Infuse (Infernal Council Book 1): A Reverse Harem Romance Page 3

  “We have to time this perfectly. If we go in too soon, we’re going to get stuck in the middle of an altercation I don’t want to get in the middle of,” Sammy whispered. She was sitting against the back wall of the closet. We had pushed our way to the back to stay out of sight in case someone opened the door.

  It was doubtful anyone would; the closet smelled like it hadn't been opened in a while.

  I must have dozed off in my boredom because I woke up to shouting outside the door and the sounds of clinking metal. It didn’t last very long before everything went silent.

  Sammy put her ear against the door as if that was going to help her hear better. I pushed her aside, shifted my ear, and put it against the crack.

  “I do not wish to be your king.” That had to be Reve talking.

  Several voices all started to talk at once and shout out. I couldn’t understand what they were saying.

  “Quiet! I will meet with that Infernal Council, at least those that are present. We will decide on a plan of action. In the meantime, return to your villages and clean up the mess Lilith caused. Any demons that fought with free will for her should be handled accordingly.”

  I shifted my ears back and opened the door. “Let’s go. Reve has called a meeting with the council.”

  The ballroom we entered was pure chaos. Glass from one of the windows lay shattered on the floor, and there was a sense of unease in the room.

  We elbowed our way through the room and around the back of the dais to a hallway that led to a meeting room. Just as we were about to the door, guards grabbed me by both arms. Sammy managed to get to the door and slammed it open. The guards right inside the doorway rushed towards her and grabbed her.

  "Get your bloody paws away from me!" she shrieked. I cringed because she looked like she was about to scratch their eyes out for laying their hands on her.

  "Samara?" A surprised voice rang crystal clear across the room. It was quietly commanding. It was a king’s voice.

  The guards immediately let her go and took their hands off me. I moved forward into the room and took a quick inventory. Two seats were empty at the table.

  "Reve, you know I hate that name." I was surprised her voice sounded so playful and calm. She hadn’t seen Reve since she was a young girl.

  I move behind Sammy to follow her over to her brother, who looked shocked as shit, but the guards stopped me.

  “Not so fast, squirrel.” Fuck, I hated it when people called me by my animal. It was condescending. If they only knew the things I could do with the small teeth in my mouth, they would think twice before looking down on me.

  “Just protecting the princess.” The shifter that had his arm out to stop me dropped it and gestured to a wall near the door.

  I moved to stand against the wall. I wasn't about to start trouble with the crowd in the room.

  Sammy was sitting at the table now. She looked badass sitting there amongst all the elite males from the villages, her head held high, her shoulders back, that gorgeous purple hair of hers falling over her shoulders.

  "We are discussing serious realm business, young lady. You can wait outside." A vampire demon looked at her in disgust. "You are not welcome here with your... with your purple hair and inappropriate attire."

  Sammy slowly swiveled her chair in the vampire’s direction. "You have got to be kidding me. All this time, and we still oppress women? Where I've been-"

  "We know where you've been. You can go right back." The vampire was asking for it and not from me. Sammy looked murderous.

  Sammy sat up straight and folded her hands on the table. "My people are requesting a place on the council."

  "Absolutely not!" Another man raised his voice. "The gypsies are criminals! Parading around with their bright colors and debauchery!"

  Chuckles filled the room. Sammy kept a small smile on her face. To an outsider, she might have seemed to be enjoying the exchange, but I could see in her eyes she was hurt.

  "That's enough. With me stepping down, Sammy can step in for me until a solution is reached." Reve pushed in his chair. "Good luck."

  Then he disappeared. Surely he hadn't just come back to then leave again? During this time of unease, Inferna needed a leader. A strong one.

  There were several minutes of glaring between the council members before the vampire spoke up. “Let’s bring Samara staying to a vote.”

  “You heard what Prince Reve said. She’s to take his seat.” You could always trust a falcon shifter to be the voice of reason.

  “As far as I’m concerned, he just denounced the throne. Not only for himself but for any of his bloodline.” The vampire was a stuffy old bastard that looked like he was two bites away from eternal sleep.

  “We can’t vote. Valentino and Winston aren’t present,” the warlock said.

  “I have a question.” Sammy clasped her hands on the table in front of her and leaned forward slightly when the room gave her their attention. “You are all the most powerful in your respected groups. Why didn't you join together and take Lilith down? Why did it take my brother, whose blood runs through my veins, to end her reign?”

  The vampire scowled at her. “Why did you run if you are so certain the blood that runs through your veins makes you somehow worthy of a seat at this table?”

  I didn’t think Sammy knew what she was in for. Those men were cutthroat. They might have been powerless against Lilith and Reve, but now nothing stood in their way. I was surprised one of them hadn’t tried to stake a claim to the throne.

  “It’s not about the blood that runs through my veins. I intend to help make Inferna the powerhouse that it once was. The darkness is growing, and if we don’t manage it, it will consume us all.”

  With that, she stood, and we left the room to open mouths and glares.

  Chapter 3

  Samara

  Time was a funny thing. It felt like just yesterday I was sitting in my room, whittling a bar of soap, when everything changed, not centuries ago.

