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THRALL OF THE VAMPIRE KING
BELLA KLAUS
 CONTENTS

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24

Night of the Vampire King

 CHAPTER ONE

I slumped against the wall of the Flame’s hallway, trying to

keep myself upright with my legs trembling to the beat of
my panicked pulse. The lights were too bright, the space too narrow,
and the walls too white. Valentine loomed over me, seeming to drift
out of smoke.
My throat dried. This was just like in the mausoleum, when he
had first risen from the dead—worse, because at that time he had
protected me from his four ravenous brothers. Today, it was
Valentine who wanted to drink my blood… All because Kresnik had
stolen the magic powering Valentine’s reanimation. His loyalty wasn’t
with me anymore but with a man who probably had no use for me
except as a snack for his vampire lieutenant.
Valentine’s oversized fangs glinted in the hallway’s artificial light,
as did his black hair—the only parts of his body that retained some
of his former vitality. The rest of Valentine was corpselike, from the
red irises that shone like stoplights within their hollows, to his
sunken cheeks. Right now, he wasn’t just emaciated, but desiccated.
My heart galloped across my chest like a wild horse bucking
against a harness. Rapid breaths heaved in and out of my lungs as I
felt the beginnings of a panic attack.
“Valentine,” I croaked.
“Mmmmm.”
The sound of his pleasure made every fine hair on the back of
my neck stand on end. When Valentine was in this bloodless state, it
was hard to get through to him, even when he was powered by my
blood.
“Don’t do this,” I said, even though my words would be futile.
Valentine cupped my cheek, the ice of his palm seeping into my
flesh. I jerked away, but the arm around my back held me in place.
My pulse fluttered in my throat like an impaled butterfly, and all
the moisture left my tongue. He was drawing this out. Savoring the
sight of my terror before he drained me into a husk. Valentine
required the blood of two humans to maintain a functioning state of
mind, much less if the victim was magical. After the ritual that had
divested me of my magic, I wasn’t even sure if I qualified as a
Neutral.
The cool tip of his nose grazed my neck, sending a shudder down
my back. I pressed my hands on Valentine’s chest, trying to wrench
him off me, but it was like trying to push a building.
He inhaled a deep breath, the sound making my nerves tremble.
“Valentine?” I murmured. “This is Mera, remember?
Innamorata?”
The wet chill of his tongue swept over my jugular vein, and my
insides swept into a torrent of despair. He was too far gone to
remember that I wasn't his chew toy… or he no longer cared.
Footsteps approached from behind. My gaze darted to the right,
where denim-clad people streamed past us through the hallway,
some of them slowing to cast us furtive glances. Not a single one of
them asked if I needed any help.
Maybe they were like the Supernatural Council and thought a
woman who dated a preternatural vampire enjoyed being bitten.
Maybe they thought this was how vampires kissed. It wasn’t like I
could scream—I didn’t want Valentine to get hurt.
“Valentine.” I placed a hand on his cold chest, trying to push him
away, but his lips closed around my vein.
Betrayal mingled with disappointment to form a bitter taste in the
back of my throat. Was this their way of saying I didn’t deserve their
help because of what had happened with Jonathan? It wasn’t like I
had gotten to know anyone outside of my teammates, but this level
of indifference wouldn’t have happened in the human world.
Someone would have filmed it on their smartphone, or better still,
called the police.
Valentine made a low, satisfied growl, presumably at the
adrenaline now spiking through my system. Apparently, it made the
blood taste better. I had to do something—anything to stall him in
this state. Even if it sounded ridiculous.
“Let’s do this in private?” I murmured into his ear. “I don’t want
to be ravished in the middle of a hallway with all these strange men
watching.”
When he paused, warm triumph filled my chest. So, it looked like
he could process my words when they suited him.
I ran my hands down his hard chest, trying not to grimace at
how his flesh remained stone-like beneath his enforcer uniform.
“We can take our time undressing each other. When you’ve
gotten me ready, we can make love all night long.” I pressed a kiss
on his jaw. “But let’s do it in private, where no-one will ogle what’s
yours?”
A satisfied rumble reverberated from his chest. I pressed my lips
into a tight line, trying to suppress my disapproval. Apparently,
undead creatures also liked a bit of romance. Even those too far into
their bloodlust to form words.
