CHAPTER THREE
HELLION
Staring at the storm above him, Hellion could feel the snow thickening in the flurries that landed against his cheeks and skin. Everything had turned dark and brooding within moments, the clouds a deep grey full of a weight they needed to rid themselves of. The wind had picked up, throwing even his braids back as it whipped around him like an icy hand.
He wasn't happy. Not that it was surprising, the dragon couldn't remember the last time he felt this way.
Taking a long breath into his lungs of freezing air, exhaling in a rush of steaming air. Fucking demons. He never seemed to be finished in dealing with that family.
If it wasn't the twins, it was the other one.
The one he didn't like to think about for too long. Even the mental image of him invoked a dangerous reaction within Hellion. It brought something to the surface, something dark and possessive that stretched its greedy claws out watching to snatch the princeling away and keep the demon for himself..
Hellion rolled his shoulders in an effort to relieve the tension. He wanted to get out for a while. He wanted to shift, stretch his wings and feel the wind against his scales, but while the clouds thundered he knew it wouldn't be a great idea.
Not to mention the maternal females of the horde would be pissy with him in the aftermath of flying out in a blizzard when they all tried to set a decent example for the younglings.
Couldn't have the head of the race spiralling through the clouds and potentially getting his ass bit by lightning.
Squinting against the chill in the air, the dragon moved onward towards his cabin once more, locking the door behind him.
It was foolish to let Calix go with them. Stupid really. They were offering him a kind of hope they had no business with. After Calix’s mate rejected him brutally in front of the entire horde, the male had become nearly mute. A complete recluse for years, his heartbreak was so extreme. His dragon had gone to sleep entirely, leaving him unable to shift or call his fire forward.
Now this little fairy was waving a golden nugget in front of Calix all because she was desperate for something to happen that shouldn't.
That wouldn't .
He should have been more firm - but at the same time, Hellion couldn't let himself be a dictator of his people, locking them to the mountain because of his worries. He’d give it a few days before going to check on his horde-mate himself.
Striding over to the fireplace, Hellion stepped up into the fire, the flames warm but harmless against him as he dropped his head, the sharp tips of his horns scoring the stone arch as always before he was sneaking through the walkway.
It never failed to go unnoticed by others who visited that they were standing so close to the doorway that led into his real home. The cabins, they were nice and everything, but they were just for show. For holding meetings or finding unwelcome visitors a place to sit rather than being brought into the real comfort of dragons.
Taking the steps down into the mountain, little flickers of fire came to life, like a path leading the way through the dark as it twisted and turned. If you didn't know your way though the mountain well enough, it was oh so easy to get lost. Something that happened even to the best of them.
Sometimes they found bones in dark corners where the light went out.
Sinking deeper into the caves, Hellion traced his hand along the stone wall that glittered here and there with hidden gems and natural diamonds. This was home. Their real home. In the heart of the earth where it opened and welcomed them. When he reached the ancient wooden doors that worked as the entry to their caverns, Hellion pressed his hand against the lock, sending a pulse of magic through it, a shot of his fire and strength so the stone recognised who he was. Where he belonged.
Slowly, the doors creaked open with great effort, welcoming in the King. Two guards waited on the other side, armed with swords at their hip and armour on their bodies.
Ready for anything, that's what they were. With a good slap on each shoulder to show his appreciation, Hellion wandered further in. Chatter echoed up to him, others that were in the huge open cavern that they had turned into a small underground city. Buildings made from slate and stone, some carved into the rock face itself.
Children played through the crowds, laughing at one another. Some even tried their hand at expanding their wings, willing them to flap harder to at least. The corner of his mouth twisted in a small smile of amusement.
Cute .
Soon enough the little monsters would be leaping from the falling point of the mountain to catch the wind and let their dragons out into the world.
Nodding a few hello’s to others, Hellion sifted through towards where he knew his own space lay. Past several females that batted their eyelashes at him, reaching a hand out to brush over his forearm as he passed. Scales rose to the surface as they were protecting him from the touch, his instinct to avoid it. Hellion didn't like unwelcomed touches.
Shifter females were as dangerous as males and when it came to sex, dragon women had a thing for biting and scratching. The wildness in them came out aggressively and he was in no mood to deal with it.
In fact, all Hellion wanted right now was to sink into some hot water and soak his body until he was nothing more than steam in the air itself.
