Page 16 of Druid Dreams

“Franklin, I have visitors coming over. They should be here within the hour. They’ll park out front and join us on the patio. Please send the hounds to me if you see them. I’d like to warn them of our guests too.” He stared at me for a solid minute with his eyebrows raised to his salt and pepper hairline. Then, he grinned down at me and patted my shoulder, like he knew something I didn’t, and hustled away to bring more plates. Sometimes I thought the old male was more than just a vampire. Other times, I was pretty sure my parents told him things they didn't want me to know yet.

Atlas, Cronus, and Helios came bounding up the path a few minutes later. They held the appearance of English Mastiffs, except maybe a 100 pounds heavier. Father always said they resembled the breed from hundreds of years ago, like they were ready for the frontlines of war or lion hunting. I may or may not have had special armor made for them in the case of... an emergency. Really, I bought it because I knew they would look badass covered in it when they were on fire. The armor was made specifically for them by a friend in Stars, and it stayed on their true forms. It couldn’t be seen when they looked like regular-ish dogs.

They barked, nipped, and bumped into each other as they made their way to me. I found myself smiling at their playfulness. I mean, they were cute and deadly, but still so super cute. It was my favorite mix of adjectives when describing them. Cute and deadly. Just like me. They really did look like regular dogs from a distance. The remarks were pretty easy to say whenever someone was nearby and didn’t understand what they truly were. They usually stayed far enough back that people didn’t have a chance to notice their true size.

They weren’t regular dogs by any means though, not at all. They were hellhounds, gifted to me by my Papi as pups. I’d had them for a little over six years, but they didn’t age like dogs. they’d be with me until I died. That was their level of devotion. I loved them dearly too, but I loathed their diet. The woodland creatures around my home probably didn’t care for them either. I hadn’t seen any deer, squirrels, or rabbits here in... ever. Just the half chewed bones when I ran the wooden paths around my property.

Atlas trotted over and laid his head on my left shoulder, leaning his body weight into me. He was the sweetest of the three and was always laid back unless he sensed a threat. I rested my head against the right side of his face and rubbed my left hand down his neck. He loved affection. When he was done with my attention he headed to Jack. Jack never gave him more than a few strokes to the head. He didn’t care for my hounds after being my roommate for several years. Jack and Cronus had a sticky relationship.

Cronus was extremely overprotective and liked to herd me from my car to the front door. It was annoyingly adorable. He waited by the gate when it was time for me to get home. He patrolled the grounds like a good watch dog. If he, and Atlas, would stop chasing bees I thought I might love them even more. When they got stung it fucked with the glamor that was layered on top of their true forms. The swelling distorted the illusion that disguised them, making them look very displeasing to the eye. Fun fact: giving hellhounds antihistamine is like feeding them cocaine. They go nuts and tear everything apart.

Helios had a fiery personality, hence his name. He was an irritable, growly beast who watched over everything but still loved a good ear scratch. He was a tiny bit temperamental with everyone, except me. Okay, a large bit. I was the head bitch of our pack, so he didn’t do more than simply test my patience. He wouldn’t dare bite the hand that scratched his ears.

I touched each one of them in the center of their heads and sent them blurry images of my visitors so they knew not to attack. I couldn’t see all the males clearly yet, but the idea was that they shouldn’t defend against the group of five. I swear Cronus lifted an eyebrow at me when he understood what I was implying. Rotten hound. I’ve been getting too many of these curious looks lately.

“Cronus,” I warned slowly, “Don’t look at me like that. These are my guests and I want you three to escort them to me when they arrive. Please be nice.” I turned hard eyes to my troublemaker, “Helios, don’t growl at them. I told them you were sweet. We won’t be letting them know that you guys are hellhounds, is that understood?”

Helios huffed smoke from his nostrils but inclined his nose to let me know he comprehended my request. He was the only one I ever worried about not following instructions. Cronus and Atlas would follow them exactly. Atlas licked my cheek as the three trotted off to wait by the gate, looking to anyone else like well trained dogs. I had a feeling Helios was going to be a dick though. It’s just his personality. I was sure before my guests left I’d have to explain why my “dog” has a fire tipped tail or why smoke was pouring from his nose. Should be a fun conversation. Insert heavy sarcasm here.

“I can’t believe you: A) trained hellhounds and B) let him lick you. That’s gross, Lo. Do you know what they eat?” Jack constantly gave me shit about my boys. Always has, always will.

“They are my babies, Jack,” I told him for the millionth time. “Those hellhounds don’t run around looking for ass and they feed themselves. They even have a bedroom.” I raised my hand before he could interrupt me. “I know, I know. I spoil them.” I rolled my eyes. “But I don’t regret it. They are loyal to no one except me. They’ll protect me with their lives. Literally. No questions asked, and they expect nothing in return except a good belly scratch.” Who needed a man when I had a thousand pounds of extra warm, cuddly hellhounds in disguise. Me. I need company that talks. Preferably of the sexy male variety. Please and thanks.

I felt like I’d rolled my eyes more in the last few days than I had in my entire life. That shit was getting out of hand. Papi used to tell me they were going to get stuck in the back of my head one day, and that terrified me. Still did. Then Dad laughed at me for that being the one thing that would scare me. I’m a little vain, sue me. I would not look sexy with my eyes permanently viewing the front of my brain. Also, I get that isn’t how it works, but it’s what I imagine.

