Monarchs of Hell: The Complete Series

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.