Hellhound: Prince of Fire (6 page)

Chapter Six

Hair of the Dog

I held my hand out to Jet, but he stood his ground as he seemed to enjoy being that close to my father and his demise. If I had hatred, as I once had, I would be enjoying it too, but to see him standing there and not fazed by something so gruesome was disturbing. My Mom then called out to him and he walked to her. I rubbed my arms as the birds continued to circle overhead. I looked up at my father as his skin began to mend itself and he returned to what he had been when we first saw him. He started to move and moan and I watched the birds over head as they began to organize once again.

“We should go.
I have seen enough.”

My Mom stood there with Jet in front of her as they stared at him. She leaned down and whispered to him and he left her and walked towards me. He stopped and held his hand out to me and I took it, his skin not as cold as I expected it to b
e but still with a slight chill, the part of him that Lucifer owned and would forever. He started to walk and pull me along as my Mom remained there. The birds started to engulf my father again and the moaning rose behind us as I quickened my pace and we made our way for the door. Once out, I looked back as the birds looked like a black tornado swirling all around him and the tree. The silhouette of my Mom stood out along the gray skyline as she watched on.

“Jet t
hat is not the way it should be.” He looked up at me and grinned. His grin reminding me of my own and it calmed me a little bit.

“But he hurt you and Grandma.”

“That is true, he did, but revenge has no happy ending.” I went down to my knees in front of him. “It takes everything good about you and it eats it up and swallows it whole.”

“Like a snake?
”

“Yes, just like a snake.”

“Dad says that snakes are good.”

I sighed and moved his hair from his eyes. “You
r Dad doesn’t always know everything.”

“Well now,
” a voice said from behind us.

I stood up and took Jet’s hand as Lucifer came walking down the hallway. He looked me over and then stopped as his eyes lowered to Jet.

“Getting big I see. Good.”

Jet looked up at
me and tightened his grip on my hand.

“
He is growing very fast Lucifer. Is he okay?”

Lucifer smiled and let his eyes settle back onto mine.

“What good would that do? I don’t always tell the truth now do I?”

I narrowed my eyes and
then picked Jet up and held him. He was getting too big to carry, but I did not care.

“I want to leave, now.”

“Okay…leave then.”

I tilted my head and stared at him.

“Really….go,” he added as I walked past him and towards the elevator. I stopped as my feet started to feel heavy and they sank into the floor. I cried out as I had to let go of Jet and struggled to break free.

“What is this
!?” I screamed as I pushed my way up out of the floor and reached for Jet who stood on the other side of the floor between us, that looked liquefied. I waved my hand to him.

“Jump baby, I will catch you.”

“I said you could go, my son remains here. You will not be taking him anywhere Halo.”

I gritted my teeth and clinched my fists at my side. I glanced back at the elevator and then back to Jet as he stood there and stared at me.

“Mommy?” he said to me as Lucifer took his hand.

“God
Damn you Lucifer, I want my son!”

“I think you mean “our” son Halo, he is not just yours. You are being just a tiny bit selfish don’t you think?”

“You cannot keep us prisoners here.”

He laughed a
nd looked down at Jet. “Go play,” he said as two minions appeared out of the shadows and took his hands on either side. He looked back at me as they walked him down the hallway and out of my sight. I then focused all of my hatred on Lucifer.

“Listen to me you fucking cunt.
I want my son and I will kill you if I have to.”

He smiled at me and then licked his lip.

“Oh shit, there she is. I thought for a moment that you turned into a pussy and had no balls left.”

“Fuck you
Lucifer,” I hissed at him.

“Yeah, we already did that. I mean
, don’t get me wrong. Your pussy is some of the best I have ever had and trust me, that is a huge compliment. But it’s not like I can’t get laid.”

“Oh you can get laid when you shape shift and fucking weasel your way into bedrooms.”

