SOLDATI HEARTS BOXED SET

  CHARLIE COCHET

  Soldati Hearts Boxed Set

  Copyright © 2021 Charlie Cochet

  http://charliecochet.com

  All rights reserved. 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 the written permission of the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of author imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover content is for illustrative purposes only. Any person depicted on the cover is a model.

  Cover Art Copyright © 2021 Reese Dante

  http://reesedante.com

  Edits by Deniz Durand

  CONTENTS

  The Soldati Prince

  Synopsis

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  The Foxling Soldati

  Synopsis

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  The Soldati General

  Synopsis

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  A Note From the Author

  Also By Charlie Cochet

  About the Author

  THE SOLDATI PRINCE

  SYNOPSIS

  One moment, Riley Murrough is living a normal life working in a coffee shop, and the next, he’s running for his life from demons, learns he bears the mark of a shape-shifter king from a magical realm, and—worst of all—he’s destined to become the mated prince to the arrogant tiger-shifter he would rather strangle.

  Khalon, the shifter king, is equally distraught at the idea of being bound to a human prince, and along with his Soldati warriors, he sets out to return Riley to his own world, where he belongs. On their journey, they might discover why the goddess brought them together—if they can escape the demons and make it to her alive.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Who would be slaughtered next?

  Riley studied his prey, his eyes narrowed and focused on his first potential victim before he moved his gaze to the next one. He had to choose. Or did he? He curled his lips into a wicked grin. Who said he couldn’t have both?

  “Sorry, fellas. Looks like you’re out of luck.”

  Riley stuffed the remaining slice of lemon cake into his mouth and moaned in delight as the frosting melted on his tongue. God, these were so freaking good. He washed it down with the frothy cappuccino he’d made while cashing out the register. Once the lemon cake was no more, he moved on to the old-fashioned glazed donut. He could never choose between the two.

  The café’s front doors opened, and Riley swallowed the remainder of his donut. He took a quick sip of coffee before addressing the two men in dark jackets and jeans.

  “Hey, guys. I’m really sorry, but we’re closed.” Hadn’t he locked the door? He was pretty sure he’d locked the door. Maybe he should’ve been paying more attention to his closing duties and less to stuffing his face. It wasn’t like his manager, Clara, minded if he took the leftovers home. Getting rid of the remaining stock at the end of the day was one of his many responsibilities at Tiger Tails Café. If he had to eat a few tasty cakes in order to perform his duty, well, he was willing to make that sacrifice.

  The men came toward the counter, and Riley straightened. Maybe they were tourists? Riley motioned politely to the door.

  “I’m sorry. We’re closed. Tomorrow. We open tomorrow.”

  “Are you Riley Murrough?”

  So much for tourists. Riley eyed them warily. “Um, yeah. Can I help you guys with something?” His gut twisted, and he casually removed his orange-and-black apron. The taller of the two smiled, his lips spreading and curling freakishly far up the sides of his face before his mouth opened wide, releasing a horrific gurgling shriek.

  “Holy fuck!” Riley reeled. What the hell? The glass display case shattered, followed by the shop’s windows and doors. The shriek intensified, forcing Riley to cover his ears, the noise piercing his skull. A black tar-like goo leaked from the men’s eyes and ears, their faces elongating and contorting, their skin growing veiny and ashen. Riley had no idea what he was seeing, but he wasn’t sticking around to find out. He’d watched enough horror movies in his lifetime to know that not hauling ass when freaky stuff happened got you dead.

  He tossed the apron at their faces and bolted toward the back of the café, forgetting about the trash bags he was supposed to have taken out half an hour ago. He tripped over a bag and hit the linoleum tiles hard. Oh my God, he was that guy. Behind him, the men—or whatever the hell they were—appeared, their eyes nothing but hollow sockets.

  The putrid smell of decay and filth made Riley gag, and he scrambled to his feet, covering his mouth to keep from throwing up. The smell made his eyes water, and he tried his best to breathe through his mouth as he threw open the side door to find the alley plunged into near darkness. The lights had worked just fine last night when he closed. What the hell was going on?

  Riley’s attempt to make it to the street was quickly thwarted by the appearance of another shadowy figure. Maybe it was a regular guy and not some decomposing monster. Riley considered asking him for help, but the man began oozing the same black tar-like substance as the others. Nope. Riley spun on his heels and bolted down the alley, hoping to get to the other side of the street. He was halfway there when he made the mistake of looking up.

  “Oh Jesus.” He skidded to a halt, his heart leaping into his throat as terrifying creatures that resembled corpses in various stages of putrefaction scurried down the sides of the brick buildings like roaches. What the hell were they? Oh God, had it finally happened? Was this the zombie apocalypse? He wasn’t prepared! There wasn’t nearly enough toilet paper in his apartment for an apocalypse!

