Passion of the Vampire King (Blood Fire Saga Book 5) Bella Klaus (the red fox clan TXT) 📖

about issues that didn’t affect him as deeply as keeping me safe or the death of his father? It was a miracle enough that he never went on a bloodthirsty rampage.

Something creaked from the direction of the door. I turned to the right to find a cat with tiger stripes poking its head through the flap. It glanced from left to right before parting its jaws in a questioning meow.

Valentine shook his head, and the cat disappeared.

I pointed at the cat flap. “What just happened?”

“She wants to know if Macavity came with us.”

“Oh.” I rubbed the back of my neck, still looking at the little pet door. “That’s the same cat Macavity disappeared with the first time you took me here.”

“I expect she’s frustrated.” He rose off the mattress and walked toward me with what he probably thought was a meaningful look. “The poor cat.”

Several things occurred to me at once. One, Macavity had a girlfriend, and she could probably turn into a tiger. Two, we were back in Koffie because which other hotel would contain cat flaps on each door. Three, was Valentine really comparing himself to that cat?

My gaze darted to the magnum bottles on the table that probably didn’t contain red wine. “Is that O-Neutral?”

“If you want something for yourself, I’ll order it from the menu.” He brushed his fingers through my hair.

Something about this scenario tugged on my mind. It was important, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how I was going to explain to Valentine’s soul that I hadn’t been able to convince his body to return to Logris. I clutched my brow, squeezing my eyes shut.

“Mera?” Valentine wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

I met his worried violet eyes and placed a hand on his denim-covered bicep. “You once told me that the demon who runs Koffie likes cats.”

“Irdu has a large collection of hellcats, yes.” He placed a soft kiss on my temple and pulled me into his chest.

“Does he buy the Neutral blood from a broker?” I asked.

Valentine drew back, meeting my gaze with a frown. “Why do you ask?”

“I think he might have Jonathan.” It took a bit of explanation about how Captain Zella’s team had tracked him through the London Transport system and traced his movement through the streets of Mayfair to find that he had disappeared with a broker who supplied people to the supernatural community.

By the time I told him about the Cat’s Cream smelling of dander, all his concerns melted away, replaced by determined eyes and a set jaw.

“Irdu keeps a small stable of cows for clients who wish to feed by the vein.” He took my hand and pulled me toward the exit.

“Did you ever feed from any of these cows while we were courting?” The words tumbled from my lips before I could stop them.

Valentine paused by the door and met my gaze with violet eyes that reflected only the truth. “Never,” he said in a deep voice that made my heart melt. “And I didn’t feed from anybody while we were apart.”

We stepped out into the hallway, which looked the same as that of any other hotel, and continued toward a regular-looking elevator. If it wasn’t for the myrrh and brimstone in the air, combined with the occasional glimpse of a cat darting from one door to the other, I would think we were in a human establishment.

“Where are we going?” I glanced up at Valentine. “To the pens?”

“Stables,” he said with a smile.

We stepped into the elevator’s stainless steel interior. Its control panel had the usual buttons, ranging from five to minus thirty. At the bottom, next to the one labelled ‘P’, was one with the symbol for a cat. Valentine pressed that one, and the elevator descended.

Minutes later, the doors opened, letting in a grass and mint and cat dander scent that overwhelmed my senses. My nose wrinkled, and I blinked several times over.

“How many cats live down here?” I asked.

Valentine placed a hand on the small of my back, not seeming the least bit bothered by the smell. “The most I’ve ever seen on a single day was twenty-four, but a lot of the guests come here with their cats.”

“Have you been down here before?” I asked.

“Only to pick up Macavity,” he replied with a small smile. “I have no idea how he does it, but he often came here from Logris to see Damisa, who is a permanent resident here.”

So, that was the name of Macavity’s little girlfriend. I looped my arm through his, imagining the cat jumping on public transport or maybe even scamming a ride on Überwald to come here. Valentine brought my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to my knuckles, seeming pleased at getting one step closer to defeating Kresnik.

As we continued down the hallway, the scent of mint became stronger. The walls turned transparent, curving to form a tunneled walkway between an enclosure designed for cats.

Cat trees stretched across the left walls, pole-like structures with ramps and steps and ropes designed for a small feline. Some of them contained little baskets, others contained boxes with holes large enough for the cats to enter and exit.

A Bengal who looked like Macavity hopped from one elevated stepping stone to another, its black tail held high.

There were more varieties of cats than I’d seen in Logris and the Supernatural World, some climbing the trees, others perched on furniture high up on the walls, and a few staring out at us from hollow enclosures. Among them were a curly-haired critter with fur the color of marmalade, a black cat covered in white spots, and a miniature lion with silver fur and amber eyes that shone like the sun.

I turned to Valentine, whose attention was fixed on the right side of the enclosure, where a pair of massive lions lounged around oversized sofas watching us pass.

“Do all these cats belong to Irdu?” I asked.

“Hellcats are demons in their own right and only belong to themselves.” Valentine explained