Hellhound Prince of Fire (Hellhound #3) - Rue Volley Page 0,15

the heart beating inside of it.

“Oh that is a glorious sound. The sound of life.”

“Many have come to this tree seeking its power and yet here we are, with no one around. Do you find that odd?” Lucifer asked and Dorin stared at him.

“The legend is that this is the tree that allowed humans free will.”

Lucifer laughed and tapped the tree a couple of times, looking up and studying it.

“It is a trick.”

“In what way?” Dorin asked him.

“This was placed on earth by my brother. It was a bet between us.”

“I don’t follow.”

Lucifer turned and leaned on it with his shoulder. “It was a bet between me and my brother to see what his kind would do.”

“You mean humans.”

“That I do. I mean we could have come in and just did what we had done before, take over and shit, but we decided to switch it up and this tree ended up being the Trojan horse for all of us.”

“So what? You placed the tree on earth and humans ate from it? What did you expect?”

“We expected compliance and we got defiance. They ate and we lost control.”

Dorin laughed and then quickly stopped as Lucifer stared at him without changing his expression. “I am sorry. I mean am I supposed to feel bad that a little joke between you and God backfired on you?”

Lucifer was in his face quickly and with it the hot wind. Dorin’s hair blew back and he blinked as Lucifer calmed down and looked him over. “If it had not been for this fucking tree, it would have been fine and we would not be trapped here like fucking animals.”

“Trapped? You mean you cannot leave?”

Lucifer looked down and regretted saying anything so he walked back to the tree and looked upward. “I do not know why you care for them at all.”

Dorin sighed and stared up at the tree too. “I was once human. I was not born vampire.”

“That is a shame, for what a beautiful creature you are in this light,” Lucifer said.

Dorin watched him very closely as he walked around the back of the tree and disappeared. He had no choice but to follow and when he reached the other side he saw Halo sitting there in the grass about to bite into the apple and he ran to her and knocked it from her hand. She looked up at him with an expression of true compassion and he was confused as she rose up and let her hand touch his chest and then the other gently caressed his cheek. He stood his ground, but when her lips met his he was surprised to find that he wanted it, more than he could have ever imagined. He closed his eyes and her tongue slid into his mouth as he wrapped his arms around her waist and returned her affection. She took her lips from his and he reached up and touched her face just as she morphed into Lucifer and he stepped back and spit onto the ground.

“Fuck you,” he muttered as Lucifer wiped his lip.

“Well, isn’t that interesting.”

Dorin sighed and then realized that his intentions for coming to hell may be more than he had ever bargained for.

Chapter Six

Hair of the Dog

I held my hand out to Jet, but he stood his ground as he seemed to enjoy being that close to my father and his demise. If I had hatred, as I once had, I would be enjoying it too, but to see him standing there and not fazed by something so gruesome was disturbing. My Mom then called out to him and he walked to her. I rubbed my arms as the birds continued to circle overhead. I looked up at my father as his skin began to mend itself and he returned to what he had been when we first saw him. He started to move and moan and I watched the birds over head as they began to organize once again.

“We should go. I have seen enough.”

My Mom stood there with Jet in front of her as they stared at him. She leaned down and whispered to him and he left her and walked towards me. He stopped and held his hand out to me and I took it, his skin not as cold as I expected it to be but still with a slight chill, the part of him that Lucifer owned and would forever. He started to walk and pull me along as my Mom remained there.