  Since Lilith was dead and all of her followers had either run or were locked away, I reclaimed my old bedroom. Nico tried to argue with me and say it wasn’t safe, but was it any safer sleeping at that inn?

  “Whoa, I’ve never seen so much color in one place before. This room must have cost a fortune to decorate.” Nico had walked in front of me, insisting that he check the room first before letting me in.

  I sighed and looked around my old bedroom. The room itself was the size of a small house. The bed was large enough that two people could sleep with their arms spread wide, and there would still be enough space. It had a sitting area, an attached bathroom, and a little workspace where I made my soap carvings.

  The room wasn’t too colorful by my standards, but I had grown up with it. The bedspread was a light pink, and the drapes were a deep red burgundy color. I definitely couldn’t afford to have things made in those colors now.

  “What did you expect?” Maybe he was expecting that, as a princess, I had been as frugal as I was now.

  When I had run all those centuries ago, it had taken some getting used to not having everything I wanted. Having to fend for myself made me more grateful for what I had as a princess.

  Although, being a princess wasn’t always fun.

  “At least I don’t have to worry about you kicking me in the middle of the night.” Nico dropped his bag in a chair, walked over to the bed, and flopped back onto it. “Holy shit, this is comfortable.”

  “It doesn’t seem like anything has changed.” I walked over to my workstation and ran my finger across the top of it. No dust. “It’s certainly cleaner than I ever left it.”

  I walked over to the closet and opened the door. All of my clothing was still hanging inside. In fact, many of the dresses that I would wear to formal gatherings were in bags.

  “Maybe one of the servants took care of the room for you.” Nico sat up and fixed the bun on the top of his head. “What do you think the council members are going to say about you staying in the
castle?”

  I shrugged and sat next to him. “Who cares what they have to say? They can’t make any decisions unless all the council members are present."

  He took my hand in his and brushed his thumb over the side of my hand. He had a serious look on his face. “You know you have my support if you want to try to claim the throne, right?”

  I bit my lip and looked at our clasped hands. My hand was much smaller than his and sans the tattoos. I had never had the desire to brand my skin. Nico more than made up for my lack of ink.

  “Women don't have a claim, Nico. You know that. I don’t know if my other older brother is alive or dead or if he had children.” I stood and went to the window. “Right after you found me and took me to the elders, I sent a message to him. He never responded.”

  I was never as close to Taylor as I was to Reve. Taylor was always quiet and focused on his studies. When Lilith came, he was away at boarding school in a distant village.

  Nico came and stood behind me, wrapping his arms around my chest and putting his chin on the top of my head. I leaned back against him. It was moments when he was affectionate that I didn’t understand why we couldn’t take it to the next level.

  I couldn’t begin to understand the pain that losing a mate would bring. But since Becca’s death, we had grown infinitely more attached to each other. He claimed we couldn’t be intimate in a sexual way because then losing me would break him.

  That was a cop-out if I ever heard one.

  It had been a few days, and the Infernal Council was at a standstill until Valentino and Winston arrived. I wasn't looking forward to seeing the old vampire Valentino again. Even though he was one of my father's allies, something was unnerving about him.

  Nothing was unnerving about his son, also named Valentino. Most called him Val because he was nothing like his stuffy father.

  I walked down the hall, my mind drifting to what needed to be done around the castle to get it back to its former glory. Would I even be allowed to stay if the council members voted me out? All they needed was a seven to five majority. Even if there was a tie, the likelihood of them upholding Reve's wishes of me having his seat was slim.

  The library door was ajar as I passed, and a flash of light and dark contrasting against each other caught my attention. I backed up, and my eyes went wide as I saw through the crack in the door.

  A man with the most delicious-looking brown skin stood with his bare ass toward the door. His back was pure muscle, which seemed to flex almost as if it were rippling. Contrasting sharply against his skin were a pair of hands digging into his ass cheeks. One hand was over his crack, and the middle finger plunged into it.

  The hands were male.

  Heat rushed to both my core and my face. I was intruding on a private moment between two lovers, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. My clit tingled as I watched the man get his dick sucked like it was the end of Inferna.

  “Oh, fuck yeah.” The man’s voice was rough, and I could see his triceps pulsating as he grabbed the head in front of him. His hips thrust forward, his ass cheeks clenching as he grunted.

  His shoulders moved up and down with his heavy breaths, and his tightened muscles relaxed. I heard the pop as the man sucking his dick finished the job and released his cock.

  My mind was just catching up with the fact that I shouldn’t be watching now that they were done when the man on his knees peered around his lover’s hips.

  My eyes widened, and my jaw threatened to come unhinged. He looked just as shell-shocked as me.

  This can’t be happening.

  I took off down the hall. I refused to look behind me, even though I could sense that he was stalking after me. He was the hunter, and I was his prey.

  I rounded a corner and could see my door from where I was. Safety was within my reach.

  I was pulled into a window alcove and pushed into the stone wall. I could feel him tense behind me and damn it if my own body didn’t get more worked up over the feel of the hard planes of him.

  Hard planes that I knew well.

