eyes glowed with a fury that threatened to burn me from the inside out.

The worst part of this situation was that I hadn’t produced a single flame since Father Jude had stolen my magic. Even if all my power had returned to me, which was unlikely, I couldn’t—and wouldn’t use it to help a killer like Healer Calla.

Kresnik’s teeth lengthened into a mouthful of incisors, and Jonathan’s black flames rolled in the back of his mouth.

“Stop it!” a female voice yelled.

His face twisted into a snarl. “Who dares—”

“Me.” Her eyes glistened with tears, and her face contorted with anguish. “You were supposed to be helping us, but you’re just as bad as the vampires.”

Kresnik released me and bared his teeth. “Coral Sorrel.”

“Yes, I am.” She curled her hands into fists. “And if you really are our father as you claim, you’ll stop treating us like your personal stable of magic cows.”

Kresnik raised an arm and pulled back his wrist, producing a whip of flame.

“I’ve been tormented and tortured by vampires for the best part of my life.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Do you think that skinny little whip will scare me?”

He flicked forward, letting it arc through the air. My stomach lurched. Without thinking I reached for his arm, trying to pull the whip off course, but the lash wound four times around Coral’s neck.

She bared her teeth and snarled, revealing the same manic anger she’d demonstrated the time she attacked Lazarus.

Kresnik shoved me to the side, making me skid across the wooden floor on my ass. A cry tore from my lips. The first time with a flame whip didn’t hurt. I’d witnessed that myself when Father Jude had whipped Aurora because of Jonathan.

The whip tightened around Coral’s neck, but she stood tall, her features hardening. “Call that punishment? You’re weak.”

“Stop,” I sobbed.

The fire whip exploded into sparks, which wrapped around Kresnik’s neck. He bellowed a pained roar, and fell onto the floor, writhing with an agony I couldn’t fathom. I glanced from Coral to Kresnik, wondering what the hell was happening.

“Interesting,” Hades drawled.

“Stop this!” The thrashing tyrant wrapped his fingers around an invisible noose that continued to spark and cause him to choke.

Even more screams filled the air, and the people cowering against the walls huddled closer to form an impenetrable mass.

I stumbled to my feet, rushed to Coral, and grabbed the taller woman by the arms. “What did you do?” When she didn’t answer immediately, I gave her a hard shake. “What?”

“Nothing.” She stared at Kresnik through wide eyes, her bottom lip trembling with shock. “I don’t know what’s wrong with him.”

“Who is that woman?” Hades asked.

I released Coral’s arms and continued to Aurora, who lay on her side, with Gail stroking her hair. Racon knelt beside them both, clutching an unconscious Petra to his chest, with Clarence, Leman and a few others hovering behind them.

Claw marks marred the side of her face, revealing molten flesh that radiated heat and brimstone. Grief wrapped around my chest, squeezing all the air from my lungs and leaving me lightheaded. My legs trembled before buckling, and I landed beside Aurora on my knees.

“Mera,” Aurora croaked.

“I’ll get you to the infirmary.” My voice shook. “There’s still more of that aloe and Dharma salt. If we make a poultice—”

“Listen to me.” She grabbed my hand, holding it with the certainty of death. “This is the end.”

I clamped my mouth shut, the sorrow gnawing through my gut telling me that this situation was futile. The doors were still sealed shut, and even if I could get her to the infirmary soon, the fire beneath her skin might burn out before I even opened the cupboard and pulled out the first ingredient.

“Mother,” I said.

Tears shone in her eyes, and her lips trembled. She looked on the verge of saying something, but she hardened her features and croaked, “Kresnik has a weakness.”

I leaned in, my heart aching and on the verge of collapse. Kresnik’s pained bellows echoed across the room, drowning out the sounds of everyone’s screaming. I pressed my ear to her lips. “Tell me.”

“He is no god, as I failed to find his divinity,” she rasped. “He lost his immortal body when enforcers dragged him to Hell, and he lives on borrowed magic. Now he dwells within—”

Heat flared across my skin, and I drew back. Flames curled from Aurora’s lips, her eyes, her nostrils… even from the depths of her ears.

A sob caught in the back of my throat. Kresnik’s final punishment had burned her from the inside out.

Aurora was dead.

Chapter Twenty-Three

I stared down at Aurora. The top layer of her skin burned away, revealing the flesh beneath that glowed brighter than hot coals on a forge. The flames curling from her mouth and ears spread down her neck, setting everything on fire.

Grief