Kobal
“What time is it?” River murmured against my chest.
I ran my fingers up and down her back, savoring the scent of me all over her. “I don’t know. We do not keep time in Hell.”
I’d spent over fifteen hundred years of my life here. I was the only demon born of Hell fire, yet I’d forgotten there was no concept of time within this place. On Earth, the sun marked the start and end of each day. The humans were aware of every passing day; days they would never get back again, but somehow they rose to face each new one.
There was none of that here. There was only an eternity if one didn’t get struck down by a fellow demon or one of Lucifer’s followers.
Lifting her head, she folded her hands on my chest and rested her chin on top of them. With the amount of times we’d had sex and the flow of life teeming within the forest around us, she fairly glowed with vitality as she stared at me.
“Why don’t you keep time?” she asked.
I ran my fingers through her hair, watching as the raven locks shone within the light of the pool. “Time passes differently here because it is barely acknowledged. We have no sun to mark the passing of our days, only the routine of waking and sleeping, but who knows when that occurs compared to your human world.”
Her brow furrowed. “Then how do you know how old you are?”
“We know our ages because once a year the fires of Hell burn hotter for one day only. They can be seen throughout all of the caverns when it occurs. That day marks the passing of a year to us. Whether the year is the same as a human’s, I don’t know. From my time on Earth, I would guess them to be very close. On the day the Hell fires burn hotter, every demon becomes a year older, even if that demon is only a new-born babe at the time.”
“Fascinating.”
I couldn’t help but smile as my hand stilled in her hair. “Or boring.”
“Never boring.” Her breath hitched when her breasts rubbed over my chest.
“We should probably get dressed before we never leave here,” I told her.
“I’m not sure I wouldn’t mind staying. It’s not such a bad place to be.”
I kissed her mouth before reluctantly untangling myself from her. “You wouldn’t be saying that in a few days when the forest is feeding on us.”
“No, probably not.” Sitting up, she drew her knees against her chest and hugged them there. “But I’m not sure where I left my clothes.”
I pulled on the pants Magnus had given me to wear. “I’ll retrieve them.”
Resting her chin on her knees, her gaze raptly watched my every movement. I took a deep breath to gain control of myself before walking over to her with my shirt in hand. “Raise your arms.”
I groaned when she lifted her arms for me, causing her breasts to sway enticingly with the movement. My marks marred her skin from where I’d claimed her as mine over and over again, yet the compulsion to do so again gripped me.
“Must go,” I grated from between my teeth and hurriedly slipped the black shirt around her back and onto her arms.
The soft material made from the calamut leaves swallowed her slender frame, making her appear smaller and more fragile, yet so incredibly sexy. She pulled it forward, holding it closed against her front.
“Button it,” I said, unwilling to trust myself to touch her again right now. Glancing down, she began to slide the buttons into place. “I’ll be right back with your clothes. You’ll be safe here.” She nodded, but her gaze remained focused on the last of the buttons. I hesitated as I watched her. “Maybe you should come with me.”
“I’ll be fine here. I won’t run away, but if I go with you, I can’t promise I won’t jump your bones again.”
A short burst of laughter escaped me. “I can’t promise I’ll stop you.”
Her radiant smile robbed me of my breath. “Go,” she said with a wave of her hand.
I hesitated for a second, but apart right now was the only way both of us would end up fully clothed again. I turned and strode into the woods, retrieving River’s discarded clothes as I went. After reclaiming one of her boots, I rose to survey the trees surrounding me. Scenting the air, I sensed no hint of a threat out there.
I retrieved River’s shirt from the forest floor and turned to head back to where I’d left her when motion from my right caught my attention. Through the thick woods, I spotted Corson and Magnus making their way through the trees. I stopped and waited for them to reach me.
“Is Hawk under control?” I asked gruffly.
Corson’s orange eyes dropped briefly to River’s clothes in my hand before returning to me. “Yes.”
“Good. I’ll meet you on the road in five minutes,” I told them and slipped back into the trees.
I found River kneeling by one of the fire pools, her hair tumbling about her shoulders as she stared into the fire. I stepped beside her, my gaze sliding over her slender back and the round curve of her ass beneath my shirt. She brushed her hair back and lifted her head to smile at me. Even after the numerous times I’d taken her, I could feel the effects of the forest and her enticing body luring me in once more.
“I should probably get dressed,” she said and flicked a pointed glance at the growing bulge in my pants.
“Yes,” I said more brusquely than I’d intended.
