Rebirth of the Vampire King (Blood Fire Saga Book 6)

by Bella Klaus

  I placed my hand over my breastbone. Kresnik was taunting us. The only thing that wasn’t clear was if he’d be waiting for us in Central London or if he was leading us into a trap.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  The vehicle’s engine stopped, and everyone stilled. Valentine and I stood with the large screen at our backs and our fingers intertwined.

  Despite Valentine’s rousing speech, a sense of trepidation filled the vast space, a heavy stones-in-the-stomach dread that not everyone would come out of the upcoming battle alive. Our enemies were individuals capable of reducing a body to char, making it unrecognizable to all but the most sensitive of forensic wizards.

  I leaned into Valentine’s side, drawing from his strength, watching the enforcers separate into teams of four. Six demons surrounded each unit with their hands clasped and transported them out of the vehicle with a puff of brimstone-scented smoke.

  Our team was the largest, consisting of Valentine, Hades, Caiman, and the mercenaries from the palace. They were mostly male, with a few females as statuesque as Nut, each clad in padded gray armor. I clutched at the fireproof cloak, trying not to grimace at my tank top and yoga pants, and reminded myself that armor would only hinder my movements.

  Hades turned to me, his gaze softening. “I suspected that King Valentine wouldn’t stop you from joining the battle.” He snatched his ancient helmet from thin air. “Please make use of my Helm.”

  My lips parted, letting out a shocked breath. I glanced at Valentine, who gaped at the Demon King with wide eyes, and back to Hades, who met my gaze with an unwavering stare that communicated affection, respect, a touch of concern.

  “Thank you.” I gulped. Just when I thought he was a two-faced liar beyond redemption, he destroyed those notions with a selfless act. “But I don’t want it to fall off or get damage if I shift—”

  “Say yes.” Valentine leaned into me with a growl.

  I met Valentine’s stern features and placed a hand on his bicep. “Kresnik can’t attack me if I shift and fly to safety. My phoenix flames once reduced that body to ash. They might be the only way to hurt him.”

  Valentine’s hand wrapped around mine with a gentle squeeze. “If anything happened to you, this war is lost.”

  “But I’m more vulnerable in this body, even with a helmet of invisibility. As a phoenix—”

  “As a phoenix, you will be a beacon for his attention. How many firestone swords do you think you can take before he steals all your flames? What then?”

  Behind me, Hades inhaled, seeming about to speak, but he stepped back and remained silent. Valentine’s eyes flicked to a point over my shoulder and then back to mine. The pair must have exchanged a glance or a gesture, but I had no idea why.

  I pulled back my shoulders and folded my arms across my chest. “You’re forgetting that I’m not fighting alone.”

  “She’s right,” Hades said. “Even with the most potent magical absorbent, Kresnik will need several minutes to steal Miss Griffin’s power. In that time, one of us will come to her aid.”

  Valentine’s jaw clenched, and the cords in his neck muscles bulged through the armor. Everything about that expression said he wanted to forbid me from even stepping out of the vehicle. He might have said as much as a preternatural, but my Valentine respected my choices, even if he disagreed with them.

  “Stay close,” he said through clenched teeth. “If anything happens to me, you will search for the Demon King.”

  “I am touched that you would entrust Miss Griffin’s safety to me,” said Hades.

  Valentine shot Hades the filthiest glare. “I don’t intend to get injured.”

  Caiman placed a gloved hand on Valentine’s shoulder, and the mercenaries closed in around us.

  “Prepare yourselves.” Hades raised a hand

  Black filled my vision, followed by blinding flashes of crimson and orange and yellow. I reeled back, squeezing my eyes shut.

  The distant rumble and echoes of passing trains filled my ears. In the distance, brakes screeched, and a mechanized voice made an announcement to mind the gap.

  I opened my eyes to find us within the busy ticket office of a tube station, with humans forming orderly lines before glass-fronted booths illuminated by blue lights. Behind us, even more humans clad in winter coats streamed through mechanized barriers, bustling past us oblivious to the group of people who had appeared from nowhere.

