by Maya Nicole
Transfuse
Infernal Council Book Three
Maya Nicole
Copyright 2020 © Maya Nicole
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
For permissions contact: [email protected]
This book is currently available exclusively through Amazon.
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real people, living or dead, businesses, or locales are coincidental.
Cover design by Avdal Designs
Edited by Karen Sanders Editing
Created with Vellum
Contents
Author’s Note
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
Coming Soon
Social Media
Also by Maya Nicole
Author’s Note
Transfuse is a reverse harem romance. That means the main character will have a happily ever after with three or more men. This book also contains a gay relationship, as well as several romantic encounters together as a group. Recommended for readers 18+ for adult content and language.
This book is dedicated to squirrels and mango rum.
Chapter 1
Samara
The blood had been cleaned, the bodies burned, yet my vision was still tainted red.
It wasn't that I hadn't seen death before, because I certainly had. But to see it at the hands of someone I loved was different.
A vampire that claimed the throne as his and me as his queen. The worst part was that he showed no remorse for the bloodbath he had created.
I watched Amari pace the length of the dining room table, which was a dozen chairs in length. He had begun pacing as soon as he came up from the dungeons after securing Val in a cell.
Val hadn't stopped screaming that we were treasonous and he would kill us all as they carried him down the hall. I slumped in my chair, still hearing his voice echo in my ears, and put my face in my hands.
What a clusterfuck.
Nico pulled the chair out next to me and sat down, taking one of my hands from my face and threading his fingers with mine. I gave him a tight smile and returned to watching Amari pace.
I blew out a breath of air. "Maybe if I-"
"No." Nico stopped me from suggesting that I try to fix Val. "It's too risky for you to go anywhere near him."
I stared blankly at the food that was put in front of me. I had no appetite, even though my stomach grumbled with hunger.
"You need to eat." Raphael picked up his fork and stabbed a piece of meat, examining it before sticking it in his mouth. He slowly chewed, a look of bliss coming over his face. "Mystery meat is usually a no-go, but I do have to give it to you demons, you do your mystery meats well."
"Mystery meat?" I looked down at my plate before picking up the fork. I poked at the steak. "It's a steak, what's the mystery?"
"Where are the cows, Sammy? I've seen exactly zero cows here." Raphael frowned at the piece of meat on his fork. "So what is this exactly?"
"Cows? We don't have those. We have steak." I took a bite of my own food and stifled a moan. I didn't want to eat, but my body was saying otherwise.
"Yes, but what animal?" Knowing where his food came from was probably an Earth thing. In Inferna, if it tasted good, we didn't ask questions.
"Like I said before. It's steak." I took a drink of wine and wondered why the servants didn't just leave an entire carafe of it on the table. They had to know I was going to need it all after what had happened earlier.
"Never mind." Raphael clenched his jaw. "I can't believe he killed all of them. How is that even possible?"
"Vampire speed mixed with bloodlust is dangerous. He had their necks snapped before they could even figure out what was happening. He probably took care of the other vampire first, then the shifters." Nico spoke of it so nonchalantly that I cringed. "That's why he needs to be put down."
"We can't kill him." Amari didn't sound sure of his words as he sat down across from us in front of his plate with a raw slice of meat. I inwardly gagged as he cut into it. "He can just stay locked up until he comes to his senses."
"And when will that be? He slaughtered them, Amari. That's a lot of lives for one man to take during a bloodlust." Nico put his arm on the back of my chair and twirled a tendril of my hair in his fingers. "I don't know him that well, and even I could see it wasn't normal."
I put my fork down and sat back in the chair, crossing my arms over my chest. If we would have just never come back to the castle in the first place then maybe things wouldn't be so fucked up.
"Stop. Your guilt and self-loathing is ruining my appetite." Raphael turned toward me, a piece of meat on his fork. He moved it toward my mouth. "Eat up, buttercup."
I raised an eyebrow. "You do know that my horse is named Buttercup, don't you?" I leaned forward and took the bite in my mouth. I'd never had a man feed me before. I couldn't say I hated it.
"Interesting name for a hell horse. Let me guess, Reve named him? You would never name a badass horse something so... girly." He took another bite of food, then held the fork back out to me.
I laughed and ate another bite. Raphael was just what I needed to lighten the mood. I picked my fork back up, my desire to eat returning.
Is that what happened to a vampire during bloodlust? They had one drop and then wanted it all?
"It's ultimately your call, Sammy. You're the queen." Raphael looked at me with pity. "There's a reason vampires are written into Earth literature as menaces to society that maim and kill without a second thought. They wreak havoc wherever they go because they can't control themselves."
