Infernal Desires

  Infernal Desires

  Kel Carpenter

  Published by Kel Carpenter

  Copyright © 2018, Kel Carpenter

  Edited by Analisa Denny

  Cover Art by Fiona Jayde

  All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Warning: the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

  Created with Vellum

  To strong women who simply can’t be contained, you inspire me.

  “Just gonna stand there and watch me burn / that's alright because I like the way it hurts.”

  ~ Eminem and Rihanna, Love The Way You Lie

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  **Julian**

  Chapter 3

  **Allistair**

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  **Rysten**

  Chapter 7

  **Laran**

  Chapter 8

  **Moira**

  Chapter 9

  **Rysten**

  Chapter 10

  **Allistair**

  Chapter 11

  **Julian**

  Chapter 12

  **Laran**

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  **Allistair**

  Chapter 15

  **Moira**

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  **Julian**

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilogue

  Also by Kel Carpenter

  About the Author

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  I was on fire.

  At least it felt that way as I turned from the wall of glass that left all of New Orleans on display. The city of the dead. We were at Hell’s motherfucking gates, and what happens?

  I started the transition.

  How long did Rysten say I had before it fully set in? Forty-eight hours? And then what?

  I shivered and it sure as hell wasn’t because I was cold. I was half-succubus and half…the beast. Pre-transition, I burned down Blue Ruby Ink. I branded Laran and Moira. I shredded the nightmare imp’s soul. And I’ve nearly fucked all of the Horsemen but one.

  So…what would I do during the transition? Would it even be me—or would it be the beast?

  I sighed roughly, running a sweaty hand through my hair.

  This was all assuming I didn’t spontaneously combust into flames by then.

  “Everything alright, love?” Rysten asked, pulling me back to reality. I blinked away the haziness to see him standing in the doorway.

  “You said I have forty-eight hours. What happens then?” I asked, my throat already dry and scratchy. I took another step toward him and stopped abruptly when I felt a shift in the air. It was almost undetectable. His eyes dilated and he shut them, inhaling deeply.

  And when he opened his eyes, it wasn’t the Rysten I knew and cared for.

  I blinked as a mist formed around him. Individual flecks of white formed on his skin. Gathering and condensing as they slowly built, it fell around him like snow…or ash. Oddly beautiful. Terrifyingly strange.

  “Are you seeing this…” my words trailed off as he took another shuddering breath. He let out a groan.

  “So sweet,” he murmured.

  I frowned, narrowing my eyes. The mist shifted and swirled around him, twisting and pulsing in sync with something. His heart.

  “What happens then?” Those three little words came out far more seductive than I thought possible. I took a step closer and Rysten’s eyes darkened from green to nearly black, but not with rage. With…

  “Either your succubus nature or the beast will take over. Possibly both.” His tongue darted out, licking his bottom lip. The heat inside me climbed ever higher. Pretty soon I was going to be at risk of passing out. Maybe that was for the best, considering the look Rysten was giving me.

  “And then?” I asked hoarsely, my voice no more than a whisper. He smiled, but there was nothing boyish or cute about it. A feral look had entered his eye, that of a predator with only one purpose.

  “You will need to feed.” He took three steps towards me before my brain realized what he was doing. The haze was already starting to descend again. The pulsing heat inside, guiding me towards it. Towards him.

  “What are you doing?” I whispered through chapped lips. My legs shook the closer he came, and I wasn’t sure if it was exertion or need. Even in his scary as fuck state, I was incapable of feeling truly afraid. He wouldn’t hurt me.

  Rysten crossed the distance between us with measured steps. By the time he was standing before me, his eyes were completely black. Not a trace of any color in sight.

  I bit my lip, simultaneously fighting the urge to lean into him and to faint. Rysten made my choice easy, reaching out and wrapping a strong arm completely around my waist. He gripped my hip, claw-tipped fingers biting into the skin just beneath my thick sweater. I let out a low moan and breathed deeply.

  His scent hit me like a freight train and I wrapped both my hands in the material of his shirt. Rysten took that as all the invitation he needed. He reached up with his other hand and buried it in my hair, using his hold to guide my head back. My body turned to Jell-O at his touch as the burning inside me grew out of control, seeking some sort of release.

  He brought his lips to mine and every thought vanished.

  I simply couldn’t think, couldn’t feel anything beyond his lips as they melded to mine. He kissed me with such passion that I was blindsided by lust. Consumed by it.

  Enough so that I didn’t think twice when he dropped one arm from my waist to my ass and hoisted me up. I wrapped my legs around him without needing to be told. The hard bulge in his pants rubbed against me, causing a frenzy to set in.