Applause broke out further down the hallway, followed by the
roaring cheers of a crowd. Valentine’s head snapped up, and he
turned toward the source of the sound. A breath caught in the back
of my throat, and I prayed to whoever was listening that Valentine
would be curious enough to want to investigate.
As though he’d lost interest in ravishing my neck, Valentine
turned on his heel. Unfortunately, the arm around my back dragged
me along for the ride.
His long strides through the hallway had me breaking into a jog
to stop myself from falling on my face and needing to be carried in
his arms. Something like that would only bring my neck closer to his
mouth and turn me into a mobile snack.
The denim-clad fire users who had originally gaped at us now
moved aside to let us pass, and I clenched my teeth at their
selective caution. So, it was fine for me to almost get ravaged but
they didn’t want Valentine bumping into them?
Didn’t they realize that Kresnik had risen and they were either in
danger or about to be led into a war with the Supernatural Council?
Aurora had dropped enough hints for me to understand that they
were ready to fight back against those who hunted their kind. I
made a mental note to leave these people to the mercies of their
bloodthirsty new leader if I ever got out of this stronghold alive.
The crowd thickened around the entrance to ritual room four, the
amphitheater where Jonathan got banished. Valentine pushed his
way through the people and stepped into the circular space.
It was half full, with the front two rows of curved seats occupied,
and dozens of injured people strewn across the sunken stage. Some
groaned and writhed in agony, while a few of them lay still.
As Valentine walked us down the steps that led to the front, my
gaze dropped to Brother David, the man who had interrupted the
ritual to tell us that Valentine was at the wards. He lay in the middle
of the stage with a plate-sized hole in his chest, exposing shattered
ribs. My stomach dropped, and I clapped a hand over my mouth. No
one could have survived such a blow, especially one that left his
heart in tatters. Did that mean the enforcers had dragged his soul to
Hell?
Aurora stood in front of the big screen, still dressed in white.
Beside her was the silhouette of a tall man with a muscular frame.
On his other side stood Healer Calla, who wore a fresh gown of
white. A few other women of varying ages stood among them, also
clad in white.
Valentine seated me in the front and placed a heavy hand on my
shoulder. His silent command to stay. It wasn’t like I was
complaining, but why did he bring me here? Had he been
summoned by Kresnik’s magic? I met his crimson eyes and nodded,
ready to bolt the moment he was distracted.
The silhouette stepped through the screen, a rejuvenated Father
Jude with his thick head of red hair. Instead of the black garment he
had created with the shadows he stole from Clarence, he wore a
white jumpsuit that skimmed the contours of his muscular frame.
 Immense magic radiated off his body, making my insides thrum. I
clenched my teeth. Of course he would be powerful after loading
himself with the magic of seven people. Seven people who were
deemed to have special abilities—a dragon shifter, an ifrit, three
dual-powered mages, a wielder of black flames, a woman with
immense power reserves, and a phoenix. Me.
A hush fell across the auditorium as he continued toward the
middle of the stage. I’d gotten the impression that the high priest
isolated himself and hid behind screens so as not to alter time.
Whatever he had taken from us had both boosted his ability to
maintain the wards and tethered him to the current timestream.
Father Jude pressed his hands together in prayer. “Thank you,
my children.”
The doors behind us closed, and everyone around us roared
again, drowning out my thoughts. I turned my gaze to the stairs on
the far-right of the room, my heart sinking as women in pinafores
led little children down toward the stage. Somehow, I’d hoped they
would be spared the sight of injured people and corpses.
“I have returned.” Father Jude spread out his arms.
My throat thickened as I reminded myself that this wasn’t Father
Jude. Perhaps all along he was Kresnik. Valentine lowered himself
into the seat next to mine and folded his arms across his chest. I
stared into his profile, wondering if I ever had a chance of freeing
his body now that my magic belonged to someone else.
“How beautiful it is to see you and in such expanded numbers,”
the man onstage said in a voice as slippery as silk. As he turned to
press a kiss on Aurora’s cheek, the crowd went wild.
“How wonderful it is to fight alongside my family and emerge
triumphant!”
More cheers. I leaned forward, forcing deep breaths in and out of
my nostrils. The key to breaking Valentine from his control was
taking my magic back, but if I was going to survive the night, I’d
have to concentrate. Concentrate on the man’s weakness.
Concentrate on how he used his magic and concentrate on a way to
slip through his defenses.
 “For those who joined since our exodus from Ignatius Manor, I
am Kresnik!”
