Hellhound (30 page)

“I’ll try to find out more.”

“Would you mind staying here until I get back?”

He considered the option for a moment. Angel wasn’t
anyone’s personal assistant, and he wasn’t the type to guard another man when
he wanted to mate with that man’s woman. He exhaled and shook his head.

Chapter Twenty-Three

“The doctors informed us that Demetrius is brain dead.
He can’t be revived and has a diminutive chance of waking up on his own,”
Claudius said.

“Yes, I know,” I replied.

We were in a small meeting room on the seventh floor,
his floor. The door was shut behind me.

“Will you be taking his essence, then?”

“No, not until he dies,” I replied.

“We can’t do anything for him. You might as well save
him this pain and the humiliation of living on ventilators like a vegetable.”

“No. I won’t do that. Many people have been known to
rise from their comatose state and live full lives afterward.”

“Humans, perhaps, who’ve had brain trauma, but
Demetrius’s mind has been tampered with. The memory retrieval always kills. I
don’t know what you did to momentarily spare his life.”

I failed to respond.

“Aren’t you tempted to hold all of his memories,
especially the ones concerning his love for you? Don’t you want him to continue
his existence through you? You’ve taken many essences from criminals who committed
horrible deeds, people whom you don’t even know. This is a rare, though sad
chance, to have a loved one inside of you.”

“When the time comes, but right now, I just can’t
bring myself to do it. He’s only been in a coma for an hour. You can’t be
serious as to demand this so soon.”

A sharp shade of red doused his face. Claudius was on
the verge of throwing a tantrum. “Selene,” his consoling tone turned adamant as
a formidable frown tightened his face, “this is not the life for him. You can’t
keep sentries waiting at your door, at your disposal, because you think that
someone is out to get him.”

“That’s what it sounds like to me. Why do you care so
much? What’s it to you? How would you benefit?”

He looked baffled and uneasily questioned me, “Why
would you assume that I have something to gain instead of just wanting to get
this chapter of my life over with?”

I crossed my arms. “Because I know you.”

“You think you do. You love to argue with me, always
have since you were a teenager.”

“You’re so easy to rile up.”

“Enough is enough, Selene. You are a grown woman about
to take the throne.” Claudius became belligerent.

“Do you want me to take his essence so that you could
steal a part of it?”

“Why would I do that?”

“To filter out Nathanial’s essence and try to push it
back into his body to revive him.”

He seemed shocked, surprised.

“It’s a noble endeavor, but it won’t work. I
understand now why you wanted me to hurry in bringing Demetrius in, but
Nathanial’s dead, and has been dead for too long.”

“You don’t know that.”

“I do. I was at the catacombs. I saw his body.”

He stiffened, became incensed.

“Don’t worry. The crypt keepers did what they could to
prevent me from discovering your secret. Go and see your son for the last time
and put his memory to rest like I did for my father. Killing Demetrius now
won’t move things along.”

I turned and left the room, closing the door behind me.
Danther wasn’t at his usual post right at the heels of his patron Elder, but I
caught sight of him. He was turned from the hall, looming in a nook in an empty
corridor. He was hunched over, talking into his cell phone. He apparently had
something urgent going on that made my bringing in an accused murderer pale in
comparison.

“The renounced tracker has been caught. You must
return to the premises now,” I heard him mumble. There was a pause. “
Now
.”

I kept walking, wondering whom he spoke to. Who needed
to know that Demetrius returned? Who was actually off the premises but important
enough that a minion reached them personally?

Normally, no one was allowed to see a renounced
fugitive before or after his judgment. The only person that I could think of
that might want to see him was Damares. She was most likely downstairs in her
apartment, which she hadn’t left often since the incident.

Thinking of Damares, I wanted to see how she was, but I
wanted to see my mother first. She hugged me as soon as she opened the door, a
rare act between us.

“Are you all right?” she asked me.

“No. Are you all right? Father’s murderer is still out
there.”

She nodded. “I’m a bit relieved knowing that my
daughter’s lover wasn’t vindictive enough to kill my husband, but I’m worried
about the real killer walking free. What if he means to kill again?”

“Don’t worry. I’m still the Hellhound. I’ll catch
him.”

“Oh no, you haven’t been given that assignment.”

“I assumed it was mine. I started with this case, of
catching the one who murdered Father, and I’ll end it by finding the real
killer.”

“We don’t have any leads. Who will you go after?”

I grimaced. “I guess a real Hellhound can track down
and find out who the killer is.”

“You’re going to wear yourself out. Go and spend time
with Demetrius while you still have the chance.”

My eyes stung. “I can’t stay in that room. I want to,
but all I’ll do is cry and fall into a gaping chasm of depression. I need to
figure this out, and when I do, I’ll annihilate the one responsible. And then
I’ll have to decide when to pull the plug on Demetrius.”

Mother looked appalled, but she realized that it was
for the best. I left her and went to visit Damares. She was so overjoyed in
receiving the news clearing her brother’s name that she hugged me too. Of
course, the tears on her face weren’t tears of joy.

We spoke briefly. It was difficult to converse with
her because she kept sobbing, and I felt her pain profusely. She made me want
to revert to crying, but I couldn’t. I waited for her to get some things, and
we walked together to my apartment where Angel diligently stood.

“Can I stay with him?” she asked.

“As long as you’d like.”

“Thank you.”

“Can you make sure not to let anyone else in?”

“Of course.”

Damares stayed with Demetrius behind a locked door.

“You don’t have to stay now, but thanks for staying before,”
I told Angel.

