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

the air, charging at Valentine with his hands outstretched, but Valentine made a jab that had the preternatural somersaulting backward.

“Get on the bus,” Valentine said.

I shook my head. “They can’t hurt me.”

“Perhaps not, but you need to preserve your magic for the real fight.” A dark figure rose from beneath the snow and grabbed Valentine by the neck. They both flew through the air in a rapid spin.

Swallowing hard, I jogged to the bus. My presence here was a distraction.

In the blink of an eye, November appeared in front of me with his arms outstretched. “Where are you going?”

I clenched my teeth and lunged at him with my flaming hands. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

He swept out an arm, raising my feet off the ground and flinging me into the air with his magic. I tumbled several feet across the courtyard, my stomach shriveling with dread.

“Mera!” Valentine’s strong arms wrapped around my middle, and he set me on my feet.

“Don’t touch me.” I pulled my flames back into my body and whirled around, my heart aching at the damage he must have sustained from touching me.

Red burns glowed on his beautiful features, made even more vivid in the double-decker’s headlights. In seconds, they faded around the edges and receded. The panic in Valentine’s eyes vanished, and he held on to my shoulders with his gloved hands.

“Transform.” His fingers tightened around me. “Nobody can truly hurt you as a being of fire.”

“Promise you won’t touch me again when I’m like this,” I said. “Not even with protective armor.”

He gave me a sharp nod and backed away. “Do it now.”

I focused on my wings, my beak, my talons, and pushed out my magic once more. When I shifted, I raised my wings, only to find that I once again had arms.

Valentine nodded and surged into the sky, leaving me in the middle of the courtyard with the soothing voice of Annie Chong reciting a butchered version of the Lord’s Prayer through the speakers.

The flames around my throat stiffened. That was the second time I’d turned into an ifrit without meaning to. Had Kresnik completely stolen my phoenix, or was my body reverting to this form because it was closer to my regular body and easier to attain?

The battle continued around me, with streams of wind and magic slicing through the air as the preternatural vampires fought their supernatural counterparts. Snow melted underfoot, evaporating into clouds of steam with my every step. This time, when I reached the double-decker’s doors, nobody blocked my path.

I turned to the sky, where Valentine and November fought with swords at a speed I could barely follow with my eyes.

“My Lady?” Caiman said from behind. “His Majesty wishes you aboard the bus and safe.”

“Right.”

The butler rapped on the window, and the door folded open with a hiss.

“After you.” He swept out an arm.

I trudged up the steps, not melting or warping anything, and stared out at the battles taking place through the window. The mercenaries Valentine had hired now fought back-to-back in teams of three against black-clad figures.

“More preternaturals?” I murmured.

“I’m afraid so, My Lady,” replied the butler. “At the last count, there were eighty-four, with new arrivals each passing minute.”

The doors of the bus hissed closed, and I arranged the reaper cloak over my body and pulled back my flames. Leather seeped from my collar and wrapped around my form like the caresses of several large hands. I swallowed hard, trying to fight back a flush, and focused on the battle taking place outside the window.

Nobody stayed in place for long enough to see who was winning. Vampires darted about with inhuman speed, and demon mercenaries winked in and out of sight, pausing only to land blows.

Dread wrapped around my insides like a cobra. At this rate, we would miss our opportunity to confront Kresnik. Something the size and weight of a severed head landed against the other side of the bus with a clunk, but there was no telling if it belonged to a preternatural or a supernatural.

I turned to meet Caiman’s kind eyes, my shoulders sagging. “In the month I was away, November could have created thousands.”

“It’s doubtful, My Lady.”

I tore my gaze away from the fight. “Why?”

“Enforcers have always scoured the human media for reports of exsanguinated corpses. I wager that Nonaginta-Novem limited his inner circle to a select few brides and created more upon Kresnik’s request.”

Some of the tension around my chest eased, letting me exhale a long breath. If November had recently created them from humans, then they wouldn’t have amassed the skills needed to best trained fighters.

I turned my attention to the enforcers standing around the computer. “The Demon King said the bus was protected against preternaturals,” I said to a woman whose forehead was bumpy with inch-long protrusions. “What did he mean?”

“His Majesty had us install daylight bulbs,” she said.

My jaw dropped, and I reeled forward. “You’re telling me that you have a weapon that could wipe out every preternatural in the courtyard, and you haven’t used it?”

Her gaze darted to the side. “No one gave me orders.”

“Turn on the daylight bulbs,” I said through clenched teeth.

“You don’t have the authority.”

Caiman cleared his throat. “As the butler of His Majesty King Valentine, I am authorized to give orders at his behest.”

The enforcer gulped.

“Now.” His gaze dropped to the embroidered name tag on her shoulder. “Corporal Drukor, please employ the daylight bulbs and any other method at your disposal for countering the power of preternatural vampires.”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered.

“Now.” Caiman accompanied his request with a flare of power that felt like a noose.

My flames shuddered. I was so glad the butler approved of me as Valentine’s mate. Having the disapproval of someone so powerful would make my life more than uncomfortable.

Corporal Drukor turned to her monitor and tapped out a few commands. Blue light streamed from the bus’s exterior and filled the air with high-pitched screeches.

I curled my hands into fists. “Yes!”

Caiman placed a hand over his chest