Read Online A Vial of Life (A Shade of Vampire #21) by Bella Forrest - Free Book Online Page B

his way already! Benjamin needs two jinn with him!”
    Her words left me speechless. I froze, kneeling on the floor and gaping at the jinni.
    My son, bonded to an Elder?
    “What does the Elder want with him?” Derek asked, shock shaking his voice.
    “He wants to use Ben to nurse himself back to health and help all the Elders rise up. Other vessels are of no use to them, for they are too weak to inhabit regular vessels. But Ben’s Elder, Basilius, managed to form a special bond which allowed him to gain nourishment from the blood Ben consumed. If he manages to lure Ben back to Cruor, he will certainly be strong enough to inhabit Benjamin and take him over fully.”
    “When did he leave?” I asked, shaking her shoulders. “How long has he been gone?”
    “Days now,” she replied.
    Oh, no. No. Not my son.
    I’d often feared that something bad had happened to Ben while he’d been in Aviary, but nothing could have prepared me for this.
    Nuriya had every reason to lie to us regarding Ben in order to save her and her family’s skin from the Drizan jinn. But something in her eyes made me believe that she was telling the truth. As hard as it was to swallow, Ben having been bonded to an Elder would explain a lot of things, like why he was the only vampire we’d ever come across who couldn’t physically stomach animal blood.
    And if there was even the smallest chance that Nuriya was speaking the truth, breaking Benjamin’s bond with the jinn would actually do more harm than good. Possibly irreparable harm. I clenched my jaw at the irony. This bond created by jinn that had caused me so much pain before now appeared to be his saving grace. And by trying to cut it off, we were cutting off my son.
    The Drizans had to stop with their raid.
    I faced the agitated Cyrus. Even though I knew this monster would never agree to it, I couldn’t help but try. “Your lordship, we must call this off. Your actions could be greatly injuring my son, for if Nuriya speaks the truth, he is bonded to a much worse force than the jinn.”
    The tension that had been building between Cyrus and me since I’d entered Nuriya’s bedroom while he tortured her reached breaking point. He whirled around to glare at Jeriad.
    “What is this, dragon?” he seethed, fire in his eyes. “I cannot tolerate this vampire any longer. None of this was part of our deal. We agreed to extricate the young man from the Nasiris’ clutches, and that was all. What we choose to do with these traitors is none of your business.”
    I looked pleadingly at Jeriad, but what could the dragon shifter do? We had already entered into an agreement with the Drizans on the strength of the goodwill the dragons had built with the jinn over the years. Their willingness to bend to the dragons’ requests only stretched so far.
    “Please,” I croaked, not sure what other option I had left but to beg for any scrap of compassion this hard-hearted jinni might possess. “Just… stop harassing the Nasiris. At least for now.”
    Cyrus shrugged me off. He moved closer to Nuriya and replaced the gag in her mouth even as she sobbed. Then he turned his back on us completely and looked around at his jinn companions. “We return now to the palace. Make sure that not a single Nasiri gets left behind.”
    He scooped up Nuriya again in his arms and, shooting one last glare my way, vanished. He was followed a moment later by the rest of the Drizan jinn, carrying the Nasiri captives in their arms, leaving me, Derek and our small army standing alone in the magnificent atrium.
    Jeriad approached Derek and me, his piercing, aquamarine-blue eyes meeting mine. “Queen Sofia. Backing out of an agreement with jinn is simply not done.”
    “So where is his end of the agreement?” Rose asked. “He’s supposed to find Ben for us.”
    Jeriad glanced at my daughter. “I suspect that he sensed the truth in Nuriya’s words, that Benjamin is no longer in The Oasis. His agreement was to break the bond and