by Maya Nicole
Red filled my vision as the vampire holding the sword shook his head while chuckling. “Very well.”
I lunged. He swung. Amari screamed.
Something pierced my chest.
Amari’s strong arms wrapped around me, pulling me close. I sank into him as his lips brushed across mine. Reality finally came crashing back into me, and I pushed him away.
“What the hell are you doing?” I shoved at his chest but he didn’t go anywhere. He was rock solid even when he wasn’t solid.
“I’m tired of you grumbling about how lonely you are.” He shrugged as if it wasn’t a big deal that he just kissed me unannounced. “Let me take your loneliness away.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, and he just smiled back at me, his green eyes sparkling.
“I’m not into men.” I started to walk away but then his hand clasped around my arm. I turned my head and looked at him. “What do you think you’re doing?”
He smirked, and I felt my temper flare. His hand was warm on my skin, and it was firm yet gentle. He moved his thumb and goosebumps ran up my arm.
“Invite me to your bed.” His voice was low and seductive. I was pretty certain I’d seen him hanging around with women before. Maybe he hadn’t bedded them. Maybe he swung both ways.
I shook my head and pulled my arm away. “I don’t just jump into bed with anyone.”
“I’m not just anyone.”
I sat up, sweat pouring down my face. I wiped at it, confused at why I was sweating. Vampires didn’t sweat unless… shit, I’d been poisoned.
My stomach rolled, and I stumbled to the bathroom, throwing myself at the toilet. I made it just in time.
I was back in my father’s estate, in my childhood room. I hadn’t been there in ages. After Sammy disappeared, I moved into my own estate on the other side of the village. That’s where I had met Amari. He was bound to that house, and now me.
I groaned and wiped at the tears spilling down my cheeks. They’d taken his arm. Hell serpent on a cracker, they’d actually chopped it off.
His scream still rang in my ears and I wretched again.
“Psst.” The noise came from the doorway. I turned my head and looked, but my vision was blurry. I wasn’t sure if it was from the poison or my tears.
I stood and went to the sink to splash my face. A washcloth appeared on the counter next to me and I narrowed my eyes.
“Who’s here?” It couldn’t be the brownie, could it? Why in hell would he come here?
“M-m-m-me.” So, I guessed he was there, and he was evidently struggling to speak. “Your f-f-”
“Valentino!” I cringed as the booming voice hit my ears. My father.
I quickly wet the washcloth and ran it over my face before walking back into my room. My father was sitting in an armchair, an annoyed look written on his face.
“Father. What is the meaning of all this?”
My father scared the shit out of me. Sure, we might be the better of the two clans of vampires, but that didn’t mean that we were good.
“Where’s the girl?”
“Where’s Amari?” I steadied myself by leaning against a bookshelf. “Your men took off his arm. You better hope to-”
He tipped his head back and laughed. “Are you about to threaten me, boy?” He stood and walked to the window. “I should have known you would mess things up.”
I stood silent and tried to control myself.
“I never anticipated her trying to take the crown.” He shook his head and let the drapes drop before turning to look at me.
“I don’t understand.” I really didn’t. With eleven council members, her vote wasn’t even needed.
He started pacing, one of his arms crossed with the other fist on his chin. It was his pensive look that meant he was coming up with another maniacal plan.
“Where did Winston’s village go? None of this was part of your plan. The plan was to hold Winston so we could throw the vote.”
“Winston's village got wind of his capture and they came for him. Only we took care of them before they got here." He sounded unremorseful as he shrugged.
"Took care of them how?" I said between clenched teeth. I was all for killing in self-defense, but killing an entire village because they wanted to save their leader?
He examined his nails and then met my eyes. "Made them part of our army. I heard you met a few."
I schooled my reaction. What the hell was my father doing? The plan had been to simply take over the Infernal Council in order to vote for a new king. Him.
"May I ask why?"
"Do you really think all the council members are on our side?” He walked toward the door and then turned to look at me. “Dinner will be in thirty minutes.”
The door clicked shut, and I sat down on the edge of the bed, weak from whatever poison had been inside me. If he was making an army of vacants, he had to be getting help. He wasn’t capable of such magic.
Kage appeared and handed me a glass of water. He backed up several steps and kept his eyes glued to the floor as he spoke. “N-Nico and Amari are in the d-d-dungeon.” He cleared his throat and was wringing his hands at his sides. “S-Sammy’s b-brother-”
I stood, sloshing the water on my hand. “What? Taylor is there too?”
He shook his head vigorously and then looked at me. “He’s h-helping your f-father.”
Confusion washed over me and I sat heavily on the bed. I took a big gulp of water, my hand shaking. “Is he here?”
Another shake of the head. He worked his lip between his teeth and took a breath. I was surprised he was holding himself together so well. “Making v-vacants. Then giving b-b-blood to them.”
Fuck. That made so much sense. That was how he could control them, with his blood. That didn’t help explain how Taylor was sucking the light from them.
