Bonds of the Vampire King (Blood Fire Saga Book 7) by Bella Klaus (romantic books to read TXT) 📗

he said with a long sigh. “When humans could no longer interact with our kind, they turned to the false religion, and the old gods weakened through the lack of worship. Some fell to cannibalism, most became devoured by beasts, and now I am one of few survivors.”

“Right.” I itched to know more about this Great Divide, but there were better things to ask.

“Your final question,” he snapped.

“How do I kill an immortal god?”

His eyes bulged. “You’re planning my death already?”

I flicked my head to the side. “Not you. Him.”

Epimetheus chuckled. “My brother’s already dead.”

“That eagle just ate his liver. He’s unconscious right now, but he’ll regenerate and take me back.” I batted my lashes. “Out of all his daughters, he favors me the most, and he’s so overprotective…”

His eyes left mine for several heartbeats to stare at the eagle, which was still plucking away at an unmoving Kresnik. “I see. You want him permanently dead?”

My insides cringed as I said the words, but it was the only way to escape this lunatic, ensure Kresnik was permanently dead, and return to Valentine. I peered up at Epimetheus from beneath my lashes. “It’s the only way we’ll be together.”

Epimetheus stood straighter, his shoulders pulling back and his chest expanding. “The bone or blood or bile of another god is the only way to ensure their permanent death.”

“I don’t understand how he killed that Python,” I said.

“Prometheus tore through Uncle with a sharpened stone soaked in his own blood,” he replied with a sob.

“I’m so sorry,” I murmured, meaning every word.

He nodded and sniffed.

“How long will it take before he wakes?” I whispered.

“A few minutes?”

I released the hand over my breasts and shook out my damp hair. “That’s enough time for you to take me where I stand, don’t you think?”

His gaze dropped to my nipples, and the corners of his lips turned upward into a smile. “You were wrong about me.”

“How so?” I rocked back and forth.

“I won’t leave you unsatisfied.”

“Well, my sexuality is linked to my magic. If I can’t gather enough power between my legs, it’s impossible for me to pleasure a man.”

With a snap of his fingers, the air thinned, and the power pushing down on mine released.

“Now then.” Epimetheus gathered up his beard, presumably to sling it over his shoulder.

I didn’t stick around long enough to see the horrors beneath that mass of matted hair. Fire burst from my skin, and I shifted into a phoenix.

He staggered back, his eyes wide. “You lied.”

With a victorious squawk, I raised my wings and launched myself to the cave’s ceiling. The air thickened, but I pushed hard against the ward, propelling myself up the shaft, flapping harder and harder against his tightening magic until I escaped.

Just like the vision Kresnik had shared with me, the sky was cloudless, an expanse of azure brightened by an unforgiving sun. It would have been the ideal summer holiday destination if the ground wasn’t such a barren wasteland.

Nothing grew there, not even a dried twig or a trace of tumbleweed. Brown rock stretched out for miles, as though the gods had eaten everything—all animals, all vegetation, even the soil. I glided across the smooth expanse, looking for… I wasn’t sure. A sign?

It was no wonder Kresnik had brought us to the underground cavern and no wonder he needed my help so desperately to return. Even the deserts I’d seen in documentaries had more life than this hellish landscape.

A guttural screech pierced the air, making glance back over my wings. The golden eagle flew toward me with the bearded freak riding on his back.

“Bloody hell,” I cawed under my breath and sliced my wings through the air. I wasn’t ready for an aerial battle, especially not with a creature known for eating the organs straight out of the bodies of its living victims.

“Hey,” Epimetheus hollered. “You owe me.”

I flapped harder, trying to increase the distance between me and my pursuers, but his eagle was half a foot taller than me with nearly double my wingspan. And he’d had eons more experience in flying.

Before I knew it, the air cooled and a shadow from above blocked the sun. My feathers bristled, and I clacked my beak. Bloody Epimetheus and his entitlement. He hadn’t even given me the choice to say no.

I swept downward, hoping to loop-the-loop and confuse the eagle into throwing off his hairy passenger, but the wretched bird followed my movements and kept up with my pace.

“You can’t fly around forever,” he yelled. “When you tire out, I’ll plunder your red minge and let my eagle have a go.”

The flames around my cheeks burned hotter. Did he have to be so crude?

I flew close to the ground, alongside a dry riverbed of pebbles and cracked stones that had to be the Thames. If the Realm of the Gods mirrored the Human World in terms of land masses, why was a Greek god all the way in Britain? Where were the old English gods like Britannia?

“She’s tiring,” Epimetheus yelled through panting breaths, sounding like he was enjoying the hunt. “Once we’ve had her, she can transport us to the Human Realm. How would you like that, Aetos? You and I will rule together.”

The eagle cawed his approval.

An annoyed growl warbled in the back of my throat. If I could speak in this form, I would tell the naive bird that the tears only worked for one god. Epimetheus was planning to leave this realm by himself and leave his feathered friend behind to feast on Kresnik.

A furious roar shook the air, followed by a plume of fire that spread across the skies.

I glanced over my shoulder to find a green dragon advancing on the eagle with eyes that blazed hotter than hell.

My beak dropped open. It looked like Kresnik had regenerated his liver, gotten over his trauma, and was now ready to kick someone’s feathery ass.

“Brother?” Epimetheus yelled.

Kresnik roared, the intensity of his fury making the air tremble.

My stomach lurched. I’d be angry, too,