  I placed my hands on his shoulders, relishing in the hard, corded muscle I found there. My fingers teased his collar, dipping inside his shirt before my impatience got the better of me. My fingers wrapped around the thick fabric and pulled. Buttons popped as I ripped his shirt down the middle. My hands flattened over the smooth skin of his chest. He growled in approval, making my stomach flutter. Inside, the flames fanned hotter.

  My back touched cool glass, clearing my head just enough to know this wasn’t normal. I may be a bit horny more often than I liked to admit, but I didn’t usually jump someone’s bones in two seconds flat. I pulled back from our kiss to breathe and ask him what the hell was going on. Rysten used that brief half a second to grind into me, trailing a delicious row of kisses and bites down my neck.

  My head lolled back, resting against the glass while arching my back to give him better access to everything, because in that moment nothing else mattered. Only the burning within and between us that kept me in a hazy reality where the only thing that made sense was his skin on mine.

  “What the—”

  The sudden interruption was loud enough to register but not enough to permeate the blazing heat that gripped me. One moment I was pressed against the glass, and the next I was on my hands and knees.

  A savage snarl escaped my lips as I looked up at the two Horsemen that restrained Rysten, his pitch black demon eyes locked on mine.

  “You’re a fucking idiot,” War snapped at him. He moved to put Rysten in a headlock and Death let him. I let out a warning growl of my own as outrage took hold of me and acted. It didn’t even occur to me that the beast was goading me into it until after I shoved Julian out of the way and bitch-slapped Laran.

  I stopped dead in my tracks as the haze cleared again and dread formed in my stomach. Laran stood stock-still, gaping at me as he dropped Rysten like a lead weight. Whatever trance-like lust seemed to have fallen over him snapped the moment he hit the ground. His eyes cleared, turning back to a vivid dark green as the ivory mist around him evaporated.

  I shook my head, trying to make sense of the craziness.

  “Ruby, love, I am so sorry—” His apology broke off when Laran kicked him in the head.

  “Hey!” I snapped at Laran, the spiraling rage that started this all leapt to the forefront again. “What the hell, Laran?” My fists clenched on their own accord, but I kept myself from taking a swing.

  “Ruby,” Julian said in a deceptively soft tone, “do you realize your hands are on fire?”

  I dared a glance at my hands to see that blue fire did indeed consume them. The tendrils skated up my arms, as high as my elbows, but didn’t burn.

  I swallowed hard again and grit my teeth, willing the fire to go out.

  Of course, it wasn’t that simple.

  At first, nothing happened. It didn’t shrink, but it also didn’t grow. In some ways, I called that a win. After all, almost every time I’ve used the flames, someone has either died or a building burned down. So in so
me ways, nothing happening was an improvement.

  Until my clothes caught.

  “For fuck’s sake,” I groaned, turning to the beast inside me. She extinguished the flames without making me ask, but I didn’t miss the vicious smile that followed. The beast knew what was going on here. That very soon I would have little to no control.

  In a matter of days there would be no one to truly stand between the beast and the world.

  No one except the Horsemen, that is.

  I guess it’s a good thing this was what they were created for, because looking after me is turning out to be a full-time job.

  Chapter 2

  I stepped around Laran with a huff, striding down the hallway. Moira stood in the doorway, bent over at the waist, laughing so hard she swayed sideways and bumped into me. I rolled my eyes and grabbed her arm, hauling her into the bedroom behind me before slamming the door shut. It wouldn’t keep the Horsemen away forever, but it might give me a few minutes reprieve.

  The door pounded behind me.

  “For the love of—” I cracked the door, but Julian was the one I least expected to find.

  “Ruby, I know this must be—”

  “Five minutes. Can I have five fucking minutes to myself?” I snapped. Julian didn’t flinch, and he didn’t leave.

  “With the transition starting in—”

  “Rysten said I had forty-eight hours. I’m asking for five minutes.” Refusing to back down, I held his gaze before it turned glacial and impassive.

  “Fine.” The muscle in his jaw ticked. I moved to shut the door, but he caught it with his hand. “If I hear anything—”

  “Five. Minutes,” I repeated, pushing against the door. It didn’t budge until he pulled away, giving me a tight nod as he did.

  The door clicked shut and I turned, leaning back and resting my head against it. Staring at the ceiling, I finally got the nerve to say, “What am I going to do?”

  “Same thing you always do,” Moira said. I rocked my body forward, pushing off the door. My gaze dropped to my best friend as I cocked an eyebrow in her direction, silently asking what that was. She pursed her lips and said one word. “Survive.”

  Bandit walked over to me and tugged my jeans. I leaned over and scooped him up in my arms, walking over to sit on the white feather comforter. Moira joined us, sprawling out beside me.

