Chapter 10
Hellfire and Dude Bros
With a wicked grin, Malachi snuck a little closer.
His heart began beating wildly in his chest with excitement.
Not only for the action to come, but also that Chuck trusted him enough to let him act.
Taking a deep breath, he charged forward, moving so quietly and quickly that he was a noiseless blur. One, two, three, DUCK!
His jaws latched onto the man’s wrist and clamped down.
As expected, the man screamed and tried to fire the gun, but Malachi didn’t want to chance Chuck getting hit, so he used his power to jam the trigger.
Screaming even louder now, George let go of the little girl and tried to pry Malachi’s jaws from his wrist. Snarls erupted from Malachi’s throat as he warned the man to stop fighting.
Briefly, he let his eyes flash red with Hellfire, which had the desired effect of freezing the suspect so Malachi could slam him to the ground.
He lay across the man’s chest and growled in his face.
Try it. Try to get up motherfucker, I’ll eat your soul and drink the blood from your carcass.
A small whimper caught Malachi’s attention, and from the corner of his eye, he saw the little girl covering her eyes with fear. Quickly, he called to Chuck, suspect secured, get the kid!
A rustle in the branches announced Chuck as she burst through, squatting quickly to check on the child.
She gave continuous reassurances to the little one, promising her it was now safe.
Radioing her position in, they were quickly surrounded by other officers who took charge of the girl and cuffed the now sobbing but compliant George.
“Demon!” the man shrieked, pointing a bleeding, trembling finger. “El Diablo!” He backed up and begged the officers to take him away.
Malachi simply sat and tilted his head in average dog fashion, letting his tongue hang out like he was just the neighbor’s pet.
He did his best to look as innocuous as possible.
Panting, he released a friendly bark and did a silly dance in front of the child.
As expected, she giggled and threw her arms around his neck.
He licked her face and let her hold him tightly.
“Yeah, that’s a devil, alright!” chuckled one of the officers, dragging George to the waiting car. “Watch out, big spooky puppy coming in hot!” The other officer laughed and grabbed the man’s other arm to assist in removing him from the scene.
The scene lieutenant eyed Malachi with a narrowed gaze, slowly shaking his head. “Damn fine officer you got there, Charles. Keep him healthy.” He spun on his heel and hurried away.
Soon, another officer collected the child to reunite her with her family.
Finally, it was just Chuck and Malachi at her vehicle.
Chuck was absently rubbing his ears and staring up at the single small fluffy cloud gently floating past in the otherwise clear sky.
She sighed and shook her head before dropping to a knee by him.
Her aura was such a confusing mix of colors and was so tangled, he gave up trying to decipher it.
“Malachi, you did a good thing today. I don’t know how you managed that, but I’m impressed and grateful.
Also,”—she blew out a heavy breath laced with worry—“I’m in a lot of trouble.
My body camera will pick up that I let you off-leash and go against protocol.
I would do it again, without a doubt, to save that kiddo, but I have a feeling that might have just ended our partnership. ”
A loud whine slipped from his throat before he could stop it. No! Chuck, I’m sorry! I didn’t want you to get in trouble! I just wanted to help!
“I know, Mal. I know. But what’s done is done.
Don’t worry, I personally adopted you, so I’m pretty sure I can keep you.
But your days as a K-9 may be limited. I just don’t know.
” Her troubled gaze met his, and her lower lip trembled.
“Dammit, I’m so sorry. I know you’ve enjoyed this.
And we could’ve made such a difference!”
Malachi growled then. No one was taking him from his Chuck.
Fuck that! He told her. Laughing as she blinked in surprise, he stuck his nose on her body camera then shot a bolt of Hellfire into it, melting the inner workings and destroying the recordings.
I got you, babe, he thought to himself as he chuckled in his head.
Chuck gasped, “What did you do? Malachi?” She grabbed the camera and unhooked it from her vest. Holding it in front of her, she dropped it as the heat from the melted glass and plastic scorched her fingers.
She blew on them and eyed him warily. “Shit, Malachi, I appreciate the gesture, but how in the hell did you do that?”