“Oh come on. Let’s just cut the bullshit here. You tell me that it did not seem a bit odd to you when we fucked Halo? I mean, did we talk? Did you feel like it was the reunion you dreamed of? I mean if I had to take a fucking guess, and I am going to so just be quiet and let me, I would say that you knew it was me and wanted my cock.”

I felt sick to my stomach when he said the words and my hesitation made him smile.

“Just as I thought.”

“I did not want it to be you,
” I said as I stepped back from the melted and churning floor.

“You tell yoursel
f that and try to be convincing. I mean, what do you want me to tell our son? That you hate me and that you wish I was dead. Is that what you want for him?”

“Shut up,
” I said as I glared at him.

“By the way, you have a visitor.”

“What?”

I turned to see two vampires dragging a body and they dropped him on the floor a few feet from me. He moaned and rolled over and I saw t
hat it was Dorin, so I ran and dropped to my knees next to him. He looked up at me as I watched the melted floor rise and build a wall where none had been before, then another rose up behind Dorin and all it left us with was the elevator and no doors to go through. I stood up and pulled Dorin to his feet as I moved towards the elevator. I placed him inside and then moved back and the doors would not close. I screamed out of frustration.

“Lucifer! Set him free! He needs help.” I could hear the gears start to move
, but the doors remained open and then Dorin started to cough up blood and I ran in to catch him as he slid sideways. The door closed behind me and I cried out as the elevator rose, taking me from my son and breaking my heart. Dorin muttered under his breath. I held him close to me as his body shuddered and the blood continued to ooze from his mouth.

“Don’t die,
please don’t die…”I whispered. I turned his hand over and saw that the pentagram had been cut from his palm and my cries echoed out as the elevator rose higher and higher back to a world I did not want to be in without Jet by my side.

****

“So, here we are,” Jack said as he looked around the table at everyone. Finna and Ari sat next to each other as Gunner and Tercia sat on the other side. Jack sat at the head of the table as he should and it was probably best to break the Hellhounds up so they could not whisper to one another. It was a strategic move that Gunner could appreciate with his military background. As far as he could tell, Jack had been the alpha of the pack for as long as he knew about them. This alone should give him reason to believe that Jack knows a thing or two about outwitting the enemy and he could only hope he was right.

“I thought
maybe we could speak in private,” Gunner said as Jack smiled at him.

“I would rather we not.”

Gunner stared at his drink and took a sip to show that he trusted him. Finna started to speak, but Ari stopped her. Gunner closed his eyes and drank the whole thing and set his glass down as all of the wolves watched him. Jack leaned forward and interlocked his fingers on the table.

“I appreciate your show of
trust towards me and my family. I will speak to you in private now.”

“Jack,
” Moxy said as he looked at her and shook his head ‘no’. She leaned back as any teenager would and had a look of aggravation on her face.

“Moxy means well
. She is just young and inexperienced.”

“They are killers,” s
he said as she stood up and stormed out of the room. Jack let her go and then stood up.

“Eat, drink, share stories of battle.” He l
ooked at Gunner who stood up too and followed him out of the room and into a stairwell. Jack continued to climb as Gunner followed him, until he stepped through a door and onto the roof. He closed the door behind him and turned to see Jack standing on the edge of the building, his silhouette large against the night sky. He started to walk towards him and Jack stepped off and disappeared. Gunner ran to the edge and could not see him anywhere. Then he turned and Jack was in his face and swiped his foot, knocking him to his back. Gunner quickly rolled out of the way as Jacks black boot came down on the rooftop and echoed in the night. Gunner then grabbed him from behind. But Jack lowered to the ground and was out of sight again in a flash. Gunner turned in a circle to see all around him and then caught a flash of Jack out of the corner of his eye. He ran towards him and quickly stopped as he felt as if he was being baited into a trap. He grinned and then ran towards the edge at full speed and Jack appeared out of nowhere and tackled him as they both hit the ground and rolled about 15 yards. They both jumped to their feet, breathing hard and laughing, as it had been long time since either one of them had truly fought for fun and not for survival. Gunner lowered his fists and so did Jack and Jack extended a hand to him and Gunner shook it.

