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

“Please take a seat. I’ll fetch it in a moment.” Namara sashayed across the room, her voluptuous hips swinging from side to side as though she possessed a tail. The scaly red boots she wore beneath her pencil skirt looked familiar.

I placed a hand over my mouth. She was the imp who had brought in Prince Draconius.

Namara glanced over her shoulder and smiled. “Can I get you something while you wait? Water, tea or another pot of hot chocolate?”

“No, thank you.” I sank into the seat, exhaling a long breath. Maybe it was the Cleopatra stone that was dampening my magic or my frazzled nerves from that encounter with Prince Draconius, but I hadn’t even noticed the imp’s glamor.

I pulled out my phone and checked for messages. Kain asked when Valentine would return, making the knots in my stomach tighten and twist. The poor boy had to be under the worst kind of pressure right now. I messaged him back to say that it would probably be soon and promised that I would ask Valentine to return to Logris and reclaim his throne.

Lazarus didn’t send any updates, but I texted to ask if his brothers still intended to kill Valentine. When he didn’t immediately reply, I raised my head to find Namara heading toward me, holding a laptop.

“His Majesty’s enforcers tracked them via the Überwald network.” She sat beside me and opened her laptop, bringing up a video clip of Aunt Arianna, Great-Aunt Laratte, and the others, sitting in the back of a minivan.

I pressed my lips into a thin line. What was the point of paying a premium for the service if demon enforcers could tap into it at any time?

“They took an Überwald XL to Victoria Station, where they transferred on the London Underground to Euston and caught a train to Edinburgh.” She minimized the screen and brought up CCTV footage of a crowd of people navigating through the concourse of a busy train station.

My eyes bulged. “They’re in Scotland?”

“They boarded a ferry-bus to Northern Ireland, but we lost track of them when they crossed the Irish Sea.”

I rubbed the back of my neck. It was a convoluted way of leaving the country, but that was Aunt Arianna. She probably guessed that enforcers would stake out the airports and decided to travel up to Scotland to escape into another territory.

“Where did you get the hair samples?” I asked.

Namara smiled. “Your aunt probably didn’t want to perform magic up in Scotland when they took a human taxi, and they’re never the cleanest vehicles.”

“Right.” I made a mental note never to bother with any semi-private method of transport if I ever went on the run. “Was this a human ferry?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” She brought up another clip of the same group of people sitting among humans within the ferry’s crowded seating area. “Since we’d gathered enough material to set up the trap, there was no point in pursuing them further.”

Hades never really cared about capturing my coven—he and the Mage King wanted Valentine and me. I bit down on my lip, wondering if I could get his enforcers to search Ireland as part of my bargain to return his ring. Hades had mentioned ruling a ninth of Hell, but I wasn’t sure about the boundaries of his jurisdiction.

“He’s the Demon King of all the Supernatural World, right?” I asked.

Namara nodded. “Every naughty supernatural eventually answers to His Majesty, including hybrids and Neutrals.”

I turned to the imp and asked, “Can we contact the Supernatural Council in Ireland?”

“They wouldn’t have gone there.” Namara minimized the image, leaving a pristine desktop.

“Why not?”

She wrinkled her nose. “That country’s riddled with low faeries. Even witches wouldn’t get a moment’s peace from the annoying little creatures.”

“What’s a good place to go for witches and wizards on the run?” I asked.

Namara brought up the Supernatural Atlas, which was a three-dimensional map of the Human World annotated with all the supernatural cities, continents, and parallel realms.

She moved her mouse to a landmass nearly the size of Great Britain, located northwest of Ireland. “Atlantis.”

I leaned forward, resting my chin in my hands. “Why there?”

“It’s protected by angel technology, ruled by a goddess married to a wizard, there’s a minimal vampire and demon presence, and they only permit herbivore shifters. It’s an extremely boring place.”

Actually, it sounded wonderful. I tilted my head to the side. “Do they have Supernet down there?”

“Only at their communication exchange.” Her red-taloned fingers flew over the laptop’s keyboard. “Would you like me to give them a call?”

“Please,” I said.

Namara brought up a video calling screen and tapped a few commands.

The software rang, and a young woman with white hair, white brows, and a white outfit beamed at us from the screen. “Welcome to the Atlantis Exchange. How may I direct your call?”

Namara turned the laptop to me.

I cleared my throat. “Can I speak to Arianna Griffin, please? She’s a new arrival—”

“Arianna Griffin?” the white-haired woman said with a frown. “We don’t have anyone of that name. Would you like to leave your name and contact details?”

“What’s the point—”

Namara gave me a sharp kick in the shins that may as well have been delivered by a horse.

I flinched, my gaze darting from her to the screen. “Alright. My name is Mera Griffin, and I can be reached at 3581-7896694. Or you can send me an email—”

The screen went dead.

My jaw dropped. “What on earth was that?”

“The Atlantis exchange never directs calls unless they have the explicit consent of their resident. Asking for your contact details was her way of confirming that your aunt was either residing there or they know how to contact her.”

I was about to ask if the people in Atlantis would pass on my message, when the diamond of my engagement ring flared with light. My breath caught. Valentine was summoning me again.

Chapter Fifteen

Valentine scooped me up into his arms and brought his lips down on mine in a possessive kiss. He was exactly the person I needed to