  “Dios mío, bruja…” His lips brushed against the shell of my ear and goosebumps erupted across my skin. “I’d recognize those eyes anywhere.”

  I could feel his erection against me as he swept the hair off my neck and lowered his lips to my vein. He ran his tongue along its length, and I let out a whimper.

  “Don’t.” My words refused to come out. Instead, a breathy sigh escaped as he scraped one of his fangs along the crease between my neck and shoulder.

  “I thought you were dead.” He spun me around, and his blue eyes searched mine for answers. “Where have you been?”

  I got lost in his eyes, just as I did years ago. His hand came to my cheek, and his thumb rubbed across it.

  I couldn’t speak. I never thought I’d see Valentino Sangre again. Not only was his father the leader and council member of the northern vampires, but I was also promised to him.

  As much as it had pissed me off that my father made a decision which should have been mine, Val had surprised me. He was charismatic, sexy as hell, and did wicked deeds with his tongue.

  “I-” I was flustered.

  “You what?” His eyes darkened, and he tilted his head to the side. “You ran but didn’t come to me for help? You made no contact with me?”

  “You’re gay.”

  Out of all the things I could have said, my mind kept flashing back to his hands on the other man's ass.

  His eyes narrowed, and his hand came to my throat. It hovered there, threatening.

  “You. Left. Me.” He punctuated each word and looked at me in disgust. “If you’re back to try to claim the throne, you can forget about it.”

  Before I could respond, Nico's tattooed hand grabbed Val by the shoulder and sent him flying into the hallway and against the opposite wall.

  “Are you all right?” Nico touched my cheek, and when I nodded, he turned back to Val and headed for him.

  Val was rubbing the back of his head, and his fangs were on display. “You picked the wrong tree, squirrel.”

  The venom in his voice made me cringe, and I quickly put myself between the two men. Just as I did, so did the man that had been getting his dick sucked by Val.

  We stared each other down before I finally broke and backed up a step. I couldn’t exactly tell what he was, but he definitely wasn’t a vampire. He was also burly enough to snap me in two. He and Nico would be an even match in a hand-to-hand fight.

  “Do you want me to take care of them?” the dick-sucked man asked. His voice was smooth and deep. It was the voice that a woman wanted to be whispered in her ear all night.

  “No need, Amari.” Val stepped around him and narrowed his eyes at Nico, who was standing with his arms crossed over his chest. “They were just leaving.”

  “You’re the only one that will be leaving,” Nico spat, taking a step forward. I put my arm out to stop him.

  This confrontation was going nowhere fast. Nico was strong, but Val was lethal. “What are you doing here, Val?”

  Amari looked between the two of us, his face unreadable. Whatever he was, he was good at hiding his emotions.

  “I’ve decided to move in.” He straightened his button-up shirt and cleared his throat.

  A flash of something dark crossed Amari's eyes. It was only there for a second, but he definitely showed a reaction to Val's proclamation that he would be moving into the castle.

  "This isn't your home. It's mine. It's always been mine." I crossed my arms over my chest and held my chin high. "My guards will not have it."

  I felt Nico tense beside me, and I cleared my throat. I didn't actually have guards. I used to, but that was so long ago, and I had only seen two of them in the castle. In fact, I was surprised more of the council members weren’t trying to commandeer the castle with Lilith gone.

  "And where are these guards?" Val asked, clearly still able to read me like a book. "Please tell me you haven't elected to have a squirrel as a guard. I tho
ught you were smarter than that, Samara."

  I would have thought after all the time that had passed, he would have forgotten the tells of my little white lies. That could have also been the fact that he was a more developed vampire now. He could probably smell the lies coming from me.

  "Reve gave me his seat on the council." I crossed my arms, trying to look tougher than I felt. "He's the king."

  "But here's the thing, princess. Reve isn't actually the king. No coronation ceremony, no king." He started walking down the hall with Amari matching his stride.

  I looked at Nico, who seemed to be at a loss, just as I was. The last thing we needed was all the demon factions getting into a war over the crown. Wars had been started over less important things.

  What was Reve thinking, leaving the Infernal Council to figure things out? That's why there was a king. Not just any king, but a dream demon king. One of the only demons that didn't discriminate against other demons and the only one that could control rogue demons that tried to become tyrannical.

  We marched down the hall after Val and Amari. I didn’t know what Val was up to, but he was a vampire, one of the most cunning demons in existence. They craved control and power. And blood. They most certainly desired that.

  They were headed right towards the wing where the royal bedrooms were. What the fuck was he doing?

  Val had always had a strong personality. He didn't let things go easily and was very strong-willed. It was why I liked him in the first place. But now, he was just a dick.

  He stopped at the door directly across from mine. "I think we'll take this room." He flung open the door and looked inside. "Did no one ever clean this place?"

  Amari walked in ahead of Val. “All clear.” Val stepped inside after the man that seemed to be his guard. Sleeping with his guard was a stupid idea.

  I went to stand in the doorway and took in the sight of the guestroom. It had seen better days. It had a thick layer of dust and looked like it hadn't been touched in centuries.