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

that failed, he could always turn back into a Bengal and hunker down in the cloak.

A high-pitched screech of claws tearing through metal made my heart crawl toward my skull, and I clenched my teeth, trying not to look. Macavity and I stared into each other’s eyes for several moments, psyching ourselves up to face the impending danger.

After a few heartbeats, Macavity nodded.

I set him on the elevator floor and sent out a silent prayer to whoever might be listening. The cat transformed in an instant, taking up the entire elevator and releasing a roar that rang through my eardrums.

The barking stopped. I bent to the side, staring over Macavity’s massive body to check on the etching. All three heads of the dog stilled in mid-snarl, and the symbols around it returned to their previous configuration.

Macavity raised his head and released a roar of triumph.

“Well done.” I ran my hands down his sleek back. “You scared that thing away.”

The elevator made an abrupt stop, jolting me to the wall. A ping of the doors later, they opened into a circular room with a white floor, white ceiling, and a wall of windows that overlooked Logris’s town center. A round table took up its middle, surrounded by seven chairs. All but one of the seats were occupied by the same Supernatural Council members who had presided over my trial.

Before I could step out, enforcers in black armor crowded the elevator doors, pointing wands and guns and magical devices at us both.

Adrenaline spiked through my system. I raised my hands in surrender, blurting, “Is this the Council of Ministers? I’m supposed to be meeting the Demon King.”

Macavity made a snarl of warning in the back of his throat, and two of the enforcers pointed their weapons at him. I clenched my teeth, hissing at the leopard to stay still. These people dealt with rogue animals all the time and could subdue him in seconds if they wanted.

“Let them in,” drawled the voice of Hades.

All the tension escaped my chest in a relieved breath. Straightening, I smoothed down the reaper’s cloak and composed myself.

The enforcers parted, letting Macavity step out first, who glanced from side to side as though checking for dangers. I followed after him, with a hand on his back. The last time most of these people saw me, I’d been strapped to a chair and helpless.

It wasn’t like I gave a damn about these people, but I wanted them to see that I was no longer the weak little Neutral they had so easily condemned to death. I pulled back my shoulders, lifted my chin, and acted like I was the most powerful being in the Supernatural World.

My kitten heels clicked against the white floors, making me cringe. All six of the faces turned to me with expressions of interest that ranged from hostility to amusement.

The Mage King shot out of his seat. “What is the meaning of this intrusion?”

My blood boiled, and I ground my teeth, wishing I could sic Macavity on the skinny wretch. He had a lot of nerve. If it wasn’t for him and his annoying shadows, Valentine and I would have worked out a way to restore his body.

“Does the rest of the Council know about your treasonous acts?”

His face twisted into a rictus of disdain. “I hardly think that setting up a trap to capture two fugitives amounts to treason.”

I tilted my head to the side. “Two?”

“You and the Vampire—” He clamped his mouth shut.

Triumph flared through my insides. Hades and the Mage King had falsified Valentine’s resurrection and passed him off as alive to the rest of Logris. If he admitted that Valentine had been preternatural all along, then he would also have to admit to having been behind Valentine's supposed taxes and lockdown in Striga.

I cupped a hand behind my ear. “You were saying?”

“This woman assaulted me,” he snarled.

“How?” I bit down on the inside of my cheek, daring him to tell the other members of the Supernatural Council that I stabbed him in the dick with a reaper dagger.

The Mage King flared his nostrils. He wouldn’t admit to such a thing because it would lead to a whole host of awkward questions, like if I’d sliced through anything vital and if the organ in question still worked.

“Detain this creature,” he gestured at the guards. “She is an insurgent of the worst kind.”

Hades raised a palm. “Hold that order.”

The Mage King shot his former ally a hurt glance.

“Mera?” The Angel King leaned forward. “My esteemed colleague from Hell shared an account of having infiltrated a stronghold of fire users where you were being held captive by a newly arisen Kresnik. Could you corroborate his daring rescue?”

My throat dried. I rescued him. Hades hadn’t done anything but get himself reduced to ashes and imprisoned in five different locations. My insides itched to share that knowledge with the other Council members, but Hades was the only one I might be able to influence.

I shot him a glance through the corner of my eye, and he gave me a subtle nod, silently urging me to go along with his heroic tale.

“That’s right,” I rasped.

The Witch Queen rested her chin on her hands, drawing her brows together. “And you witnessed Kresnik’s resurrection?”

I nodded, hoping I wasn’t getting myself into further trouble.

The Fae King drummed his fingers on the round table. “So, it is true that you are a phoenix shifter?”

“That’s the theory,” I replied. “Before I was born, Kresnik merged my soul with a phoenix’s and used my power to meld his soul with someone else’s and give himself a physical body. My magic has returned, but it’s still weak.”

“How were you able to wrest your power back?” asked the Angel King.

My tongue darted out to lick my dry lips. If I really thought about it, Kresnik’s error had been to create me in the first place. The phoenix was part of my soul, so the magic would always belong to me… Unless I was dead.

Anxiety