Bitter Blood (BBi)

Chapter 14: The Hound

Chapter Fourteen
The Hound

Rhys whirls on Avery. "Why the hell didn't you warn me!"

Avery snorts. "Hell. That's ironic."

"Avery..." Rhys growls.

"I didn't know!" she replies. "You think I'd keep something like this a secret? What would be the point in that?"

"What is this exactly?" I ask. Blue's gaze is glued to the two siblings, following every tiny movement they make.

Rhys looks over at me, generally confused. "You don't know?"

"Know what?" I demand.

Avery presses her lips together and slowly inches back into her seat. Rhys remains standing.

"Parker," Avery begins. "Blue isn't exactly what you think he is."

I roll my eyes. "I kind of gathered that."

"Yeah, I guess it is pretty obvious that he's not just a normal house cat." she stares worringly at said cat whose so calmly lying in my lap. She looks back up at me. "Parker, Blue's a Hound."

I glance between her and Rhys. "I don't know what that is."

 "Hound's are shapeshifting guardians from..." Rhys trails off.

"From?" I prompt.

"Hell." he finishes.

I arch an eyebrow. "Blue came from Hell?"

"Originally, yes." he says. "The Hounds have been on Earth just about as long as the humans have. They haven't been home in centuries."

I look down at Blue, his bright blue eyes staring back up at me almost as if he's waiting for me to acknowledge what their saying as true.

I had thought a lot about the many different reasons to how it was possible for him to change into a lion as easily as it is for me to change t-shirts. But I have to admit finding out he's a shapeshifting guardian from Hell is definitely no where near anything I had ever expected.

But I guess the last twenty-four hours has opened up my mind to what use to be the impossible. If I hadn't seen what I've seen or heard what I've heard, maybe I would laugh my way out of this house and just accept the fact that the Crane siblings are both barking mad.

No pun intended.

"So why is he here?' I ask. "And what is he guarding?"

"When Hound's first came to Earth they all came with one objective." Rhys says. "To find their Deathlings."

He takes a seat across from me again. "The Hound's greatest power has always been it's loyalty. They roam the world for decades looking for their Deathling, they spend most of their lives searching for the right person who they believe deserve such powerful companions. Once they find them they create an instantaneous bond that can't be broken or severed by anything in any one of the dimensions."

"I would love to add something in," Avery says as she sinks further back into her chair. "But I know next to nothing about Hound's compared to the wondrous book of knowledge over here."

She jerks a finger at Rhys and the corner of his mouth quirks up into a smile.

"They can only make this bond once in their entire lives and to be chosen by them is a very rare and special thing." he says. "As far as I know, Blue is one of the only thirteen Hound's left on Earth."