Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Why don't we just summon Hades?” I asked as we prepared to attack. Or rather, they prepared to attack, and I prepared to watch them.
“He can't get involved until we have Silas in hand,” Gage said. “Now, remember what I said.”
“I know. Stick beside you.”
“And you have the magic-nulling manacles?”
I patted my pocket and the chains uniting the manacles Gage had charged me with carrying clinked.
Gage nodded as he looked me over. I had Garret's hoodie on. Luckily, he had an extra one in the truck because, without that hood up, my blonde hair was a beacon in the night. And the only chance we had was if they got to Silas before he saw us.
“Let's go,” Garret said.
Gage remained in his man's body, but the other two shifted into hound form and went transparent. Not invisible, although they were hard for even me to see, and I was a foot away. Ghosts in the night. We crept from tree to tree, blending with the shadows. The manacles were a heavy, clanking weight, and I ended up gripping them through my pocket to silence them. Then the trees dwindled to nothing, and we had to dash across the lawn. I kept looking at the house, hoping that Silas wasn't staring back at me through one of the darkened windows. We crept around the side of the house and finally saw a sign of life—a light coming from one of the back windows.
Gage and I approached the window while the other two walked through the wall, going invisible as they did. Gage didn't look in the window, just pressed up against the wall beside it, waving at me to do the same. Then we listened.
Because Silas was talking to someone.
“—anything yet,” Silas said. “I don't want Hades to know that I have Host armies gathering all over America. We have to be quiet until we're ready to launch a united attack. After we take the States, we'll move on to Europe.”
I widened my eyes at Gage. But he wasn't looking at me. He was too busy squishing his lips together to hold back a curse. Probably a bad one.
“Stay here,” Gage mouthed as he pointed at the ground.
I nodded.
He pushed out of his pants and shifted, going right into invisibility. I remained pressed against the wall, listening to Silas continue his conversation with whatever minion he was speaking to—I assumed on the phone. Meanwhile, Gage entered the house to join his team. At least, I assumed he did.
I waited. It didn't take long. A few minutes later, Silas ended his call. The hounds must have been waiting for that, gleaning all the information they could before they attacked, because seconds after Silas went silent, he shouted wordlessly in shock. Then came the sound of growling.
Swinging away from the wall, I peered in through the window. All three hounds were visible, having gone into physical form to attack Silas. One of them already had Silas's ankle in his teeth. Another struck as I watched, jumping onto Silas to take him to the floor. As that happened, Gage shifted back into his man's body and ran to open the window.
“The manacles, Indie!” Gage said as he reached out.
But before I could hand them to him, light blinded me, bursting from Silas's body to send Garret and Gideon tumbling away. Since Silas had been on the floor he only slid a few feet backward, stopped by a table leg. Then he cursed and jumped to his feet.
Only Garret remained unaffected by the light show, his back turned on it. He spun and jumped onto Silas, taking him back to the ground. The two of them rolled and wrestled, Gage trying to bring Silas to the window where I waited with the manacles. Silas lashed out with magic, but whatever he used, it didn't seem to affect Garret. Then, as they passed a couch, he grabbed something off the cushion—a gun.
“Garret!” I shouted and threw the manacles at Silas's head.
Gideon bit Silas's gun-hand while the manacles simultaneously hit Silas in the temple. The gun went off, Silas floundered, and Gage flinched. I searched for blood on Gage as he dove for the falling manacles but didn't see any. Then Garret joined the mix, taking Silas into a roll with Gideon. Gage ran for the melee, the manacles dangling from one hand. And when Silas saw those cuffs, he went wild.
Thrashing as he dropped to the ground, Silas fought to get free of Gideon and Garret. But their bites were too strong. They also had a determination to please their master driving them. They couldn't fail Hades.
Blood sprayed. Gage reached the roiling mass of bodies and grappled for one of Silas's wrists. Silas bashed into him, sending Gage stumbling back. He steadied himself and jumped back into the fray.
“You fucking dogs!” Silas shouted. “I'll kill you! I'm going to kill every fucking Cerberus on this planet!”
Light blasted from Silas again, but this time, my mates were prepared for it. They held on and rolled with Silas, crashing into a display cabinet. Glass shattered and rained down on them along with the random chatchkies inside the case. Silas grunted when a porcelain figurine hit him on the head.
Another blast came, sending Gage reeling back.
And another.
And another.
That's when I saw the haze. At first, I thought it was a trick of the light. Just a flash off glass. But then it moved in a very sentient way. I saw limbs—hands lifting.
“Shit,” I whispered and ran for the backdoor. “What am I doing?” I reached the door and found it locked. “Of course.” I rolled my eyes, but then the sound of a hound whimpering jolted me into action.
I kicked the door. It didn't budge.
“Motherfucker!” I shouted and kicked it again, channeling all of my rage and fear into my foot.
I didn't have boots on, just a pair of flats. Kicking that door should have hurt. It didn't. And it shouldn't have worked, but it did. The door cracked and went swinging inward. I gaped at it a second before I ran through the opening and down a corridor, passing the entrance to the room the hounds were in with Silas. I went to the next room over and there it was. The hazy form was still there, standing in a connecting doorway. I ran toward it with no plan in mind beyond tackling it. It moved as I ran. I assume it had noticed me.
Light gathered around it until it became blinding. I closed my eyes and kept going. A grunt came when I hit. Meanwhile, I heard canine growling and Gage grunting. I had to distract this guy long enough for my mates to manacle Silas. So I fought dirty. Yup, I kneed it in the groin, hoping it was a him and that a wounded dick would hut a god as much as a human. My gamble paid off. The hazy form was indeed a man, confirmed by the very male cry of pain he emitted as he fell backward. The light winked out, but his body remained hazy.
Then he vanished.
I ran into the other room just in time to see the hazy form appear behind Gage. “Gage, behind you!” I shouted.
Gage automatically ducked.
A blade swung over his head. A huge, long, sharp blade! Whoever that glowing haze was, he knew the hounds couldn't be hurt by god magic. Knocked aside, yes, that had been proven, but not hurt. So he was resorting to more hands-on measures.
Gage kicked out at the haze, but it vanished again. It reappeared beside the wrestling ball of hounds and Silas. Or rather, the weapon it wielded did. That vicious blade seemed to slice its way out of thin air, coming down toward a hound. I shouted again, and Garret released Silas to leap out of the way. Another slice, and Gideon had to do the same.
As soon as the hounds released him, Silas vanished. The blade remained a second longer, hovering in midair as if in threat, and then it disappeared as well.
All three hounds lifted their heads and howled in fury.