“It would seem we are not so different after all.”

Gunner nodded to him.

“I was counting on it
, because I need your help.”

“Help?”

“Lucifer has a son.”

Jack took his hand from Gunners as his expression changed from pleasant to worrisome.

“This cannot be.”

“It is, and he will rise and everything will die in his wake.”

Jack took a deep breath and looked up at the night sky and then back to Gunner.

“You are certain it is his?”

“He took my mate. I love her and she had his son.”

Jack placed a hand on Gunners shoulder and looked him in the eye.

“I am truly sorry to hear this and you can count on me and my pack to stand at your side. But know this, if she…your mate, tries to save this boy, Lucifer’s son, I will not hesitate to go through her.”

Gunner sighed as the truth, something he already knew
, had finally been said.

Chapter Seven

Sacrifices We Make

My hands shook as I held them to Dorin’s neck. There was a gaping wound with flesh torn and black blood flowing from it. I knew Lucifer had inflicted it upon Dorin. It had to be his doing and I hated him even more for using Dorin to trap me. The elevator rose at a slow pace as I wished for it to speed up. I knew I would soon be home, topside and although I was in a panic for Jet, I also knew Lucifer would not harm him in anyway. My first concern was to try my best to stop Dorin from dying a vampire’s death. In that he would not rise to Heaven or fall to Hell. He would simply cease to be and the thought of that was too much for me. Dorin had obviously come to Hell for me and I felt a heavy weight in my chest as he tried to speak with black blood staining his lips. I looked down at him and shook my head.

“You need to take your vengeance on all of them.”

“I will. I will kill every fucking demon that stands in between me and my son.”

He
shook his head and coughed. “No. You need to kill all of them.” He pointed upward and I narrowed my eyes at him.

“I know demons walk the earth. T
hat will be a fight for another day.”

“No. The sky,” h
e said as his words faded and his eyes rolled in his head. The elevator stopped and I cried out as I stood up and turned in a circle, panicking and not knowing what to do. I looked up at the mirror and then crotched down next to Dorin who lay dying on the floor and gathered my strength to jump.

“Halo,” h
e said as his eyes closed and I pressed my fists to the floor of the elevator and closed my eyes, feeling every muscle tighten in my legs and arms as I summoned the strength that had been given to me with the branding on my side. I jumped and hit the mirrored ceiling, cracking it at first and dropping back to the floor of the elevator. I did it again and again, cutting into my back with splintering shards of glass as it shattered. Finally on my last jump, I busted through it and could see upward, the thick rusty metal ropes climbing high above us and back to the mansion. I fell back in the hole, hitting the floor of the elevator. I cried out as I reached behind me and pulled a decent sized piece of mirror from my back. Tossing it aside and splattering my blood on the floor along with it. I felt weakened and knew it was not good. If I fell unconscious now he would die and I may possibly die too.

“Dorin.
Dorin, wake up,” I said as I pushed up the side of the elevator and left a trail of blood behind me. I steadied myself as I gritted my teeth and visualized Jet in my mind. And then Gunner came into view and I opened my eyes and found a second wind. I reached down and grabbed Dorin, pulling him up and tossing him through the gaping hole and onto the roof of the elevator. I then jumped and caught the edge of the hole. I pulled myself up as blood dripped down my legs and back onto the floor beneath me. Dorin lay on his back and I slid over to him and shook him.

“I need you
to help me. We have to climb. We have to Dorin, or we die. We die right here and everything you did, everything we have ever done, will be for nothing.”

He fluttered his eyes and I grinned and jerked him up as I moaned and felt the wound in my back
aching. It was not getting any better and with each minute I felt a little bit weaker. It angered me and I pressed on as I forced Dorin’s hands to the rusty metal rope that bound the elevator.

