28. HellBeast Gone
Chapter 28
HellBeast Gone
“ W ait… you’re an actual God?!” I screeched, something that went unheard as Tyr, who seemed to be a real-life effin’ God, was still holding Asher captive on the ground.
“Who sent you?!” Tyr asked again, his voice hard and unyielding.
“I am no foe of yours or the woman’s, ask her, for she knows me,” he replied with his hands held up by his head in total surrender.
“Is this true?” Tyr asked me without taking his eyes off his prisoner.
“Yes, his name is Asher, he is a friend of…” I would have liked to have said my husband, but that wasn’t true yet, so I squashed this hope, opting for something else. “…Of mine. So please let him go.”
“And how do we know he can be trusted? As even now he hides his true nature.” Tyr must have been talking about his human vessel, because he didn’t exactly look like the demon Tyr had called him. Nor did he look anything like the demon I had first encountered in the arena. No, he looked more like some sexy, Hollywood action hero, with chiselled cheekbones. Damn, what was with all the hot men in Jared’s world? Even on his council there wasn’t a single one of them that couldn’t be classed as handsome, including Icarius despite his strange appearance. I was seriously thinking about suggesting a new half time show for Marcus to put on at Devil’s…
The Supernatural Strippers.
I could get T-shirts made.
A show that just had a new member join, because Asher’s dark smoldering eyes glanced first at me and then back to the threat of an angry God above him. His long, dark hair was now contained back in a messy man bun, matching his new modern-day appearance. As for his body, he was wearing a long, black thermal T-shirt that molded itself to his muscular build.
A pair of stone wash jeans and biker boots completed the look, because clearly not everyone needed armor to travel through Hell. But then, I guess why would he? Because with a single thought he could shed himself his mortal appearance and become his demon. One that I already knew could handle himself in a fight.
Which was when I realized that he remained this way because he didn’t intend to fight the God, but only wanted to handle this calmly. His strong jaw worked on not gritting his teeth with every press of Tyr’s blade against his skin.
“I travel this way so as to go undetected,” he argued, making Tyr scoff, because clearly the God man was the suspicious type. Something he proved when saying,
“And I know that there are demons who can wear the skin of others.”
“Eeeww,” I commented before it hit me what he meant. “Oh, you mean shapeshifters? Oh yeah, that’s true.” I had certainly had my fair share of encounters with those and so had Jared. I couldn’t help but rub the front of my neck at the memory.
“I can prove to you I am no enemy of yours or the woman, for I was sent here to get her to safety.”
“By whom?” Tyr asked before I could, and my heart started to leap in my throat.
“Her Fated. The HellBeast King is searching for her.”
My heart hammered and felt like it was going to choke me as it made its way further up my throat.
“Then why is he not here instead of you?”
Okay so this was a damn good question.
“Because his Fate takes him elsewhere,” Asher replied, and at this I frowned, quick to ask,
“Where… where has it taken him?!”
To which Tyr pressed the blade further up into his neck and demanded,
“Answer her!”
“He travels to the Realm of Blood and Bone to see the Gypsy King.”
I gasped, staggering back a step, knowing he was speaking of Koro.
“But why… I don’t understand… why would he do this, why wouldn’t he come for me himself?” I asked in anguish.
“I am afraid I do not have the answer for you, little queen.”
Oh great, another one. I rolled my eyes at this and not just because he too was at it with all the little shit. But mainly because that didn’t get me the answers that I needed.
“You say you have proof,” Tyr said, focusing back on this.
“I do, for you were sent to protect her by a friend, yes? Just as I was also, for I believe we both made a vow,” he said, not waiting for an answer to his question because clearly, he already knew that he had. At this Tyr jerked back a little, shocked to know he was right. Until suspicion crept back in, and he pointed out,
“You could have easily acquired such knowledge through nefarious means.”
“Yes, but I would not know of the proof he provided me with in case you were to believe as such,” Asher countered, making me swallow hard.
“Which is?” Tyr asked, his blond brow arching.
“In my pocket, a piece of paper. I know not what it means to you, but he said that you would understand its meaning.”
Tyr held his dagger steady while picking the pocket that Asher looked down toward. Then because he didn’t trust taking his eyes off who he still considered the enemy, Tyr handed me the piece of paper.