Amari glared at Raphael and started cutting his meat with force, no doubt pretending it was Raphael.
"If it were me that had killed that room full of people, I think your view would be different." I didn't like what Val did, but could I really sentence him to a life in a cell or death?
If the tables were turned, and I was the one that had killed the Infernal Council and anyone that stood in my way, I was almost positive they would have stood by my side.
I leaned forward and looked around Nico at Kage, who had been quieter than normal, which was saying a lot. He was staring into space, a crease between his brows.
Nico followed my gaze and put his hand on Kage's shoulder, causing him to jump. "What are you thinking about?"
Kage played with his napkin. "There w-was so much b-b-blood. What if we're n-next?" He grimaced as he looked across at Amari.
Amari almost knocked over his cup, but caught it before it fell. He ran his hands down the front of his shirt. "He won't."
"You don't know that for sure." Kage looked down and stared at the table. "You're blinded by your love."
Amari stood and threw his napkin on his plate. "I'm going for a run." He left the room without another word.
We ate the rest of our dinner in silence.
I made my way down the steps and into the dungeon. As soon as my feet hit the bottom step, Val's head snapped up. He was still in predator mode, attuned to every movement. H
is eyes were darkened from his blown pupils.
I stood where I was and examined him for a moment. He looked like shit, with wrinkled, bloody clothing and messy hair. He was not at all like the put together man I was used to seeing. In fact, I had never once seen Val look so unlike himself.
He was still covered in blood; no one had bothered to give him a rag and a bucket of water. It was a reminder of what he had done and who he had done it for.
Me.
"Samara. You have to let me out of here." He wrapped his blood-stained fingers around the bars and put his face in between them. "Come on, you know me. You know this was the only way."
I didn't respond and walked down the hallway to a small room where supplies and a sink were located. I filled up a bucket and grabbed a few rags.
I set them outside the bars of his cell and sat down far enough away that he couldn't grab me. I was the one that set off his bloodlust, I didn't need to make it worse.
"I don't bite." A pained laugh left him. "Okay, so I guess I do. But you have to know that I would never hurt you." His words were slurred slightly.
"Are you drunk?" I hugged a knee to my chest, placing my cheek on it. He reached his arms through the bars and took a wet cloth.
"Drunk?" He hummed as he wiped off his face. "There isn't a word for what I am. My entire body feels like it's buzzing. It feels amazing."
I watched in silence as he continued to clean himself. He took off his shirt and scoffed at it before throwing it on the ground.
A tear slid down my face. I felt like I was looking right at someone who was no longer Val. I didn't want for Kage, Raphael, and Nico to be right. Maybe I was also blinded by my love.
"Why are you crying?" He held onto the bars again. "Come here, bruja."
I blinked a few times to stop the tears from continuing to fall. I stood and stepped just out of arm's reach as he stuck his arms out, trying to touch me. "I want to trust you, but I just can't. Not when you're like this."
"Please, Sammy." The pain in his eyes almost convinced me to step forward and let him touch me. "I need you. Now, more than ever."
"I needed you, and you did this." I pressed my lips together. "I never asked for you to kill anyone, or to-"
"Sammy." Kage's quiet voice came from the stairs and I stepped back. "You shouldn't be down here. Especially alone."
Val kicked the bucket of water, sending it flying across the room, a spray of water hitting my pants. "Get out then! Just go!"
I choked on a sob and didn't look back as I ran up the stairs past Kage. Maybe Amari had the right idea by going for a run. All I wanted to do was get away from it so I could breathe. I felt like I hadn't been able to take a normal breath in weeks.
I ran down the hall, my footsteps echoing and making me feel even more alone. The castle had once been bustling with my family and close companions of my parents. Now it was just a shell of what it once was.
I ran down the long hallways that led to the wing that was always forbidden growing up. My grandfather had been the king long before I was born and had lived in the large section of the castle by himself after my grandmother had died. It went untouched for centuries, except the one night when Val brought me to the atrium.
I shoved open the doors leading into the room. Even all these years later, I still felt the prickling of wrongness down my spine. It was silly to think it was haunted. It would be beautiful if someone put the work in to make the space beautiful again.
I wiped my tears with the hem of my shirt and looked around the shadowy room. It was night, so the space was darker without the moon shining through the ceiling of half-broken windows.
I grabbed onto a cluster of dead vines in the seating area and gave it a yank, ripping it from the ground and sending dead leaves flying. I yanked another out with a growl, the dried branches digging into my hands and scraping my arms.
Kage was watching me. I had heard his footsteps behind me as I ran. I ignored his burning stare because I needed to get my frustrations out.
I finished clearing a few of the benches and kicked some broken pots out of the way. It was starting to look a little more like a sitting area.
