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

by Maya Nicole

  Maybe I was just crazy.

  I passed the old jail that was being rebuilt. It had been smashed to smithereens by Tony the giant. All the servants were discussing the giant’s return after the rightful heir, Sammy’s brother, had returned.

  I hurried along through the streets until I saw the sign up ahead. My legs trembled with relief as I drew closer and closer. I was so exhausted all of a sudden.

  I stopped at the side of the building that was near the sign and looked around for Nico. Spotting a squirrel in the dark, with only the bright moon overhead, was difficult. There were no lights out this way.

  My shoulders started to ache as my muscles continued to clench. My whole body was tight. I wished I would have been able to tell Nico that I couldn't leave and that I needed to stay in the castle.

  But he hadn’t given me the chance to find my words.

  I heard a small noise to my left and looked at a tree near the edge of the forest. I rushed over to it and looked up into the black branches and leaves. I flashed back so he could see me.

  He made another noise and then I saw his brown body jump to the next tree a little farther into the forest. I followed but grew very uneasy.

  I desperately wanted to say something to him, but the words wouldn't leave my lips. I wanted to shout, “Stop wait for just a second! Let me catch my breath!”

  Instead, my jaw was clenched tight; not a word was going to leave my mouth.

  After the eighth jump, I couldn’t continue. I thought counting might keep my mind off what my body was doing, but it made it worse because the more jumps he made, the farther we were from the castle. The farther from safety and things for me to clean.

  I dropped to my knees, unable to go on. I wasn't going to be able to do it. The unknown that lurked in the forest was too much for me to handle.

  I needed to go back to the routine of the castle. At least there I knew what to expect. Even if the castle changed hands multiple times, it's not like cleaning was any different.

  Wipe. Spritz. Re-wipe. Repeat.

  Pick up laundry. Take to washroom. Sort. Scrub. Rinse. Hang. Fold.

  I continued going through all of my tasks I completed in the castle. I felt myself calming the slightest bit.

  I heard the squirrel up in the tree making noises at me, but I ignored him.

  There was wetness on my cheeks, luckily he couldn’t see me. I didn’t need him to know I was a basket case, but he seemed to be able to sense that I had stopped.

  A thud sounded in front of me and I looked up. Nico was looking around searching for me.

  "Kage? What are you doing?"

  "I-I-I.” I swallowed. "I c-can't."

  Fuck, I was such an invalid. Speaking shouldn't be so hard. I was good at everything I did. I was good at cooking, cleaning, reading, writing, dancing, was knowledgeable in lovemaking, but speaking? I sucked at it.

  For once, I wanted to just open my mouth and not stumble over my words. I’d been practicing in the mirror when they were gone for the day since now I had the motivation to fix the problem. I was fine. No problem.

  But to actually talk to Nico and Sammy? Nerve-wracking. I didn’t even want to think what was going to come out the second I had to speak to Val or Amari.

  Luckily, the one thing I'd said to Sammy had come out coherent. What would she think of my inability to express myself? She was so good at it. They all were.

  Nico let out a frustrated sigh and walked towards where my voice had come from. I briefly flashed back in the open before going invisible again. The last thing I needed was for him to fall over me and get hurt. He stopped in front of me and knelt down, remembering exactly where I was.

  He reached out a tentative hand and touched the top of my head. I scrambled away from him and shook my head, even though he couldn't see it. "No." At least I could say that without stuttering.

  I yearned to be touched, but anytime anyone got close to me I freaked out. That's what happens when you spend life living in the shadows.

  "We don't have a lot of time. Do you need me to hold your hand or something?" Nico seemed unsure and stood back up with his hands on his hips. He looked both confused and concerned.

  I took several more breaths and focused my eyes on the ground. I stood and dropped my invisibility.

  "Okay then. Let's go." Nico began moving through the trees, taking it slow and stopping at each trunk to wait for me to catch up.

  "We don't have much farther to go. I can't smell anything between us and where the entrance is. I also don't smell any guards anywhere near us.”

  I appreciated his words. The big bad squirrel did have a heart. He always acted so macho that I hadn’t been sure.

  We came to a large group of boulders that seemed out of place in the forest. He moved around the side of it, running his hand across them and then finally got to a gap in between two.

  "So this crevice leads into a cavern, then leads to a passageway that takes us right into the dungeon area. Do you think you’ll be able to handle that?"

  I finally looked up at him and then quickly glanced away. His brows were furrowed with concern. I wasn't exactly sure I would be able to handle it. I hated unknown situations.

  I nodded and followed him as he slipped through between the rocks.

  My fear instantly ratcheted up a notch once we were inside. It was so dark, and despite my night vision being exceptional, I let out a small whimper. I felt a large hand take me by the elbow.

  "I'll lead you. It's going to be okay, Kage. Just a little farther. That's it. One foot in front of the other."

  I could barely hear him over the pounding of my heart. I had no business being there with him in an attempt to rescue people. I needed my own rescue.

  The longer we walked, the more my stomach churned. How far was this secret entrance? Just as I was ready to wrench my arm away and run in the opposite direction, we came to a drop in the floor.

