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

Macavity drew back, pushing his paws on my chest, and turned to give Minthe a low meow.

She inclined her head. “I can certainly arrange for you to go there.”

I glanced from Macavity to Minthe. “You can speak to cats?”

“I can converse with all spirits within this realm.” She clasped her hands over her chest.

“Alright.” I dropped my gaze back to the cat, who now rested his furry head on my chest. “If Macavity knows today’s date, let’s go with that.”

“Very well, my lady.” Minthe turned to the door and paused. “My lord suggested you weren’t appropriately attired beneath your cloak. May I supply you with some underwear, at least?”

Ten minutes later, I stepped out into the hallway, clad in a green minidress that barely covered a lacy bra and thong, wondering why Hades had gone to the trouble of providing me with clothes if he also wanted to keep my phoenix as a pet. My reaper cloak was the only thing saving me from cringing at how much flesh I had on display.

The hallway was the width of the palace ballroom and four times its length, with life-sized statues against the right wall, each holding candles bright enough to illuminate the damask wallpaper. Their twisted bodies and contorted features made me suspect that they were tortured souls rather than pieces of artwork.

Above us, a row of multi-tiered chandeliers hung down the length of the room, their crystal prisms reflecting the light coming in from the arched windows on the left. Outside, a forest stretched out to drier land that swept up into a snowy mountain range.

Whenever I imagined Hell, it was volcanoes submerged in lakes of burning blood and grinning demons hovering in the sky. Maybe a few ghettos of ruined buildings crammed with miserable people being fed into some monster’s gaping maw. This landscape looked too human and far too pleasant.

I turned to Minthe and frowned. “Are we really in Hell?”

Minthe glanced at the window. “That’s Mount Olympus. My lord can adjust the windows to look onto any scenery within Heaven, Hell, Elphame, and the human realm.”

We continued to the end of the hallway and stopped at the closed doors of an elevator. A woman with shoulder-length curls was etched on one side, wearing the kind of dress made from draped in the style of Ancient Greece.

Before I could study her image closely, the doors opened into an ornate interior of brass with a carving of a three-headed dog surrounded by ancient symbols arranged in geometric patterns that made my head spin.

I dropped my gaze to the floor. “Where will this take us?”

Minthe placed a hand on my shoulder and guided me inside. “When the doors open, they’ll take you to your meeting in the Council of Ministers.”

I turned around to meet her smiling eyes and a grin wide enough to stretch to her ears. My stomach plummeted, and I blinked a few times more to find it was a trick of the light.

“What if I run into an enforcer?” I asked.

She pointed upward, and the doors slammed closed like the lid of a coffin, encasing Macavity and me in an elevator lurching upward at rocket speed. I stumbled to the left, bracing my shoulder on the wall as the contraption continued to hurtle at an increasing speed.

A growl rumbled from behind us, echoing across the enclosed space, and Macavity yowled in my ear. I glanced down to find his fur bristling, and his head turned toward the back wall.

My stomach tightened, and I slid my gaze to where the cat was looking.

All three heads of the dog carved into the wall turned toward us and bared their teeth. I backed toward the other side of the elevator, clutching Macavity to my chest.

What in hell made me think I could trust a woman associated with Hades?

Chapter Three

Bracing my back against the elevator wall, I edged away from the snarling etching. Its three heads turned to us both and bared oversized teeth, their eyes darkening. Ragged breaths tore through my lungs. This had to be some sort of guardian that activated when someone tried to escape from Hell.

The dog’s middle head tilted back and howled, while the ones on the left and right chewed through the border of symbols framing their upper bodies. A shudder ran down my back. I’d heard stories of artwork coming to life, but they’d been mostly statues or paintings. What on earth was this dog trying to do?

I clenched my teeth, silently cursing Minthe for trapping me with this thing.

A guttural bark echoed across the confined space, followed by another and another until even the floor vibrated with the sound. Macavity’s claws dug into the fabric of my reaper cloak. I wasn’t sure if the cat was trying to climb me or dig a hole.

The elevator continued hurtling upward, making my stomach feel like it was being dragged a hundred feet behind my body. Sweat beaded on my brow, on my upper lip, and under my arms. I was sure my hands were damp, but I was too busy trying to wrangle a startled cat.

“Macavity,” I yelled. “Turn into a leopard.”

He shook his head and yowled.

“This isn’t like you,” I said, trying to keep the tremble out of my voice. “Remember last night, when you faced up to Hades? You were so brave, and he’s the King of Hell.”

Macavity stilled.

“That’s right,” I shouted over the loud barks. “Those dogs are just pictures. If you grow big and roar, you might scare them away.”

He tilted up his head and met my eyes with a questioning green gaze. “Meow?”

Guilt clawed at my heart, tempered by a surge of terror. What did I know about three-headed dogs or artwork in Hell? One of the dog heads made a warning growl ferocious enough to shake the lining of my stomach.

I tightened my abdominal muscles, trying to keep my features even, and nodded. We both had a better chance of survival if Macavity transformed. If