Transfuse (Infernal Council Book 3) Read online

  I hoped.

  "Why can't it be like this in Inferna?" She was practically skipping around the yard. "The colors! The smells!" I guessed she hadn't really paid much attention the last few times she was on Earth.

  She touched a red rose which had just opened and then gasped. I laughed, thinking she had poked her finger on a thorn.

  "Raphael." Her voice was unsteady.

  I stepped beside her and faltered. The rose bush was an explosion of roses. It looked like a florist had shown up with hundreds.

  I looked from her to the bush. "What did you do?"

  "I don't know!" She backed up a step. "I was just thinking about how gorgeous the flower was and wondering when the other buds were going to open." Her lip quivered.

  I cocked my head to the side. "Touch this bush." I pointed to another rose bush out of sheer curiosity.

  She looked at me with wide eyes. "I'm not going to do that to another one!"

  "It's not like you're killing it. Do it and think the same thing. I need to see what happens." I was starting to get a funny feeling in my gut about her. Since finding out her father was the secret twin brother of the Creator, I had wondered if she too could create.

  She had grown grass, after all.

  She slowly stuck out her hand and touched another flower. I watched in fascination, and concern, as her arm glowed purple and spread out through her fingertips and into the bush. The flowers appeared almost immediately, somewhere no buds had been.

  Now that I was paying more attention, the flare of light magic she just had was going to attract unwanted angel attention. I might not always have my radar on, but there was one archangel that always did. He was the last thing we needed to deal with.

  "We need to go. Now." I tried to grab her arm and she yanked away from me.

  She rushed to the other side of my fire pit to put something between us. "But Nico! We aren't going without him. I refuse."

  "Samara." We played a game of cat and mouse around the fire pit. "We don't have-"

  "Raphael." I cringed as Michael's 'holier than you' voice hit my ears. "Why do you have a demon here?"

  I'm sure if I could have seen my face, it would have paled. I turned around slowly and met his blue eyes. He looked different from the last time I had seen him. "You cut your fae-warrior hair."

  He ran a hand self-consciously over his hair and narrowed his eyes. "Answer the question." I guess his hair was a sore subject, although most things were with Michael.

  Michael was the hardest of the archangels to get along with by a mile. He took being an archangel a little too seriously, and it cost him relationships with the rest of us. Not that most of us got along well in the first place.

  It was hard to stand angels you'd known forever, when forever for us was thousands and thousands of years.

  "Answer mine first." One of my favorite things to do was piss him off. "Did your girlfriend make you cut it?"

  His jaw ticked and he rolled his eyes, looking past me at Sammy. "You made a statement about my hair, not a question. Do I need to send you practice on identifying statements and questions? I hear there are some good YouTube first grade videos for that."

  "Asshole. Why'd you cut your hair? You loved your hair more than you've loved anything else, ever." I was a dick.

  "Who says I cut it?" He put his hand on the hilt of his sword. "You know that all demons need to be registered with me to stay on Earth."

  I eyed him suspiciously because it was unlike him to back down from a verbal sparring match.

  "If I may." Sammy stepped forward and stuck out her hand. "Queen Samara Luna. Sister of Reve Luna, who I believe you are familiar with?"

  I gaped at her as Michael eyed her hand and then shook it. She had quickly come to terms with being the queen. I knew her heart wasn't in it though. From what she discussed in front of me, she was more of the democratic type.

  "Why are you here and why was there a large flare of light magic?" He directed his question at me and looked down as Nico scurried onto the patio. "What a ballsy squirrel."

  Sammy laughed as Nico climbed her leg with his cheeks bulging and stuck his head into the fanny pack. He jumped back down and hurried off again.

  "We ran into some issues in Inferna and I had to bring us back here. We're waiting on pizza before heading back." I didn't need to explain myself to him, but he wouldn't leave unless I did.

  I hoped he had forgotten his question about light magic. It was wishful thinking.

  "And the light? It wasn't yours." He narrowed his eyes at Sammy. "It was yours. Why do you have so much?"

