Insurrection (Monarchs of Hell Book 1) Read online

  Insurrection

  Monarchs of Hell - Book 1

  R. L. Caulder

  M. Sinclair

  White Rabbit Publishing

  Copyright © 2021 Insurrection by R.L. Caulder & M. Sinclair

  R.L. Caulder and M. Sinclair reserves all rights to and/or involving this work as the authors. This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people either living or dead, or events is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means whether electronic or mechanical, including information storage and retrieval systems, now known or hereinafter invented, without written permissions from the authors, except for brief quotations in a book review.

  Cover by: Orina Kafe

  Created with Vellum

  For everyone who was made to think they were a reject just because they didn’t fit in with the crowd—this one's for you, you unique beauty.

  Being ‘normal’ is overrated.

  Love, R.L. & M.

  Contents

  Kingdom of Pura

  1. Chapter One

  2. Chapter Two

  3. Chapter Three

  4. Chapter Four

  5. Chapter Five

  6. Chapter Six

  7. Chapter Seven

  8. Chapter Eight

  9. Chapter Nine

  10. Chapter Ten

  11. Chapter Eleven

  12. Chapter Twelve

  13. Chapter Thirteen

  14. Chapter Fourteen

  15. Chapter Fifteen

  16. Chapter Sixteen

  17. Chapter Seventeen

  18. Chapter Eighteen

  19. Chapter Nineteen

  20. Chapter Twenty

  21. Chapter Twenty-One

  22. Chapter Twenty-Two

  23. Chapter Twenty-Three

  24. Chapter Twenty-Four

  25. Chapter Twenty-Five

  26. Chapter Twenty-Six

  Other books by R.L. Caulder

  Other books by M. Sinclair

  About R.L. Caulder

  About M. Sinclair

  Kingdom of Pura

  Motto: “There is unity in purity”

  Mortem (House of Death’s Territory)

  Species - Reapers

  Leaders - King Alaric

  Heir - Amare

  Obumbratio (House of Shadow’s Territory)

  Species -Wraiths

  Leaders -King Victor & Queen Adira

  Heir -Adrien

  Infernum (House of Hellfire’s Territory)

  Species - Hellhound

  Leaders - King Drax & Queen Emberleigh

  Heir -Damien

  Angelus (House of Fallen’s Territory)

  Species - Fallen Angels

  Leaders - King Celorn & Queen Kahli

  Heir - Colt

  Peccatum (House of Sin’s Territory)

  Species - Succubus/Incubus

  Leaders - King Marcelo & Queen Anastasia

  Heir - Nicolas

  Tenebris (House of Rune’s Territory)

  Species - Dark Elves

  Leaders - King Roarke & Queen Ava

  Heir - Finias

  Chapter One

  Ama

  Just one punch. One punch and I would never ask for anything else in my life.

  One solid strike to her sneering face wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Right? I personally thought it would be beneficial and that I’d be doing everyone a favor if I just knocked some sense into her. After all, not all heroes wear capes and save lives—sometimes, they have demon horns and punch assholes in the face.

  I soared towards the ledge of the castle's balcony to land, my black, leathery wings shifting in my peripheral as streaks of lightning shot across the dark sky. I would have continued to fly around if it weren’t for the storm coming in fast. Especially because it would have allowed me to avoid her. Her being Lily, the woman waiting for me on said ledge with a shit-eating grin on her face, her waist-length silver hair blowing in the wind while her ‘friends’ stood around her, hyping her up as she tormented me.

  Didn’t anyone else think it was a bit weird how often she sought me out for these encounters?

  Or maybe I should be flattered—the woman was clearly obsessed with me. Mind you, I mean obsessed with making fun of me and bullying me at every opportunity, but obsessed, nonetheless. Maybe I should get her a trophy that says #1 Stalker.

  As I muttered a curse under my breath, a boom of thunder had me jolting and looking up towards the angry, rolling black clouds that threatened to strike me down if I didn’t get out of the sky soon. Of course, my momentary distraction provided Lily with the perfect moment to gather her power and send it hurling towards me in an attack.

  I grunted as it slammed into me, my body shuddering in pain and a frustrated growl rumbling from my throat. Seriously? While I wasn’t even looking? Low blow. It spoke volumes about her character. Now the punch to the face was more than justified, in my humble opinion.

  Whirling around as I righted myself from her attack, I faced the ledge again. My wings beat faster than normal to keep me steady in the air as Lily raised her scythe again. The rings around her black eyes glowed dark red, matching the power pulsating near the tip of her blade as she aimed it right at me for another shot.

  This time, though, I avoided it easily, darting out of the way as energy vibrated through the air around me. Damn, her power had a kick to it. I had to give it to her; even without a direct hit, I still felt traces of the energy scratching against my skin. I wasn’t dense enough to think it would be an easy fight. She wasn’t as powerful as me, but she was powerful enough that she could kick my ass if I wasn’t focused fully on her.

