2 SLY DOG
SLY DOG
R AUM AND F AUST WALKED SIDE BY SIDE DOWN THE block, dodging pedestrians easily since no one wanted to get too close to Faust.
The hellhound puppy was still small enough that he didn’t have to shift to go in public, but he was still a big black dog with red eyes. He wouldn’t look fully hellish until he was mature, but there was still something off about him to the average human, and most people were instinctively wary.
The hound was technically Iris’s, but Raum had been spending time with him over the last couple weeks since he had the most success with his training. Faust was growing quickly, and he needed discipline to blend in on Earth.
Once they turned off the main drag and there were less people on the sidewalks, Raum took up a jog, and Faust fell into a trot beside him.
Raum never put a leash on him when they ran together.
He knew Faust wouldn’t take off, and he didn’t give a fuck about dog-owner laws or scaring people. Humans could suck it.
They ran until Raum’s body was warm and his blood was pumping, the bite in the air no longer cold against his heated skin. Eventually, they reached Faust’s favorite park, and he slowed to a walk as they stepped onto the muddy brown grass.
In the last week, the temperatures had risen, and the snow was finally melting. Patches of ice still persevered in the shadows and at the bases of the trees, but the air was fresh with the scent of early spring.
Faust took off to sniff and piss on every tree, and Raum walked without caring where he was going. He tipped his head back and watched the sparrows in the trees.
He liked sparrows. They were cute and tiny, but they were badass. They beat up weaker birds who got in their way. Their little cheeps were his favorite sound in the morning when he had coffee on the balcony. Without them, all he’d hear would be the traffic.
And the emptiness in his head.
It seemed like every one of his brothers had some new purpose.
But what did he have? Morning walks with Faust. Watching his brothers bicker.
Fighting the urge to tear his ears off when he had to listen to Meph and Iris fucking through the wall between their rooms. Going to the gym to work himself to exhaustion.
Stealing pointless shit he didn’t want just to scratch the itch a little.
Escaping Hell was supposed to have been a new beginning, and it was for everyone but him. Worse, he didn’t even have Meph to keep him distracted anymore. Meph spent every spare minute with Iris now, and—
The sound of barking snapped him out of it.
Seconds later, an enormous brown dog bolted past him, so fast he felt the wind gust on his leg. The dog headed straight for Faust, who was currently sniffing the hand of a woman who seemed to have appeared from nowhere.
“Faust!” Raum shouted, warning his dog away from her before the inevitable occurred.
Too late.
The brown dog barreled into Faust. The woman, who had the misfortune to be in their path, took the weight of two large dog bodies as Faust was knocked into her from behind.
By the time she hit the ground, Raum was already running. The dogs ignored her, now fighting viciously, their snarling and snapping inches from her arms held protectively over her face, their paws stamping on her prone body.
Raum reached the chaos and didn’t even think about hiding his strength. He picked up both dogs and tossed them. He wasn’t worried about Faust, and maybe getting the wind knocked out of the other dog would calm him down.
Animals out of the way, Raum crouched beside the woman. She lowered her arms and their eyes met.
And the world disappeared.
A stunning pair of dark eyes met his. Big eyes.
Almost too big for her face. Her skin was light brown, and her hair was sleek and black and straight, wound into a thick braid that lay on the dirt like twisted rope.
Swooping dark brows complemented her features, and her nose was prominent, with a bump at the bridge and a point at the end, offsetting the unusual size of her eyes.
She stared at him, and he stared right back at her, neither of them saying anything.
Until he suddenly remembered she was flat on her back in the mud.
Shaking himself, he offered a hand and helped her stand. She looked a little shaken but otherwise unharmed, and as soon as he noted that, he started noticing other things about her body.
Like curves. So many curves. She wore a skintight matching athletic outfit that was the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
Full breasts overfilled her long-sleeve crop top, and her voluptuous hips were accentuated by the cut of the high-waisted leggings.
Both were a soft pink. Against her brown skin, it was hot as hell.
“You okay?”
She nodded mutely, still staring at him, her eyes wide and unblinking.
He stared back at her.
He wasn’t the smooth talker Meph was, but he sure as hell knew how to charm a woman. Except right now, he didn’t. He wanted to make sure she wasn’t hurt. He also wanted to know if her ass was anywhere near as fine as he was imagining.
