Hellhound (37 page)

“What’s going on?”

“Are you all right?” My hair fell over my shoulders
and touched his throat.

“I think so. Have a major headache and my body really
hurts. What happened?” He sniffed the air and made a disgusted face. “And
what’s that horrible smell?”

I cracked a half smile and stared at the man who moved
from slow motions to his normal swiftness.

“Why do I hurt so bad?”

“You don’t remember anything?”

He glanced around the unmistakable room. “Why are we
in the domicile?”

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

He shrugged. “Being lazy and hanging around the
apartment.”

“You don’t remember being summoned here? You don’t
remember the murders, the hunt?”

His eyes stretched wide. “No, should I? Who was
murdered?”

I collapsed on the bed next to him while he sat up and
removed more equipment, tossing it to the floor.

Of course, Demetrius couldn’t remember anything. I took
his memories, so the past three months were blank voids. However, I only took
the memories from the time around the murders. He should remember before and
after, theoretically. Then again, theoretically, he should be dead.

He coughed and hit the pillow. We both stared up at
the ceiling. “It’s coming back to me. I’ve been on the run for the murders, and
you brought me here and took my memories.”

There was an awkward silence.

“So I guess it partially worked, right?” he asked.

“What?”

“You fished around for certain thoughts and left me intact?
I don’t remember the actual crime, but I’m betting I didn’t do it. I don’t
remember facing the Council here, or you taking my memories. I survived the
memory retrieval, though, obviously.”

I clasped my fingers around his. “I took just those
memories. Those were the only relevant ones. So you don’t remember that day? Sort
of too bad.”

“Why?”

“Apparently you loved how I was in bed that morning.”

He smiled. “I always love how you are in bed, Selene.”

“And no, the retrieval didn’t work according to plan.
I turned a portion of your brain to mush. You were on ventilators, in a coma.”

He looked over at the machine and resettled against
the pillow. “Oh, I see.”

“But I took Claudius’s powers and revived you.”

“You did what now?” He turned toward me.

I moved onto my side to face him. “The truth is a long
story.”

“I have time. Don’t I?” He looked confused. “Or is
something else going to happen to me?”

I stroked his cheek. “You’re a free man, don’t worry.”
I proceeded to divulge the entire story to his shocked ears. He gritted his
teeth, clenched his jaw, and tightened his hold around me.

“It’s all right, lover,” I said in an undertone. “I
took care of everything.”

“I’m so sorry this happened to you. Your father can’t
be brought back?”

“No.”

“Where’s Ashton?” he attempted to sit up, but I pulled
him back.

“He’s dead.”

“Oh. Is there anyone left to destroy?”

“No.”

“You took care of everything like I knew you would. I
just wish I could’ve helped you, or better yet, that none of this happened in
the first place.” He licked his lips, and kissed my forehead.

A sudden gush of emotion hit me, and my eyes welled
with tears. I hated being vulnerable, but I almost lost everything. I buried my
head in Demetrius’s shoulder and hugged him as if I did not intend on ever
releasing him.

He half laughed, running his palm over the back of my
head. “What is it, love?”

“I’m so, so sorry. How could I not believe you? How
could I have done this to you? You almost died. I should’ve listened, believed,
worked with you.”

He kissed my head, my hair, my cheek, but I didn’t
remove my face from him. He stroked my cheek with a broad hand.

“Don’t you know that hunters don’t cry?” he muttered.

“How can you ever forgive me? If I had listened,
things would’ve worked out differently, and our love would never have been
shaken.”

He craned his neck down to kiss me on the lips. “If
things happened any other way, we wouldn’t be together, or we’d be forever on
the run, and you might have ended up dead.”

“You came to me on purpose to turn yourself in. You
came willingly because you knew this was the only way to redeem yourself?”

“Yes. By bringing me in, you kept your good name with
the clan. I knew you would perform the memory retrieval, I was betting on it, and
you would prove I didn’t do this.”

He told me that before, but I didn’t believe him then.
I was overjoyed to have him alive and breathing in my arms, coherent and
healthy, but guilt raked me and shredded my insides into a bloody mess.

“What can I do for you to forgive me? How can I repair
our love, our relationship?”

He kissed me again, very gently, and gazed into my
eyes with that smoldering green hue, drawing me into his resolute trance. In a
low, gritty voice, he said, “I can think of a few ways to start.”

Butterflies rocked my belly. “You want me after all
this?”

“I’ll always want you, my love. Redeem me upon those
luscious lips. Say it to me.”

I formally reclaimed him, “I redeem you, Demetrius, my
lover
.”

He moaned. “Say it once more.”

He kissed me on the jaw and then my throat while I
repeated, “I redeem you, Demetrius, my
lover
.”

“There are still some things to discuss,” I said.

“Like what, love?”

“Here’s a thought, lover.”

“Hmm?”

“What if we ascended to the throne?”

“Together?” He pulled away.

“Yes. Two seats are open, and my mate has to be an Elder.”

