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

Hades clicked his fingers again, and Namara appeared in her human guise, holding an oversized quill. She tilted her head to the side. “Your Majesty?”

“Call an emergency meeting with the Supernatural Council.” He shot me a glare. “You should have told me this last night.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “It was hard to remember everything when someone threatened to eat sushi off my naked body.”

“It was chocolate truffles,” he said.

“You should have said.” I spread my hands wide. “That would have made all the difference.”

His eyes narrowed, and his lips formed a tight line. I stared back at Hades across the table, daring him to call me out for my sarcasm when a horde of zombies were about to storm Logris.

Theodore cleared his throat. “Your Majesty, a team of angels already found the anomaly and have erected a barrier over the sewers.”

“What kind?” Hades asked with a tired sigh.

The demon enforcer nodded in my direction.

It took a moment for me to work out that he was referring to my cloak. I picked up the croissant and took a bite, hoping the reapers would work out a way to destroy the zombies without collapsing the center of Logris.

Hades rose off his seat and swept his arms down his dressing gown, replacing it with leather armor molded around his muscular frame. Engraved serpents wound around its leather, and one of them stared out at me and blinked. “Go to the reapers and tell them to report to the Supernatural Council on their findings.”

Theodore swept into a low bow and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Hades clicked his fingers, this time summoning an old man wearing sackcloth whose beard wrapped around his middle like a belt. The stench of chemicals and body odor seared my nostrils, making me place my croissant back on my plate and reach for the cup of ginger tea.

He dropped to his knees and placed his stained hands on the ground.

“Your Majesty.” The man’s voice shook. “How may this humble alchemist be of service?”

“I want you to research a weapon to harm preternatural beings based on the magic of their progenitor.”

The old man raised his head and rubbed his chin. “Such elixirs exist, but its most important ingredient is blood from the Light Lord.”

Hades’ face split into a grin wide enough to make my stomach flip. “I will send an enforcer with a large sample.”

My brows drew together, and I glanced from the Demon King to the groveling alchemist. Kresnik had either moved his hideout somewhere else or reinstated his wards to make them stronger than before. There was no way Hades could get close to Kresnik, let alone obtain this impossible sample of his blood.

With a click of his fingers, the old man disappeared, leaving me staring at Hades posing in his armor.

My eyes narrowed. There was only one person I knew who was both close to Kresnik and had contact with anyone on our side of the war, and there was no way I would let him risk himself for the sake of some old alchemist’s elixir.

I rose to my feet and pulled back my shoulders. “If you’re thinking of asking me to ask Valentine—”

“Hasn’t it occurred to you that many of your siblings were also alarmed at Kresnik’s revelation?” Hades turned back to the table and poured himself a steaming cup of hot chocolate, took a sip, grimaced, and took another sip.

I raised my shoulders. That last night in ritual room one had been chaotic. “Everyone was disturbed to learn they were born to become vessels for his power. I still don’t understand how that relates to Kresnik’s blood.”

He stared down at me, his eyes twinkling with mirth. “You weren’t the only one who escaped the Flame that night.”

My mouth dropped open, and my pulse quickened. Did my teammates get away? It would also mean that Petra was free of Kresnik because she’d been with them when Brother David opened the door.

“I sent out a team of enforcers to track down every escapee.”

The croissant in my stomach turned to lead. “What are you going to do about them?”

“Those children are of no interest to me.” He took another sip of his chocolate. “However, there’s a young lady whose magic is so inextricably linked with Kresnik that killing her might result in him disintegrating into ashes.”

I clutched the back of my chair, trying not to reel at his words. Hades couldn’t kill Coral. He’d have to get through me first.

Chapter Nineteen

I turned to Hades, my eyes wide. The Demon King’s maroon eyes twinkled over his cup of hot chocolate, daring me to speak out in defense of my friend and sister.

My hand wrapped around the back of the dining chair, and I leaned against it for support. There was so much to process from his last few words. Hades had found all the young people who had escaped from the Flame the night that I sliced through the wards and attracted enforcers to Kenwood House. Not only that but he was keeping track of them with his demon enforcers.

A painful silence stretched out for several heartbeats. It felt like the pauses when two old wizards would sit around tables playing chatrang on market day, except I had a Demon King waiting for me to make my first move. I was sure he was trying to make me negotiate with him, but I had no idea of what he would demand in exchange for leaving Coral untouched.

With a gulp, I murmured, “We had an agreement.”

“We did.” He swirled his cup, feigning disinterest.

“You wouldn’t go after fire users, and I would help you gather your ashes.”

“I only agreed not to drag them to Hell.” He took another sip of hot chocolate, this time not grimacing at its sweetness.

“You can’t hurt Coral,” I snarled. “If she escaped Kresnik, she deserves peace.”

Hades set down his cup and turned to loom over me. The fine hairs on the back of my neck stood to