My throat convulsed, and I shot Valentine a glance. His features
remained expressionless as though he was waiting for a command.
Gulping hard, I bit down on my lip. This was the man who had
murdered Valentine’s father and controlled his preternatural body.
Somewhere deep in the back of Valentine’s mind, he had to know
this, too. Had the magic completely consumed his reason?
Only a few of the people sitting around the seats gasped at the
new information, making me wonder if the older residents of the
Flame knew what Father Jude had been planning all along. I waited
for him to explain the difference between himself and the high
priest, but he balled his fists and paced around the stage.
“The time for hiding from the Supernatural Council is over,” he
snarled. “We have reached a critical mass where our firepower
matches theirs. We have enough firestone to destroy Logris, and our
former persecutors will become our slaves.”
Shouts and cheers and the stomping of feet filled the vast space.
“Indeed.” Kresnik’s voice rang through the air. “We will not hide,
we will not cower, we will no longer fear for the lives of our
brethren. Before the Supernatural Council recovers from their losses,
we will be ready to attack!”
My throat dried. I understood everyone’s fury. The Supernatural
Council had ordered my execution and wanted my coven dead
because I was a fire user. I’d even seen what they had tried to do to
an innocent little girl. From everyone’s point of view, the Council was
evil.
Unease rippled through my insides. Kresnik seemed to be the
kind of man who would commit even greater atrocities than all the
Council Members put together. It looked like he was taking
advantage of their fear to mobilize an army.
“Five hundred years ago, they brought in overseas
reinforcements to subdue my power. Those monsters used the
blackest of magic to break me into pieces, but I still prevailed. They
tore out my divinity and hid it in the earth, yet all I could think about
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were my precious children.” Kresnik’s muscles bulged from his white
jumpsuit as though he was reliving the horror.
Sobs broke out across the auditorium. I glanced around, my
chest tightening at the sight of their remembered pain. It was
impossible to harden my heart against the plight of people living
centuries under the threat of the Supernatural Council one day
finding them to drag their souls to Hell.
Kresnik nodded, seeming satisfied with their reaction. “We lived
peacefully in Ignatius House, rebuilding our ranks and bringing more
soldiers into existence, yet the Demon King and his enforcers
tracked us and destroyed our home.”
My breath hitched. Was he referring to the burned-out derelict?
It was certainly large enough to accommodate hundreds of people,
and it had also been raided by demon enforcers. Without thinking, I
placed a hand on Valentine’s forearm.
“Is he talking about the penthouse?” I whispered into his ear.
Valentine stared ahead at Kresnik without so much as inclining
his head. I pressed the heel of my hand into my aching chest and
curled my trembling fingers into a fist. Perhaps I needed to try again
once he had fed. A shudder seized my spine. There might not be a
me to ask these questions if I let him taste my blood.
“Brother Jude led you to this sanctuary, while I stayed behind
with the preternatural army to fight our persecutors.” Kresnik spread
his arms wide. “Their combined magics overwhelmed mine. They
broke apart my physical body and dragged my soul to Hell.”
I leaned forward, my eyes wide. Kresnik’s account matched what
Valentine had told me about the mansion. No wonder Valentine’s
soul had been so desperate for me to escape the derelict when I had
let him know that was where I was hiding. From what I was piecing
together, the mage who had inhabited that mansion had been a
weaker form of Kresnik.
“For decades, I roamed Britain, a disembodied shadow, waiting
for my moment to rise, and here I am!”
A disembodied shadow? Every muscle in my body stiffened.
Palpitations drew the blood from my cheeks and flooded my
heart. I clutched at my chest, trying not to hyperventilate. There had
been a shadow around the time someone had stolen my memory.
There had also been a shadow when I’d gotten cursed with the
blood lure.
What if the person who had attacked me in my apartment hadn’t
been a shadow mage but an ordinary human possessed by a
shadow? It would make sense that the shadow attacked again, even
though Macavity had destroyed the man.
“Valentine.” Kresnik’s voice sliced through my thoughts.
Valentine rose from his seat and stepped onto the stage. He
walked over to Kresnik’s side and kneeled. A hush settled over the
auditorium, and annoyance settled over my skin and penetrated it to
the marrow. How dare a thief use his power to force a man to his
knees?
“This, my children, is the strongest warrior in the Royal House of
Sargon,” Kresnik said, his voice ringing with pride. “Valentine will be
the general of my preternatural army and he will report directly to
me.”