“Where’s Sammy?” His voice was getting stronger and smoother the more he talked.
“Earth.” His eyes went wide, and I continued. “She found some angel feathers that had dried blood on them. That’s how we got out of the dungeon in the castle.”
“We n-need to get N-Nico out of there. Your f-f-father already took some of his b-blood.”
My mind started going a mile a minute. My father was taking things too far. If he got his hands on Sammy, who knew what he’d do.
As if reading my thoughts, Kage spoke again. “We can’t let him get Sammy.”
That was for damned sure.
I was calmer than I’d ever been. I had gotten us into this entire mess, trusting my father. It had been a solid plan to bypass the oaths of the council and rise to power.
Until Sammy showed back up.
Now, I was determined to make things right.
I sat down across the table from my father. He eyed me suspiciously, as he always did. I was never ruthless enough. Never cunning enough. Never vampire enough.
My father raised his goblet filled with blood and waited for me to do the same. I picked it up, raising it in the air. He took a drink, but I put mine back down.
“It’s a special blend of squirrel, fire demon, and wolf.” I bit my tongue to keep the look of disgust off my face.
I felt the tap on my hand and grabbed the throwing knife Kage placed into it. I had been frisked by guards on my way into the room, but we had anticipated that.
As soon as my part was done, Kage would pluck the keys from Steve and we’d get Nico and Amari out of the cells under the stables.
“So, what’s the plan?” I needed to pretend to be interested in whatever he had up his sleeve. If he let his guard down, he wouldn’t be ready for what I was about to throw at him.
He steepled his fingers under his nose and watched as the servants brought in our food. He waited until they left.
“A few hundred vacants that I can control leaves us with a lot of power. They don’t stop until they are taken out.”
I nodded and ate a few bites of food to appear normal. “How are you making vacants? I thought only lightning
could do that.”
“I’ve made some very powerful friends.” I knew he was talking about Taylor. Taylor wasn’t powerful though, or at least he hadn’t been. He had been a typical dream demon.
It was possible, over the centuries, he had evolved into something more than just a dream demon.
A servant came to remove his plate and my opportunity opened up. He was looking at the servant, answering their question about how the meal was. I gripped the knife that had been on my leg, and in one smooth movement, sent it flying for his heart.
It hit perfectly off-center, right in the middle. He sucked in air and his hands went to it. His eyes widened as blood spread out in a circle on his shirt. His eyes met mine.
Before he could stand or remove the knife, I was behind him, and I twisted his head. It snapped and I sank my fangs into the side of it, ripping out the artery that was necessary for survival.
I clamped down on my emotions and turned off my brain. I could hear yells outside as Kage began his part of our mission. I took one last glance at my father’s body and rushed out of the room.
Several guards, including Steve, lay dead in the hall. I rushed forward and found Kage squatting against a wall, a bloodied sword laying on the ground in front of him.
“Kage?” He didn’t look up and started shaking his head. “You did good. Let’s go.”
I grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet. He was clutching keys in one of his hands. I pried his fingers from them and headed towards the back of the house.
I just hoped they'd forgive me.
Chapter 12
Amari
This man was going to be the death of me. A woman never gave this much of a chase. I thought getting Val on board with what I had to offer would be easy.
I was wrong.
He was in his pool. Naked. I knew it was wrong to watch when he thought I wasn’t, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. His body was long and lean, and I wanted to bury myself in that tight ass of his.
So far, I’d kissed him twice, squeezed his ass once, and given him multiple hugs, but that was all. I could see he wanted it. His eyes sparkled with life again.
But apparently, that wasn’t enough.
I’d always been an equal opportunity lover. Dick or pussy, it didn’t matter. There was something about Val, though, that made me have flutters in my stomach.
He put his arms over the side of the pool and looked right at me. A smile played at the corner of his lips. “I know you’re watching me.”
I pretended not to hear him.
“Fine.” He lifted himself out of the pool, the red-tinted water dripping off his skin.
My eyes moved down his body where his dick stood erect. I felt a purr rumble in my chest and wanted to go and hide. I wasn’t a purrer.
A smirk spread across his face as he walked towards me. What was he doing? He had been so cold towards my advances and now he was walking towards me looking like that?
What game was he playing?
He stood in front of me. I was face to cock. I couldn’t help the purr this time.
“I think I’m ready to play, kitty.”
He turned and I nearly pounced on him as he walked into his house.
My chest vibrated as a gentle hand stroked my head. My entire body ached, but it was the sharp pains running down my arm that woke me.
I sat up, panting, and reached for my arm. Nothing.
It all came back to me. The look of fear in Val’s eyes. The glint of the sword in the moonlight. The pain.
I gasped for breath and a hand found my back. It rubbed in small circles.
“You need to breathe.” I turned my head to meet the eyes of the squirrel.
“Where are we?” My eyes traveled the room.
We were in a cell again, but so were a few others. One of the men didn’t look like he was doing too well, and the other was watching us. He looked vaguely familiar.
