Page 59 of The Hellbeast's Betrayal

“He means gossip,” I replied as if my natural in-built Wild Bill translator had just clicked on.

“Then you might have heard other whispers from the bottom of the barrel,” I said, another nickname used for Tartarus, as it was literally the lowest part of any Hell there was.

“Oh, I heard me some whispers alright, and I was just waitin’ on you boys showing up is all,” he replied with a grin, one that caused a dimple in his cheek to appear. And fuck me but I couldn’t wait to see what Ella made of him. The thought nearly made me smile until reality seeped back in like the cruel fucker it was.

“What did you hear, Bill?” I asked, getting myself back on track.

“Oh, loco fella so mad that he could bite himself. A big bug who likes collectin’ himself Summoners, so I hear. In fact, had one of those squirrelly fella’s in here the other day,” he said, making me lean in.

“Yeah, what did he have to say then?”

“Ah, he be bellyaching about getting out of the Vale of Thanatos, after the Death Gods Mountain fortress was taken by siege.”

I shot a look to my brother before back at Bill. Who was now rolling a gold coin in between his knuckles and shuffling a deck of cards with his other hand. His fingerless leather gloves cracking with the speed of his movements.

“Is that so?” I said in a knowing tone, as I knew there was more to come. But talking to Bill was like waiting for the adverts to end in the middle of a good movie.

“Talked about angering the Gods, a war be comin’, that type of chatter. Amassing a big army that got a lot of those realm ruler’s noses outta joint. So, I said to myself, I wonder on my own King, and how long it be until he’s down here again. And wouldn’t you know it, here you be.”

“That’s good, Bill.”

He tipped his hat, at the same time slipping his coin back in the leather band around the rim. His midnight blue eyes gleaming with promise of adventure or should I say, a reason to fire his gun.

“Well don’t go praising me yet, as I still haven’t found that young filly you been searching for,” he pointed out with a shrug of his shoulders.

“You wouldn’t have found her after all,” I admitted with a sigh, something that certainly got his attention, seeing as this had been his sole mission all these decades.

“And why’s that, she up in Heaven?”

“No, she was in the Elysian Fields, a hidden place, one that’s forbidden to enter,” I informed him, making him nod as he no doubt suspected as much. Especially considering he had pretty much scoured most of the realms in hell to find her.

“Then I be guessin’ you found her?”

“Yeah, but turns out she wasn’t who I thought she was,” I said, wondering why we were going into this shit now. But then that was the thing with Bill, he was an old soul, yet he also wasn’t. Calling me son had been a habit, as well as Big Bug. But the truth was, I was actually a fuck load of years older than him.

“No, how so?”

“Because I found my Chosen One and it wasn’t her…it was her sister,”I confessed, my tone exasperated, as it was still a mind fuck of reality to swallow.

“Well now that’s something. But it’s like I always say, if you climb in the saddle, be ready for the ride. Still, that must have plum near knocked you from Sunday, yeah, I reckon so,” he replied with a whistle, making me mutter,

“You could say that again.”

“Well, I guess that’s our cue to be leaving then, time to vamoose.”

I stopped him by laying a hand on his arm.

“This isn’t your fight, Bill,” I warned, making him smirk.

“Nope, but it is yours and that vow of mine ain’t gonna complete itself by sitting on my spurs, yearning me some coin. Besides, you will be wantin’ your little lady back, am I right?” he replied, and his tone told me I was missing something.

“Wait, what have you heard?” I asked, making him grin as he got to his feet.

“That she be in the castle of Thanatos,” he told me, shaking out his long jacket before putting it on.

“How do you know that… she was only just taken?” I asked dumbfounded, looking first to my brother and back at Bill. As I had expected him to know something but not the exact location!

“She be needin’ clothes and those girly things right?”

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