Polite applause broke out across the auditorium. I glanced
around to find the place as full as it had been for Jonathan’s
banishment.
Coral slipped into the seat next to mine. “What the hell is
happening?”
“It looks like Father Jude sacrificed himself to let Kresnik live,” I
muttered.
“That can’t be right,” she whispered. “Phoenix flames aren’t used
for body swaps.”
I shook my head. “Kresnik just said the Supernatural Council
destroyed his physical body.”
Coral glowered at the man standing onstage. “At least I know
why it was impossible to burn through your curse.”
I nodded. A woman of such immense power should have been
able to overwhelm the shadow magic that had changed my blood. If
Kresnik or Father Jude had replenished it each time I’d broken free,
it was no wonder it kept recurring at the most inconvenient times.
“Why did they want me to die from a vampire bite?” I murmured,
mostly to myself.
 Coral snorted. “To release your fiery soul, so they could take it
for themselves? To push you to be stronger so they could steal it? I
wouldn’t be surprised if they caused all the trouble I had with
vampires, too. Everything I can think of amounts to one thing. They
wanted to fatten you up before extracting your magic.”
She was right. Hadn’t Coral said to me earlier that a shadow had
frightened her into expressing her fire?
Kresnik’s voice drifted back to my awareness. “Britain will
become a supernatural power, much like New Mesopotamia. We’ll
need to feed our vampires and provide new recruits for our army of
preternaturals, so I see no reason to wage war with the humans.”
More applause.
My jaw tightened. He made himself sound like he wasn’t just
going to murder a bunch of humans and turn them into vampires
and zombies. What then? Their undead army would control the
masses and frighten everyone into falling in line with his tyranny.
“Each member of the Supernatural Council will die at my hands,
but I will spare those who never persecuted our kind. While you will
all live as princes within my new order, they will become my loyal
vassals.”
I blocked out the happy cheers, wondering what the other fire
users were thinking. It was one thing to fight back to stop
themselves from being oppressed. But I couldn’t understand why
they would want to rule over humans.
“First, I must heal those of you who fought valiantly to protect
the innocent.” Two flaming swords sprouted from Kresnik’s arms,
making everyone gasp. Except Coral and me. I was too busy
recalling Coral’s uncanny ability to shape magic. Coral stiffened,
perhaps working out where he gained that ability to shape fire.
Kresnik touched the tip of his blade to a man with a bleeding
chest wound. He shuddered and screamed and thrashed, but
seconds later, he stood.
“You see?” He raised his sword. “I now have the power of
healing. No-one will ever fear death because my magic will secure
the immortality of my most loyal.”
 For the next several minutes, Kresnik walked around the stage,
sticking his sword of flames into the wounds of the injured. Dozens
of audience members lined the steps, clutching minor wounds. I slid
down from the seat and lowered myself onto my knees.
“What are you doing?” Coral hissed.
“Getting out of here with all my blood,” I whispered back.
Coral glanced at the stage, where Valentine stared at us through
red eyes. My escape was also a test to see how much free will
Valentine could exercise in the presence of Kresnik. Kresnik called
him onstage. Would he stay there and obey his new master while I
escaped or would he come after me instead?
By now, the magic thief had already healed the injured and was
moving on to those with minor wounds. I ducked behind the people
lining up on my right and bolted up the auditorium steps. In a few
moments, I would be free…if the wards weren’t already trapping me
here.
Excited chatter echoed around the auditorium. It looked like
everyone was pleased to see the return of Kresnik. Ignoring them, I
took the stairs two at a time. Even if I couldn’t leave for now, I
would bide my time until one of the people here left on a mission.
Now that my magic belonged to someone else, he probably wouldn’t
be able to track me. Especially if I only moved about during daylight
hours and stayed away from windows at night.
The air shifted, and Valentine appeared at the top of the stairs,
glowering down at me through those eerie red eyes. My stomach
plummeted to the stone steps, and my insides rippled with anxiety.
“I can explain,” I stuttered through yet another round of
applause. “People like me need to use the bathroom—”
He grabbed my arm and dragged me down the steps, making me
stumble over my feet to keep up. Valentine deposited me on the
seat next to Coral’s, placed both hands on my shoulders, and
pointed a finger between my eyes. The scowl on his features told me
I would not enjoy what he would do to me if I tried escaping again.