“No problem,” Angel replied. “Where are you going
now?”

“I’m going to the woods where I was attacked.”

“That’s not a good idea.”

“Do you think he’s still out there?”

“He was when I picked up his scent, but it abruptly
ended. No one just abruptly stops.”

“Think it was a sub sentry who ducked back below
ground?”

“No. They smell a little wilder than us. The scent
that I picked up wasn’t that bad.”

I looked up at him. “Did you want to come?”

He wagged his brows. “Thought you’d never ask.”

Angel followed me into the elevator. When the doors
closed, I looked him straight in the eye and asked, “You’re not the one who
attacked me, right?”

“No. I don’t have scars from your insane claws. And
yeah, I know this isn’t the time to say this, but if I attacked you, it
wouldn’t be to kill you.”

I grunted and looked ahead. “You’re right, now isn’t
the time to dole out your sexual thralls to me.”

He couldn’t help but to grin, despite the fact that I
mourned for my lover. We left the domicile then. Angel sniffed the air.
Sentinels were near.

We walked quickly toward the catacombs as Angel pulled
off his shirt. Even in the dim moonlight, I couldn’t mistake him for being
powerfully built. He dodged behind some shrubs, tugged off his jeans, and
emerged in the shape of a panther. He licked my hand and then walked off,
sniffing and panting.

I took off, slightly surprising him with my sudden
dash. I probably disappeared from his sight in seconds, blending into the
darkness. I came to a stop at the burial site. My essence flowed from my pores
and mingled with the air, creating a slight spark as the dry, windowless
building appeared.

The entry was as cold as it was when I entered it
yesterday. This time, a crypt keeper approached me by the time I made it to the
stairwell.

“May I help you?” he hissed.

“I need to see Nathanial’s body.”

“That is not allowed.”

I began walking again. “Are you going to stop me, or
does he have a visitor?”

The keeper wailed, summoning others that an unsolicited
visitor approached. I ran, curving to the left to rush the stairs. By the time
the wail ceased, I was at my destination and entered the door-less room,
startling Claudius.

His face was pink with anger, his eyes dark red with
tears. He was distraught. “What are you doing here, Selene?” he snapped.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?”

Claudius looked down at his son’s pale, bony face,
with a quivering lower lip. The ventilators and plastic sheath were gone.

“I understand your desperation, but how did you intend
to revive him, especially after all this time?”

“I have the powers of Zeus. If you had gotten
Demetrius back to us much earlier, I could’ve taken a part of his essence during
the ascension, filtered it for Nathanial’s essence, and pushed it back into his
heart. I would’ve then revived him with lightning. It could have jolted him
back to life.”

“A theory. I assume that you’ve never actually tried
this.”

“It wouldn’t hurt to try. What’s worse than dead?”

I thought about the speculation. “It’s not too late to
do the same thing for Demetrius. He still has his essence, but you can revive
him with lightning.”

Claudius jerked his head and snapped, “No.”

“You owe him that much, old man,” I growled.

“I owe him nothing. Nathanial, my boy, would not have
succumbed to this if that lowlife tracker hadn’t seduced you. If you had only
chosen Nathanial to be your mate as was our arrangement, this could have all
been avoided.”

“Don’t blame me or Demetrius. You raised Nathanial. You
helped create a vengeful, spiteful man to take the throne. Did you hear what he
said in his dying breaths? He knew that Demetrius wasn’t the real killer, but
he was glad that he would get blamed for the murders. I’ll leave you to your
last moment with your son, but when you return, you will attempt this revival
on Demetrius.”

I turned and headed out when he called out from behind
me, “That will never happen.”

I looked at him from over my shoulder. “Yes it will, because
I will take this to the Council.”

“I did nothing wrong.”

“You believed in a way to resurrect Nathanial and
didn’t attempt it with my father, an Elder. And you still believe in this
process, but won’t perform it to save a man whom you condemned by way of your
treacherous son.”

“Watch your tongue!”

I spun to face him, my fangs fully extended. “You will
do this, Claudius. Because I have fulfilled my assignment, and I will take my
throne, and I will disband and demolish you in front of the entire clan.”

He chuckled. “On what basis? A far-fetched, frantic
notion of mine that’s never been proven, or done since the days of Zeus?”

I snapped at the air and took my leave. He was right.
I would find a way to make Claudius perform this revival on Demetrius, even if
I had to steal his essence myself.

I paused when I left the catacombs. The building
vanished behind me. What was I thinking? Would I go as far as destroying an Elder
for a far-fetched scheme of reviving Demetrius? Even if it were Claudius, the
one Elder on the Council whom I perpetually fought with for the past decade?
That was a new point of rebellion, in which I would have to run quickly through
in order to save my hide. Could I do that?

I ran. Hell yeah, I could.

I slowed down in the area where I was attacked, looking
up at a tree where I decided to perch and see if I could actually find anything
noteworthy. I probably wouldn’t. I didn’t know exactly what I looked for, but I
would try.

From a distance, I noticed when Claudius left the
tombs and returned to the domicile. At least he wouldn’t be out here to get
hurt if the rogue shifter returned.

I stalked the night for some time. The sun would come
up soon. Maybe then, I would be able to face Demetrius. Mortals loved the sun
and the cheeriness and hope that came with it. Sunshine pushed aside pains, and
depression waned in its presence. Perhaps, for once, the sun would be good for
me.

A rustle and movement in the distance caught my eye.
Someone was moving in fast, and he ran through the woods directly beneath me. I
squinted and made out his features. Jumping to the ground, I called out,
“Ashton!”