Hellhound Prince of Fire (Hellhound #3) - Rue Volley Page 0,9

distance, the silhouette of it standing out against the horizon. I stared into her green eyes, which matched my own, as she looked back at me and smiled.

“Come,” she said softly and I followed her in as the door closed behind us on its own. We walked as the tree got closer and closer and I looked up in the gray sky and could now see many birds circling overhead, their black silhouettes spotting the gray sky. I kept walking along the black ground and looked down as my bare feet now looked black in the dim light of the sky. It seemed as if we walked for an hour or so, but just as I thought about the time, we stopped. I looked up to see what I did not expect to. My Dad was held to the tree in razor wire with his mouth sewn shut along with his eyes. It was the same thread I had been offered in purgatory, by Gunner. My heart fluttered as Gunner entered my mind and my Mom turned to me and touched my face as the hot wind blew up around us and whipped up my red hair. She looked me over and then glanced up at my Father.

“Halo is here,” she called out to him as his head moved and he moaned. I blinked a few times as the razor wire cut into his bare chest. I could see the blood flowing down from him. I looked down at my feet and realized I was not stained in dirt, but in blood, his blood, that filled this entire place built just for him. I looked up as the black birds started to circle overhead and one by one they descended on him, taking bits of flesh here and there, picking his bones clean as he tried to struggle but still felt it all. I started to back away as my hand fell from my Mom’s and she looked back at him and enjoyed the sight of it all. I felt a sickness rising in the pit of my stomach as I realized she enjoyed this as much as I had enjoyed watching Travis struggle. I held my hands up and saw the blood all over them as the guilt of it started to consume me. Then through blurred eyes I saw him, a small boy the age of maybe 7, come from behind the tree and stop to stare up at it. My Mom held her hand out to him.

“Come Jet. This is your Grandfather. You can visit him as often as you like, he remains here forever.”

I screamed as he turned and looked back at me with a grin on his face, his eyes glowing red and full of pleasure.

Chapter Four

Pride

“Again,” Gunner said as Ari shook his head and swung the long handled axe in his hands.

“We have been doing this for 4 hours my friend.”

“And we can go another 4,” Gunner said as he swung his axe over his head and came at Ari. Ari lifted the axe quickly and sparks flew as metal broke against metal. Both men grunted as they pressed the weapons against one another. They soon relaxed as they heard clapping and looked over to see Finna walking towards them, a large loaf of bread shoved under one arm and a bottle of wine under the other. She stopped clapping and pulled the wine and bread out, wagging it at the two of them.

“Eat, drink…before battle,” she said and they lowered their weapons as their stomachs both growled in unison. Ari grinned and walked away from Gunner as he lowered his axe and stared at the blade. He swung it above his head and Finna whistled, loud enough to make him blink a couple of times.

“Eat or I will kick your ass myself,” she said as she sat down and Ari joined her. Gunner stepped up and then reluctantly sat down. Setting his axe beside him and reached out to grab the bread and break off a piece of it. He took a bite and started to chew as Finna watched him. Ari took the wine bottle and pulled the cork out of the neck of it with his teeth, he spit it aside and took a long drink only to have Finna take it from him and take a drink herself. She then held it out to Gunner and he took it and drank as he should. He lowered the bottle as she