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

Hades couldn’t hurt me—our blood connection assured that anything he tried to do would backfire on him. Just because the limo was returning me to the Supernatural Council, it didn’t mean I had to enter the building.

All the air left my lungs in a breath of relief, and I leaned forward, willing my hands to unclench. If I could keep my head and find my way to the enforcer barracks, I’d avoid whatever Hades was planning and still get a chance to spend what was left of the night with Valentine’s soul.

I rubbed my dry throat and surveyed the selection of soft drinks. They were minibar sized and contained the usual human brands—Coca-Cola, Sprite, Tonic Water—with a few bottles of juice from witch and wizard brands I recognized from Striga. I picked up a bottle of bluecumber and tapped three times on its metal top.

Bluecumber was a hybrid fruit that combined the sweetness of blueberries with the juiciness of a cucumber. The wizard who created this fruit became extremely rich from his inventions, which included banapple, avomelons, and passion berries. He was one of the few of our kind who lived in an actual mansion instead of a tiny cottage that needed to be magically enhanced.

I took a sip of the sweet liquid, letting it slide down my parched throat and infuse me with a burst of energy. That was another benefit of hybridized fruit. They always left their consumer feeling energized.

When we reached Priory Lane and passed the huge golf course on the north-east border of Richmond Park, I braced myself for border control, but the driver veered right and drove down a darkened slope.

“Of course Hades would have his own entrance into Logris,” I muttered to myself.

This was how Kain managed to smuggle me out of the supernatural city, even when enforcers were searching for me after I’d escaped from my cell. It also meant that the driver wouldn’t deposit me outside the building but could take me into a parking spot with an elevator that led straight to Hell.

I scooted toward the door, ready to leap out the moment the limousine stopped.

We travelled down a dark roadway for about five minutes before slowing to a stop. I held my breath and wrapped my fingers around the handle, waiting for the central locking to disengage. After what felt like an eternity, a click sounded within the vehicle’s mechanism, and I flung it open.

Warm air fanned against my skin, and I stepped out into an underground parking lot similar to the one beneath Koffie. The only illumination came from the floor markings, and my gaze caught on an arrow that pointed to an exit. In my haste to scramble out and run, one foot tripped over the other and I stumbled to the floor.

Strong arms caught me by the shoulders and set me on my feet.

“Miss Griffin,” Hades drawled. “If I had known you were so enthusiastic for our dinner date, I would have abducted you sooner.”

I raised my head, meeting Hades’ laughing eyes and smug grin. The Demon King wore a tuxedo shirt unbuttoned to the sternum with the bowtie undone, looking like he’d just been ravished by a horny demoness.

My features pinched into a scowl. Didn’t he have henchmen to march me to this dinner? I might have been able to escape them. “How did you track me?”

“Each reaper’s cloak has its own unique magical signature,” he said, making it sound obvious.

“So?” I tried pulling away from him, but he wrapped an arm around my back.

Hades frogmarched me toward the exit, which turned out to be a suspicious-looking golden elevator etched with the image of what appeared to be a Greek goddess. “My office keeps a record of who enters and leaves my domain. When you disappeared, my dear Namara logged into ReaperNet and tracked your location.”

Annoyance tightened my skin. So much for the cloak providing absolute protection. Now, anyone with access to the Supernatural Council’s reaper database could know exactly where I was. Clenching my teeth, I exhaled my frustration through my nostrils.

The elevator door slid open, revealing a similar golden interior from before, only more monstrous. An etching of a dog filled each of the three walls. The one in the middle blinked, and the one on the left bared its teeth. I tried stepping out of Hades’ grip, but he was too determined to shove me into that elevator.

“I’m not going back to Hell.” I dug my heels into the floor.

“Of course not,” Hades said as he steered me into the cab. “My enforcers are still tracking Kresnik’s agents, and my domain is no longer a safe place for you to dwell.”

The cab surged upward, making my stomach lurch. I swallowed hard, trying to keep down my nausea. At least he hadn’t been lying about not taking me to Hell. “You realize I’m not your pet?”

“Until you remove the blood bond you created, I intend to keep you close.”

“I don’t like the way you said that word,” I muttered.

“Close?” His maroon eyes twinkled, catching the light reflecting off the golden walls.

“Keep.” I elbowed him in the side and stepped out from his grip. “You can’t keep me because I resurrected you with my blood. Don’t forget that you were incomplete and probably wouldn’t have risen from your ashes.”

His lips tightened, presumably at the reminder that Kresnik had turned his fifth jar of ashes into a clay disk etched with ancient insults and used it to support a candelabra covered in wax.

“What if Kresnik found us in that closet and decided to bake all of your ashes into something offensive?” I asked.

“Care to elaborate?” His brows rose.

I raised my shoulders. “Think of the most insulting object you can make from clay. He could have trapped you there for all eternity, leaving someone else to rule the Fifth Faction of Hell.”

The elevator door opened into a completely different room from Hades’ office.

It was dark, illuminated by tiny lights that formed a wide circle in