  "There's a short drop and then we’ll need to crawl."

  Nico dropped down, his shoulders and head still visible. There was a faint light coming from where we were supposed to crawl. I shook my head vigorously, and he sighed.

  "Do you want to just wait here then?" He was losing his patience with me.

  I was losing my patience with myself.

  I shut my eyes and dropped down, my feet hitting the ground awkwardly and stumbling into Nico. He steadied me with two hands on my arms and then he dropped to the ground and began crawling on his stomach.

  You can do it. You can do it.

  I must have repeated the phrase a hundred times in my head before we popped out in a dimly lit hallway. We turned the corner and the large dungeon room stood in front of us. Empty cells lined the walls.

  I drew my brows together and took in the room. Three cells were standing open and the keys to them were laying on the ground.

  "They were here, but their scent is mixed with the guards’." Nico went near the stone steps leading out. "I don't smell them going out. Why don't I smell them?" He was rubbing his beard in thought.

  "It t-took us almost an hour to g-get down here. M-maybe they escaped." I started backing up towards the hallway. "We sh-should go."

  He grunted but then followed me back to the secret passage. I hoped we had just missed them and they were somewhere safe in the forest. Not that the forest was ever safe, but the alternative left a sour taste in my mouth.

  I was done with walking. We had been walking for hours and had only stopped briefly for rest. Most of the time Nico was in his animal form and I was invisible. The forest was eerily quiet.

  Although there wasn't a large difference in temperature, the farther north we went, the cooler it got. The forest became thicker and darker. I could hardly make out the moon through the cover of the trees.

  Nico dropped out of the tree in front of me, and I gasped as he shifted.

  "Sorry." He shrugged. "The estate is up ahead on the edge of the village."

  I dropped my invisibility. "We are just going to
go to the door?" The steadiness of my voice surprised me.

  “You didn’t stutter.” I adjusted the straps of the backpack I was carrying at his observation. “We are just going to go to the door. Let me do the talking.”

  As if I would be able to talk anyway.

  We exited the line of trees and walked across a wide road. There was a large fence surrounding the estate, the top had sharp edges.

  There was no gate as far as I could see, so we walked along the edge to the corner. It led right into the village. I grabbed on to Nico’s shirt.

  “I d-d-don’t think this is a g-good idea.” So much for my stuttering going away with him.

  “What else do you suggest? They had to have escaped the castle. They wouldn’t have taken them to the dungeon for an hour and then taken them back up, would they?” He didn’t seem so sure of himself. “They have to be here.”

  I could tell he was worried, not for Amari and Val, but for Samara.

  He continued on down the path to the village. A lot of the demons that lived in this village were vampires, my least favorite race of demon. They were low-key instigators and couldn’t be trusted.

  We got to a large metal gate and Nico tried to open it. Of course, it was locked. What was the point of having a gate if it was left unlocked?

  “M-maybe I should go check things out first.” Nico shook his head at me and then pulled on a rope that was hanging over the top of the gate.

  I heard a horn on the other side. I didn’t like this one bit.

  The gate slowly opened and let us in. That should’ve stopped us in our tracks, but Nico just kept going.

  I badly wanted to open my mouth and speak but couldn’t. Instead, I went invisible.

  “You don’t need to do that.” Nico sighed as we made our way across the lawn, past the large fountain, and to the front door.

  He raised his fist to knock, but before he could, the door opened. A demon with horns curving out of his head stood in front of us. He did not look happy.

  “What do you want? Where did the other one of you go?” His voice made me tremble, and I backed up a few steps.

  “Just me. I’m here looking for Val. I’m a friend.” Nico actually sounded pleasant for once.

  The demon let out a grunt. “Val isn’t here.” He went to shut the door and Nico put his hand out to stop it. I flinched. “Get your hand off the door.”

  “Now listen, Val and Amari should be arriving back here. Can I speak to his father?”

  The man opened the door back up again and glared at Nico. This was not going well. “No one speaks to him.”

  “I have news on the Infernal Council?” It was the first time I’d heard Nico sounding unsure. I wanted to grab him by the arm and yank him out the gate.

  The demon in front of us might not have any special capabilities, but he was strong. Incredibly strong.

  “Wait right here.” He slammed the door and left us waiting.

  “This is going well, I think.” Nico turned his head and looked in my direction. “Might be best if you stay that way for now.”

  “You think?” I muttered.

  Just as I was about to go exploring to see what was up inside, the demon opened the door again. This time he had company.

  There was really no hope for Nico getting away. They had a net. They knew he was going to try to shift. I ran all the way back to the gate as he was dragged around the corner of the house to the back.

  What the hell was I going to do?

  Once I calmed myself down a bit—a bit being about an hour—I made my way in the direction they had dragged him. The estate had stables in the back and dungeon cells underneath.

  It was a little known secret of vampires, at least the rich ones, to keep dungeons underneath their stables.

  The stable was quiet besides the sounds of the animals. A few turned their heads in my direction as I passed them by. I searched the ground for the trapdoor.