  She pursed her lips and crossed her arms, drawing in on herself. If she wanted to be queen, she couldn't be hugging herself like she wanted to crawl into a hole and hide.

  "It's none of your business. Maybe we were fucking." I laughed as he turned pink.

  He narrowed his eyes. "If you aren't going to answer me, I'll just have you summoned to Heaven."

  "Oh, I'm shaking in my boots." I sighed. "I've already been summoned. I was told to protect her."

  "You were what?" I cringed at the tone of Sammy's voice. I hadn't told her that little bit of information, because I knew she'd react negatively to knowing I was told to protect her by her newly discovered uncle.

  "Why would He tell you to protect her? She's a demon, for Christ's sake." Mr. Bitter really needed to get laid.

  "A demon I love." It was my first time saying the word outside of talking about pizza, beer, and sex.

  Sammy's eyes widened. "When I'm in Inferna, storms chase me and give me light. I can grow grass as green as here, grow back arms, bring back vacants from the brink of being lost. Here on Earth, I can grow flowers." She walked over to the rosebush and plucked a rose.

  I cringed as she handed it to Michael. He examined it and then sniffed it. "I've never seen something like this before."

  "So what does it mean?" She sounded hopeful. Although Michael did carry himself like he knew the answers to everything, he didn't.

  "It means you shouldn't be here on Earth." He took a step back. "You're a fool for bringing an unknown demon here." He threw the rose out onto the lawn, nearly hitting Nico, who was running back across. "And why is there a fucking squirrel that keeps coming over here?"

  Nico stopped abruptly and looked up at Michael. He raised a fist at him, shaking it and then climbed back up Sammy's leg, this time getting back into the sling after depositing his finds.

  I didn't even know there were nuts in my neighborhood besides the celebrities that called it home. He had apparently hit the motherlode. The fanny pack almost wouldn't zip.

  "We'll be leaving soon. You can be on your way." The doorbell rang on my phone app, just in the nick of time. "Maybe pick some of those roses to give to the woman that took you down a peg by cutting your ponytail off."

  I took Sammy's elbow and steered her toward the backdoor.

  "Don't bring her back here again, Raphael." His voice raised as the door started closing.

  I slammed the door the rest of the way and let out a grumble. I left Sammy standing at the backdoor and I grabbed the pizza from the delivery guy. My stomach rumbled as the smell of cheesy goodness wafted from the boxes.

  I set them on the counter and got another bottle of tequila from my alcohol cabinet. I always kept a quarterly supply on hand in case the inevitable pandemic happened and people went insane buying food and liquor. "Let's get out of here."

  "Do you think I'm a dangerous woman?" She bit her lip as I handed her the grocery bag I put the tequila in.

  "You are much more attractive than Ariana Grande, although she is pretty hot." I stepped back outside again and she followed. "Those honey badgers were great and all, but nothing beats Earth music."

  "You do realize half the shit you say makes absolutely no sense." She took the pizza boxes I handed to her.

  "I know." I wrapped my arms around her as we stepped onto the lawn. "That's why you love me though, right?"

  I didn't give her a chance
to respond before I flew toward where the castle entry point was and took us back to Inferna.

  Three pizzas were not enough for five of us. Kage was the most surprising and ate almost an entire pizza on his own. He didn't even need food, or so he said, and he had devoured even the cheese stuck to the box.

  Hell, he probably would have eaten the box if I told him to.

  He burped and covered his mouth. "Excuse me. If Inferna had food like this, I would never be able to move enough to clean."

  "I think I'm going to puke." Amari held his stomach and then swatted Nico away, who was on the table.

  Even in squirrel form, he ate like a man. I eyed him and held out my hand to him. He frowned at it and then came over anyway.

  "Is he going to be stuck like this forever?" He let me pet him, his eyes shutting as I scratched under his chin. "He seems to be healed."

  "Maybe it's a side effect of growing so massive. You said he was the size of a giant?" Amari whistled. "I would have paid a lot of coins to see that."