  This had to be Notting Hill Gate—the nearest station to the safe house in Pembridge Villas.

  I clutched Valentine’s arm. For a nanosecond, it felt like we’d descended into Hell and jumped to another location before reappearing in the Human World. The faintest scent of brimstone lingered in my nostrils, making me think that the slight detour hadn’t been my imagination.

  “I’ve muffled our magic,” said Hades. “But the station’s electromagnetic field should help conceal the presence of one stealthy supernatural who approaches the property.”

  Valentine pointed a finger at me in a motion to stay. “Wait here.”

  “Where are you going?” I asked.

  “If he’s erected a ward over the villa, I’m the only person whose magic would be capable of slipping inside.” Smoke curled around the outer edges of his body as he dissipated into mist. I jumped back with a hand on my chest, glancing around at the security cameras.

  “Are you looking for incognito fire mages?” Hades asked.

  My gaze lingered on Valentine, who stretched, becoming so thin I could barely see or sense his presence. “What about Transport for London’s surveillance system?”

  “The electrostatic wavelength of my power doesn’t play well with recording devices.” He stared down at me with twinkling eyes. “However, I can always get them to work for sex tapes.”

  Caiman cleared his throat. “Your Majesty, such a line of conversation is inadvisable in the presence of the Lady Phoenix.”

  My brows rose. That was the second time someone from Valentine’s staff had referred to me with that odd title. Turning to Caiman, I asked, “Why are you calling me that?”

  “It’s a throwback from the chaotic days when mighty shifters formed fiefdoms and subjugated the weak.” Hades waved a dismissive hand. “Lord Dragon, Lady Basilisk, Sir Manticore. Which extinct monster did you serve?”

  The butler stiffened, seeming not to want to dignify the comment with an answer.

  I turned my gaze away from Hades toward the traffic rumbling past Bayswater Road. What day was it, anyway? Through the lorries and the cabs and the double-decker busses, I caught glimpses of chintzy decorations in the hair salon opposite. The Caffè Nero next door displayed oversized gingerbread men standing beside Christmas trees made of the same cookie mix.

  Running a shaky hand through my hair, I blew out a breath. That time of year already?

  Hades clapped his hands together, breaking me out of my musings. “King Valentine says it’s safe to proceed.”

  “How do you know?” I asked.

  “Didn’t feel his magical flare?” Hades placed a hand on the small of my back and tutted. “Perhaps you’re not truly soulmates. It happens, you know. A nubile young woman falls prey to the first vampire who pumps her full of thrall… and other bodily fluids.”

  Caiman peered down at me, offering his arm. “May I accompany you to the villa, my lady?”

  With a smile, I took the butler’s arm, and we strode toward the exit. As we stepped into the wintry evening, I turned to Hades and flashed him a smile. “Your soulmate is out there somewhere. I’m sure you’ll find her if you keep looking.”

  “What a pity she’s oblivious to our profound connection,” he snarled.

  I rolled my eyes and turned back to watch where I was going. There was no point in telling Hades men in love didn’t just jump into bed with anyone. In the short time we’d met, he’d slept with Nut, who had taken my place in the naked sushi dinner, and Coral, whose youth he’d restored in exchange for sex. If the water nymphs were to be believed, they’d h
ad a threesome.

  A laugh bubbled up from deep within my belly. At least Hades’ antics were a distraction from the horrors we might face if we ever caught up with Kresnik.

  Nobody bothered us during the short walk to the villa, making me wonder if Hades had performed an enchantment to render a large team of supernaturals invisible or at least unnoticeable.

  When we reached the three-story white house, the door was ajar. Peculiar magic wafted from within the villa, making me feel like a stomach lined with oversensitive funny bones. My steps slowed outside the wrought iron gates, trying to look through windows that were covered in a substance that resembled chalk dust.

  Hades strode ahead, flanked by a quartet of demon mercenaries. Caiman and I followed after them with the others bringing up the rear.

