Kellen sighed, the sound truly regretful. “Sadly, I’ve asked the same thing and been told no each time.”
Chapter Six
Iknew we were being watched. Clearly, Kyrene realized it at the same time. Her body shifted back to the form she’d been in when I first saw her.
“Come, we must hide,” she hissed, waving her hand, impatience stamped on the childlike face.
I looked around us, trying to figure out which one of the damned was responsible for the threat I could feel coming.
“Thing of Creed. I implore you to come with me. I will not let any harm come to you. This I swear on my life.”
A glimpse of Creed and the creature playing together entered my mind before I could shore up my walls.
“Raina. My name is Raina, not Thing of Creed’s.” I hopped down from my place and stepped carefully over the charred remains. My boots sank into the softened ground.
“Hurry, they are coming.” Kyrene ran, her hand grabbing mine.
Without looking back, I could feel we were being stalked. Where we could hide, I had no clue. Heck, I didn’t know if this creature was leading me to the Devil himself. Like a lamb to the slaughter was a thought that blinked like neon lights in my mind, but I ignored it.
We practically flew across the ground, our feet leaving little indents in the black ash for anyone to follow. I’m not a hunter, and even I could track us. I expended a little energy, wiping away our tracks.
“What did you do?” Kyrene questioned at a rocky cliff.
I looked back, air sawing in and out of me. No way up and going down looked like a black abyss straight out of a horror movie, with fog shrouding my vision. Taking a step back, I tried to move away. Kyrene’s grip tightened. “We must go down. It is the only way.”
“Fuck that. Hell is down.” My heart threatened to beat out of my damn chest.
“No, Hell was straight ahead. Actually, it’s all around you. Down here is my home. Sanctuary, if you will. Come, I promise it’s not as scary as you think. Climb on my back.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. This childlike spider monkey creature wanted me to climb onto her back and descend further into the depths of Hell. Sure, and sign me up for a waterfront property while I was at it. Not!
“How do I know you aren’t taking me straight to him? Or luring me into a trap? Or just going to kill me?” Proud of myself for speaking in complete sentences, I waited for answers.
The last thing I’d expected was Kyrene to morph into the lovely woman and take my choices away from me. “I tried it the nice way,” she muttered, then she gripped me around the waist and jumped over the edge.
A terrified squeal escaped me as we fell—or rather as we jumped off the craggy edge into the pitch black. Wind whipped past, the heat hotter the farther we fell. I forgot to adjust my inner temperature. Forgot I could see in the dark. In all honesty, I almost forgot to breathe. Panic had me gripping Kyrene around the waist in a death grip that would have killed a human.
“You’re fucking insane.” I squeaked out before a bony hand covered my mouth.
The Johnny Cash song about falling into a burning ring of fire began playing through my mind the farther we fell, and I was sure any second I’d go up in flames. At the last moment, mytwo halves must have taken control. My body cooled of its own accord, for I had no recollection of doing it.
We landed on a surprisingly cool grey ground. Kyrene hugged me, then stepped back. “You are very dramatic.” Sighing, she paced away. “Poor Creed, getting stuck with a thing as drama-ridden as he himself is. I’m not sure this era is prepared for two of you. What if you procreate?” She spun around. “Are you with spawn?”
I put my hand out as Kyrene looked ready to touch my stomach. “Come near me again, thing of whatever, and I will gut you from head to ass. We clear?”
Kyrene tossed her hands in the air. “That’s the thanks I get for saving your skinny hide? Do you have any idea what those Gallo demons would have done had they found you? Let me tell you so you don’t stress that little brain of yours. They’d have first fought over who got the head. That being your head. They enjoy brains, you see. Then, they’d have had a free-for-all, splitting you between them. Or should I say whoever was strong enough to rip bits of you away from the others? Oh, did I mention they don’t care that Satan has claimed you as his next whore? They are mindless things that search for their next meal, and you would have been a nice feast.”
“How about you? Why won’t they eat you?” I ran a hand over my arms. The scene’s imagery made goosebumps pop up.
She laughed, the sound held no mirth. “They have tried.”
The childlike image disappeared again, replaced by the woman. I wanted to know which was her true form and which was the façade. “Where are we?” I asked instead.
“Home,” Kyrene said, walking toward a cave.
With nothing else to do but follow, I surveyed the area. My vampire half ached, while my wolf scented predators close. Down here, neither half felt like it was the top of the food chain.
At the cave entrance, Kyrene stopped and chanted. The words came out too low for even my enhanced hearing to pick up, then a veil seemed to lift.