  When we had told Amari and Kage about what Nico had done, they both had nearly lost it trying to imagine a giant squirrel. I should have pulled out my phone and taken a picture.

  "His body must just be in shock. He's always been able to shift on demand though." A crease formed between Sammy's brows and tears welled in her eyes. "Why is it always him?"

  "Would you prefer it be one of us next time?" I shut the box on the remaining few slices of pizza. I'd be kind and take them to Val, even if he really didn't deserve them.

  Sammy didn't speak, and instead looked at Picard sitting on Kage's shoulder. "What does Picard think?"

  "He says Nico doesn't make any sense to him." Kage translated. "He's also angry no one brought him Pop-Tarts."

  Sammy examined her hand and then grabbed Nico. He squealed and started making noises at her. She put her finger to his mouth, which I thought was brave of her.

  Her finger could easily become his dessert.

  She held him and squinted at him as if she was trying to will him into shifting. She groaned and leaned back in her chair, depositing Nico on her chest. He immediately snuggled into her cleavage.

  I didn't know whether to be jealous or be creeped out that a squirrel was snuggled into her breasts. It was only a matter of time before he started putting his nuts there.

  "Maybe you just need to believe. That's what your-" Kage stopped. "Someone once told me that."

  Sammy turned her head, leaving it against the back of the seat. There was something so vulnerable about the way she was sitting that made me want to grab her and cuddle her. Minus the squirrel.

  "My father?" Her brows furrowed. "If this is supposed to be some kind of life lesson on how to use all this magic, he is a horrible teacher."

  "I think what Kage is saying, is that you are too much in your head and running through all the possibilities something could go wrong or if it will even work. Am I right?" Amari was resting his face on his hand. He looked a little worse for wear as of late. Hopefully, he wasn't letting Val drink too much from him.

  If he wanted to experiment on detoxing a vampire, that was his own prerogative. What I wasn't okay with was Sammy putting herself in harm’s way to try to save the deceitful bastard.

  "You're right, but-"

  "But nothing. Same with being queen. You have to believe you are the queen and take control. You certainly can take control in the bedroom. Use that power and apply it to everything else."

  Kage groaned. "Don't talk about her in the bedroom."

  "Why? Does that make you uncomfortable?" Amari smirked.

  "No. It makes me want to rip her clothes off and bend her over the table." Kage's hands flew to his mouth, his eyes widening in surprise at himself.

  "Well, well, well. Our sweet little cherub has a dirty mind." I motioned to the table. "By all means, be our guest."

  "I'm s-s-sorry." Kage put his elbows on the table and buried his face in his hands.

  "Don't be sorry." Sammy put Nico down and put her hand on Kage's arm. She leaned over to whisper in his ear.

  "Back to the more pressing issue. What are we going to do about the Taylor situation?" Amari folded his arms across his chest and watched as Nico hopped off the table and ran toward the kitchen.

  Sammy folded her hands on the table. "My cousin's wife said something about a bonding ritual between all six of us would make me stronger."

  I nearly choked on my drink. A bonding ritual? "Just what kind of bonding ritual are we talking about here?"

  "Val would know more about something like that. I've only ever heard of two people being in a bond, not six." Amari stood and went to a window, pulling the drapes aside. "The sky is no longer black, even at night. We need to do something because it's only a matter of time before the castle is overrun by demons with pitchforks."

  Sammy looked down at her hands. "Is that something you all would even want to do? Bond with me?"

  "What does this bonding ritual entail?" If it was something that required a dick up my ass, I didn't think there was enough love on Earth and Inferna combined to make me agree.

  "Yes." Kage didn't even hesitate.

  Amari turned and looked across the table. "I would. I'm fairly certain Val would too." He looked at me. "You in or out, angel?"

  "It worries me that no one answered my question. Is fucking a goat or getting my ass pounded necessary? I would do anything for love, but I won't do that." I laughed, but they didn't. The only thing I missed about Val was that he sometimes got my references to things from Earth. I turned to Sammy. "Yes."

  Sammy let out a shaky breath. "I was nervous because you all hate each other."