She chuckled before taking her clothes and boots from my grasp and rising fluidly to her feet. I couldn’t tear my gaze away from her as she walked a few feet away and tugged my shirt off. I feasted on the display of her naked body when she tossed my shirt to me.
“I actually like this place,” she said as she pulled her shirt on.
Undoing the buttons on my shirt, I slid it on and settled it into place. “It is different from any of the other places here.”
She glanced at me while she buttoned her pants. Her attention turned to her hair as she tried to comb her fingers through it. “I’d kill Lucifer for a hair brush right now.”
My mouth quirked in a smile as I watched her work the tangles from her hair. “Would you like me to help you with that?”
“No, I think I may find myself undressed again if you do.”
I leaned against the calamut tree behind me. “You would,” I said as I folded my arms over my chest to watch her.
“I do love your honesty.”
“You just love me.”
“That too.”
She worked on trying to untangle her hair for a few more minutes before sighing and letting it fall about her shoulders. She shoved her feet into the boots before leaning against one of the trees to tie them. “Oh,” she breathed.
She stepped away from the tree and turned to face it. Her gaze ran over the trunk as she studied the black bark with crevices nearly two to three inches deep in some areas. My hands fell to my sides and I stepped away from the tree.
“What is it?” I demanded.
“It’s… it’s…” Her voice trailed off, and her fingers trembled as she stretched them out to settle them on the bark. Blue sparks shot across the tips of her fingers and her eyes closed. “It’s amazing,” she breathed.
I glanced between her and the tree as she stepped closer and rested her forehead against it. Lifting her forehead, her head tipped back to peer into the thick bowers above her. The leaves of the tree fluttered as if stirred by a breeze, but no wind moved through here.
I strode forward to pull her away. I’d seen what these trees could do when provoked, but before I could get to her, one of the lower branches swung out and dipped toward her. “River, get away!” I shouted.
She didn’t move as the blue light spread over her body. The tip of the branch brushed against her side. Racing forward, I leapt over the branch and pulled her against me. The leaves caressed her skin as I released a ferocious snarl.
“What are you doing?” she demanded as the leaves spread to cover her in what could only be called a hug.
“You don’t know what these trees are capable of,” I said, though confusion swirled through me as another branch dipped down to run over her hair. She dug her heels in when I tried to jerk her away again.
“It’s not trying to hurt me,” she said stubbornly.
“You can’t know that.”
“But I do know,” she insisted as she turned her cheek into a leaf three times the size of her head.
“Don’t! I’ve seen these trees rend a demon limb from limb for harming a tree nymph.”
She squirmed in my arms. “I’m not doing anything to the tree nymphs, and they’re not trying to hurt me. They’re amazing, Kobal.”
My grip on her eased as more limbs descended, and one turned over to offer her the fruit within. She glanced at me questioningly as the large prury fruit quivered before her. “Can I?” she asked.
I stared at the fruit, then at the tree in confusion. Calamut trees were known for their viciousness, their protective streak, and their ability to feed on sexual energy. They were not known for their kindness. Perhaps this was what they did with the tree nymphs, but I’d never witnessed it before.
“I think it is offering it to you,” I said. “They will not be poisonous to you, though I’m not sure what you’ll think of the taste.”
I’d never eaten the fruit, but the nymphs and canaghs did on occasion. River plucked the fruit from the tree and ran her fingers over the place where it had been taken from. The leaf coiled over her hand, giving it a squeeze before releasing her.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
She stared at the fruit for a minute before biting deep. Purple juice trickled from her lips and down her chin. Her eyes danced with merriment when they shot to me. “It’s delicious!” She wiped the juice from her mouth, and the branch that had offered her the fruit slid away. “You can let me go,” she said to me.
Reluctantly, I released her from my hold. I’d seen the trees infuriated; this was far from that. I resisted the impulse to snatch her back when she stepped further away from me. She ate the fruit as she moved through the trees, touching each one of them and laughing when they caressed her.
The trees themselves seemed to laugh as their leaves fluttered, creating a musical current in the air. I’d never seen anything more beautiful than her as she threw her arms out to her sides when the leaves and branches shifted over her. Blue light swirled over her skin, illuminating her eyes and face in a magical glow as her power swelled over her.
“Kobal.”
I turned at my name coming from deeper within the woods. Through the trees, I spotted Bale and the others standing fifty feet away and refusing to look in our direction. “You can come forth,” I said in response to Bale.
I turned my attention back to River when they started forward. Corson and Bale stepped beside me. Corson’s breath rushed out of him, and Bale gawked at River.