  They came out from the shadows, from trash cans, and from the very ground itself, shrieking and hissing, fangs dripping with tar, eye sockets empty voids, and long mouths emitting a rancid stench. Riley turned, but they closed in on him from every direction.

  This couldn’t be happening.

  Snatching up a discarded trash can lid, Riley held it out in front of him. It seemed like an absurd move, but nothing about this whole situation was normal. Where were all the people? At this time of night, there was usually plenty of foot traffic, people heading home from work or on their way to dinner. Riley hadn’t seen one person walk by. He was on his own.

  Slowly he backed away from the closest mass of screeching creatures and swung the lid in hopes of staying out of their reach a little longer. By the looks of them, he would hazard a guess that being touched by one of these things would lead to unpleasant results. He screamed for help, but a ferocious roar echoed through the alley, drowning out his voice and scaring the hell out of him.

  What in the…? Did I just hear a tiger roar?

  From out of the depths of who knew where, four huge tigers appeared ahead of him. They bared their fangs and roared. Now there were tigers? Had they escaped from a zoo somewhere? Was he losing his ever-loving mind? He inched away from the huge cats lined up across the alley, their eyes on him. Gingerly he crouched down and attempted to hide as best he could behind the trash can lid.

  Wait, tigers had a really good sense of smell, didn’t they? Crap. He was a dead man. Not like they didn’t know he was there. Another roar froze him to the spot. Holy shit, their roars were terrifying! He peeked around the trash can lid, and his eyes widened as he stared, helpless as the largest of the four tigers broke into a run, heading right for him. Riley screamed, brandishing the trash can lid like a shield as the tiger leaped. To Riley’s disbelief the tiger soared over him instead of at him.

  Dumbly, Riley turned. The tiger jumped into a throng of screaming creatures, its fangs bared as it slashed with razor-sharp claws. Holy shit, they were fighting! Before another genius revelation crossed Riley’s mind, the other three tigers joined the battle. They fought viciously, tearing and clawing at the dripping, rotting corpses. Their claws left behind strange-colored lights as they tore gashes into their enemies. Riley had never seen anything like it, not during any number of late-night National Geographic marathons or any of his favorite geeky TV shows. Man, he really needed to get out more.

  Riley gingerly moved away from the battle, hoping to slip into the shadows unnoticed. Maybe he could make a break for it now that everyone was busy. Maybe the lemon cake he ate had somehow been laced with LSD and he was high as a fucking kite, grinning like an idiot, and sitting on the café counter stuffing baked goods into his mouth. One could only hope.

  The alley darkened, and Riley gasped. More creatures emerged from the sha
dows, scurrying toward the tigers. How the hell were four supposed to fend off hundreds, maybe more? For every one that was dispatched, ten more appeared. The tigers roared and leaped. They twisted their muscular bodies to lash out at their attackers with massive paws, their ears flattened back against their big furry heads. It was both mesmerizing and terrifying.

  Ugh, the smell! Riley breathed through his mouth to avoid inhaling the rancid stench, and as he slowly retreated, one foul creature turned its empty eyeholes in his direction. How did they know he was there?

  “Shit.” Riley took off, glancing behind him as the monster shrieked, calling to the others.

  A mob of the things abandoned the fight to chase after him, several blocking the end of the alley and bringing him to a halt. Something solid slammed into him from behind, and he hit the ground hard, but it didn’t hurt as much as the burn that seared his flesh when one of the foul things grabbed his arm. Riley cried out at the pain, a tiger’s roar soon joining his shout. He rolled onto his back as a shadow moved over him. This was it. It was all over. Riley shut his eyes tight. He regretted not having been able to clear his browser history. Sorry, Mom. I wasn’t disturbed, I swear. Okay, maybe a little.

  The burn disappeared from his arm, and heat radiated from a heavy mass over him. His eyes flew open, and he was met with orange, white, and black fur. The larger of the tigers stood over him, fighting off the approaching creatures. Its green eyes vanished, replaced by a glowing white light. It snarled and opened its jaws, and a blinding light burst out, forcing Riley to squint. The light flared, exploding through the alley before fading. Then silence.

  The tiger stepped away, and Riley sat up, stunned. The alley was empty. Every last gross-smelling creature was gone. The tiger turned its large head in his direction, and Riley gave a start. Its eyes were once again green. It stared intensely at him, as if it could see into his very soul, which was weird and a little bit creepy. With a series of roars and mewls, the tiger began to contort itself, its fur drawing inward and its body changing. Now what? This wasn’t possible. Not outside of Hollywood, anyway. Several heartbeats later the tiger was gone, and Riley found himself staring into the intense green eyes of a man.

  The man’s muscles twitched and flexed as he slowly stood. His jaw was chiseled, his brows thick and as pitch-black as his hair. There were several nicks on his tanned skin. Riley had no idea where the black boots, black leather pants, and tight black T-shirt came from, but they made him look even bigger, more menacing. Both arms were covered in tribal tattoos, from the patterned bands around his wrists and forearms to the more intricate designs disappearing under his shirtsleeves.