Kage put a tentative hand on my back. I didn't need to look to know it was him. The others didn't touch me with a slight hesitation.
"You're bleeding." He moved his hand toward the scratches on my arm like he was about to touch them.
I looked down at my arm and wiped it on my pants. "Good thing Val's locked up." I threw the last large handful of weeds into the pile I had started and sat down on one of the cleaned benches.
"What are we going to do?" I put my head in my hands.
Kage sat next to me and put his hand on my knee. "Take it one day at a time."
He grasped my arm, which was still oozing blood, and pulled his rag from his pocket. I hissed as he dabbed at it. It wouldn't take long to heal, but the sudden reminder that I wasn't invincible and could be badly injured or killed bubbled up inside of me.
"What if we don't have one more day?" I whispered.
He paused for a moment before continuing to clean my wound. "I don't believe we would have all found each other if we only had one more day."
I swallowed and pulled my arm away. "How can you be so sure? I can't even figure out how to use what power I have."
"Maybe you just need to believe." He crossed his ankles in front of him, looking down at his shoes.
I rolled my eyes and stood. "I'm not a little girl. Believing only gets you so far before a lack of talent supersedes it."
He jumped up and took my hand as I tried to walk away, my back hitting his chest. My pulse quickened as he wrapped an arm around my waist and brought his lips to my ear. My nipples instantly hardening.
"You're definitely not a little girl." He slid his lips down my neck, barely touching them to my skin, which felt like electric pulses jumping between us. "All I see is a woman. A woman that, for once, I have alone, yet she’s trying to walk away from me."
He brought his other hand around to cup me between my legs and I melted back against him. He was strong, despite not often showing it, and held me steady with his other arm. The sudden forwardness he displayed excited me in more ways than one.
He fumbled with the button on my pants and chuckled against my neck. "I was going to say all I feel is a woman, but I can't get your pants undone."
I laughed and unbuttoned them for him as he kissed my neck. "Kage... I want you." I pushed back against him.
He groaned and rolled his hips against me. "I can't stop thinking about the shower." He slid his hand into my panties and ran his finger across my slit. "I think we need to go to a room."
His hand left my pants and I cursed. I wasn't going to make it to a room with the pressure he had caused between my legs.
He turned me around and kissed me, probing my lips with his tongue. Our tongues swirled together and I pushed him toward the bench. When the back of his knees hit, he sat down, pulling me with him. I straddled him and fisted his hair while grinding against him.
I kissed along his jaw, nipping every so often, and then sucked the delicate skin in the crook of his neck. He groaned and his hands traveled to my ass, squeezing me through my pants. With every move I made, his erection rubbed at my clit and made me wetter.
I pulled back and looked at him. His warm brown eyes had darkened and were half-lidded. I continued to move against him and he shut his eyes.
"It's b-been a while s-since I-" I shut him up with my lips. He could be nervous all he wanted, but I wasn't going to let that stop us.
The night in the shower showed me he wasn't that much out of practice with knowing what to do. It was like riding a horse, you never forgot how.
I reached down and rubbed his length through his pants. He popped the button and pulled down the zipper before his hands slid to my breasts, cupping them in his hands.
"Do you really want to take time to go find a bed?" I pulled him out of his pants and ran my thumb across the head of his d
ick. "Because we can stop."
"No," he moaned, his head tilting back and exposing his Adam's apple. I kissed it and began sliding my fist up and down his shaft. "I've waited for this. Just you and me. Not the best timing, but I can't resist it anymore."
"Your timing is perfect. There is no bad time for sex." I reached for the hem of my shirt and pulled it off. He licked his lips as I reached behind me to unclasp my bra.
His face lowered to my nipple and his hot breath fanned across the sensitive point, making it ache. His tongue flicked out like he was testing the flavor before he latched on, swirling his tongue and biting gently.
"Oh fuck, Kage." I wrapped my hand around him again, stroking him slowly. I wanted to jump his bones, but also wanted to savor every touch.
I pulled out his rag that was hanging from his front pocket and then pulled back to stare at it. It was perfectly white again, not a drop of my blood visible. He gave me a small smile and grabbed it from me.
"Don't ask how it works. My parents would never tell me." He brought the corner to my nipple, rubbing it gently across the nub. My eyes practically rolled back in my head. "Some things don't need an explanation."
"Uh huh." My eyes closed as he sucked my nipple through the rag. "No explanation needed."
He stood and laid me down on the bench. "Is this okay?"
"Yes. Do whatever you want to me, Kage." I stared as he pulled off his clothes, revealing a slim, yet well-defined body with long and lean muscles.