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

mine, it was nearly like he was forcing a kiss, and his grip tightened around my back.

His stale breath gusted against my skin, reminding me of the palace’s mausoleum. This vampire was a hypocrite. Instead of putting himself to rest like Valentine’s ancestors who had grown tired of living, he was prancing about the world, chastising young vampires for trying to exist.

“When I capture Kresnik, his power will be mine, and you will fly into the realm of the gods to fetch this fabled divinity for me.”

A boulder of dread dropped through my insides. Prince Draconius wanted to upgrade himself from regent to god now?

Something in the air splintered, and the lights flickered on and off before we were all plunged into the dark. Groans filled the air, as did Valentine’s triumphant roar.

My heart flip-flopped. Valentine just broke free.

The air filled with snap after snap after snap of bones cracking, making my skin tighten with revulsion. These attacks wouldn’t kill any kind of vampire, but they might buy Valentine enough time to escape.

Prince Draconius’s red eyes glowed in the dark, and he hissed like a rattlesnake. “Come any closer, and your cow dies.”

I placed my hand on the vampire’s shoulders and pushed back, trying to break free. “Don’t listen to hi—”

The ancient vampire’s hand clamped over my mouth. “What are you fools doing?” Prince Draconius’s voice was sharp enough to cut throats. “Restrain him.”

“It’s impossible,” cried a voice in the dark. “He’s tiring our magic. We’re getting depleted.”

“Then send in reinforcements,” the prince snapped.

“He just killed them,” replied the voice. “It’s taking every ounce of effort to keep him restrained, and it will only be a matter of time before he breaks free again.”

Holding me tight to his musty chest, Prince Draconius turned on his heel, flung open the bathroom door, and sped through the room and the hallways and up the winding stairs fast enough to make my stomach lurch. I tried to rear back, but a gloved hand pressed the back of my head to his shoulder.

He stopped abruptly, and my ears popped, and cool air swirled around my naked wet skin.

Valentine’s roar mingled with shouts and screams and the stampede of upturned furniture, broken cups, and escaping feet. Somewhere in the background, I heard the sound of fountains, and inhaled the scent of roasted coffee beans.

My stomach tightened with dread. They’d taken the fight to the fancy coffee shop. Prince Draconius sped from one side of the room to the other, moving faster than a rollercoaster and making my mind spin. I tried turning my head, but he held onto me like a shield.

“She belongs to me,” Valentine snarled.

“Surrender yourself and your cow may walk free,” said the prince.

“He’s lying—” My voice got muffled as he pressed me further into his chest.

The air thickened, and Prince Draconius stopped. Jagged energy crackled across the air, and the scent of brimstone overpowered the coffee.

I held my breath, waiting for the powerful demon who had caught us to make a wisecrack. This had to be Hades, come to negotiate my and Valentine’s freedom for some outrageous favor.

“What is the meaning of this?” snarled a voice that didn’t belong to Hades.

Invisible hands separated me from the ancient vampire and set me on my feet. I whirled around from the still-frozen prince and took in our surroundings. We were on a mezzanine overlooking the fountain, whose upper tier lay smashed in pieces at its base.

Coffee spurted from a metal tube and overflowed across the chamber’s pale floors and beneath the upturned tables and chairs. The human customers were gone, with only smartly-dressed supernaturals, scowling up at us through demonic features.

Imps and incubi and insectoid creatures stood among the mess, snarling up at us through clenched teeth. In the middle of the coffee shop stood a furious Irdu, dressed like the sarcophagus of Rameses II, his dark skin shimmering with gold paint.

My throat dried, and I breathed hard, trying to calm my frantic pulse. Where the hell was Valentine?

A quartet of burly red demons stood behind Irdu, making him look like a dwarf in comparison. One of them turned to a blind spot within our mezzanine and beckoned, floating a naked Valentine toward the fountain.

“Stay out of this, demon,” Prince Draconius snapped. “This is a private matter.”

“Do you know how much this squabble of yours has cost me in lost business?” Irdu roared, his lapis-lazuli-and-gold headdress trembling with the might of his fury. “How am I going to explain this disturbance to the customers who come here for the opportunity to observe and consume humans in authentic surroundings?”

Nausea swirled through my insides. Irdu made it sound like he was running some kind of petting zoo.

“Never mind your humans and low-level demons,” Prince Draconius snapped. “The Royal House of Sargon will compensate you handsomely if you help us slaughter this preternatural.”

Irdu folded his arms across his chest. “How much?”

“What?” I screamed.

“Name your price,” said the prince.

As the pair negotiated, Valentine’s eyes met mine, and my heart lurched. Were the demons holding his jaws to stop him from speaking? Irdu would sell Valentine out, just as he sold out Jonathan. This demon only cared for what he could gain from betraying others.

Panic surged through my insides as though someone had plunged my organs into ice water and wouldn’t let them surface for air. I couldn’t move, couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think of a way to get us out of this situation.

At this rate, Irdu would demand an exorbitant sum, Prince Draconius would agree, and the demons would release their magic on the ancient vampire and destroy Valentine’s body.

Palpitations squeezed my heart with a ferocity that sent lightning bolts of pain across my chest. I had to say something—anything to stop Irdu from handing over Valentine’s body. If I could offer the demon something more valuable than money—

“I’m a phoenix,” I blurted.

Irdu turned his gaze to me, his eyes narrowed into slits. “You are bluffing.”

“That’s why they’re fighting,” I lied. “Valentine knew all along that I had