  “Please don’t kill me.”

  The man’s eyes widened. “You see me?”

  Shit. “Um, no. Didn’t see a thing.” Riley got up and held a hand up in front of him. Two equally muscular men and Wonder Woman joined their friend. The others had changed too. This was crazy. Riley backed away slowly. “I’m, uh, I’m gonna go see a doctor about my, uh, not seeing you guys. Excuse me.”

  “Khalon, look!” The fair-haired man pointed to Riley’s arm. Riley followed the man’s gaze and cursed under his breath. There were four bands of tribal tattoos around his left forearm where the creature had grabbed him. Had it somehow marked him? If it had, why did the marks look like a tattoo? Wait, the patterns were like the ones on this Khalon dude’s arms.

  “What is this?” Riley lifted his gaze and nearly jumped out of his skin. The one they called Khalon towered over Riley. He took hold of Riley’s wrist and held his arm up to inspect it.

  “It can’t be.”

  Could this night get any weirder? He probably shouldn’t have asked that. He knew better than to ask. Khalon shook his head, releasing Riley. His jaw muscles clenched as he grew pensive, narrowing his eyes.

  “We’re taking him with us.”

  “What?” Hell no. He hadn’t survived whatever the hell that was back there to get kidnapped. Riley tried to make a break for it, but Khalon threw his arm around Riley’s waist and pulled him up against him. “What the fuck? Who the hell do you think—”

  “Sleep, human.”

  Khalon waved his hand over Riley’s face, and everything went black.

  CHAPTER TWO

  “It can’t be.”

  Khalon paced his study. He refused to believe it. There had to be a mistake.

  “He has the mark. Your mark,” Rayner said. Beside him, Adira nodded her agreement. Ezra was silent as usual.

  “I’m aware,” Khalon snarled.

  He stepped up to the Eye and placed his hand on its smooth golden surface. Was that why the orb had led them to Riley Murrough? It would explain why the human could see Khalon and his warriors. The all-seeing Eye had never steered him wrong, but this? It didn’t explain this… insult. A human? For centuries he’d waited patiently for his prince to be revealed to him, only to be humiliated with this farce. How could the priestess mock him so? No Soldati king had ever mated with a human. He’d be ridiculed across the realms.

  A knock at the door brought him out of his vexing thoughts. Toka entered the room and bowed. “Your prince awakens, Your Majesty.”

  “He is not my prince,” Khalon growled, causing the young servant to start.

  “Khalon,” Rayner warned. “There’s no need to take your displeasure out on Toka. He’s merely doing his duty.” Rayner shook his head in disapproval before meeting young Toka at the doorway. He spoke softly. “Forgive His Majesty. It’s been a trying day.” He placed his hand to Toka’s cheek and smiled warmly. “Return to the prince. Our king will be in shortly.”

  Toka nodded, then hurried off. Rayner rejoined his brethren, receiving a scowl from Adira, and rightfully so.

  “You shouldn’t encourage his sentiments. He’s a servant, Rayner. Bed him if you wish, but don’t fill his heart with false hopes.”

  Rayner rolled his eyes. “Yes, Mother.”

  “Could we perhaps focus on the problem at hand and not the delusional desires of a foxling servant?” Khalon grumbled. He was in a foul mood and had no time for Rayner’s dalliances.

  “Very well.” Rayner smiled sweetly. “Your warrior prince awaits.”

  Khalon marched toward the door, but stopped to thrust a menacing finger in Rayner’s face. “You are an insufferable bastard.”

  Rayner bowed graciously. “Surpassed only by my glorious king.”

  “Bite me.” Khalon stormed off to the laughter of his second-in-command. Why did he put up with such insolence? Because he’s your fiercest warrior, trusted confidant, and your best friend. Khalon let out a scoff. Friendship was terribly overrated.

  He entered the royal bedchamber and scowled at the sight before him. The shackled human was up and brandishing an iron poker, swinging it at the servants.

  “So help me, if you touch me again, I’ll skewer you like marshmallows!”

  With a growl, Khalon marched over to the puny human and snatched hold of the poker. He jerked it away and grabbed him by the collar of his neck.

  “Get your hands off me, asshole!”

  The human twisted and attempted to land a punch, but Khalon made certain to keep him out of arm’s reach. He shoved the human down into the wingback chair and tossed the poker at one of the servants, who caught it and returned it to its rightful place beside the stone hearth.

  “Leave us,” Khalon barked, waiting for the last servants to dart out of the expansive room. He turned his glare on Riley Murrough. The man dared to scowl at him? Khalon tried his best to summon patience. They had, after all, taken Riley from his world. “You have questions.”