  "We don't hate each other." Amari crossed his arms. "It's more of an ego thing. Male posturing at its finest."

  "Picard says that bonding with a blood oath will make all of us stronger." Kage stood, setting Picard down on the chair. He held his hand out to Sammy. "You look exhausted. Let's draw you a bath."

  I had to hand it to the brownie; he knew how to treat a lady. I just hoped I'd be enough for her.

  Chapter 7

  Samara

  Nico was still a squirrel. For two days he had been unable to shift back to himself, and Picard couldn't understand a word he said. I was getting worried, but Picard thought he was recovering from the trauma he put his body through. I wasn't sure how the monkey knew so much, but my gut told me to believe what he said.

  If that was the case, Raphael and I should have been able to heal him. Instead, all our efforts caused was a pissed off squirrel that raised his middle finger at us.

  We had Picard to thank for that.

  "Our eyes in the sky say that Taylor hasn't moved from that location. His army of demons and vacants is growing though." Amari was pacing in front of us in the sitting room.

  We had tried to keep ourselves occupied by checking on Val, researching in the library, and playing games. It was hard to do when your best friend was a squirrel, your vampire was still wanting to suck all your blood, and your brother was out there putting together an army to get what was believed was his. Whatever that was.

  "It would be helpful to know what he wanted." I put my head on Raphael's shoulder and looked down at his phone screen.

  "I think it's pretty obvious he wants to be the king. What else would he want?" Raphael was doing what he called texting. His fingers flew over the letters on the screen as he wrote.

  "He can control us though, so why doesn't he just come straight here? He doesn't need an army that large to accomplish taking the crown." Amari plopped down in a chair.

  "I think there are limits to that. He can't if he's distracted and he couldn't do it to me. I felt it though." I grabbed Raphael's phone when a video started playing. "What is this?"

  "YouTube." Raphael kissed my temple. "This is a hilarious video."

  Amari came and stood behind the couch as the video started to play. Amari and Raphael immediately started laughing at the animal on the screen.

  "I do
n't get it." Maybe I was just not in a laughing mood. "What's so funny about a hippo walking backward?"

  "You didn't listen to anything the guy was saying?" Raphael pushed a button and the screen went black. "He was saying it was a new animal called an oppih... hippo spelled backwards."

  "That was gold. Is that what humans do for fun on Earth? Make fun of animals?" Amari leaned on the back of the couch and put his chin on my shoulder.

  "Humans do all sorts of things to amuse themselves. The internet is both a blessing and a curse." Raphael cringed. "I mean, nothing like the gargoyle thing you've got going on."

  Amari turned his head toward me and kissed my neck before standing and stretching. "I've gotten used to it. It is nice to sleep again, though. And to dream."

  Raphael shifted and tucked his leg under him, turning to face Amari. "What do you dream about?"

  "Hmm. Not sure we’re at that level of intimacy yet." He smirked and headed toward the doorway. "I'm going to go feed Val and see if he's ready to give freedom a try."

  I went to get off the couch and Raphael wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me to him. "Let him go alone."

  I opened my mouth to protest and he pulled me into his chest.

  "You need to relax. Stress isn't good for you." He smoothed my hair and warmth filled me. "Things are going to get worse before they get better. Let us worry about the small things, and Val is a small thing."

  I ignored that he probably was cracking a joke about Val's dick, which was by no means small. "Val being a homicidal maniac is not a small thing." I shut my eyes and tried to stop the incessant thoughts of what had gone wrong and what was bound to go wrong in the future. "What if we all just went to Earth and let this place fend for itself."

  It wasn't the first time the thought of escaping had crossed my mind. It would be so easy. Reve had done it, and I doubted it caused him worry. He was there living it up with grass, flowers, and pizza.

  "You and I both know that you would never forgive yourself for not seeing this through. That's why we're still here, fighting. Let's take care of Taylor and then worry about where our future will be. I'll have to be on Earth most of the time, but I'll come back here every spare moment." His hand found my cheek and he turned my face to his. "All right?"