Page 79 of Crimson Soul
It was bloody obvious where his loyalties were, and that was disappointing but not surprising.
I turned to the guard. “Close the sodding gate!”
“I did! It’s closed! He’s fighting through it. There’s only so much I can do with the gate being a demon.” He squinted, his mouth falling open in surprise. “Is that King Zelek? Shouldn’t I open the gate more?”
“No, you massive wanker!” Blaise threw his hands in the air. “He’s the whole bloody reason we’re checking the gate! He has to stay in!”
He blinked, dumbfounded. “What? But…”
“What the fuck is happening?” Bran’s panicked voice pierced the surrounding area as he, Orenn, and Kai rushed over with hyper speed.
Orenn pushed the guard roughly before approaching the gate with Bran. “Do we have to do everything around here?”
The twins sprouted black fur and their bones snapped to the form of a gigantic demon dog with red eyes and sharp teeth.
“Remind me to stop pissing them off,” Blaise said as he gaped at the hellhounds.
“No kidding.” Kai’s eyes widened as he took in the true form of the hellhounds.
Bran and Orenn snarled at the gate, snapping in its direction before tipping their heads back and howling.
I covered my ears with my hands and hot blood seeped between my fingers, oozing down my arm. My eardrum healed and burst in succession as they continued to howl. I glanced at Blaise and Kai to see them struggling with the same issue.
Their howls were the loudest, most fearsome, noise I’d ever bloody heard. Much worse than an abandoned’s. The sound wave from the howl combated the electrical shortage in the portal.
One of them continued to howl as the other prowled inside and dragged Mortala out of the tunnel, biting off the hand he held Zelek with at the last minute.
“No!” Zelek’s voice was loud, desperate as he was pulled back through the tunnel to the heart.
Mortala’s cry of pain was faint as Zelek was sucked back where he’d come from.
The hellhound spit out his hand as Mortala’s body hit the ground with a thump.
The howling ceased, and the portal flickered black before a black goo filled in the opening, sealing off the gate.
Removing my hands from my ears, the prickling warmth healed my eardrum for the final time. I let out a sigh of relief that the howling was over with.
Mortala whimpered in the fetal position, his wrist forming another hand in a slow but steady pace. I didn’t even realize demons could regenerate limbs. Vampires couldn’t, so I didn’t think too much into it. But it was quite an impressive ability to have
“That was fucking loud,” Blaise stated, shaking the blood from his ears off his hands. “Couldn’t have warned us?”
“Ruptured our eardrums,” Kai said.
The hellhounds shifted back to their human form and hauled Mortala upright despite his pathetic protests to let him go.
“Would you rather us let this piece of shit help Zelek escape the heart?” Bran asked.
“Obviously not,” I growled with an eye roll.
Bloody hellhounds.
Blaise snorted.
“We should bring him to Lilith,” Orenn said.
My chest went light at the mention of her name. “She should be back in her office by now.”
“She’s gonna be pissed,” Blaise said, and he was bloody right. Mortala may have been a right wanker, but he was her creation.