  I finally spotted it behind some hay bales. I walked right to the door and down the steps.

  The room I walked into had four cells. One held Nico, passed out. Two others were occupied with men who just sat there staring off into space.

  Suddenly, one of the men inhaled and turned his head in my direction. “Brownie?”

  Crap. I hated demons that could smell me. I couldn’t pick up on what type of demon he was. He was weak, that was for sure. He looked as thin as my arm and his eyes were sunken in.

  The other man looked around the room. He looked to be an inch away from death.

  Nico stirred in his cell and let out a groan. He laid there another minute before suddenly popping up and rushing to the cell door, trying to open it.

  “It’s no use, son,” the more alive said. “Magically infused cells.”

  Nico turned, as if just realizing there were two other men in the room. His eyes widened, and his jaw worked like he was thinking of what to say.

  “I’m Winston. The other fella, not sure what his name is. He was here when they brought me here. He’ll die soon.”

  “You’re the missing council member.”

  “That would be me. You stumbled into quite the mess, son. But at least you brought a friend who can get us out of here.”

  I looked around the room to try to find a set of keys. There were none. Vampires were smart; they weren’t about to keep the keys to the cells in the room with the cells. They were probably on that demon with the horns.

  I shook my head, as if anyone could see me.

  “Kage, do you think you can get us the keys?” Nico’s voice didn’t hold much hope.

  I wanted to say yes. I wanted to believe I was brave enough to walk into that estate and find the keys on that demon. I wasn’t.

  The weaker man let out a groan and laid down on the floor. I wanted to help him, but I didn’t know how. Maybe it would be easier for me to sneak food.

  “Kage?” Nico let out a sigh and sat down against the stone wall. “You have to. There’s no other option. Do it for Samara.”

  Winston cleared his throat. “Samara, the princess?”

  Nico just nodded and then the man started laughing. “This just keeps getting more and more interesting.”

  I was just about to ask why it was so funny when the door opened and a pair of boots came into sight. Both of the other prisoners visibly tensed as the man came down the stairs.

  “Well, well, well, what do we have here?” The man came into view and I bit down hard on my lip to keep from having a reaction. Val looked exactly like his father, except his father looked ruthless. “I heard we caught a squirrel.”

  Chapter 10

  Samara

  I was shoved into the cell with white feathers scattered across the floor. The guard slammed the metal door shut with a clang.

  I hadn't fought them; they were much larger than me. One of us needed to keep our cool.

  Val, Amari, and Nico didn't go without a fight. Nico had shifted to his squirrel before they even had a chance to put the magical cuffs on his wrists. He had run off to who knows where to bide his time until the opportune moment.

  If he had one. It was mentioned they were having the lion hunt for him.

  Amari and Val were put into separate cells. The guards went back up the stairs, laughing to themselves.

  The cells we were in were the short term holding cells until our fates were decided. Down a long hallway and more stairs were the more permanent cells, and down another hallway was the door leading to the servants’ living quarters. The door was usually locked.

  Amari tried to open his cell, but let out a frustrated grunt. Val sighed and sat down on the bench in his cell. "The entire dungeon is protected from any magic. We're stuck here."

  Now what? Even if Nico came to our rescue, we still had targets on our backs. It was possible that Val's family could help, but one family against ten other powerful families weren't exactly good odds.

  Amari went silent and sat on the floor of his cell. He brought his knees to his chest.
"I can't change into a gargoyle."

  Val cursed under his breath. If he couldn't change into his gargoyle form for too long, then what would happen to him?

  I started pacing in the cell, kicking at the feathers on the floor. What the hell had gone on in this place? I bent down and picked up one of the white feathers. It had a slight silvery tint to it.

  There was a sense of wrongness to be holding something so pure in my hand. Whatever had lost these feathers didn't deserve what torture they got.

  I turned the large feather over, examining it. I held onto it by the shaft and spun it in my between my fingers, letting the faint light in the room play on the silvery hints running through it.

  I suddenly felt like I was being pulled and then there was a pop in my ears. My feet hit something hard, and I was blinded by the brightest light I'd ever seen.

  Loud sounds invaded my ears, and I frantically looked around me, wondering where the hell I was. I wasn't in the dark dungeon anymore, that was for sure. The light was so bright and I shielded my eyes.

  A large carriage stopped abruptly in front of me; it made a screeching noise. It sounded like a really pissed off hell serpent.

  A loud noise came from it, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin, and someone yelled, "Move out of the fucking street, bitch!"

  I scrambled out of the way until I stepped up on a different surface where there were other people. The same guy that had just yelled at me yelled at me again as he moved forward in his carriage. "Next time, I'll run over your ass!"

  I brought a hand to my chest and took several deep breaths. I was still clutching the feather in my other hand.

  More carriages zoomed down what I assumed was the road. I slowly turned around in a circle, my eyes wide and my heart in my throat. There was a large sign in the distance that said 'Hollywood' and it stood out because it was sitting on the side of a hill.

  I grabbed at someone's arm that was walking past me. They gave me a dirty look. "Please, where am I?"