“No, tree nymphs are simply good fun,” oneof the skelleins replied.
“Manyrounds of good fun,” anothergushed.
Yet another thing I couldn’t think about asI was sure Kobal had probably come here more than a few times. “Isee,” I murmured.
Kobal rested his hand in my back, nudging meonward when I stopped. The roadway before us was made of the blackrock of Hell, but I saw deep red stones mixed in with the black.The red reflected the light surrounding us and lit patches of theroad as we walked. On my right, something darted amongst the trees,causing me to jump back and nearly scream.
“What was that?” Hawk demanded as heunsheathed his knife.
“Tree nymphs,” Magnus replied with a smirk.“I think you may take a liking to them, young canagh.”
Hawk shot him a lethal look over hisshoulder as he adjusted his hold on his knife. “They won’t hurtyou,” Bale said. “They’re upper-level demons who have alwaysremained loyal to Kobal, but these trees are their home.”
A head poked out from around a trunk toreveal a pretty woman before she disappeared again. An excitedmurmur raced through the trees as a fluttering of movement stirredthe shadows surrounding them. The shadows danced and swayed beforeanother head poked out and a striking man peered out at us.
They whispered in a harsh language I didn’tunderstand, but I recognized it as the demon language. “What arethey saying?” I asked Kobal.
He glanced behind him and released a seriesof what sounded like commands to the creatures gathering within thetrees before turning back to me. “Nothing bad,” he assured me.
“What did you say to them?”
“I told them they were to speak only inEnglish around you.”
“Itishim,” the man said beforevanishing again. “The king has returned.”
“I thought nymphs were only women,” Isaid.
“In your world they are, but true nymphs areboth men and women, and they are not goddesses, but demons. Thetree nymphs simply seek pleasure of all forms. The wood nymphs werelocked behind the seventy-seventh seal years ago. They were alsoupper-level demons who discovered they enjoyed feasting on demonblood as much as they enjoyed feasting on souls. They becamecannibals and most likely spawned your vampire legends.”
The idea of cannibal demons made me shudderas more heads poked out and giggles erupted through the forest.“What other differences are there between a tree nymph and a woodnymph?”
“The wood nymphs are bigger and resided inthe woods themselves, the tree nymphs are smaller and live in thetrees.”
I tilted my head to look at the tiny demonspeering curiously at us and giggling behind their hands.
“Are you sure they’re demons? They surelaugh a lot,” Hawk said.
“That’s what tree nymphs do. They laugh asthey feed on another’s sexuality and the wraith’s misery withinthis place,” Corson replied.
“Now that sounds like a demon,” Hawkmurmured.
“Youareone of us now,” Magnusreminded him. “All of your powers may not have manifested yet, butif you are standing here, then there is no denying what youare.”
Hawk flipped him the finger as a group ofnymphs slipped out from behind the trees. The petite women wore nomore than a slip of black, gauzy material around their waists.Their lower half may as well have been as bare as their breasts;the gauze left nothing to the imagination.
They all curtsied and bowed to Kobal when hewalked by before rising to giggle with each other once more. Thenearly naked women danced up to Corson and ran their fingers overhis arms.
“Hello, hi, we missed you,” they eagerlygreeted while Corson shrugged their hands away. I lifted an eyebrowat the normally flirtatious demon but didn’t comment on the way heavoided their touch.
The nymphs didn’t notice as they moved pasthim to Magnus and Hawk. Hawk looked as if he were torn betweenrunning from here or grabbing one and taking her into thewoods.
“Oh, he’s so handsome,” a pretty redheadpurred as she rubbed Hawk’s bicep.
Hawk stepped away from her, but a sheen ofsweat now dotted his upper lip and brow.
“Leave him be,” Kobal said in a low tone ofvoice that had the skellein closest to him taking a step away.
“Your Highness!” a group of the nymphssquealed and flounced toward him.
