Wicked Games_A Reverse Harem Romance

by Kel Carpenter

  “Blood magic,” I whispered. I didn’t dare say more.

  “Consider it insurance that you make good on your word,” she replied.

  I swallowed hard and nodded. There was no point challenging something that can’t be undone.

  The she-demon turned away and I knew our meeting was coming to an end.

  “Wait,” I called. She paused and tilted her chin to the side.

  “The text messages you sent me—they were written in code. Why?”

  She smiled, like she was pleased with me. Certainly not surprised. “We are being watched, you and I. There are more coming.”

  “Who’s watching?” I asked. There was no point in asking who was coming. The Horsemen had already warned me of this. Demons. From all over the world. The demon from the Black Brothers had known who I was, and I would bet my life savings he made sure the rest of the world knew it, too.

  “I can’t say.”

  “Is it your master?”

  Again, she smiled. I was starting to get the hang of this. She could intervene, but only so far. I had to work for the answers I needed.

  “There are powerful people in play. Trust no one, not even me, if you want to live long enough to see yourself on the throne. Evil doesn’t just hide in the shadows.” Her parting words made me shiver, and in the blink of an eye, she was gone.

  I didn’t bother searching up and down for her. She would turn up again when she wanted to be found, and not a minute before.

  The first rays of a new dawn broke the cusp of the skyline as I returned to bed, only then realizing that I didn’t even know her name.

  Chapter 20

  It was all over the news the next morning. A fire burned down the entire strip Blue Ruby Ink was in. The kitchen on the other side of us had a wood oven. Press said someone didn’t shut the chamber and the fire spread. The restaurant’s furnace cracked and fire shot down the lines of the building, leveling everything in its path.

  It was a freak accident, but luckily not a tragedy.

  No one died. No one human, anyways.

  I tugged my hood forward as I stood across the street from my old life. Blue Ruby Ink was gone. My house was gone. Ashes blew in the wind and mixed with the rain, coating the street before me in a black glittery sludge. Cold seeped through my thin jacket, burning my lungs with every breath, giving me the clarity to look at the scene before me and see it for what it was.

  The last nail in the old me’s coffin.

  Was it fitting my fire would be the thing that took the place I loved away from me? It was certainly ironic. My life goes up in ashes, and from it I rise again.

  That sounds nice, right? Motivational? Inspirational?

  “What are you thinking about?” Moira asked. I tore my eyes away from the dreary, fucked up mess before me.

  “That I’m tired of running from whatever comes next,” I said. She grinned up at me, and the pentagrams in her cobalt eyes swirled like smoke.

  “I guess that makes two of us. Do you want to ask the lazy fucks if they want a ride to Martha’s, or make them work for their forgiveness?”

  I grinned back at her, happy to see that at least some things don’t change.

  “I should probably offer. Try to smooth things over with them,” I said begrudgingly. We walked a few yards down the sidewalk where Rysten and Julian waited. They’d tried to give me space since I woke up, but I didn’t know if it was for me, or for them.

  I suppose only time would tell how long it took to repair the trust on both sides. Moira would have died. So I didn’t regret or even apologize for what I did. No matter how many I’m-sorry, but-please-never-do-that-again hugs Rysten tried to give me, or broken stares that Julian thought I didn’t see. They could be sorry all they wanted, but it wouldn’t make a damn difference. I wasn’t changing, and if they thought I was going to let them make all my choices for me after we left…they had another thing coming.

  “Would you like to ride with us? I want to get breakfast at Martha’s before we leave,” I asked them.

  “That would be nice. Thank you, love,” Rysten said, offering me his arm as I linked mine through it. I looked at Julian as I held out my other hand. He froze for a moment, until I turned it over and opened it. “You can drive.”

  Julian looked at the keys and a wiry smile came to his lips. He took them from me and strode ahead. A little more umph in his step. It would take time for us to fix this between us, but olive branches went a long way at bridging the gap.

  “I call shot gun!” Moira said, stomping right after him. Yes, some things never change.

  “I’m not sure what to think of this,” Rysten muttered.

  “Think of what?” I asked.