As the awkward silence lingered, the distant sound of barking and snarling filtered through the static in his head.
He spun around and took in the scene. Faust and the brown dog were battling it out, and Faust was kicking ass. Not a surprise. Puppy or not, he was a hellhound and had the added strength of any supernatural being.
Raum put his fingers between his lips and whistled sharply. The sound pierced the commotion, and just like Raum had trained him, Faust stopped dead. He opened the jaws fixed around the other dog’s throat and trotted back like everything was A-okay.
But then there was the matter of the giant brown dog who knocked down helpless women on his way to attack other people’s pets.
Raum looked at Faust, pointed to the ground at his feet, and said, “Stay.”
Faust planted his butt on the dirt.
Then Raum ran toward the other dog, who was already up and swinging his big head around as if looking for someone else to attack. Raum whistled again, getting the animal to look at him. It started to growl, so he growled right back. They approached each other like a face-off.
Raum stared him down.
The dog dropped his gaze.
As a rule, animals hated demons. Their instincts told them they were in the presence of something other , and they feared it. Cats went feral, dogs either cowered or went into attack mode, and other animals simply fled the vicinity.
But not with Raum. Animals always loved him, and he loved them back. And he had no idea why.
He kept staring, and the dog sank onto his haunches and dropped his head. He stared a bit more, and the dog slid forward onto his front legs, lying down. Still, Raum waited. The dog rolled onto his side and whimpered softly.
Finally, Raum crouched by his head and patted his neck. “Good boy.”
The dog’s tail thumped on the ground.
Raum noticed the leash and collar around his neck just as a woman with pale skin and a messy salt-and-pepper bun burst onto the path. She made a big show of waving her hands, shouting and obviously upset.
Raum inwardly rolled his eyes, thinking, Now what?
“I’m so sorry!” She was so distraught, he almost feared for her health. Or at least the hair on her head she was nearly tearing out as she clutched her temples. “I know how out of control he is, and I would never take him to a public park! I was just loading him into the van and he took off.”
Raum said nothing, still patting the dog’s neck, wondering why the woman was apologizing to him. It wasn’t like he’d been the one getting knocked on his ass.
Speaking of …
He twisted around, looking over to where he’d left Faust beside the woman in pink. Faust still sat dutifully.
But the woman was gone.
He fought back an irrational surge of disappointment. Like she was going to want to hang around after being flattened by a dogfight? And why would he care if she stayed anyway?
“How on earth did you do that?” the new woman asked. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Raum shrugged. He didn’t know why animals responded to him, and he sure as hell wasn’t about to open up about the black hole in his past to some random human. He didn’t even like thinking about it himself.
“Is that your dog over there?” the woman asked. “Just sitting pretty?”
Raum glanced at Faust and nodded.
“Incredible.” She pushed her glasses up her nose, studying Raum with a calculating gaze. “You must work with animals? Are you a dog trainer? Or do you work with wildlife rescue, maybe? Or—”
“No.”
“What’s your job, then?”
He hesitated. He considered saying, I’m a wanted fugitive , but went with, “Unemployed.” Both were true.
“I’m Caroline,” the woman said, sticking out a hand, “but everyone calls me Caro.” She looked to be in her fifties or sixties. The sharpness of her eyes gave her a unique face, though it was obvious from her stained jeans and messy hair that she didn’t give much thought to her appearance.
Raum stood, his new canine friend remaining at his feet.
He shook Caro’s outstretched hand but didn’t offer his name.
He doubted she cared. Ninety percent of human interactions were just people finding excuses to talk about themselves.
At the end, they walked away without remembering anything the other person said because they were only interested in their own issues.
But Caro surprised him by saying, “What’s your name?” And she was still shaking his hand.
“Raum.”
“Nice to meet you, Raum.” Caro finally dropped his hand and tilted her head, sizing him up. The same way he often did to others. It made him a little uncomfortable. “Do you want a job?”
He blinked. It wasn’t what he expected to hear.
“I work at an animal shelter,” she said, surprising him yet again. “Tiny here is one of my dogs.”
Tiny? Jesus.