It also made me question where exactly he had put the thing when he had changed into part of the beast, again, I meant his weapon and nothing more.
“Aye, so he did,” the next one said coming up behind him and slapping him on the back saying,
“Pity tis nae finders keepers, eh?” This made the big one, Gryph, grunt out a laugh.
“Aye, she be a wee bonnie lass,” Gryph agreed making me blush at being called pretty.
“Uh…thanks,” I said making him place a hand on his heart dramatically and say something I could only half understand.
“'N' she haes th' voice o' an angel tae!”
“Aye bit tis a pity she doesn't ken ye, brother!” the slimmer one said who I knew to be the joker of the group and was who they called Vern.
And like Gryph, now that he wasn’t wearing his helmet, I could see that he looked like your loveable rogue, with easy going handsome features. He too had red hair, but it was lighter, more a strawberry blonde than Gryph’s flaming red. It was also kept trim at the back and sides and longer on the top that fell mainly to one side in a floppy style. It also looked as if he spent a good deal of time running a hand through it whenever it fell into his eyes, like he needed a haircut but just hadn’t got round to it. He also had a beard but his was trimmed all around and was not long enough to hide the dimples that looked permanently on show.
His eyes were a beautiful hazel colour with flecks of green and they were framed with arched brows that granted him more prominent expressions, like the cocky sexy look he was giving me right now. He also may have been the slimmer of the two, but his biceps still stood out as being someone used to fighting. This was just most likely more of a stealthy kind, as he looked more like a quick athlete than the heavy weight champion that stepped up next to him.
And by the Gods, the last man was utterly breath-taking!
“Ken ye?” I forced myself to ask, just as he appeared, hoping that my voice didn’t sound as strained as it felt. He was definitely who I thought was the most beautiful out of the three, even though they certainly each had their own charm and handsome looks.
“Understand you,” said the one named Trice, who had been the creator of my ice cage. He was obviously also the one in charge and his accent was a lot less strong than the other two, with only hints of it.
All three of the men were tall, with Gryph obviously being the biggest at well over six foot seven. But the other two looked about the same height as Lucius, which meant they must have been at least six foot four. However, it was Trice who looked more like some chiseled depiction of a Greek God, one that had also been scarred. This was because he had a serious face with stunning dark brown eyes that were edged with a dark green ring, making them seem to have the power to pierce your soul!
He had those faint lines in the higher cheekbones and a square jaw peppered with a dark stubble that framed kissable lips (for at least one single girl, who wasn’t me) as his bottom lip was slightly fuller than the top. And like the other two, his hair was also red, but it was darker, and more auburn. He also wore it in long waves, with half of it tied back off his face in a full and messy manbun, with it reaching down past his shoulders.
Gods, it made him look sexy, even with the blindingly obvious scar on his face that some may have believed tarnished his beauty…I, however, did not.
But it looked like a recent injury or one that had only just been made, which I had a feeling wasn’t the case. This was because there was no blood on his face or down his neck. Yet it was one that looked red raw and newly inflicted. It ran straight down through his left eye starting an inch from his hairline and ending level with his nostrils. And besides it being strange in the fact that it didn’t look to have ever healed properly, the shape of it was odd too. As the top of it forked into two points, making it look like a lizard’s tongue and having me instantly question, what had done this to him?
This question died the moment I got a full look at his body, unable to help myself when I scanned the length of him. He was huge, and if he had been an Avenger, then he would have been the Captain America of the group. This was thanks to his large shoulders, and beefy arms that looked like he spent a lot of time hammering punchbags off their chains with his large fists. And this was all seen even with his clothes on, so I didn’t even want to think how many muscles there were without!
But then, he wasn’t much bigger than Lucius in this department, so it wasn’t as if I needed much of an imagination as Lucius was a powerhouse of sheer muscle and strength, one I was missing like crazy.
“Okay, so I am going to take a wild stab in Hell here and say that you three aren’t going to kill me any time soon or eat me, seeing as you are no longer a giant three headed Dragon.” The second I said this Trice and Gryph both winced before the big guy dragged a hand down his face and said,
“Och na, she's dane it noo.” Which I think meant that I had done something I shouldn’t have. This became clear when Vern narrowed his eyes and said,
“Och na, she didnae say that!” he said looking at Gryph who shrugged his massive shoulders whilst Trice said,
“Let it go, Vern.”
“Na, I will not let it goo,” he said slowly mimicking Trice’s correct use of words,
“I’m going ta skelp yer wee behind shuid ye ca' me a dragon again, lass!” Vern said making me frown before leaning towards Trice and asked quietly,
“And what’s skelp?” Trice’s lips twitched as Gryph burst out laughing, after putting his hands on his bare abs and bending slightly.
“To smack your bottom is what it be!” Vern said translating himself and making my mouth drop open in shock.
“You will not!” I said putting my hands on my hips.
“Aye ah bloody wull!”