  “I’m scared,” I whispered into his fur. He purred, nuzzling against me.

  “Of course you are,” she scoffed. “I’d be worried if you weren’t.” Moira arched up to tuck both her arms behind her head like she didn’t have a care in the world. She did, but it was only my empathic abilities and years of watching her that told me so. “But you have me,” she continued, very self-important-like. “And the trash panda and the Horsemen. At least part of them, when they’re not trying to fuck you.” She snickered and Bandit let out this god-awful rasping sound. I splayed a hand over my forehead, swiping it down my face, letting out an exasperated sigh.

  “That’s what I’m worried about,” I muttered. “What if the Horsemen can’t stop me? What if—” I paused, steeling myself to tell her the truth. To say my next words. “What if the beast emerges and I end up killing everyone in New Orleans?”

  Moira seemed to ruminate on her response, sucking the air between her teeth before replying, “I don’t think it will come to that.”

  I squinted at the ceiling, tilting my head. “How do you figure that?”

  “Two reasons. The first is that all four of those lazy fuckers have a raging hard-on for you. I thought Julian was going to bend your ass over and fuck you there when you started growling at them all come-hither-like on your hands and knees,” she chuckled again.

  “I did not—”

  “Oh yes you did,” she smirked, wagging her finger. “Save the modesty for someone else. You’ve been my best friend for over ten years. I know what you’re like when you get horny and can’t fuck. Hello, welcome to the past five years.”

  I rolled my eyes, arching to grab the pillow from underneath me to chuck it at her face. She caught it without missing a beat.

  “The second reason,” she said with exaggerated slowness, “is because you’re a succubus that’s been starving for over five years. Something tells me your transition is going to be one hell of show.” She grinned, the blue pentagrams in her eyes swirling around mischievously.

  “Please tell me you are not planning to watch—”

  “Fuck no.” She made a gagging noise that descended into giggles. “I love you, Rubes, but you’re like my sister. Your transition is one porno I am not interested in watching. If I want to get it on, Bourbon Street isn’t far.”

  Bourbon Street. The one place on this continent that you could throw a rock blindfolded and be more likely to hit a demon than a human. Only three blocks from Hell’s Gates, it was practically overrun with our kind. Which meant it wasn’t safe for me or for her, not with those glowing blue-branded eyes.

  She wore the Devil’s mark, and if her glamour slipped for even a second, it was all over. The world would know that a new soul carried that name.

  “Please tell me you’re not planning on going down to Bourbon Street with everything that’s going on…” I said. She inclined her head and wariness permeated the air. “Moira, you can’t be serious.” She let out a sigh.

  “I wouldn’t say planning is the right word. More like considering my options,” she defended. “It’s not like anyone is going to cross over until you transition. Once you fully hit it, that could be weeks. It would be a shame for me to miss out on the chance before we left earth…”

  I know she didn’t mean for it to come across like she was guilt-tripping me, but her subtle reminder pulled at my heartstrings. Both because this is entirely on me, and because I almost lost her once. Despite that, she chose to follow me, and not just to the ends of this world, but to another world entirely.

  I sat up, ignoring Bandit’s protests as I moved him aside and embraced her, wrapping my arms around her petite frame. “I’m not going to tell you what you can and can’t do. I just worry about you,” I whispered into her dark green hair. She smelled like mint and spring.

  “I know.” She wrapped her arms around my waist, holding me tight against her. “It’s the same for me. I’ve never worried about anyone or anything in my life until you, and I’m not even getting some,” she grumbled. “Which is why I’m thinking about it, but my mind isn’t made up. You know I’d never do anything that puts you in danger.”

  “It’s not me I’m worried about.”

  A knock at the door interrupted us and I growled under my breath. Moira clutched me tighter, shaking with silent laughter as the door swung open.

  “Ruby, love, I hate to break this up, but Allistair will be here shortly and we need to talk about how you want to do this.”

  I could only assume he meant go through the transition, to which I didn’t have an answer. Still, I unclasped myself from Moira and followed him back out into the living room.

  He took a seat in the lone armchair across the room, shooting me an apologetic look. I briefly wondered if his distance was because of our unexplainable make-out session earlier, or the shattered trust we’d yet to mend from Moira’s kidnapping. Judging by Julian’s turned back as he faced the glass wall, arms clasped behind him, I could only guess it was some of both.

  I took a step towards Laran who sat on the black leather loveseat, freezing when his eyes swept up—hot, heated, and cautious. It was that last one that gave me pause.

  “Is something wrong here?” I asked, my voice coming out a bit sharper than I intended, a hint of the beast inside me creeping through. She was not happy with him. Neither of us understood why he, out of any of them, would be wary with us.