Lowering his head, he replied, I’m sorry, Chuck, I didn’t mean to hurt you.
I just don’t want you to get in trouble.
I… I don’t know how I did that. I was worried about you, and it happened.
I’m scared, Chuck. What if someone takes me away from you?
You’re my only chance to find out what happened to me.
The only one who would help me. And I like you; I care about you.
For good measure, he covered his eyes with his paws and moaned miserably.
To his utter surprise, mixed with a bit of horror, he realized it was true.
He did care about her and wasn’t sure how he was going to balance it with trying to corrupt her soul.
A shaking hand landed on his neck. “No, Malachi, it’s okay.
I don’t want anyone to take you from me either; you’re my best friend.
I want to help you. I will help you.” She plopped onto the ground and pulled him close, burying her face in his fur.
“No one is taking you from me. We are going to figure this out.” Her aura glowed bright gold with certainty as he relaxed in her embrace.
Friend, he thought quietly, happily. He’d never had one before.
After she filed her report, Chuck requested to leave for the day and let Malachi have a rest to which their lieutenant readily agreed. They’d already proven indispensable in his eyes, and he didn’t want to wear them out.
A quick change of clothes later, Chuck grabbed Reena and whisked the three of them off to their favorite park to relax.
Reena romped happily in the grass, snapping at butterflies and growling at crickets.
Malachi lounged next to Chuck, where she was sprawled on a blanket.
On her stomach, her arms crossed under her chin, she watched Reena with a soft smile.
“At least Reena is carefree,” she murmured to him.
Not hard to be conflict-free when there’s not a lot of thoughts in your head, Malachi snorted.
Coughing into her arm to hold back her laughter, Chuck glanced at him. “So now that we can talk—I guess this is talking—tell me more about what’s going on. Who did this to you? How long have you been like this? Who were you before? Or I guess you’re still you but like… as a person.”
Malachi hesitated, unsure how much to reveal.
Misunderstanding his quiet, she murmured, “It’s okay, Mal, if it’s too painful to discuss, you don’t have to.”
Shaking his head, he sighed heavily. It’s not that, it’s just that I don’t know all the answers.
I mean, I can tell you what I look like as a human, and that I woke up in this dog body right before you saw me.
I was a dog for all of about five minutes when you walked up to my cage.
I’m not sure how it happened or who did it.
All I can say is it was someone with some dark, powerful magic for sure.
Sighing heavily again, he settled his chin on his paws.
I wasn’t a good person, Chuck. I’m sure on some level I deserved this.
“Don’t say that!” Chuck demanded fiercely, sitting up slightly.
“No one deserves this. Malachi, you are a good person. Look how much you help me! And that little girl today. You saved her life, and mine. You saved those people at the news station. And you look after Reena, too! No one who does all those things is a bad person.” She rubbed the back of his neck.
“Tell me what you look like. How old are you? Are you tall? Do you have black hair as a… man?”
Chuckling, Malachi leaned against her. Yeah, I have black hair, but my eyes were blue before.
I don’t know if they’ll stay brown or go back to blue eventually.
I’m tall, about six feet four. I’m not trying to be conceited, but I’ve been told I’m a good-looking guy. I’m only two hund—um, twenty-eight.
If Chuck heard his near slip-up on his age, she didn’t mention it. He figured the static she mentioned before might have muffled it.
“Hmm, sounds like the kind of guy I’d want to date,” she muttered, before her eyes went wide.
“Umm, that didn’t come out right. I’m not saying I want to date you.
I meant that you sound like a handsome guy.
You’re a handsome dog, so that makes sense.
And wow, that didn’t come out right either!
” She buried her face in her arms, cheeks burning, aura swirling with orange and a hint of red.
Malachi studied that glow intensely, surprised to see affection mingling there.
He decided she liked him as a dog—a good boy.
Not wanting to embarrass her further—another foreign concept to him—he changed the subject.
What about you? Tell me more about your family.
Where’s your mom? What was your dad like?