Finding his way without much distraction, Hellion closed the door behind him into the quarters that were his own. Silence descended the moment the door closed, the heavy lock sliding down. Hellion rested his forehead against the door, his horns thumping a little.
Dragging a deep breath into his lungs, Hellion made quick work of stripping off, his clothes left haphazardly on the floor as he wandered through the wide open bedroom and into the hot spring that was his bath.
Removing the small metal pins and ties from his hair, Hellion stepped down into the hot spring gradually, undoing the braids at his temples and letting himself rest. The demons weren't the only ones battling against the ghouls that sprung forward in the Life Tree. Even up in the mountain, they had found oddities. Strange things that didn't belong.
Hard to fight and even harder to kill, himself and several other dragons had been scoping out the grounds in search of threats and coming up against more than Hellion liked to find.
They were changing now. Adapting to the world around them and branching out. Whatever had happened at the Tree had caused a ripple effect on ghouls to find new life in themselves.
Step by step into the deep steaming water, the dragon felt the burn melt deliciously into achy muscles. His body was patched here and there in glittering scales that were trying to heal wounds still after taking particularly sore hits from disgusting creatures that had no business being alive.
His white hair floated over the surface, the tension easing from even his scalp as Hellion floated over to the marbled edge where stone had smoothed from the lapping water to rest his head back against it.
Just a few minutes, that's all he needed. Just a few minutes to close his eyes and embrace the quiet before he would go back to being King and seeing to all the issues that would spring up. Before he had to deal with what new problems were brewing or who was threatening to kill each other.
Contrary to what other people thought, dragons aren't nearly as primitive as they were portrayed. Yes, they had many aesthetics of being their own people, traditions that were long standing, but they also had monderised too. Electricity ran through the mountain, internet and TV. Sneaky doorways that lead to realms that were entirely unaware of their presence. Hellion had slipped through them more than a few times when he went hunting for particular snacks only found in the Fae realm or the finest leather Hell could craft.
As long as his people came back alive, Hellion wouldn't dissuade them from exploring. In the wrong hands, a dragon was a powerful weapon.
In the right hands, even more so.
Lifting his hand from the hot water, he ran his fingers over the ridges of his horns and pushed his hair back to stop them from tangling. Something chilled the bottom of the spring. A cold seeping into the piping hot enough to have the dragon sitting up straighter, his claws slowly extending from his fingertips, the sharp ends diamond strong and glittering like his scales.
A rush of bubbles and freezing water combined turned the bathroom into a cloud of steam and fog, leaving him unable to see anything and rely on his other senses. Nothing had grabbed his feet. Nothing had dragged him beneath the surface to chew on his intestines.
But something else was in the bath with him, that was for fucking sure. He could feel it, a tingling sense in the back of his mind. The creature that dwelled inside him lifted its head, his gums aching as it bared its teeth.
A rush of movement below the surface had Hellion plunging his hands into the water. He didnt need his fucking eyes, he’d slit whoever’s throat for intruding into his private space and attempting to surprise attack him.
His clawed hand found floating hair and a shoulder, digging his nails into it. Yanking up without care for his would be attacker, Hellion threw the body against the marble edge, his claw wrapping around a slim throat tightly, the other raised and ready to slash. Ready to tear through skin and break bones.
“Not the face!”
The voice caught him off guard, halting him mid-swing.
Scowling into the steam, Hellion wafted it away, his larger frame pressed against his intruder’s to make sure they stayed in place. Golden eyes came into view, wide and glittering at him. Soaked rich blonde hair was stuck to his face and it took the dragon a second to realise he had the second eldest Prince of Hell by the throat in his fucking bathtub.
“What in the fuck are you doing here?” He shook Ruine a little by his grip, baring his now sharp teeth at the other male.
“Oh, y’know. Taking in the sighs. Seeing nature.” Ruine glanced down between them. His clothes were soaked and rubbing against Hellion’s skin abrasively. “Didn't expect this kind of nature though.”
“You were forbidden from using those runes. Forbidden from coming here without express permission ever again. So what the fuck are you here for, princeling?” Hellion wasn't going to be swayed by the pink brewing across Ruine’s cheeks and the way his thighs braced against his own hips. No fucking way. He’d found out the hard way what happened when your mate showed little to no interest in you and they weren't going down that road again. Ruine wasn't going to twist him up as badly as he had before and leave Hellion behind. They weren't stupid teenagers anymore figuring out their preferences anymore.
