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

mess hall option. Any of the bounty hunters tracking me would have already found my ID and would monitor the Hatch network for signs of activity.

I sifted through some of the more gruesome options, such as assorted hearts, fruit bats, and century eggs, and I ordered a full Human. It was the traditional English breakfast of sausage, bacon, fried eggs, mushroom, fried tomatoes, baked beans, and toast, which came with a pot of English breakfast tea and a glass of freshly-squeezed orange juice. I tried to order coffee, but that cost extra.

After pressing SEND, I went into the bathroom, a gray-tiled space with a unit running down the length of its back wall that housed the toilet, sink, and a cupboard filled with toiletries and towels. On the far right of the room, a square grate bulged out from the ceiling, which I guessed was the showerhead.

I hung up my reaper cloak, took off the rest of my clothes, and walked toward the grate, waiting for it to start working. When nothing happened, I stuck an arm beneath it, and warm water flooded down from above.

“Warmer, please?” I said.

The temperature rose a few degrees, and I stepped beneath the spray. Water soaked my hair, pummeled my scalp, and washed away some of the tension from my conversation with Valentine.

Of course I wanted to reunite his body and soul. It was difficult enough to keep track of their personalities and who said what. Valentine’s soul didn’t like it that I was intimate with his body, and I doubted that preternatural Valentine would have given me the heart if he knew I could access his soul. I reached across to the counter for a bottle of unscented shampoo and shower gel and poured its contents into my palm.

Valentine thought it would be easy to burn an entire man because of the time I’d turned into a phoenix while we’d had sex. It didn’t work that way outside the dream realm. Reducing his heart to ash in real life had been difficult enough, and I saw what happened to that man in Healer Calla’s infirmary who Kresnik failed to resurrect with the magic he stole from me.

I scrubbed at my scalp, working through the frustration with my fingers. It didn’t matter that his body was preternatural and susceptible to fire. I couldn’t risk losing Valentine. Not again.

Shampoo spread down my forehead and past my brow. Closing my eyes, I tilted my head toward the warm spray and rinsed off. Valentine’s soul could say what he wanted, but his knowledge of phoenix magic was theoretical. Until I had my power under control, which meant being able to transform into a phoenix, I couldn’t dare try burning any part of him to ash.

After my shower, I toweled off and stepped out into the bedroom. The scent of cooked food filled my nostrils, and I walked to the serving hatch to find a covered tray inside.

I carried my breakfast to the desk and took off the cover, revealing a plate with all the items served as advertised, packs of butter wrapped in foil, two sachets of orange marmalade, a bottle of juice, and a gigantic mug of tea.

Saliva flooded my mouth, and I licked my lips in anticipation of a thoroughly good meal I wouldn’t have to share with a food-stealing cat. I cut into the sausage and dipped it into the beans.

My phone buzzed again. It was a message from a new number. Where does Christian work?

Guessing this was from Lazarus, I chewed on my meaty mouthful and texted back, She only said it was a Swiss bank. How is Beatrice?

I brought a seer to check her for cords and he said they were all severed.

I tapped out ‘you’re welcome’ but deleted it. Lazarus was doing his best for Beatrice. He was also stressed and resented me for Valentine’s death and resurrection as a preternatural, and the lockdown in Lamia. I didn’t need to add to the animosity with sarcasm.

How do we get her back to normal? I texted instead.

By tracking him down and squeezing the life out of the bastard, he messaged back.

Christian has a profile on a dating app. I don’t know which one, but that’s how he gets girls.

Lazarus didn’t reply. I guess he was going to check Beatrice’s phone for the app. Guilt twanged at my insides. Without meaning to gossip, I’d just told my best friend’s boyfriend that she’d hooked up with a man she’d met on the internet. I sliced into a rasher of bacon, hoping she would one day understand why I betrayed her confidence.

Just as I ate the last slice of toast with a healthy slathering of orange marmalade, someone knocked on the door.

I pulled up the hood on my reaper cloak, tiptoed to the other side of the door, pulled out the reaper dagger, and flicked open its blade. The wall clock said six-fifty-five, but I knew enough about bounty hunters to suspect that someone might have tracked my phone to the barracks.

The knock sounded on the door again, and whoever was outside turned the handle. I held my breath, waiting for them to step inside.

“Griffin?” said a female voice.

My teeth worried at my bottom lip, and my heart spasmed an irregular beat. The woman entered my room, letting the door swing shut behind her. She stood six feet tall with black hair and wore an enforcer’s uniform, but until I saw her face or at least her profile, I couldn’t relax.

She turned her head, revealing the angular features of Captain Zella, and I slumped against the wall with relief.

Her eyes narrowed. “What are you doing?”

“I’m a woman with three death sentences and a hefty bounty to be captured dead but preferably alive,” I said, mimicking her stern tone.

She pursed her lips, glaring at me like I was an idiot for trying to make fun of her. I fought the urge to dip my head and squirm.

“The Demon King processed your pardon yesterday,” she said.

“What about