“What are they doing?” Hawk inquired and took a step forward. Healthy color tinged his cheeks, the lines that had been etched around his eyes and mouth yesterday had eased. Vitality and control exuded from him once more. He may not like what he’d become, but he couldn’t deny what he was and what he would have to do to survive.
Beside him, Magnus stood and stared before thrusting back his shoulders. “They are greeting their queen,” he said.
“Did they ever do this to you?” Bale inquired of me.
“No. I’ve never seen this before,” I replied.
River laughed when one of the branches lifted her hair from her shoulder before allowing it to spill down again.
“Is a calamut tree being playful?” Corson demanded.
“She feels their life force and they like it,” a skellein said from behind me.
“Have they ever done this to the nymphs?” Corson asked.
“That’s a question only the nymphs can answer,” the skellein replied as he took a drink from his flask.
“Get one of the nymphs for me and bring them here,” I commanded.
The skellein bowed his head before turning and slipping into the forest. Another branch turned over to offer River some more fruit, but she waved it away. When a branch dipped low to nudge at the backs of her knees, she sat on it. I took a step forward when it rose high into the air, lifting her into the canopy.
My heart pounded in my chest as I ran forward to stare into the trees. I’d tear the thing down with my bare hands to get to her if it became necessary. “River!” I shouted.
Her laughter floated down from above. The leaves danced and swayed as their music grew and their movement caused a breeze to drift over me. With a ripple of motion, River was lowered to the ground once more and placed down ten feet away from me.
Her face was aglow with happiness; her radiant smile eased some of the stress in my chest. The snap of a twig drew my attention away as the skellein returned with a tree nymph. The woman froze; her rosebud mouth parted as her gaze ran over the trees interacting with River. A red flush heightened her porcelain cheeks, and her blonde hair fell forward to shield her bare breasts.
“The others must see this,” she whispered.
“Have you ever experienced anything like this before?” I demanded of her.
“No, Your Highness, I have not, but the trees are a life force all their own.”
“That they are,” Magnus murmured.
My lips clamped together as I turned to survey the odd spectacle once more. River lifted her hand to touch a branch when all around her they went as still as the gargoyles could become. So fast that I barely saw them, they all pulled instantaneously away from her. River frowned in confusion, her hand remained in the air as a rush of movement filled the forest and a new, putrid scent drifted to me.
“River!” I bellowed.
Lowering my shoulders, I charged toward her as the trees creaked before heaving forward. Their leaves flattened against their bark as the ends of the branches drove deep into the ground. River threw her hands up and stumbled back as rock, forest floor, and dead leaves shot into the air around her from the impact.
The branches that didn’t drive themselves into the ground, crisscrossed through the air in an intricate webbing system that created a wall directly in front of River. I leapt over the pool of fire and embraced her against me. Something roared through the darkness and crashed into the thick wall the trees had created.
River gasped as through the crisscrossing sections of trees, red eyes glared at us. The creature hollered again and leapt at the branches. Leaves rattled and the wall swayed, but it held firm as the trees sought to protect her against the threat on the other side.
“What is that?” River inquired.
“Ogre,” I replied. “They were behind the thirty-third seal.”
Her fingers curled into my shirt. The ground shook, and to the right of us, more branches drove into the dirt and created a crisscrossing web of protection. The nymph cried out and scurried into the branches of the closest tree.
“I take it they’re not fighters,” Hawk remarked as his eyes followed the wave of trees continuing to create a wall around us.
“They’re better lovers,” Magnus confirmed. “But they’ll kill someone without a second’s hesitation.”
Releasing River, I pushed her behind me when hands the size of a table grabbed the tree limbs. Broken and bloodied black fingernails tore at the branches and leaves. The trees made an ominous sound before more branches pulled back. Instead of driving into the ground or creating a barrier, the limbs slammed into the ogre.
One pierced through the top of its shoulder and straight into the ground, pinning it into place. The ogre’s red eyes bulged as another limb shot out to wrap around its wrists and yanked its hands away from the branches it clawed at. The ogre howled as it was drug away into the never-ending night. Blood sprayed over the branches before the howl abruptly cut off.
“What just happened?” Hawk inquired.
“The trees tore it apart,” I said before turning to River. She was five shades paler than she’d been before, but her gaze was steady when it met mine.
“So we should be really glad they like River,” Hawk said.
“Yes,” I replied as the ground beneath my feet quaked once more.
“What is that?” River inquired as more branches drove into the dirt and crisscrossed through each other, surrounding us.
“More ogres,” I replied as another one crashed into the wall of branches.