“Listen here, mister touchy Dragon man, if you even try to smack my behind, I will put you on your ass so fast you will think your head is spinning!” I threatened now stepping up to him and looking up with no fear in my gaze. Meanwhile, his hazel eyes almost glistened as he was obviously finding this threat amusing. Something that was confirmed when he mimicked my stance by putting his hands on his hips and getting closer to my face.
“Is that so now?” he asked, purposely holding back the heavy words of his accent.
“Try it and see where it gets you!” The playful challenge in his eyes was again easy to see and I waited, hoping he wasn’t as quick as he looked. But then he looked to Trice who shook his head telling him no, whilst Gryph just shrugged his shoulders. Then, trying to take me off guard, he lunged for me making me side-step and grab his arm, before taking it with me as I ducked behind him. After this I forced his body to roll with it, so he was now on the floor looking up at me with astonishment. This made Gryph boom with laughter and slap his hands to his knees and he bent over even further this time. Trice also chuckled and placed a hand on my shoulder, telling me,
“Alright, lass enough show and tell, consider us impressed.”
“Aye, mak’ that, bloody impressed!” Gryph said laughing some more. Meanwhile Vern still looked shocked, even as Trice offered him his hand.
“Come on, get your arse up!” Vern slapped a hand to his and said,
“A dinnae ken whither to be pissed off or turned on,” as he was pulled to his feet.
“Ah ken which one I a'm,” Gryph said winking at me and making me chuckle.
“Alright, so let’s make a deal, I won’t call you the D word again if you explain to me what happened back there and who are you guys?” I said folding my arms as I expected answers.
“Well, we are ne no, Drake, Lindwrum, Amphiptere, Wrym or fckin Dragon! I am a Wyvern, hence the name, the big bastard is a Gryphon, gain’ hence the name and tis broody bastard ere is a Cock tease!” Vern said nudging Trice whilst laughing at his own joke and making him roll his eyes once in return. This was before Trice swiftly turned and delivered a gut punch to him, making him double over and cough through the hit. Then Trice walked calmly over to me and informed me,
“Aye, McBain, 'n' we bring th' pain!” Vern added with a wink.
“'N' whit micht yer name be, lassie?” Gryph asked with a great big grin that never seemed to leave his face. But I granted Trice a questioning look making him get closer to my face and whisper softly,
“He wishes tae know ye name, lass.”
“Oh, well it’s uh Emmie… my name is Emmie,” I said deciding this was probably the safest name to give, seeing as it was the one most rarely used unless by my closest friends.
“And exactly how did ye come to be ‘ere uh, Emmie?” Trice asked mimicking my hesitation whilst circling me and looking me up and down, just as Vern did the same, also looking at me suspiciously. As for Gryph, well he just grinned at me.
“I don’t remember, but I think it had something to do with a witch,” I said thinking this was most likely the safest thing to say.
“We don’t get many humans down here, do we brothers?” Trice said, stating the obvious and clearly not believing me completely.
“Na, nae unless ye be deid, and ye be tae bonnie fur that, lass.” Vern agreed.
“Look, all I need to do is try and find a way back, and seeing as you three seem like the helpful types, how about you help a girl out?” I asked making Trice fold his arms, making the leather of his jacket groan at his biceps. Vern gave me a wry look and for once, Gryph looked slightly less happy.
“We have a duty to our King,” Trice stated firmly and Gods, he could be intimidating.
“Okay, so what does that mean exactly?” I asked, not liking the sound of this.
“It means ye be shit oot o' luck, lass,” Vern said making me frown, until Trice explained,
“This be his Kingdom we are in ‘n’ that means everything in it belongs tae him.”
“Everything?” I asked with my voice breaking and ending higher.
“Aye, even us, lass,” Gryph answered making my eyes widen in surprise.
“We are blood bound to him and therefore we follow his law,” Trice informed me and suddenly this wasn’t sounding so good.
“And this law means…?” I let that question linger, rolling my hand around,
“That ye belongs to him now,” Trice said making Vern cut in and finish,
“'N' we mist deliver.”
“Aye, we mist,” Gryph added now looking regretful.
But despite this new revelation, what they didn’t know was that I was just viewing this as a safe passage and nothing more. As I knew that at least if they planned to deliver me to their king, then they intended to do so with me still breathing and in one piece. Otherwise they would have no doubt just tied me up and gagged me by now.
Besides, I would let them take me as far as I could go and then I would sneak off when they were least expecting it. Getting as far as I could until somehow I could find a way to reach the one man in Hell I knew would help me…
My grandfather, the Prince of Lust.
“So, what now?” I asked, after releasing a frustrated sigh. But Trice turned his back on me and paused just before walking down the hill to tell me,
“Now, lass…
“We walk.”
Chapter 16
Kingdom of the Dead
“Erm, I hate to point out the obvious here but why are we walking?” I asked after rushing to catch up to the three brothers, who were making their way down the hill and past the destruction their crashing shifter form had made.
“Ah think th' wee Lassie likes yer dragon!” Gryph teased his brother Vern, pushing on his arm and making him have to save himself from tumbling off to one side.
“Haud yer wheesht!” Vern replied just as I was catching up to Trice who I thought was the more helpful one in translating.
“What did he say?”