  Looking around, I tried to scope out another place to land quickly, knowing that I would undoubtedly be late to the meeting with my father now. I really wanted to avoid that, since I tended to be tardy quite often, and that probably wasn’t the best reputation for the princess of our house.

  Unfortunately, my current location put me on the side of the castle overlooking a steep cliff that dropped off into a dark, rocky void. The ledge Lily currently occupied was the only place to land, unless I wanted to start knocking on the windows of the private quarters littering the side of the dark, gothic structure.

  “Hey, maybe that’s not a—no, Ama, no”, I chided myself. That would just be obnoxious. What would I say? ‘Hey, don’t mind me! Just trying to escape my tormentor, who hates my guts because I’m a hybrid. Oh wait—you probably do too.’ It would also make it seem like I was scared of Lily, which I wasn’t—she just had me at a disadvantage with her position on the ledge. Being at the mercy of the elements was really fucking me over.

  This was one of the many problems with living in the House of Death. This castle—well, this territory in general—was not built for individuals who had wings and could fly. In fact, my father had first built this ledge when I was learning, purely for me to have a safe place to practice without having to jump out windows where there would be no platform to catch me if I failed. Unfortunately, most days, it made an easy target for anyone looking to find me, as Lily had figured out.

  A boom of thunder sounded again as the storm rolled closer and drops of cold rain began to pelt my skin. I instinctively flew closer to the ledge to gain shelter from the storm. Of course, just as a heavy gust of wind buffeted me from the side, rolling me in the air, Lily managed to hit me with one of her bursts of power while I tried to devise a plan.

  This was absolute bullshit.

  I should have flown around the
castle to the entrance, but I would be damned if Lily bullied me out of landing in my own house. Honestly, if this woman wasn’t a Reaper and under my father’s protection by law, I could have easily killed her by now. I was already the most hated person in my own home without adding murder to the list of reasons to despise me.

  “What’s wrong, Amare?” Lily goaded over the wind, an infuriating smirk plastered on her face. “Come on down here; we don’t bite.”

  “You do suck, though,” I muttered, knowing that if she ever had the opportunity, she would attempt to see if she could suck my soul out with her scythe. It was a topic of intense debate—whether their powers could affect me since I was a hybrid.

  I’d also heard whispers that Lily enjoyed another form of sucking, if you know what I mean, and I couldn’t avoid the opportunity to use the innuendo.

  Truth be told, I wasn’t afraid of her permanently injuring me or putting me in the grave. She was more of an annoying gnat that was frustrating me. However, whatever devious plan she had in her pea-sized brain definitely wouldn’t be pleasant for me.

  “Fuck off, Lily,” I growled, inching closer to the safety of the ledge and darting out of the way of the next burst of power as the wind battered against my leathery wings. My visibility was lessening and, as strong as I was, I knew I wouldn’t be able to keep myself suspended in weather like this much longer.

  I had to either retreat or go on the offensive.

  So, in true Ama fashion, I surged forward, ready to finish this little squabble. Lightning lit up the sky as Lily’s magic hit me square in the chest, and I collided with her taller frame, groaning as I tackled her to the ground. I immediately rolled off of her and to my feet, rubbing my chest as she offered me a sneer.

  “You are a disgusting excuse for a Reaper,” she spat out, yelling over the roaring wind as she stood up to face me. “You shouldn’t be in the House of Death.”

  It was a phrase I had heard my entire life, even as a child, when I hadn’t quite understood what people meant by it.

  My gaze narrowed on Lily as hateful words spewed from her mouth. I turned as if to leave, but as soon as my shoulder faced her chest, I forced my right wing to snap outward towards her, hitting its target perfectly. Her face being the target.

  Blood dribbled from her nose as I winked at her over my shoulder and widened my eyes in mock innocence. “Sorry. I’m just such a disgusting excuse for a Reaper that can’t control my wings.”

  Her little crew was silent, and I didn’t bother defending myself further. The sad part was that she was right—I shouldn’t be here. The problem was that I didn’t really belong anywhere. Lily was just excellent at bringing that to everyone's attention whenever she had the opportunity.

  Pura, Kingdom of the Six Houses, was built upon preserving purity of bloodlines. Of course, you can imagine how popular that made me, right? Not.

  I was pretty sure the only reason I was still in the House of Death was because my father was king. As the very literal Grim Reaper, not many people were willing to go against him.

  Lily’s normally high-pitched voice dropped low as she stated in a deadly calm voice, “No one wants you here, Amare. Your daddy can’t protect you forever.”

  Anger fueled me as I spat back at her, tired of her acting like I should be afraid of her, “I don’t need him to protect me. You need him to protect you from me.” I put out my hands as I turned my back on her fully, preparing for the magic she would no doubt try to send my way after that insult. The minute I turned, I heard it soaring through the space between us and turned, my wing defensively batting the pulsating red orb of power away, sending it crashing into one of her friends.

  “Oops.” I smirked once more and used my wings to propel me into the safety of the castle. She wouldn’t dare harass me inside, where watching eyes could report back to my father. She wasn’t that ballsy, preferring instead to harass me in private.

