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

He threw a blazing white fireball at Coral, but it landed on her chest as harmlessly as snow.

“Heath, Rahim, Eric,” Kresnik shouted.

The bald man who had seized me from Aurora’s room emerged at his side, flanked by two others. In the firelight, he looked like a polished statue with eyes of faceted jade.

Kresnik pointed at Coral. “Seize this woman and—” He clutched his throat and bent over double with hacking coughs. “Stop this.”

Coral’s lips stretched into a broad grin that deepened her crow’s feet.

“My Lord?” The bald man rushed to Kresnik’s side and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Kresnik shoved the man away with an elbow to the gut, making him stumble back into one of the candles that hadn’t been knocked down in the panic. The other two men backed away from their master holding up their palms in surrender.

With a snarl of frustration, Kresnik swept out an arm, producing a whip with nine tails that arced through the air. The fiery lashes wrapped around Martika’s body, making her squeak.

I placed a hand over my mouth, waiting for her to scream, shout, burst into flames, but she stood in place with her eyes wide.

“Hmmm…” Hades’ voice rumbled in my ear. “So, your friend is special. But why?”

I turned to Racon, meeting his gaze. “Has your dragon returned to you yet?”

He shook his head. “Why?”

“We could do with a huge animal to blast down the wall.”

Racon turned to Gail, placed Petra in her arms, and pointed at an unoccupied corner. “That’s where there used to be a door. If a bunch of us rush at that space, we might break through the wood.”

I nodded. “It’s worth a try.”

Leaving Kresnik to continue raging at Coral, we sped across the ritual room, grabbing stray people as we continued to the other side. The flames in this patch were shoulder-height, and Racon took Petra back and held the little girl high above the fire.

“Right then.” I turned to the dozen people we’d gathered.

The pity in their eyes brought back images of Aurora’s brutal death. My throat thickened, and I swayed on my feet, feeling like the flames surrounding us would engulf my soul. Fresh tears stung the back of my eyes, and my vision blurred to a haze of shadow and flame.

“Focus,” Hades hissed.

Blinking over and over, I swallowed back my grief and turned to the wall. “Let’s kick at a single spot and see if we can make a hole.”

A girl about my size was the first to charge at the former exit with a flying kick. The flames spread across the wall jumped apart, leaving the wood panels unburned. I clenched my teeth. It figured that everything would be flameproof in a stronghold of fire users.

The next man was in his late twenties with freckled skin and dreadlocks the same deep red as Petra’s hair. He slammed one fist into the same patch of wall followed by another and then stepped back.

“Use your flames,” said Hades.

I glanced over my shoulder, through the fire to where Coral now pummeled at Kresnik with flaming fists. The former god raised his arms, trying to shove her away, but white sparks of magic flared each time he attacked.

Martika stood at Kresnik’s other side and rained blows on his back, but he didn’t pay her any attention.

The bald man wrapped his arms around Martika and lifted her off, but when a second man tried to do the same to Coral, she splayed her arms, throwing out an eruption of white sparks.

It looked like her power had finally returned.

Volunteer after volunteer attacked the patch of wall, their blows landing uselessly against the wood. I stared down at my hands, pushing all the magic I could muster into my palms. A few sparks emerged from my skin, but they were tiny enough to be figments of my imagination.

Cheers broke out around me. I whirled to the side to find that patch of wall had turned into a doorway. Racon, my other team members, and the volunteers rushed out into a second chamber, knocking aside an addled-looking Brother David.

“After all that effort, the human golem opened the door from the other side,” said Hades.

I jogged through the door. “He’s my lucky charm.”

The chamber led to another ritual room and then to a darkened passage that curled within the center of the Flame. We eventually reached the white hallway, where people strolled around, oblivious to Kresnik’s attempt to consume the power of a single generation of fire users.

I glanced over my shoulder, finding a horde of people behind me, and continued toward Kenwood House.

Images of Aurora tortured my mind—Aurora being lashed by four men on Father Jude’s orders, Aurora lying on the treatment bed with glowing whip marks across her back, and Aurora reeling back from the flame whip to the face.

Kresnik would pay, and I wanted to be the one to land the killing blow. But there wasn’t a thing I could do until I had my magic.

I picked up my pace, running hard enough to break into a sweat, even though some of the people behind me ran faster and filed into their rooms. An entire group stopped at the refectory, but I continued.

Either Coral would tire out and Kresnik would subdue her, or he would work out a way to keep her from harming him. There was no telling if she could maintain the upper hand for minutes or hours or days, but we had to leave immediately.

Memories of Kresnik’s resurrection floated to the top of my mind, bringing with it an idea that might both help Hades and myself.

“Did any of your ash get damaged in the fire?” I asked.

“I know better than to put them into a single location,” he replied. “But I left a few particles nestled in the lining of your cloak.”

Suppressing a shudder at any part of that Demon King being so close to my body, I asked, “Can you gather all your ash together in one place?”

“What are you planning?” said