“Read it, human Ella.”
I took it in my hands and rolled it out.
“I’m not sure I can, it looks to be in Greek,” I told him but seconds later, the words started to blur as if ink was bleeding out through the paper. This was before they then started to reform back into words I could finally understand. I knew then that Tyr had done this with just a thought. But instead of being foolish enough to ask how, because well, on account of him being a God and all, I read the words.
“It says that a ‘King is only a King, but Success is Man’s God’… what does that mean?”
Realization resided on Tyr’s face before he was quick to remove his dagger, spinning it swiftly until it was back in its sheath by his hip.
“It is the Greek tragedy Oresteia written by Aeschylus in the 5th century BCE, although my friend added the first part… my apologies, for I had to be sure.”
Asher nodded and took Tyr’s offered hand in helping him to standing.
“And as predicted by your friend, so no apologies needed,” he replied, making me say,
“Great, now can we get back to the part where he called you a God?”
Tyr gave me an amused look before reminding me,
“I believe I tried to explain such to you, Human Ella.”
“Well at least it didn’t come with a little before it…” I mumbled. “Yes, well I thought you were just being arrogant, I didn’t expect you to actually be a God, like a real one,” I argued, making him smirk.
“Meet many fake ones, do you?” he asked.
“With social media these days, you would be surprised in my world,” I muttered.
“It is true, for I have witnessed the way the mortal world works and I can say it is vastly different to how I remember it…” Asher agreed, then he nodded to me in a not so subtle way, making me put my hands on my hip and shout,
“Hey, I saw that!”
“The women most certainly seem to be different,” Tyr remarked with a raised brow, making me roll my eyes and shriek,
“Yes, we are far less worshipping of men, that’s for a start!”
“And much louder than I recall,” Tyr added.
Asher tensed and suddenly looked uncomfortable.
“Yes, and we also wear heals to make us taller,” I snapped, unsure as to why I said this or what point I was trying to make. All my comment did was make the big Viking look down at my feet, and I sighed.
“Yes, well obviously not now… look, my point is… okay, so I am not exactly sure what my point is anymore… jeez, can we just go already?!” Again, I received a bad boy grin in reaction to this, as if he had just won some epic battle. And well, with what he was learning about modern day women, maybe he just had. However, instead of just saying it, he simply held out his beefy arm.
“After you, M’lady.”
I rolled my eyes and snapped,
“And you can cut that shit out as well… m’lady, what am I, Maid fucking Marian?” I added this last part as I stomped off, but it wasn’t far enough that I didn’t hear Asher whisper,
“They curse more too.”
Something that made me groan and once again had me…
Missing my HellBeast.
A few hours later and I had no idea how many miles we had covered. I was certainly feeling the effects of an empty stomach and fatigue setting in. And Tyr must have known this because he suggested,
“We can rest soon, for there is the ruins of Hypnos just beyond the fields of Antenora.”
“Hypnos?” I asked, picking this name first over the other one.
“Hypnos is the God of sleep,” Tyr said, making me scoff.
“Well, that’s apt, seeing as I feel as if I could sleep for a week,” I commented.
“I am happy to carry you until we get there, if you like.”
I laughed, smacked a hand to his belly, and said,
“I think you carry enough already there, matey.”
He chuckled before leaning down a little to tell me quietly,
“But just as we have already established… I am a God, little human.”
Okay, well if I wasn’t shivering before, now I was, because I didn’t want to know exactly what else a ‘God’ could do.
“Erm… I’m good thanks,” I told him and again, his knowing chuckle was down to being satisfied more than amusement.
“So, these are the fields of Ant ora or something?” I asked, messing up the name.
“Antenora, yes… I must say, for a Fated such as yourself to be with one born of the Underworld, I am surprised at such lack of knowledge on the subject,” Tyr commented, making me frown.
“Yeah, well I have been busy trying to survive it.”
“No doubt something that you would have a greater chance at achieving with the aid of knowledge.”
I released a sigh at this because he was right, I should know more, which is why I admitted,
“You’re right… but hey, I am asking questions now, right? So maybe there is hope for me yet.”
The smile he granted me was a genuine one, and damn, it was blinding, too.
“Indeed, I believe there is,” he replied in a gentle tone that many would have found addictive.