I nodded, and he continued toward the stage.
Coral leaned into me and murmured, “Possessive?”
“This soulless version of him thinks I’m his property.”
 “Typical vampire.”
My posture slumped. This time, I let her comment wash over me.
There were a hundred more things to worry about than Coral still
thinking that Valentine was a tyrant who would use me as a blood
cow, and my continuing life was one.
I stared at the stage, meeting Valentine’s eyes. If he wasn’t
completely under Kresnik’s control, how much influence could I
exercise on him to set him free?
 CHAPTER TWO

I slumped back in my seat and blew out a weary breath.

What I needed right now was Valentine. Not the
preternatural glowering at me from across the stage, but the fully
restored soul dwelling within his heart. If Valentine was in his right
mind, we might be able to work out how to get out from under
Kresnik’s control.
Better yet, Valentine’s soul might help me work out how I could
retrieve my power, because there was no way Kresnik would use his
flames to restore an enemy who would kill him for murdering and
enslaving his father.
After the man in question finished healing the last few stragglers’
minor wounds, he walked to the center of the stage, where the dead
bodies lay two feet apart in a line.
“My children,” he said in a voice that echoed across the room.
“When you follow me, I will grant you eternal life. I can heal the sick
and injured, raise the dead, turn the elderly into youths.”
He walked along the line of corpses and stopped at Brother
David’s. With a gigantic hole in the chest, his was one of the worst in
the lineup. Kresnik skewered the other man’s corpse with both
flaming swords and stepped back to let the blades do their work.
I licked my dry lips, trying not to act impressed. This was no
different than throwing a fireball—something most mages could do.
The scent of burning flesh filled the air, but the dead man’s
exterior remained unmarred. Seconds later, his skin glowed with the
light of the fire burning him from the inside out. I placed a hand
over my mouth. Could Kresnik bring back every dead fire user from
the battle? By the time I’d completed that thought, the corpse was
reduced to ash.
“Ceremonial dagger?” he said.
Healer Calla extracted a golden knife from the apron of her white
gown and knelt to present it to her master.
Kresnik sliced the palm of his hand and dripped his blood over
the ash pile. I glanced at Valentine to see if he would react to the
blood, but he kept his gaze on mine. My stomach tightened. What
kind of thirsty vampire didn’t gravitate to blood? Then realization hit
with the force of an anvil. When I was Valentine’s master, he never
once tried to bite me. Valentine didn’t attack Kresnik because the
wretched man was his master.
Coral leaned into my side. “Why’s he using blood?”
“Remember that piece of debris that hit you on the head?” I
asked through the side of my mouth. “Your blood got into the ashes
and accelerated his return.”
“I still can’t believe that’s not Father Jude.”
I wrapped my arms around my middle. It looked like the Kresnik
from five hundred years ago who the Council said had burned out
his magical core had actually survived. Kresnik then moved to the
land Valentine’s father had bought for him and commissioned the
building of that mansion. That’s where all the fire users lived for
centuries, until the demon enforcers raided it.
My gaze lingered on the ashes, which darkened with Kresnik’s
blood. At some time during the raid, Father Jude led the fire users
out to safety, while Kresnik fought the demon enforcers and got
dragged into Hell. At least that’s what happened to his soul. The
Council must have destroyed his body, and his shadow slithered
away to cause mischief.
I sucked in a breath, waiting to see if Brother David would rise.
Up on the stage, Kresnik leaned toward Valentine and murmured
in his ear. Valentine kept his gaze on mine throughout the
conversation, making me hope they weren’t talking about Kresnik’s
plans to have me exsanguinated now that I had served my purpose.
 The audience chatted among themselves until a scream echoed
across the stage. Kresnik spread his arms wide. “Behold, Brother
David is once again whole!”
Applause thundered, picking up volume as the sound continued
to bounce off the walls. Kresnik wasn’t anything special—he just
used the power of seven to amplify the power of a phoenix. Only
Clarence, Gail, and Racon knew that, but they weren’t around to tell
the audience that the emperor had stolen his clothes.
“Did you see that?” asked Coral.
“It’s pretty much what happened when Father Jude rose from the
ashes,” I muttered.
She ignored me and joined in the applause.
I leaned away from the other woman, my stomach plummeting.
Had she been swayed by this resurrection to respect Kresnik?