  “You branded War and the banshee before me,” he said. “And here I thought I was your favorite.”

  I chuckled under my breath as we sidled up to the car.

  “I was saving Moira’s life. You can’t exactly be jealous about that,” I said, fighting the smile that Rysten still seemed to be able to pull out of me. Even after all this.

  “Just promise me something,” he whispered in my ear.

  “Mmmm?” I leaned in, grinning into the crook of his shoulder.

  “I’m next,” he growled. If my lady parts didn’t just light up…I shivered into the soft caress of his lips. Oh yes, the beast was more than happy to make him next.

  Filthy slut.

  “Ahem,” Moira coughed. I caught her arched eyebrow over Rysten’s shoulder and started to pull away.

  “Earn it,” I whispered back to him. He chuckled under his breath and let me go. We drove to the diner in relative silence, or at least as much silence as could be expected when Moira was in the car and giving Julian driving tips.

  Meanwhile, my mind wandered.

  We had to leave Portland for obvious reasons and couldn’t go to Hell just yet. Allistair would stay behind and get my home and business insurance settled, and then begin the process of getting all my shit moved across worlds. What was left of it, anyways.

  Not to mention the questions being asked about the convenience of both my house and my tattoo parlor blowing up the same night. No allegations had been brought to the table, but Allistair would sort them out.

  At the end of the day, it was mostly a ruse. He was sticking around to keep his ear to the ground. Trouble was coming, and I would be long gone by the end of the hour.

  But I did want my things.

  They still hadn’t told us where we were going yet. All I got this morning were vague answers about Laran getting everything ‘squared away.’

  We pulled into Martha’s Diner and my eyes pricked with moisture as I got out of the car. The door jingled the same as it always did when we walked in and we took my usual table. Kendall and her cronies were nowhere to be found and I suspected she wouldn’t be for a good long while.

  I slid into the booth and Rysten followed suit, with Julian and Moira taking a seat across from us.

  “What will it be for you this morning, Ruby?” Martha asked, coming to us from behind the counter. She smiled without reservation. Good, she hadn’t heard the news. That will make at least this goodbye easier.

  “Four plates of bacon and black coffee.”

  “I don’t know why I even ask.”

  It was the same conversation we had for ten years. I was going to miss the ease, but even now, it no longer felt quite so simple. When breakfast was over, it would be time for me to go.

  “It’s going to be okay, love,” Rysten leaned in and whispered as everyone placed their order. That was all any of us said that even hinted at what’s to come. The rest of breakfast was filled with Rysten’s dry wit, typically at Julian’s expense, while Moira and I laughed along.

  When Martha brought the check out and wished me a happy Saturday, I smiled and wished her one as well. She would never know what happened to me, and I couldn’t tell her. No one could know we were leaving, but I suppose the tip I left her would probably be a hint. I was the last to walk out
of the diner and would not be there when she noticed that I had left my life savings and car keys on the table.

  Granted, it wasn’t much, but they were all I had to give to the woman that watched me from afar these past years and gave me a safe place to go. Eventually she would see the news, but maybe now she would know I was alright.

  As we walked down an alley, the clouds opened, casting down a single ray of sunshine. I thought it was odd…then I realized what it was spotlighting. Or who, rather.

  “Hi there, stranger,” I called.

  Laran saddled up to my side, Bandit riding perched on his shoulder.

  “Alright, you’ve been holding out on us long enough. Where are we going?” Moira demanded, putting her hands on her hips. Apparently, I was the only one that believed in any kind of common courtesy around here.

  “What is this about me holding out on you?” he asked me, completely ignoring Moira. She narrowed her eyes at him and I could practically see the wheels turning.

  “Do I need to scream to—”

  Before I could speak, a portal of fire appeared before me and someone pushed me through. I screamed for all of two seconds before landing with a thump on something soft.

  What the fuck did he—

  “MOTHERFUCKKKKKEEEEEEEERRRRRR!”

  Thunk!

  I rolled over in the bed to see Moira sitting next to me, wide-eyed and pissed off.

  “That asshole just pushed me through a portal,” she cursed.