It turned out that it wasn’t too much farther to where Tyr had suggested we stop for a rest. Something I knew both men only did for my sake. Because clearly their Supernatural legs could go on for miles.
As for me, after another hour of walking, I was definitely ready to stop, feeling as if my legs were like jelly. In fact, had I not still had some of Jared’s blood in me, I doubted I would have made it this far. Not with my disease. Although I had to wonder if it was even still there at this point, because ever since I had taken possession of the book, I hadn’t felt a single ache. Of course, I also hadn’t travelled the length of the Underworld before but still, it had me wondering about the future.
It also had me worrying for our baby.
Because as much as I wanted so badly to have a child with Jared, I knew the timing couldn’t have been worse. Not with so much danger that now surrounded us, already splitting us apart. And now he was off in some other realm entirely and I didn’t even know why. But more than anything…
He didn’t even know about our baby.
I had no clue as to when I would get the opportunity to even tell him. The thought saddened me enough to bring attention to my face, because Tyr stopped me, saying,
“Not far now, just through those trees.”
I nodded, hiding the true nature to my troubled expression. Because there was nothing that could come of explaining how I felt. And besides, other than having no choice but to tell my sister, I really didn’t want anyone else knowing before Jared. So, I kept quiet as we made our way out of the smaller piece of woodland we had just travelled through, and nearly wept for joy when I saw the ruins Tyr had spoken about.
Seven decorated columns held up a large portion of a broken roof, with fragments of the fallen pillar and the corner it once held up on the floor in pieces. Striking white trees surrounded the area with pretty white flowers growing on the ground that looked like lilies with slim petals. The pale bark and white leaves above mirrored the flowers amongst the pale green grass and made it the first beautiful place I had seen in Hell.
I would have said as much but the second I saw Tyr start to unbuckle his belts, my eyes widened. Because now I was worried that the dude slept in the nude. Thankfully, he stopped there when removing the layers of material around his waist before using them to lay on the ground. Then he nodded down to it, making me ask,
“What about you both?”
“Our job is to protect you, not to sleep,” he told me, and as if to prove this point, started buckling his belts back around his waist that held his weapons. The larger sword nearly touched the ground it was that big, making me wonder just how heavy was that thing?
“Everyone needs to sleep,” I reminded him, making Asher scoff, before taking his position to guard, doing so on the higher steps of the temple. As for me, Tyr had set me up under the largest tree with its roof of white leaves hanging over what remained of the temple’s roof.
“Not I, for I am…”
I was quick to interrupt Tyr, with a wave of my hand.
“A God, yeah, I know.”
He stepped into me and took possession of my chin before lifting my face up to his. Then he told me,
“I was going to say, I am your protector.”
My eyes widened at this, especially when he caressed the back of his fingers down my cheek.
“Oh,” I whispered, making him grin.
“Get some rest, Ella,” he said, saying my name without the ‘little’ added or the ‘human’ it usually came with. So, I took a step back because he didn’t seem to be in a hurry to do the same. Then I lay down on the layers of material, unable to resist the comfort I found in the manly cedar scent I found in them. Something that increased when I saw him unclip the fur from his shoulders before covering me.
“I will start a fire, then go hunting for some food but rest easy, for Asher will remain on guard.”
I nodded but before he could leave, I sat up quickly and reached for his hand. He looked down at it, as if surprised that I had openly touched him. In fact, he suddenly seemed utterly transfixed by the sight.
“Thank you, Tyr, for saving my life.”
The second I said this his eyes rose from my hand and looked right at me. The icy depths began to glow slightly with a burning intensity I didn’t understand.
“You are welcome… my, Bál ásynja,” he replied softly, but once again he slipped free of my grasp before I could ask what it meant. Then he left. However, I didn’t miss the way Asher warned him,
“The HellBeast won’t like that.”
It was clear now that Asher had been listening, making me wonder what Tyr had meant with those words. But then, as the Viking God passed him, he replied in a hard tone,
“The HellBeast isn’t here.”
And he wasn’t wrong… My HellBeast wasn’t.
A fact that meant tears slipped free and made their way toward my hairline as I lay my head down. The overwhelming sadness became a feeling that followed me into sleep.
But then that wasn’t the only thing that did, making me utter his name in horror the very second I saw him…
“Garmr.”