  I didn’t want a war with Lily. In fact, I would have been perfectly happy if the woman never spoke to me again. However, if she continued to escalate this war, I’d have no problem finishing it. There was only so much hostility and abuse I could take before I snapped on her—or anyone else, for that matter. After eighteen years of being treated poorly, I was reaching my limit.

  Muttering under my breath about rude people, I strode further into the castle as I squeezed out my dark, long hair, which was naturally highlighted with a faint crimson color. Water dripped onto the black marble flooring of the castle as I passed antique mirror after antique mirror. The dim lighting of the space only added to the dark and moody nature of the castle.

  Would it kill to have some bright lights around here? Hell, maybe even a vase of bright flowers? Something that didn’t scream impending doom and gloom.

  As if the universe were mocking me, I spotted several vases of black roses, my eyes narrowing on the dark petals.

  I passed one of the castle servants, and she offered me a hesitant smile, which I returned. I knew my friendliness towards the individuals who worked here always surprised people, especially considering my position as princess.

  When they asked why I didn’t act like a typical royal, as in treating the individuals who worked here with distaste, I made it pretty simple for them…I wasn’t a dick. Unless someone deserved it, of course.

  Was it that hard to be nice to people? The answer was yes, if you were dealing with literally anyone in this damn kingdom.

  Dramatic? No. Okay, it was possible I was currently more than a little bitter after being battered in the storm and harassed.

  To be fair, it wasn’t just Lily who was a problem. No. The problem was much larger than a single person, and as I entered the main foyer, I was reminded of why exactly that was. Besides attracting attention for currently looking like a drowned rat, I also physically looked very different from the other citizens of the House of Death. Mainly because of the massive, dark, leathery wings and horns I was sporting, which no one else in this house had.

  I was also shorter and curvier than most of the women here—House of Death was known for having tall and lithe citizens. Top it all off with my crimson-highlighted ebony hair and pink and silver eyes, and I had exactly zero chance of blending in amongst the silver-haired, black-eyed House of Death members.

  Now that I thought about it, maybe that was why I’d been yearning for a bit more color around here: I was tired of being the only color in an otherwise almost oppressively dark setting. I wanted something else to stand out, other than me.

  “Ama!” A friendly voice had me smiling almost immediately as Zurie appeared at my side, her silver head of lavender-streaked curls bouncing along with her as she offered me a massive smile. Alright, I wasn’t the only one who stood out a bit here. Zurie, with her natural lavender highlights—a match to her Reaper power—and silver eyes that almost blended with her pale skin, stood out like me. But unlike me, she was more than accepted here. She was more ‘dead’ than she was alive, and that was prized here in the House of Death. Shocking, right?

  Apparently, her mother—a Reaper who was currently part of the court here—had screwed a ghost. No, I have absolutely no idea how that was possible. Yes, I totally wanted an explanation.

  Unfortunately, her mother was fairly intimidating, so I couldn’t just walk up to her and ask how she’d managed to fuck a ghost and get pregnant with my friend. I also had a feeling that Zurie didn’t want to think much on the matter of her conception. Plus, it was just nice to have someone around who wanted to be my friend in the first place. I probably shouldn’t scare her off with my questions.

  “Hey.” I offered her a head nod as I squeezed more water out of my hair, trying to untangle it from my horns. They were twisted at the top, so it was a pain in the ass when my hair was dry and a nightmare when it was wet. Don’t even get me started on what happened when I ran out of conditioner. I usually considered just shaving my head at that point.

  “Got caught in the storm?” Zurie asked curiously, her eyes refle
cting a hint of suspicion that there was more to the story than that.

  “No, it was totally on purpose. I figured I’d just bathe in the sky to save some hot water in the castle,” I answered sarcastically, a fake smile plastered on my face.

  She pinned me with a stare, quietly demanding the real answer.

  “I wish it was that simple,” I grumbled, finally relenting under the power of her laser eyes. “Lily realized I was out flying and was waiting for me on the ledge with her stupid cronies when I got back.”

  “What a bitch.” Zurie scowled as if she was plotting Lily’s death as we spoke, her protectiveness of me bringing a true smile to my face. “You know, you could probably get her kicked out of court along with the rest of her family if you told your father.”

  I sighed wistfully at her suggestion and then shook my head, “That would make it look like I couldn’t handle her myself. She’s really just an annoying gnat that I have to swat down occasionally.”

  “You’re too easy on her and everyone else who bullies you. Tell your father,” she advised, but while I didn’t completely disagree with her, I wanted to handle it myself. My father was already aware of it, and I’d continued to refuse his help.

  As we made our way up another set of stairs, I felt my cheeks heat slightly as I met the intense gaze of the only man in this damn territory, literally the only one, that I purposefully avoided at all costs. But because I’m me—and completely unlucky—I happened to not only run into him on an already shitty day, but while looking like an angry wet cat.