“We're in Val’s father’s dungeon. Were you aware he had one?” Nico narrowed his eyes at me. I guessed the small moment we had just shared was over.
I shook my head and looked down at my arm. It was gone just after the elbow. The wound had already closed up. I put my fingers to it and it felt like stone.
“It closed up like that not long after they brought you in here. They put you with me, hoping I’d be able to help you in some way.” He ran a hand over his face. He looked exhausted. “Where’s Sammy?”
“Do you want the long story or the short one?”
“Short.”
I looked over at our companions and then leaned close to Nico. “Earth.”
He grabbed onto my shirt and held me there before I could pull away. “What?”
“You said you wanted the short story. I’m sure she’ll be back. Where’s Kage?”
Nico let go of my shirt and sighed. “Being Kage. He’ll get us out of here at some point.”
“You said that three hours ago.” The man in the next cell over was examining his nails. “You aren’t going to introduce me to your friend?”
“We’re not friends,” we said at the exact same time. I let out a chuckle.
“Amari, this is Winston, the missing council member. Apparently, your precious bloodsucker’s father has a few plans up his sleeve to become the King of Inferna.”
My head whipped around, but before I could speak, Winston started talking. “Val was there when I met with his father to discuss an alliance. He knocked me out, and I woke up here instead. I’m not sure what has happened to my village.”
I didn’t want to believe it, but it had been suspicious when Valentino had decided to send Val in his place. Had he known that Lilith was dead and Sammy was back at that point?
I wracked my brain for any hints that he knew before we saw her watching us in the library. No. He had been completely shocked to see her.
“I knew that bloodsucker was up to something,” Nico mumbled.
I opened my mouth to defend Val, but nothing came out. Nico was right. He had been up to something and he hadn’t even told me.
We sat in silence and then heard loud footfalls above us. It sounded like running. There were a few grunts and then the trapdoor leading down to us flew open and Kage hurried in. He had blood splattered across his front and looked like he was about to cry.
He had keys and rushed over to our cell first. His hands were trembling so bad he couldn't get the key in the hole. Nico grabbed them from him and unlocked the cell.
Upstairs, there were sounds of swords hitting each other. I grabbed the sword Kage was holding and rushed up the steps.
Val was fighting off two guards. As soon as he saw me, his eyes widened and went to my arm, or where my arm should have been.
I rammed the sword into one of the guards and he fell to the ground. "Are there any more?"
Val incapacitated the other guard and looked towards the door. "I killed my father, we don't have long."
Nico stumbled up the stairs holding onto the man that was on his last breath. He was going to slow us down. We left the stables and ran into another group of guards.
We took them down quickly and then headed in the direction of Val's estate. Whether we could trust him or not was at the forefront of my mind, but we had no other choice.
Chapter 13
Samara
I landed in a bathroom. Of all places to land, I landed with one foot in a toilet.
My heart was beating so uncontrollably that I couldn’t breathe. I hadn’t wanted to go, but Amari had mouthed for me to run when Val was talking to the guards.
He had been in so much pain, but he shook his head when I started to move from behind the tree.
I pulled my foot out of the water and shook it off like an animal. There was a mirror, and I looked in it after tucking the feather I’d used into my inner jacket pocket. I put my hands on the edge of the sink and took several breaths. I didn’t know how long I was going to need to stay there.
Twenty, thirty minutes? I didn’t want to
risk going back too soon or trying to guess where a safe re-entry would be.
I turned on the faucet and stared at the clear water running out of it. I’d never seen anything like it before. I scooped some into my hands and then let it go.
It smelled.
Inferna’s water might have been red tinged, but it didn’t smell.
I dried my hands just as the door to the bathroom opened. “Oh, I’m sorry.” The man was about to shut the door again when he stopped.
He cocked his head to the side and then walked into the bathroom and shut and locked the door behind him.
Fuck. I reached into my waistband and pulled out the knife I carried. I held it in front of me. He raised an eyebrow and then put up his hands.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” His voice was melodic and made me shiver, and not from fear. “I can sense you.”
I backed up and my ass hit the sink; I felt water seep through my pants. I was going to stab this asshole just for causing me to get my pants wet.
“What do you mean, you can sense me?” I narrowed my eyes.
The man wasn’t bad on the eyes. He was about four inches taller than me, which meant he was just shy of six feet. It was nice not having to look up. He had blond hair that was tousled, like he had just rolled out of bed, and three-day scruff on his face.
If he hadn’t intruded on my safe space and locked the door, I would have considered him hot even.
“Who are you?”
“You’re asking me who I am? You’re the asshole that locked himself in the bathroom with me!”
“You didn’t lock the door.”
I opened my mouth once and then shut it. The last thing I wanted to do was piss off this man who had decided to be a creep. Maybe guys doing this was normal on Earth.
“Are there people on the other side of that door?” I still held the knife in front of me, but he wasn’t coming closer.
A confused expression crossed his face. “How’d you get in the bathroom? You had to have walked through the coffee shop.”