The naked Brother David turned in a circle, not seeming to
understand what was happening. Healer Calla placed a sheet over
his shoulders and guided him to the side of the stage, where he
shrugged off the covering and rubbed his temple. The last thing he
probably remembered was having his heart torn out by a demon
enforcer, if he remembered anything at all.
I’d bet my former collection of black tourmaline that Brother
David’s body was alive but soulless. It wasn’t common knowledge,
but I’d come to learn that supernaturals kept their souls in their
hearts. Kresnik just revived a heartless body, and the real Brother
David was probably already in a cell within the depths of the Demon
King’s lair, being tortured for daring to have fire.
Kresnik flicked his arm, indicating for Brother David to take a
seat. The newly resurrected man stumbled from side to side before
someone guided him off the stage and into a space in the front row.
The other fire users crowded him, seeming to be asking
questions, but Brother David stared ahead at Kresnik the way
Valentine stared at me. My skin tightened. How many of those dead
people would he bring back wrong?
“One more thing before I restore my faithful warriors.” Kresnik
turned to Aurora, who dipped into a low bow and walked behind the
screen.
 Moments later, she reemerged with two of the men I recognized
from Jonathan’s banishment. They led a dozen uniformed enforcers,
each bound with metallic chains around their necks and ankles and
wrists. Chains linked the enforcers together, forcing them to walk in
lockstep.
Aurora bowed low and presented the chains to Kresnik, who
turned to the audience and beamed. “When I clamped down on the
wards, I collected every single intruder, dead or alive, to join my
ranks.
Within Kresnik’s hands, the chain turned as red as hot coals, and
livid heat spread down the other links and up into the first collars
and cuffs.
The first enforcer’s scream was so gut-wrenching that I leaned
forward, gulping mouthfuls of air.
“What’s wrong with you?” Coral whispered.
I shook my head, my gaze fixed on the horror unfolding on the
stage.
That first enforcer fell to the ground, followed by another and
another until steam rose from the chains. A hushed awe spread
across the auditorium, but all I could feel was a stomach rippling
with nausea. Kresnik was burning them alive.
When the last of the enforcers lay on the ground with saliva
frothing from his mouth, Kresnik turned to the women standing at
the big screen. “Ceremonial slaughters.”
Each of them extracted daggers and walked around the stage. I
stared into Valentine’s eyes, holding his gaze as though it was the
only thing keeping me sane. What was the point of doing this?
Revenge? Recruitment? To prove to the newcomers that Kresnik was
powerful?
The women reached down and stabbed the men through their
hearts. Each time one of them flinched, I shuddered hard enough to
make my teeth chatter. When they were sure that all of the fallen
enforcers were dead, the women returned to their positions.
“Behold.” Kresnik raised his arms, and the dead enforcers rose to
their feet.
 By now, I couldn’t stomach the spectacle, much less the
applause. I lowered my gaze to my lap, waiting for this assembly to
end.
Kresnik said, “Please see to it that my Preternatural General has
the very best room within the upstairs house.”
My head snapped up, and I gulped to find both Kresnik and
Valentine staring at me with different degrees of hunger. One of
them hungered for my blood, but the other hungered to destroy me.
I pursed my lips. Kresnik hadn't been kidding when he said the time
for hiding was over. He wanted some of us to live above ground, just
so the Supernatural Council would see how powerful he had
become.
Aurora turned to Valentine, who nodded and followed her toward
the steps that led to the door at the top of the auditorium. As
Valentine passed, he wrapped his hand around my bicep and pulled
me off my seat. I stumbled up the stairs after Valentine, hoping he
would take mercy on me and not drain me to a husk.
“Where are we going?” I asked, but both Valentine and Aurora
ignored me as they reached the top of the stairs.
I glanced over my shoulder, wondering if Kresnik wanted us out
of the auditorium because he was about to share sensitive
information, but the man ordered his preternatural enforcers to
stand at the back of the stage while he continued burning the dead
with his flaming swords.
There were no signs that a battle had ever taken place within the
hallway. Kresnik’s magic had restored the curving passage to their
usual pristine white. Even the light fittings were repaired.
Valentine’s arm encircled my waist, pulling me into the coldness
of his corpse. A shudder ran down my spine. Whatever he had done
out there must have burned away every ounce of blood in his veins.
He looked even worse than he had the day we had fought the
Demon and Mage Kings.
