Bonds of the Vampire King (Blood Fire Saga Book 7) by Bella Klaus (romantic books to read TXT) 📗

end. The Fae King slumped on Valentine’s right, looking like he wanted to be anywhere other than in the Supernatural Council’s meeting room.

The last vestiges of sunlight filtered through the window, catching on my engagement ring. It was the same diamond callstone Valentine had given me the first time he had proposed, the one I’d used countless times to appear at his side.

A laugh bubbled up from my chest as I remembered using it to find Valentine the night Hades had ruined our engagement ball with that spectacular fight.

Valentine cleared his throat, and I smoothed out the amusement in my expression. To his left sat the Mage Queen, who leaned forward, the blonde bun atop her head bobbing up and down as she nodded at each point made in this week’s round of bickering.

I made a note to ask Valentine later if she had been using her light magic to feign attention.

Hades slammed his fist on the table, and everyone snapped their gazes to him. “Why must my enforcers be deployed whenever a human catches another idiot shifting? They’re busy enough as it is policing every casino, coffee shop, and cat house in London that has a hint of demonic activity.”

The Angel King pinched the bridge of his nose. “When we dismantled Logris and left Richmond Park to the shifters, we agreed to leave them with a level of protection—”

“If their king doesn’t care a damn about being detected by humans, then why should we?” Hades snapped.

My shoulders sagged. I missed having Beowulf on the Council of Ministers. At least he bothered to show up to the meetings, unlike the shifters’ new monarch.

A shudder ran down my back. There was something seriously wrong with that wolf.

The Mage Queen cleared her throat. “I could have a word with the Shifter King’s mate—”

“She barely keeps him under control,” Hades snapped.

I resisted the urge to shake my head. How many times had I warned Beowulf that one of the female shifters he mistreated would rise against him? Not only had she defeated Beowulf, but she’d unearthed the alpha of all alphas.

Unfortunately, this new alpha had then taken her throne. But Beowulf had been lucky to have escaped his former kingdom with his life.

“It’s someone else’s turn to deal with the shifters.” Hades continued to bicker with the Angel King.

I tuned out most of the argument and let my mind drift. Apart from a few blips, such as the new Shifter King, the Supernatural World had enjoyed over a decade of peace. Thanks to Kresnik announcing the location of Logris on television and across the internet, everyone but the shifters abandoned Richmond Park and separated into smaller villages.

The Supernatural Council moved its headquarters to Buckingham Palace using Kresnik’s temporal magic technique, with residences set up in Green Park for the angels who worked in our realm and St. James’ Park for the demons.

Fae hybrids who couldn’t stand Elphame built their community within Regent’s Park, mages now lived in Battersea Park, and the witches moved to Hampstead Heath.

I drummed my fingers on my lap, waiting for everyone to stop talking so we could leave.

“If the Demon King’s enforcers are occupied, perhaps another village can help out with the shifter situation.” The Witch Queen turned her pale eyes toward me. “The Fire Queen—”

“Can send dragons and ifrits down to Richmond Park and give the humans more videos to upload on the internet?” I folded my arms across my chest and stared down the woman until she lowered her gaze.

“Favilla is our smallest supernatural population,” the Angel King said, trying to sound reasonable as usual.

“And the fire users are off-limits,” Valentine added with a snarl.

I sat back in my seat. After liberating Coral, Racon, Gail, Lehman, Clarence, and all the other escapees from Hell, Hades, Valentine, and I had talked the Supernatural Council into setting up an eighth village with me as its queen.

Favilla was in Holland Park, a twenty-minute walk away from Hyde Park, which was the village of the vampires, and was also hidden from the humans with temporal wards.

To make up for centuries of persecution, the Supernatural Council converted a hotel within the park into spacious apartments and townhouses for the fire users. They’d even transformed the Belvedere restaurant into a palace, which I used mostly as an office building.

“If everyone’s so bothered about the shifters, let the mages deal with them,” the Fae King said with a yawn.

The Mage Queen blinked. “Alright.”

I glanced at Captain Zella, whose lips thinned. The Mage Queen was a hundred times better than her predecessor, but she was terrible at standing up for herself and her subjects.

Hades clapped his hands together and grinned. “In that case, meeting adjourned.”

Before anyone could say otherwise, he blinked out of sight.

The Witch Queen turned to me and smiled. “How is his wife’s pregnancy? Is the baby due soon?”

I shifted in my seat. In the years since Valentine and I had banished Kresnik, the Supernatural Council hadn’t once doubted either of our loyalty, but that didn’t mean we had forgotten how they’d turned on us. We only attended their meetings to safeguard the vampires and my fire users.

It was ironic that we were closest to Hades, who had caused most of our troubles, but that was for two reasons. Firstly, we would never have been able to save King Antonius from eternal damnation without his help. Secondly, his wife and I had become friendly during their twisted courtship. Supporting her was the least I could do, considering she met Hades at our masquerade ball.

The Witch Queen tilted her head to the side, expecting an answer.

I offered her a guarded smile. “As far as I know, the pregnancy is going as planned.”

The Fae King vanished next without saying goodbye, and the Angel King murmured farewell before disappearing. The rest of us, who couldn’t teleport, rose off our seats.

Valentine strolled to my side, took my hand, and we stepped through the mirror together and into the receiving hall of our home. It was identical to