Jack and I chatted about training while we ate, or he ate. I wasn’t really hungry for food. I drank a mimosa with a shot of blood added to it. It sounds nasty, I know. Orange juice and blood? It wasn’t that bad. The champagne made it better. It had been a few days since I’d fed. The ounce of blood in my glass would hold me for a week. I didn’t need nearly as much blood as a pure vampire. I still had to eat regular food too. You know, to keep the rest of my body running. If I was being honest with myself, I just wasn’t hungry because I was a little nervous about Vaughn and his friends coming over.

I knew they were heading this way. I felt that thread pulling tighter and tighter with every minute that ticked by. Fuck me. I needed to do something active before I started thinking about all the nasty shit that had been floating around in the back of my mind. That feeling had basically reduced me back to a horny teenager with nothing better to do than think about sex. It was time to fight.

Jack planned today’s workout routine while finishing our brunch, and headed to the grass for a swift stretch. We were about 20 minutes into our match when I heard the gates open. My nerves began to ramp up when I spotted a vehicle coming down the drive. I caught a glimpse of a sleek, black SUV before it was out of sight again. Five new people were in my territory. It made me feel both giddy and uneasy. I was being ridiculous, but I never invited people to my house. Especially people I hadn’t met before. It was a big space to occupy by myself, but I was a private sort of person and I liked it that way.

Jack was in his shifted form and took my distraction as the choice opportunity to ambush me. The large horse came barreling in, long legs eating the distance I had put between us moments ago.

Just as he was about to use his head to knock me across the yard, I stepped to the side and gave his ass a hard slap. He turned to huff smoke in my face. It was an unfair advantage against me but most fights were like that. I crouched down to make myself a smaller target. I couldn’t see through the thick, sooty smoke. I could feel him moving though.

I heard his light steps flatten the blades of grass as I focused solely on him. His heartbeat was slow and even, his breaths deep and steady. When I knew he was close enough, I jumped up to wrap my arms and legs around the underside of his neck.

He let out what should be considered a whinny — if it weren’t so deep and guttural — and threw his massive head around to dislodge me. Flames shot from his nostrils in his frustration, but I wouldn’t let go. He should know that by now. He never did account for my stubbornness. He swung his head from right to left trying to sling me off. I anticipated the next swing to the right, and then used the momentum to launch myself onto the top side of his neck. I grabbed a fistful of his mane in the process, and waited for him to throw his head again.

The pitch black smoke surrounded us more with each step he took as he fought against my hold. I knew he could see through it, so I had to play smart. I loosened my hold to let him think I was slipping. He always falls for it. When he tossed his head a final time I launched myself from the smoke cloud around him and laughed as I hit the ground in a crouch.

“I won this round Jack. You’re gonna need to try out a new trick with me to even the score.” I yelled to him while I straightened my body and dusted my hands off. He stood in his smoke cloud huffing. “Stop burning my grass! Between you and Helios it’s getting hard to explain to the gardener why my grass is always singed!” I shouted at him in mock anger, trying to smother my glee. I heard the jackass laughing at me as he shifted back, sucking in the hellish smoke surrounding him. He appeared unfazed in his tight jeans and black t-shirt.

“You’re supposed to use your demon side to fight me bitch, not your vampire side. I think we’ll call it a draw until you can force my big ass to the ground.” He was still laughing inaudibly as the guys arrived, escorted by my hounds. They made a triangle formation. Cronus and Atlas were a few feet in front on either side of the group with Helios walking about ten feet behind them. I trained them so well. I gloated to myself a little and Jack groaned.

“Next time, I’m going to flip your big ass on your back and watch you struggle to get up,” I deadpanned. With my demon form. Uhg. It was so hard to call it forward outside of the Underworld.

“Welcome,” I called out to my guests. “We were just finishing up.”

I let my hair down, now that I wasn’t training with Jack, and snapped my fingers to change my clothes. What? I don’t know why you’re judging me. I was not entertaining guests in a sports bra and barely booty shorts. Not yet anyway. I felt more casual and covered in my faded black jeans and my ripped up t-shirt. It read “killin it” on the front. I smirked to myself. Seems fitting, right? I left my feet bare and leaned over to roll the bottom of my jeans up. Not quick enough for Helios though, who walked over and burned the ends until they were nearly halfway up my calves. Little embers of hellfire danced across my skin and I had to pat my legs to put them out. They didn’t burn me, but they did burn my pants. Thanks to Helios, they were now too short.

“Seriously?” I glared at him as I whisper-yelled. “We talked about this, Helios. Like, just today. Not even 45 minutes ago.”

He stared unimpressed at me. The fucking asshole. When he was done staring he stomped towards the group of guys standing on my patio. They all seemed a little uneasy and took a step back. I almost wanted to pick at them a bit, but I didn’t. That wouldn’t be very welcoming of me, now would it? Father had drilled etiquette into my head for years. It helped with business meetings, and that was exactly what this was about to be. I’d seen what they had been up to while I was meditating on the way home this morning. It should be fun to see the surprise on their faces when I told them what I knew. I may not have been able to read the Fae’s thoughts, but I had seen some of his past and present. Maybe I’d look into his future later.

“Introduce yourselves to them and they’ll leave. They want to know that you’re not a threat to me.” I needed to explain the hostility my hounds were emanating. They were trained to separate me from any potential threat. With a one word command they’d ruthlessly attack. “Sit,” I instructed them.

“Uhm, us or them?” Vaughn asked as he looked from me to the hounds to the chairs. His confusion about whether he should follow my instructions or not made me smirk. For future reference, he should, but that command wasn’t for him.