He chuckled. “Back at square one, aren’t we? Either
we’re together and you fight your birthright all over again, or you ascend to
the throne and take an Elder as a mate. I don’t have royal bloodlines. I can’t
take a throne.”

“Why not? I say that you can.”

“Because I’m a common tracker. Besides, I don’t want
to live here, tamed and bored and silver.”

“Well, I guess we have yet another thing to rebel
against, don’t we?” I smirked.

He grinned for a moment. Then his brooding and intense
eyes flickered. Things would have to wait. Speaking with, consoling, and giving
thanks to all those who were in this and with me had to wait. Informing the Council
that Demetrius lived would have to take a seat on the back burner.

Demetrius leaned back and removed his shirt. The only
imperative thing right now was the lover in my arms, and he made sure I knew
this. I expected our essences to fill the room in an intense episode of raw
love-making, but Demetrius pulled away.

“What is it?” I asked.

He held an expression of utter concern and regret on
his face, as well as set determination. This was not the face of an ecstatic
man, or even a content one.

I reached up and cupped his face. I creased my brows.
“Demetrius?”

He licked his lips, running his tongue over cracked
skin. He looked away. “This happened because we rebelled.”

“We’re not fugitive rebels. We just denied our
intended courses.” I pulled his chin back to face me.

Demetrius rolled back and sat on his haunches. “We’re
on the verge of a real rebellion. I kept some things from you, and you need to
know.”

“You want to leave the clan, I know.”

He scoffed. “I want to destroy the Council and their
hold on us.”

I stiffened.

“As long as we’re a part of this clan, any clan, and
the Council is in place, we will never be together.”

“My mother is still on the Council.”

“I understand that. Will you be with me forever?”

“Of course I will.”

“They won’t let you. I’m either a very long fling, or
your first act of real rebellion.”

“What are you saying?” I pushed myself up.

“There are hundreds of us out there prepared to fight.
We want the world back from mortals, and we want our lives back from the
Councils. The cerebral chamber must be destroyed. The Council must be brought
down to our level. There are far worse things that they desire than just
controlling us. We feed their immortality, while they level us off.

“Not everyone whom they’ve killed were rebels. And not
all the rebels whom they’ve killed were fighting for the wrong cause.”

My heart stopped in mid-beat. I believed in emerging,
and I wanted to destroy the cerebral chamber to break the link between the
Elders and the clan. The question stood if I truly had it in me. Was I a real
Hellhound, a vicious beast who protected what was right at all costs?

Demetrius sighed. “You won’t leave your mother, will
you?”

I swallowed. My mother would choose her side, and I
knew she would choose the Council. Could I leave her to do what was right?

“She’s made her choice, but she’ll have the chance to
make another decision.”

“If I take the throne, will you fight me?”

He looked baffled. “Are you telling me that you’ll
join them?”

“The transformation from normal to Elder isn’t
something that happens when I officially, and ceremonially, take the throne in
the presence of the Council and the clan. The transformation begins with the
death of a parent.

“My father’s death triggered the reaction in me, and
the death of my mother will seal the transformation.”

“What?” He pushed away. “How do you know this?”

“After my father died, I began demonstrating power
over an element.”

He clenched his jaw. “So you’ll stand with them?”

“Did I say that?”

“Then what will we do?”

“I can control water, but right now, only blood. It’s
the darkest form which requires water, and that isn’t normal. If my mother
should die, and I completely transform, I’ll continue with the ascension.”

“You’ll be united with the Council. You can’t be
connected to them and destroy them. You’ll destroy yourself.”

He paused with his last sentence and stared at me.

I shrugged. I didn’t mention that he carried
Nathanial’s power over the element of air, that he in some way was now tied to
the Council. I was too tired for this conversation.

“Isn’t death the greatest glory when you die fighting
for your rights?” I asked.

In a dark blur, Demetrius dashed toward me. He landed in
front of me and clutched my hair, pulling it back so that I looked up into his
darkening eyes. His mouth was so close to mine when he spoke through tight
lips, offering a glimpse of growing fangs, “I will not let anything happen to
you, Selene. I will always be by your side.”

With that declaration, he pressed his lips against
mine and kissed me with urgency.

Mythians were destined to rise and fall. The Council
had their time, and now it was over. When the dastardly desires of Elders
corrupted and killed their own kind, their actions pushed us to the brink of
war.

Nothing said rebellion better than having the infamous
Hellhound leading the charge with the Black Angel second in command.

About the Author

Kaylie Austen was born in
India, and raised in Austin, Texas where she attended the University of Texas.
Her multi-cultural upbringing fueled her desire for languages, cultures, and
travel. Kaylie is perhaps best known for her sudden and infectious laugh. She
enjoys anything science fiction and fantasy related, and writes in both genres
for adults and young adults.

Kaylie began writing at the
tender age of ten, and completed her first novel at the age of sixteen.
Throughout her school years, her writing earned trophies, awards, publication
in scholastic magazines, and scholarships. Kaylie currently lives in beautiful
Washington State with an amazing husband. She loves to hear from readers, so
feel free to contact her.