He wasn't haunted by the pretty demon. He wouldn't allow himself to be.
“One favour. That's all I owed you and I delivered. That doesn't mean you get to show up here again. I warned you it wouldn't be seen lightly Ruine. You made your fucking choice and you left.” Hellion shook him by the throat again baring his fangs furiously. The scales on his skin multiplied.
Every time he looked at the princeling it was like pouring salt in a wound that never seemed to heal no matter how many times he tried to cover it.
“We both know I wouldn't be here if I had any other choice alright?” Ruine’s hands were gripping Hellion’s wrist, shifting his body around to find some other way to stay afloat and all it was doing was grinding him up against the dragon who wasn't against strangling the life out of the demon to avoid a hard on trying to occur.
Willing his body under control, Hellion shoved away from the demon, leaving the other male wheezing in a few lungfuls of air. “You’re going to hand over that fucking rune book and I’ll tear out every page you have to get anywhere near my territory.”
“Don't be such a bitch.” Ruine slapped a hand against the water, splashing it at him.
“Then dont be a child.” Splashing the fucker back with a wave that had him sputtering.
Floating away to the other side, Hellion willed his dragon to settle, willed those old feelings to go back into their little box because this was not the time to be lifting its head.
Ruine lifted himself from the water, scrambling onto the marble edge and heaved upward, getting to his feet. Water splashed from the drenched clothes he wore while the demon tried to twist and squeeze some out. The hint of a handprint around his throat pleased Hellion more than he wanted to admit until Ruine gave up and dragged his hoodie off instead.
The dragon sank into the water a little deeper, doing his best not to stare outright. Ruine had always been on the slimmer side compared to his brothers. He had a more athletic build rather than bulky. His muscles were less defined but certainly there. Thick black leather straps criss crossed over his chest holding a series of small blades. Some were missing from their spaces, drawing Hellion’s interest.
Thin rivulets of diluted blood trailed over the demon's chest as Hellion’s gaze followed it up to the shoulder he had sunken his claws into before. It was nothing more than a surface wound to a demon, he could already see the small flickers of Ruine’s own scales moving to patch itself back together. He’d always been a strange demon to Hellion. Ruine did not seem to have that bloodthirsty need in him for violence. Instead, he went for knowledge. He hoarded secrets and information like a dragon did its special keep.
“What happened. And dont spin me a whole fucking story, just get to the point.” His quiet time was ruined. His bath was fucking cold now too. Wading back to the steps, Hellion climbed from the spring without care for his naked state.
Striding through the steaming space, Hellion walked his wet feet through to his bedroom, frustratedly pulling sweats from the drawer and yanking his feet through them knowing Ruine wasn't far behind.
“Well since you asked so nicely, and I feel a little bad for invading your personal space, I’ll tell you.” The demon stayed by the doorway having lifted a towel and was drying his hair. “I was wandering around the castle in Siren city. Just going for a very casual, very normal walk that's all and yet these two overpaid and poor excuses of guards came at me like I had just pissed in their cereal. They demanded to know who I was and why I was there.”
“And why were you there Ruine. Because we both know you don't just go for walks.”
“Because the path was already there, Hellion. I just follow where it goes and it took me to that place.” They gazes clashed.
Yeah, he fucking knew. After all, Ruines path finding had taken him to every realm except home half the time. Except back to where Hellion felt he belonged. Shit, maybe all he was , had been a pit stop once upon a time and he was still clinging to it.
He was fucking pathetic .
“It was weird. I mean, weirder than usual. They have every possible door to that place locked up tighter than a holy man's asshole and I know, I know, the Queen keeps her precious pearls there, but this shit was next level. They came at me just because I didn't tell them who I was right away.”
Hellion narrowed his eyes a little, suspicion coiling in the pit of his stomach. “And why didn't you tell them who you are? You’re a royal Prince. If you had revealed that, they would have let you walk right in without issue. Royalty recognises royalty.” For most realms, anyway.
Publicly, you didn't deter any royal visitors away or cause insult. It had the very real possibility of starting a war so why was Ruine hiding it?
The grin the demon gave him wasn't remotely settling his concerns. In fact, it only raised them further.