The woman who was supposed to be my mother walked down
the hallway at a brisk pace, never once sparing me a backward
glance.
“Aurora,” I snapped.
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 She turned her head to the side and scowled.
“You planned this all along, didn’t you?” I asked.
“What are you talking about now?” she said as though this was
the tenth in a string of questions laden with unfair accusations.
“My conception,” I snapped. “How many children did you dump
around Logris, hoping they would develop enough fire magic to
eventually steal?”
Aurora halted in the middle of the hallway, her shoulders rising
toward her ears. She turned around and glowered at me through
narrowed eyes. “It is a great honor to survive the enchantment that
made you a vessel for the highest and purest grade of magic.
Remember that, girl.”
That was like telling a calf it had been fed only the very best so it
could provide the most delicious meat. I shook my head from side to
side, wondering what level of brainwashing Father Jude and Kresnik
had performed on her to participate in such a barbaric act.
“How could you?” I whispered.
Aurora turned around and continued down the hallway. “If you
knew how the people within have suffered, you wouldn’t ask such
tedious questions.”
My muscles tensed, and my pulse revved up to full throttle. I
tried to rush at her, but Valentine’s arm secured me to his side. Even
when I glowered up at him, he continued to stare ahead as though
he’d been programmed to obey a single command, which was to
follow this wretched woman to a safe spot where he could drain my
blood.
“Why don’t you explain then?” I curled my hands into fists.
Aurora smoothed her hands down the sides of her white gown.
“The magic all of you were born with belonged to our Lord—”
“What, he was a phoenix, too?”
She shot me a glare, her features tightening. “Our Lord thought
that the power to resurrect our warriors would serve in the
upcoming conflict.”
“What am I then? A sacrifice—”
“A dual soul,” she said, sounding smug. “Much like Father Jude
and Our Lord except that you combine the intelligence of a person
with the fire of a phoenix.”
So, at some point after leaving the mansion and being dragged
into Hell, Kresnik managed to hitch a ride in Father Jude’s body. At
least now the old man’s dual personality made sense. The version of
him who had set my teeth on edge and raised my hackles had
actually been Kresnik, broadcasting straight from Hell.
I turned to Valentine to see his reaction, but he continued staring
straight ahead. All the anger inflating my insides seeped away,
replaced by the fluttering of my stomach and a sense of dread so
thick I could scrape it off my tongue. Perhaps after feeding, he
might be able to make sense of what was happening—if I even
survived the night with a hungry preternatural.
Aurora pushed open a door that led to a stairwell of stone floors
and ornate iron banisters that curved upward in a gentle slope. As
we walked through the doorway, pinpricks of power travelled across
my skin, indicating that we were passing some wards. It looked like I
had retained my sensitivity to subtle magic, which meant I was still a
Neutral. It also meant that Valentine might not need to drink every
ounce of my blood to replenish himself.
She took the stairs two at a time. I guess because she had tired
of my accusations and wanted to return to her beloved master.
At the top of the first flight was a grand entrance hall of dark
wood floors, turquoise walls, and a vaulted ceiling. White pillars
broke up the colors, and stone plinths stood at ten-foot intervals,
each holding marble busts.
After a battle of the magnitude I’d seen earlier, all this must have
been reduced to rubble. There had been dragons and salamanders
and warriors wielding weapons, and half the mansion had been
destroyed. Goosebumps tightened across my skin. How could one
person hold so much power without shattering into pieces?
The new wards had to be powerful if Kresnik was allowing
Valentine to stay in Kenwood House. That, or he was too dangerous
to allow anywhere near his followers.
“How many babies died before you worked out how to combine
their souls with a phoenix?”
 “Not as many as those who were killed by the Supernatural
Council,” she said, sounding as smooth as slime.
“Aunt Arianna always told me—”
“One evil only compounds another,” she snapped. “Arianna was
my sister before she became your guardian.”
I clenched my teeth. This wasn’t a competition. “What do you
think she’ll say when she discovers that the child she took great
pains to raise just got fed to a hungry vampire?”
“You and I know she wouldn’t approve.”
“Yet you’re handing me over anyway.”
Aurora paused by the door, her lips tightening into a thin line.
Unease settled in the lining of my stomach. I knew it was Kresnik
who handed me over to Valentine and Aurora was just a follower,
but how could she carry someone inside her for nine months and
just let them get consumed?