  The white marble entrance hall that I had adored so much was splattered with blood. Red splotches covered the walls, the marble floor, the iron staircase. It was as though someone had walked around with a paintbrush and bucket, deciding to vandalize Valentine’s beautiful home.

  “Stay alert, my lady,” the butler said in a low voice.

  “Which way is the basement?” Hades asked.

  Caiman gave the Demon King the directions, and we walked toward the once pristine white kitchen. Most of the kitchen units’ doors lay on the floor or hung off their hinges, with their contents missing.

  Nausea roiled through my insides. “Who would do such a thing?”

  Caiman patted my hand. “The damage to this property is cosmetic. Easily put right with a team from magical maintenance.”

  I clenched my teeth, trying to tear my gaze from the smashed sink unit in the center of the room, where someone had piled the smashed contents of the cupboards. “It’s just so petty.”

  “That’s Kresnik for you,” Hades muttered from halfway down the stairs. “Never satisfied. Always needing to turn destruction into defilement.”

  When I reached the basement, the scent of chlorine was so overpowering that my eyes watered, and I clapped a hand over my mouth and nose. Beneath the burning chemicals was something nauseating like feces or putrid meat. It was hard to tell anything with my nose running and my eyes streaming.

  Gagging, I clung onto Caiman to stop myself from doubling over and turned my gaze to the ancient vampire, trying to gauge his reaction to what the vandals had done to Valentine’s beautiful spa. His features remained a grim mask as he stared ahead.

  The mercenaries stood in front of us, so I couldn’t get a good look at the interior. From the gaps between their larger bodies, I spotted something huge and dark floating on the water’s surface and taking up the entire swimming pool. Most of the lights had been smashed, plunging the space in semi-darkness, but from where I stood, it looked like they’d used it as a dumping ground for the villa’s cushions and mattresses and blankets.

  “Spread out,” Hades said. “Look for traps and signs of survivors.”

  The mercenaries moved left and right, leaving me with a clear view of the spa. What I’d first thought were blankets were actually bloated bodies floating on the water.

  “Who on earth are these people?” Caiman whispered.

  “Fire users,” I whispered.

  The butler turned to me and frowned. “You can tell just by looking at them?”

  “They’re wearing denim.” I pointed at a large man lying face-down in the water, his donkey jacket completely submerged. “It was the uniform everyone wore in Kresnik’s hideout.”

  Caiman moved me aside to let the other mercenaries inside, who entered with their weapons drawn. One tall witch filled the room with a flash of white light. “No signs of explosives, magical or otherwise.”

  I clutched at my chest, my breath catching. It hadn’t even occurred to me that there would be a bomb. Among the bodies lay the twisted face of an old woman I recognized from the refectory. My throat thickened. Had these people objected to Kresnik’s theft of the younger generation’s magic or had he drained them of their power and discarded them as useless?

  “Theodore.” The Demon King rushed to the left of the room, toward a jacuzzi bubbling with blood.

  A head emerged from the center of the liquid, panting for breath. I wrapped my arms around my middle and shuffled toward where Hades knelt. Theodore was barely recognizable through his swollen features.

  “I’m sorry, my lord,” Theodore rasped.

  “What did you tell them?” Hades asked.

  “I held out for as long as I could, but Kresnik stripped every nerve from my body and set it on fire,” the demon said through spluttering breaths. “When that didn’t work, he threatened my mate and her unborn child.”

  My throat thickened, and I swallowed hard, remembering the team of fire users Kresnik had sent to Hell to search for me. Did they find Theodore’s mate there or did she live in Logris or the Human World? Valentine rematerialized at my side and pulled me close, a silent growl reverberating across his chest. He was probably imagining how he would react in Theodore’s situation.

  Hades exhaled a long breath. “Everyone saw how valiantly you resisted him and nearly escaped. If you tell us where you hid Kresnik’s immortal body, we might have a chance of stopping him.”

  “Trafalgar Square.” Theodore’s whisper echoed across the basement.

  “What?” Hades drew back with a frown.

  “I told Kresnik his body was beneath the fountain, but it’s actually in the statue atop Nelson’s column.”