“Climb,
” I said to him as he barely nodded and gripped it as firmly as he could. He started to pull himself up and then dropped back down onto the roof of the elevator and stared up at me.

“Go…Halo, go,” h
e said and I dropped down next to him and took his hand in mine.

“No. Y
ou fucking fight Dorin. Get up and fight with me.”

He
reached up and touched my cheek. His hand feeling warmer to my skin and I knew that could not be good in anyway. I grabbed it and held it tightly with my blood stained hand.

“If this is my end let it be a noble death.
I have freed you and that was my only intention.” I shook my head ‘no’ and then let his hand go. I reached in and grabbed a small piece of the shattered mirror from the top of the elevator and held it up to the side of my neck. His eyes widened as I cut the side of my neck and blood started to flow heavily from it. I reached up and felt the warmth of it leaving me and then looked back at him.

“Drink and find your strength. Drink now,
” I said to him as I fell onto my back and felt dizzy. My vision blurred as Dorin cried out and rolled over, pushing himself up and staring at the amount of blood leaving me.

“I am dying. Drink now,
” I said to him.

“You fucking foolish girl
,” he said as he dropped to my neck and bit into me and started to drink. I arched my back as he took as much as he could very quickly. It felt strange at first and then my eyes closed and my thoughts went far away to a place I wished existed; one of a beautiful field of flowers in bloom, blue sky and sweet smells lingering in the air, one of no death, no fire, no pain. I looked up and saw a man standing there, his hair blue and almost matching that of the sky. And he turned, holding a boy in his arms and I saw Jet, his expression that of joy as was my own. It was a nothing but hope, something I had not felt in quite some time and if it were only true…if only.

I suddenly screamed as the vision faded and my back arched with the burning pain that ripped through me. My body twisted and turned as Dorin rose and had done the only thing he could have. He shared his venom with me as my heart had begun to stop and true death was calling me hom
e.

“Forgive me,” h
e said as he wiped his mouth and scooped me up, quickly climbing up the rusty rope until he reached the top and jerked the doors open. Just as he tossed me through, he let go and pulled himself up. The metal snapped and he watched as the elevator dropped into the blackness and severed the one tie that bound the Hound to Hell.

****

Gunner stood in the moonlight with Jack and they nodded to each other as the pact they shared was now solid. Jack would be bringing his army to fight alongside the Hellhounds and Gunner knew his next move had to be making the vampires share their one view. Moxy came running up to Jack and whispered into his ear as Jack stood up straight and looked at Gunner.

“You need to return to your home.”

Gunner narrowed his eyes and looked at Moxy.

“Your mate is home,” s
he said to him as Gunner started to run from the roof and down through the stairwell. Tercia, Ari and Finna stood waiting for him as he flew by them.

“She has returned!” he cried out
, as they followed him without haste.

Jack watched them from the roof as they flashed away from the warehouse in a blur. He turned to Moxy and laid a hand on her shoulder.

“We need to collect everyone.”

“His mate is not well.”

Jack turned back to look out at the night sky.

“This is something our new friend will have to handle himself. If she survives the vampire
’s bite, then so be it. If not, Gunner’s wrath just may win this war. Either way it is to our advantage to be aligned with them.”

Moxy nodded and flashed
away from him as he stared up at the full moon in the sky and studied its beauty in a way that only a wolf could. He sighed as the red continued to creep across her like blood in water.

Gunner reached the mansion first and flew through the door as he was met with Dorin standing in the entryway. Dorin stood
his ground and looked different. He was paler and a bit larger, as if his strength had increased. He even smelled a bit strange, as if the undead did not have a distinct smell to them already, but Dorin now smelled sweeter, his aroma intoxicating. Gunner stopped and tilted his head as he looked him over.