For a moment, I pictured her as a woman who had spirited me
away to the safety of Aunt Arianna, so I wouldn’t become a sacrifice.
But that wasn’t true. If Aurora had told my aunt to protect me, then
my aunt would have left the country. There were plenty of places a
fire user could go around the world—Atlantis, Baltia, or Arcadia.
They could even seek shelter in New Mesopotamia if they didn’t
mind being ruled by vampires.
No. If she had cared a damn, she wouldn’t have continued
insisting that I return to the Flame. Aurora knew what she was doing
and fully intended me to be the main ingredient in a ritual to create
this new and improved Kresnik. What I didn’t understand was why I
kept trying to appeal to her nonexistent conscience.
Aurora opened the door to a room flooded with daylight.
Valentine stepped back and then raised his fingers to the doorway.
When they didn’t burn, he took a tentative step forward. I peered up
into his blank features. At least he’d retained his self-preservation.
“Losing magic that wasn’t even yours to begin with is a small
sacrifice to pay to save hundreds of innocents.” Her throat bobbed
as she stepped inside. “If it were something I could do myself—”
“Oh, save me from your bullshit.” I let Valentine sweep me into
the room and deposit me on the spongy mattress of a four-poster
bed.
I rolled off its side and set my feet on the floor, looking for
escape routes, hiding places, anything that might save my hide.
Tall windows ran along its right side, each with golden blinds
hanging at half-mast. Each window had its own cushioned seat and
between each of them stood a side table that held an ornate clock.
A four-poster bed took up most of the left wall with a golden
pelmet, decorated with a sculpted frieze of Greek gods. The curtains
hanging from it were a silk velvet that complemented the golden
drapes. Even the coverlet, ivory-silk fabric embroidered in gold,
looked like it belonged in a museum.
Above a roaring fireplace hung a gold-framed picture of a
shirtless man with burnt orange hair. His skin was as bronze as
Valentine’s used to be, and the sun shone from behind him, bringing
out the golden highlight in his hair. With the fire burning in his
amber eyes, and the flames dancing from his fingertips, it looked like
the artist had wanted to depict him like a god of sun or fire. My
throat dried. Was this Kresnik’s true appearance?
At a time like this, I shouldn’t have been impressed by the decor,
but with Valentine standing at the window and staring out into the
gardens, some of the pressure eased off my mind, and I needed to
think of something.
The room was part stately home, part museum, and part hotel
suite. I walked to a drinks cabinet that displayed an array of green
bottles, hoping that at least one of them contained blood. They
didn’t.
Beneath it was a refrigerator, which I opened to find it crammed
with blood bags. Some of the tightness around my chest eased. If I
could convince Valentine to drink from the bags instead of my veins,
I might just survive for long enough to have a conversation with his
soul.
Aurora opened a door that led to a wardrobe-sized space secured
by floor-to-ceiling bars. Two bare mattresses lay on the floor and a
metallic toilet pan that doubled as a sink hung from the window.
I clenched my teeth. “What the hell is this?”
 “Our vampire general will require a place to store fresh blood,”
she replied.
“People, you mean,” I blurted.
Her lips tightened. “Don’t be a hypocrite.”
The words hit like a backhand across the face, making me reel
back. She was referring to how Valentine had stored Jonathan with a
dozen other men within the mansion’s basement.
Staring the woman full in the face, I snarled, “I released those
humans the moment I found them.”
Aurora stuck her nose in the air, reminding me a little of an
academy mean girl when caught out in a lie. Disgust rippled through
my insides. Not that I was a saint, but how could I have come from
wretchedly evil parents?
Valentine encircled my waist from behind, lowered his lips to my
neck, and growled.
Aurora’s haughty expression fell, and all the blood drained from
her face. She turned on her heel and speed-walked to the door. “I’ll
leave you to get settled.”
“Hey,” I snapped.
She turned but couldn’t meet my eyes.
“If I don’t survive the night, please tell Aunt Arianna that she
saved me from the Council. You don’t have to tell her how I died.”
Aurora nodded and scampered out of the door, leaving me alone
with Valentine.
His satisfied rumble reverberated across the entire length of my
back.
How do you stop a preternatural vampire from draining you dry?
I was about to find out.
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___domain.

Afskriverens rettelser:

... end end en ny Art af Tusindben, som Doktoren ...

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... foran dem i lunefulde Svingninger, medens ...
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*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MED LUFTSKIB TIL
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