“He told him tae shut up,” Trice said granting a brief look down at me.
“Aye, that’s whit ah said,” Vern said winking at me in that charming cheeky way of his as he passed me.
“So why aren’t we…you know…” I asked making a flying motion with one hand, causing Trice to raise a brow at me. This was before Gryph came past and with a chuckle told me,
“Fur this wid happen, lass.” Then he motioned with his massive hand a flying motion before crashing it into his other hand with a loud slap. Then as my eyes widened, he burst into a belly shaking laughter before walking past to catch up with Vern. Meanwhile, I wasn’t watching where I was going and being clumsy me, I managed to trip in a field of nothing but grass…well, grass and my own feet, which was enough apparently, I thought with an eye roll.
But Trice, who was still walking next to me, caught my arm and steadied me, with nothing but a nod when I thanked him. I seriously had to question how in life I could fight like a badass but be clumsy enough to trip over my own damn body parts! Maybe it was the universe trying to equal things out and create a balance. But then, if that was the case, why didn’t I see my sexy boyfriend tripping over his own ass all day long, huh? Yep, totally not fair!
“We kin only combine our shifted forms fur so lang, after that we need time tae recoup our energy before a shift is possible,” Trice said deciding to inform me, explaining in greater depth as to what his brother Gryph’s explanation was and letting slip more of his accent when doing so. This made me ask,
“How come your accent isn’t as strong as theirs?”
“Fur he's a posh bastard, that’s how come!” Vern answered over his shoulder making Trice groan in irritation.
“I spent mair of mah time travelling,” was his reason, which with the stern look in his eyes, I decided not to press further.
“So, we are walking to wherever this king is then?” I asked making Gryph chuckle when Vern replied nudging his brother,
“Aye, if yi'll waant tae be fifty by th' time ye git thare!” Then he laughed as well.
“Uh…okay, so what’s the plan then, are we going to try and get transport or something?”
“Transport! where dae ye think, lassie, th' London underground?” Vern replied after first turning around, raising his arms to his sides and adding,
“Dae ye see a bus or a black cab tae hail?”
“No, but I do see a jackass shifter that I just hitched a ride with that gotta say, wasn’t really on my agenda but considering I woke up in Hell today, then I am kinda telling my brain that if a million fucking pixies showed up right now dragging behind them Santa’s sledge and nine dead reindeers, then I wouldn’t exactly be surprised.” At this Trice smirked and both Vern and Gryph laughed.
“Ah knew ah wid lik' ye, lass!” Vern said making Gryph snort an agreement before saying,
“Aye 'n' she be a bonnie lass tae!”
“And bonnie means…” I asked letting that question tail off.
“Beautiful…it means he thinks yer beautiful,” Trice said in such a way that it made me blush, especially when Vern said with a wink,
“Aye, we a’ dae, isn’t that right, brother?” Trice scowled at him making Vern laugh before the broody brother answered with a simple,
“Aye.” This signified the end to that strange conversation.
After this I discovered the brothers weren’t kidding when they said we would walk, because we did just that…and some! Of course, the brothers didn’t get tired but considering they weren’t human, then this wasn’t surprising.
“Ah kin carry ye if ye lik'?” Gryph said ruffling my hair a bit in an affectionate way.
“Tis not far now,” Trice replied for me, doing so in a way that was trying to silently translate something for his brother, making me first frown up at him in question. He ignored this and I smiled up at Gryph instead,
“Thanks for the offer big guy, but I’m okay.” He shrugged his shoulders and chuckled, which seemed to be his answer for most things.
“So not far till what
…oh wow!” My questioning ended with my jaw near dropping to the floor as we finally made it over the biggest hill yet. This was because I was now faced with a colossal wall that looked like a giant wave, made not of water but of rock, as if it had once been a cliffside that over millions of years the wind travelling at the same angle had eroded a deep curved gouge along the centre, giving it this beautiful effect.
It also looked as tall as the Eiffel Tower and spanned so far on both sides from where we stood, it went beyond what my sight was capable of. Meaning that the wall was at least hundreds of miles long. It was also made from a rusty orange coloured rock that gave it the appearance as if it was made of sand and all it needed was a giant’s finger to come along and run down its length for it to crumble to the ground.
But the real beauty came at the sculptured entrance that honestly left me wondering how such a feat was ever accomplished. Because the size of the opening surpassed that of the height of the wall and looked like an enormous demonic skull with its mouth open.
The skull was carved high above the ledge of the wall, which was topped with a crown of bone underneath the veil of a cloak. One that swooped down the sides to the ground and created the main opening. The skull itself had a sloping forehead from a prominent brow line, that then had two horns curling up out of where the eye sockets should have been. These rose up and framed the crown, with their points ending tipped up at the red sky.
Two slits were recognisable as being the nose, with the top of the jaw hanging down over the side of the ledge. This had a single row of demonic fangs pointing to the ground like carved stalactites that looked ready to crush you into pulp if they were to crack and fall as you passed through.
Kingdoms Of Hell: Vampire Paranormal Romance (Transfusion Book 7) Page 14