“Brother?” Gunner said as Dorin raised his head from
the shadows and his face looked more chiseled than it had when he left. Gunner walked to one side very slowly as Dorin’s eyes remained on him at all times.

“Gunner, it is good to see you again. I cannot say that I expected to return.”

“Where is she?” Gunner asked and Dorin grinned and stared upward as Gunner did and there he saw me at the top of the stairs. I stood there, looking down on them as if in slow motion. Everything was slower now and yet I could feel it all. I could hear the termites in the wood grain, the baby birds tearing their way through their eggshells, the worms in the ground. I closed my eyes and focused to try to tune it out and it became bearable. I would have to assume that this was my new awareness of the world, something that had never been seen…a hybrid. That of vampire, human and Hellhound, Dorin had given me a gift.  I was the perfect killing machine now and I knew it to be true. I took one step and then another, as Gunner looked so beautiful to me. His expression said more to me than any words ever could. His love for me was undeniable. I continued to descend until Ari, Finna and Tercia entered the house and I held onto the railing and watched them very closely. I could hear their hearts beating in their chests and the blood running through their veins. My teeth ached for a moment and I reached up and touched my mouth as it surprised me. Then my gaze fell onto Tercia and my teeth elongated without warning as I rushed down the steps and had her lifted and pinned against the wall before anyone could reach me. I held her there as my eyes changed to red and tilted my head as I curiously checked her over. There was something different about her than all of the others and when it hit me, I set her free and backed away as she fell and then rose again as if I had done nothing to her at all. She tilted her head too and looked me over.

“
So, you are Halo?”

I nodded and then felt a hand to my arm. I turned to see Dorin and he didn’t have to say a word to me for me to feel him and what he wanted me to do.
I stepped back as Gunner watched me.

“Halo.” I glanced at him and then back to Dorin
. He looked at Tercia too.

“You are not living
, you are not Hellhound.”

Tercia looked down and then back up as she watched Gunner, ignoring Dorin altogether.

“I am not the enemy,” she said as she raised her hands up and started to move towards the door.

“What do you mean Dorin?” Gunner asked and Dorin looked back at him.

“Tercia is demon. She is not hound, human or otherwise. I did not know this. I could not see it before, before I…”

“Before what?” Gunner asked as Dorin turned his body toward him.

“Before I became a master and changed Halo.”

“What?” Gunner cried out as Ari and Finna had to stop him from rushing Dorin. I stood next to Dorin and my feelings remained calm. I cannot say that I do not enjoy that about this change in me. The fact that I seemed to be so emotional only led to bad things in my life and now that I seemed to have complete control it would work to my advantage. I stepped up next to Dorin and then walked towards Gunner. I stopped and stood before him as he stopped struggling and Ari and Finna let him go and backed away from me. I had to look different, I certainly felt that way. I felt as if everything that had ever been broken in me might be mended now. Everyone looked towards the door as Tercia ran and then flashed from our sight. I didn’t even bother to look as I kept my eyes trained on Gunner and could feel his heartbeat in my chest and the hum of his blood flow in my fingertips. My teeth ached
, but it was with pleasure and not pain.

I lifted my hand as he started to back away
, but I continued on until I finally made contact with his skin and he jerked at first, shocked at the temperature of my skin. It was not quite freezing cold, but somewhere in between. My eyes looked him over and I parted my lips and spoke as he watched my lips move.

“Gunner
,” I said to him as my voice sounded calm and helped his heart beat start to slow in his chest. He lifted his hand and placed it over mine and then closed his eyes as Dorin turned to Finna and Ari.

“I think we should give them time.”

Ari looked at him and nodded.

“You look good my brother.”

“I feel good,” Dorin said as the three of them walked from the entryway and left Gunner and I alone.

I stared at Gunner and slowly moved up to him as he looked down on me and his eyes looked glossy. He raised his hand and cupped my face as he studied my eyes.

“I…”

“I know,
” I whispered to him as I leaned in and kissed him.