  My lips parted, and I reeled forward, picturing the gigantic effigy of Horatio Nelson standing on top of a monument over a hundred and fifty feet high. Kresnik would never have guessed anyone would hide his body in one of London’s most famous landmarks and one that had been climbed over and over for publicity stunts.

  “Why doesn’t the Demon King pull him out of the pool?” I whispered.

  “This is an ancient torture curse called the blood bind,” Caiman whispered. “All that’s left of that poor fellow is his head. Every other part of him has become one with the water, keeping him alive and in agony for an eternity.”

  Valentine snarled. “The only way to end his suffering is soul-reaping, and he’ll return to Hell as a wraith.”

  I bit down hard on my bottom lip. Demons didn’t really die—they just lost all their power and reverted to the lowest level. It would take centuries or more for Theodore to claw his way up from the echelons of Hell and become eligible to visit our realm. By then, his mate would be long dead or have long forgotten his existence, and he would never get to know his child.

  “My lord,” Theodore rasped. “Please release me from this torment.”

  Hades rose to his feet, his entire body trembling with rage. Black wings sprouted from the back of his armor, making him look like an angel of death. He curled a hand into a fist, flinging his arm to the side, making the demon’s soul float from the water’s surface.

  “You served me well,” said Hades. “When you’re strong enough, you will torture Kresnik’s soul.”

  Theodore took the form of a silvery wraith with his leathery wings restored to their former state. He stared down at his master with sorrowful eyes before dissipating into nothingness and making the walls shimmer silver.

  I exhaled a ragged breath and pressed the heel of my hand into my aching chest. If I ever got the chance, I would make sure Kresnik suffered every ounce of pain and torment he’d inflicted on others.

  “He hasn’t been out of Hell for more than a month, and he’s already murdered over a thousand people,” I murmured.

  Hades turned toward me, his features grave. “That’s nothing compared to the amount he slaughtered at the height of his power.”

  “We must leave now, before Kresnik retrieves that body and becomes even more difficult to kill,” Valentine snarled.

  The mercenaries closest to the exit climbed the stairs first, and those at the other side of the pool made their way toward us. I clutched at Valentine’s hand, breathing hard to stave off the dread of what we would
find when we reached Trafalgar Square.

  As we all turned toward the stairs, the silvery substance soaked into the wall, and an invisible force pushed down on my eardrums. My heart spasmed, and a sharp breath whistled through my teeth. Nothing like that had happened when the reapers had surrounded the zombies and cleared the space beneath Logris of human souls.

  Was this strange effect because a demon had just died? I turned to Valentine and whispered, “Can you feel that?”

  Valentine frowned. “Mera?”

  “The air’s thickening.” I shook my head, glancing from side to side at the basement’s stone walls, which now looked exactly the same as they had when we’d first entered. “It’s more like the pressure from being on a plane. Do you think Kresnik just erected another ward?”

  Valentine’s nostrils flared. “Or we triggered a trap with Theodore’s death.”

  Moans echoed across the room, mingling with splashes and thumps.

  Goosebumps tightened across my skin, and every fine hair on my body stood on end. My instincts told me to charge up the stairs, to push aside the mercenaries and run from whatever was making those sounds, but I turned my head to take one last look at the water.

  Bloated bodies congregated around the pool’s edges, one of them wrapping a gray hand around the ankle of a mercenary and dragging him into its depths. The corpse in the donkey jacket and the old woman from the refectory were already out of the water, crawling toward us with sickening squelches.

  Cold shock slammed through my gut, and I opened my mouth in a silent scream. Kresnik hadn’t just killed those fire users—he’d turned them into zombies.

  “Evacuate,” Valentine roared.

  We broke into a run, but a cloud of fire raced down the stairwell toward us, engulfing the mercenaries at the top. Valentine snatched me and darted to the other side of the pool. Caiman appeared at my other side, his firestone sword already drawn.

  Burning bodies streamed out of the stairwell. Some of them fell unmoving to the ground, and others flailed, trying to put out their flames.