Passion of the Vampire King (Blood Fire Saga Book 5) by Bella Klaus (best motivational books txt) 📗

its side, letting it click open. Without a word, she pushed it open and stepped aside.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then,” I muttered under my breath.

The room was less spartan than I had expected, with pale gray floors, and matching walls and ceilings, but a white bed broad enough to fit the largest of supernaturals. Opposite was a small desk with a computer, and on the far-right wall, a digital map of Logris.

On the right of the bed, a door opened into a wet room about the size of the one in my Grosvenor Square apartment, and on the far left stood a small closet with a few toiletries on its shelves and an enforcer uniform.

“We have breakfast in the mess hall at six.” Her sharp voice cut through my musings. “If you wish to keep a low profile, you may order a meal from the Hatch. Be ready at seven.”

After Captain Zella left, I placed my bag on the desk, settled Macavity on the pillow, and extracted the sphere from my pocket. The heart inside pulsed with steady beats, quickening in time with my pulse.

It had been a long day—I’d woken up in Hell, been spirited away by preternatural Valentine, witnessed a murder in cold blood, absorbed the magic in my firestone heart, and discovered that a supernatural was eating away at Beatrice. And a team of Kresnik’s henchmen were searching for me in Hell.

My throat dried. Istabelle would tell me to have a long soak and meditate my troubles away, but Valentine’s soul was inside the sphere, alone and not knowing what the hell had happened to me. I had to see him, now.

“Meow?” Macavity stretched out across the entire width of the pillow with his front and back legs outstretched.

I stared down at the bed-stealing cat and gestured at him to move up. “You know better than this.”

He stared up at me with sleepy eyes, made a slow blink, and yawned.

“Stop messing about.” I set Valentine’s sphere in the middle of the bed, slipped my fingers beneath Macavity’s furry body, and shifted him ninety degrees to make some space on the pillow for my head.

Macavity padded across the bed and sniffed at the sphere.

“Valentine’s in there.” I picked up the heart and cradled it to my chest. “No touching.”

After I settled myself under the covers and curled onto my side with the sphere, the cat climbed over me and settled into the space between my arms and bent legs.

I inhaled a deep breath and filled my lungs with air until my diaphragm ached. So much had happened since I’d last seen Valentine’s soul, and he had to be worried about my absence.

When my diaphragm stretched to the point of pain, I released the breath, letting out all the tension in my body. Another breath later, and my vision faded to white.

“Valentine?” I stared out into the void and turned in a slow circle.

A patch of color lay unmoving in the distance, too far away for me to make out, but it had to be Valentine. Panicked palpitations squeezed my chest, and I broke into a run. His soul had been okay when I left it and his heart was still alive. Valentine had to be sleeping.

I picked up my pace, but no matter how fast I ran, he remained far away. It was as though the void kept stretching, keeping us apart. Sweat broke out across my skin, something I hadn’t noticed before. I couldn’t consider what it meant if Valentine had come to harm during the time we were apart.

Minutes passed, but it felt like an eternity. I continued running, even when my lungs burned and my leg muscles trembled and ached. What the hell was happening? Was the new sphere affecting how long it took for me to reach him?

As I tried, one foot stumbled over the other, and I fell to my hands and knees, breathing hard, blinking sweat and tears from my eyes. The distance between Valentine and me hadn’t closed so much as an inch.

“This can’t be happening,” I rasped through ragged breaths.

Something glinted through my tears, offering me a glimmer of hope. I sat back on my heels, wiped my eyes, and stared down at my diamond engagement ring. It was also a call stone, which we’d both used in the past to reach each other. Even if it wasn’t really here in this realm, I had to draw upon its power.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I placed a damp finger over the gem and poured my love and worry and desire for Valentine into the stone. When nothing happened, I pushed out some fire, making light stream through my eyelids.

When I opened them, I appeared inches from where Valentine lay on his side. The muscles in his back rippled as he slept, highlighting their dips and contours.

I leaned forward, every ounce of tension escaping my lungs in an outward breath.

“Valentine.” The words came out more like a sob of relief.

With trembling hands, I glided my fingers over the smooth skin of his shoulder. He was warm, but so had been the bodies in the mausoleum.

“Can you hear me?” I rasped.

When he didn’t answer, I turned him onto his back. His eyes lay closed, with his full lips slightly parted and thick lashes sweeping down toward his cheeks. The bright radiance he’d had when I’d resurrected his heart had faded, but he still looked in the bloom of health. Right now, I couldn’t tell the physical difference between alive Valentine, preternatural Valentine, and Valentine’s soul.

His chest rose and fell with even breaths, his abdominal muscles tightening and loosening as he slumbered. I swept my gaze down the rest of his body and sighed. Maybe he’d grown tired of waiting.

I leaned into him and placed a kiss on his lips, hoping he would awaken like the fairytale.

Valentine’s eyelids fluttered open, and he stared up at me through violet irises. “Mera?”

“Are you alright?” My voice trembled.

He squeezed his eyes shut and exhaled a