  “Yes, well. Rest assured, we thought it was quite amusing,” Rysten said, stepping out of the shadows.

  “Allistair told me how much you loved being pushed off things,” Laran laughed, appearing through a ring of fire.

  “I might actually kill you,” I spat, leaping from the bed to tackle him. Bandit jumped from his shoulder to protect himself and started making this awful choking sound. If I didn’t know any better, I would say he was fucking laughing.

  “Now, Ruby, are you sure you want to do that? Look outside,” Rysten said right as I barreled into Laran, and to my credit, slammed him into a wall.

  What the—

  “Did that actually just happen?” Moira screeched. “Like, she really just body slammed War—”

  “Ruby, love. Why don’t you come here for a second?” Rysten asked, his pleasant tone coated in concern.

  I stood still, shocked, both hands pressed on Laran’s chest, trying to discern why my head was so hot.

  I mean, it was burning.

  I could barely even think—

  “War, are you physically able to move?” Julian asked behind me. His voice was cool and calculated, emanating power.

  Laran tensed against my hands, but didn’t move a single inch. I pushed against him, harder this time. A crack ran through the house as he fell through the wall, landing in a heap of drywall and dust on the other side.

  “Well that answers that,” Julian noted.

  “What the fuck just happened?” I asked, snapping out of it and pulling away.

  “Well, love. It appears that you’re entering the transition. You won’t have more than forty-eight hours before it goes into full effect,” Rysten said calmly. He approached me with his hands raised in surrender.

  “Why are you acting like that?” I shouted, storming out of the room even though I had no idea where the fuck I was. Laran just pushed me through a damned portal and then—

  I closed my eyes and cursed, taking in deep breaths.

  In the background, I could hear the guys debating back and forth. Something about Julian needing to man up and my impeccable timing. I opened my eyes and blinked. The emotions cleared just long enough for me to take in my surroundings. The fuzzy white carpet and black leather furniture. The startling glass wall in front of me, reflecting sunshine off the dust particles in the air.

  The cityscape that every single demon child on the North American continent is taught to recognize.

  New Orleans.

  The city of the dead.

  Also known as Hell’s gates.

  Fuck me.

  To be continued…

  If you loved the book please consider leaving a review. Interest from readers is how I determine what series to prioritize.

  Also by Kel Carpenter

  The Daizlei Academy Series:

  Heir of Shadows (Book One)

  Trial by Heist (Novella)

  Scion of Midnight (Book Two)

  Queen of Lies (Book Three)

  Untitled (Coming Soon)

  Queen of the Damned Series:

  Lucifer’s Daughter (Book One)

  Wicked Games (Book Two)

  Infernal Desires (July 2018)

  Brimstone Nightmares (Coming Soon)

  Destiny’s Ashes (Coming Soon)

  About the Author

  Kel Carpenter is a USA Today Bestselling Author and writer of all things fantasy. She loves reading, watching Netflix original shows, and subjecting her favorite co-author and editor to crazy, harebrained book ideas. Kel currently resides in Atlanta, GA with her boyfriend and three fur-children. When she is not writing or working on completing her senior year of college, she is spending time with her dog, Harley, or teasing her two cats with a laser pointer.

  Join Kel’s Readers Group!

  Acknowledgments

  Some stories are difficult, and some are easy. Wicked Games was a book that wrote itself, and after several edits and revisions, I still love to read it. That said, managing school and writing while also preparing for this release has been more than a little stressful. To Analisa, my friend and editor who puts up with my shit and makes these books readable, thanks hun. I probably owe you more than one bottle of scotch at this point. To Carrie and Courtney, your combined moral support and shenanigans have helped more than you know. I love you, bitches. To Matt, I should probably be thanking you the most for forcibly removing the cats when they decided to lay on my computer while I was editing. Without you, this probably wouldn’t have been ready in time.

  And finally, to the readers that have read these books and inundated me with raccoon videos: you guys are awesome. Thank you for supporting me as an author. Also, please look up your state laws before trying to adopt one.

  Coming Soon

  Queen of the Damned Book Three