Chapter 22
Cara
We walk for what feels like hours, though I have no way to tell how long it’s actually been. I keep my mouth shut despite the fact that my legs are sore and my head still aches. I’m also cold, thirsty and I need to pee—none of which I mention to anyone.
Fuck, I wish this were just a nightmare instead of reality.
If they hate me for the blood in my veins, I don’t imagine they’ll rush to find me a drink or allow me to pop a squat somewhere. They’d probably prefer I die of dehydration and piss myself.
Hopefully, it doesn’t get to that point.
The landscape has changed in the last thirty minutes. Where there was once a deep, heavily treed forest, now there are fewer trees and far more mossy rocks. I keep searching for familiar landmarks or anything that could tell us where we are, but I find nothing.
Even if I somehow manage to free myself from these binds, I’m lost.
We’re not following any real path, though the grass at my feet is trampled and worn down. I wonder how many times these hellhounds have used this trail. How often do they enter our realm undetected?
Really, Cara? Our realm?
I look up from the ground to find us heading toward a tall mountain. Ted and the rest of his friends whoop with excitement, but Coop and the other captives have grown quiet.
We must be getting close to the area between our realms.
I try not to panic, my nerves a strange mix of fear and excitement that I don’t truly understand. These hellhounds kidnapped me. They want me dead. I shouldn’t be even remotely excited about any of this, but even I know rationality has no place in these things.
We continue a little farther until we reach the bottom of the mountain, and I stare into the mouth of a dark cave. The sound of water trickling from somewhere inside doesn’t soothe me, but why would it?
Somehow I know, without a doubt in my mind, that once I go inside, that’s it for me.
Ted announces a quick stop for all of us to relieve ourselves, except as I step out of line and toward a large rock I hope to squat behind, one of his friends yells at me.
I guess the pit stop is just for them.
Great.
I contemplate just squatting here in front of Coop and his friends but think better of it. Surely there will be an opportunity to relieve myself once we get to their realm. They’ll have to stop and rest at some point, won’t they?
I wish I knew more about them.
Although I can’t see Ted, I can still hear him. He’s somewhere off to the left, boasting about the demon king’s plans for the captured hellhounds. I guess when Coop said they escaped, what he really meant was they deserted their post.
I want to ask him what they were running from, but from the look on Coop’s face, it’s not a subject he wants to talk about. He looks sick and pissed off just listening to Ted go on about the demon king and his retribution.
This is all too much to wrap my brain around, but one thing is for sure: this demon king sounds like a real piece of shit. So if their desertion had anything to do with getting away from him, I can’t say I blame them.
I’m just glad Ted isn’t gloating about what they’ll do to me. I don’t suppose it’ll be very enjoyable, but knowing the details would be worse. Sometimes not knowing is easier.
Right… Keep telling yourself that.
I take a deep breath and try to move my thoughts to something other than my possible, probably inevitable demise.
Ever since Coop told me they were hellhounds, I haven’t been able to stop picturing what that means.
Once they shift, what will they look like?
Are they all three-headed dogs, like Cerberus, or do they more resemble the harbingers of death like some myths suggest?
I wish I wasn’t so curious. I shouldn’t be, considering these creatures will most likely be the cause of my painful death, but there’s a part of me that can’t wait to see them shift and experience another realm.
Maybe it’s the supposed angel blood in my system that makes me so curious.
Not that I fully believe it, because if it’s true, that means I got it from someone.
Was it my mom? My dad? Do they even know about it themselves?
So many questions I’ll never get the answers to.
And I hate unanswered questions.
Once everyone is back, they waste no time dragging us into the dark opening in the rocky mountain. I don’t really know what I expected to find, but I’m a little disappointed that it’s just a normal ass cave. Damp. Dark. Probably some bats somewhere.
I shiver as I look around, squinting to see anything in the darkness.
Okay, so maybe I shouldn’t think about bats and whatever other creatures might be in here. With everything I’ve learned today, there’s bound to be worse things out there than hellhounds and demons. Like trolls or chimeras, or the demon king himself.
After about ten minutes of walking—or, in my case, more like stumbling; these flats are so not proper footwear for trekking over wet rock—the space brightens up ahead.
It’s still too far away for me to tell what it is or where the light is coming from, but I’m just grateful to soon be out of the dark.
Ted and his buddy up front begin talking, and Coop takes the opportunity to nudge me. I turn to see what he wants and nearly startle because, wait…are his eyes glowing a little or is that just a trick of the light?
“Listen,” he begins, and I already know whatever he’s about to say isn’t something I’ll want to hear. “Once we cross the border, all of us will be forced to shift, and I won’t be able to talk to you.”
“Forced to shift,” I repeat, hoping it’ll make the words feel more real. Does that mean… I reach behind me to rub my shoulder blades. He said I have angel blood, so does that mean I’ll be forced to shift?
Coop’s chuckle breaks my mental freakout. “Sorry, sweet nephilim, I don’t think you have enough angel blood to sprout wings. Besides, our realm won’t force a shift on you. Just hellhounds and demons.”
“Oh.” A strange sensation rolls through my stomach, and I realize I’m disappointed.
Wings would have been so damn cool. What was it Lucian taught us about hellhounds, angels, and demons?
As hard as I try, I can’t focus enough to remember what we discussed in class, but something tells me I’ll find out soon enough.
I may not get wings, so I’ll just have to settle for watching a hellhound shift—and maybe even a demon—before I’m probably caged…or worse.
I can’t think about that.
Coop must sense my turn in thoughts because he says, “Don’t be afraid. I’ll look a little different—cuter, probably—but I’ll still be right here with you.”
Laughter bubbles up my throat unexpectedly at the same time a burst of light flashes up ahead. I shield my eyes from the bright glow of orange and red. Fire. But it’s not coming from a freshly lit torch. It’s coming from the creature now standing at the head of the tunnel.
“Oh my God,” I say as I stare at the huge dog-like beast. Ted is the only one of our captors no longer standing with the rest, so it must be him, but holy shit.
The creature is formidable, with massive paws and a fur coat that dances with flames.
Around its neck is a collar that glows like hot coals.
I’m transfixed at the sight, but the more I stare, the more something tugs at the corners of my mind. I’ve seen this before—in the forest with Brad. The dog that protected me. The one I brought home with me and have grown so close to.
But no, that isn’t quite right. He doesn’t have flames like this.
We’re immediately tugged forward as the first of Coop’s friends are forced through what I now understand is the realm barrier.
The cuffs they wear seem to mold with them, shifting to fit securely around their hound forms. But even with how amazed I am at the cuffs, I can’t stop thinking about the flaming creatures.
Turning to my only ally in this godforsaken cave, I whisper, “Do all hellhounds have flames like that?”
“Yes.”
Relief floods my system. Good. It’s not—
“But we can snuff them out at will. Don’t worry, I’ll get rid of mine so I don’t hurt…”
No. No, no, no. It can’t be.
“What’s wrong?”
My chest tightens, and I feel a little unsteady on my feet. “I think I adopted a hellhound.”
“What do you mean?” he asks, but then we’re tugged forward again.
I slam my mouth shut as two of our captors stand between us and another realm. Even though I’m scared, I peer around the asshole in front of me and find a new section of the cave, this one lit up by flamed sconces and the fiery forms of hellhounds.
It’s both beautiful and terrifying. All at once I’m equally warmed by their fire and chilled at the realization of what it all means.
Somehow I know this is it.
Once I pass through this barrier, I won’t ever make it home again.