Page 81 of Angel Betrayed

The hound’s growls kept rumbling in his ears, and he had to dodge more swipes from those claws. The truck pushed forward faster, faster, and he felt razor-sharp teeth press into the back of his neck.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Now Seline was fighting to pull free of his grip. “Sam, you’re scaring me!”

She wasn’t going to call the beast back. Damn her. “The hellhound…” Those teeth clipped his throat. Fire burned along Sam’s flesh. “Send the beast back, now!” Another fast glance at her.

Her eyes were huge and filmed with the glimmer of tears. Tears. He’d never seen her cry. Fear had her face paling, and he knew she understood as she stared at the wounds spreading on his body. Those growls and snarls filled the truck as the hound gained strength from Sam’s blood.

“I-I can’t. I don’t know how!” Her painful confession. She stopped trying to pull away from him. “I’m sorry.”

So was he. Power pumped through him. He had to do what was necessary for survival.

The truck thundered faster, its bald tires wobbling.

Faster, faster.

Those invisible teeth snapped at him again.

“Go back!” Seline cried desperately.

Sam slammed on the brakes. His chest rammed into the steering wheel, but those teeth—those damn sharp teeth—tore free of him. A giant gaping hole appeared in the windshield—a hole that had been made by the hound’s body. He could see the ghostly image of the beast struggling to take shape on the dirt road. The beast was bloody, and its hind legs were broken.

Seline slumped beside Sam. Her head had hit the windshield an instant before the beast had gone through and sent glass shattering, but she hadn’t been thrown from the truck.

Sam still had his hold on her wrist, and his grip was far more unbreakable than any seat belt ever could be.

Her eyes were closed. Blood trickled from the wound on her head, and he was pretty sure he’d dislocated her shoulder when he’d stopped her from flying out of the vehicle.

The hound’s ghostly image began to vanish. With Seline unconscious, the hound couldn’t marshal enough energy to focus and attack again.

Sam’s fingers curled around Seline’s limp hand. He glared at the disappearing beast. “Fuck you,” he snarled and drove the truck right at the hound. Just as the front bumper reached the beast, its image completely melted away.

Her shoulder hurt. Seline felt the throbbing pain push through the cloaking darkness that surrounded her.

“We’ve got a big problem.” Sam’s angry voice.

She tensed and wondered why she couldn’t open her eyes.

“You’re sure she summoned him?” A voice she hadn’t heard before. Male. Deep. Not angry like Sam’s. More measured.

She tried to lift her lashes. Not happening. What’s wrong with me? The last thing she remembered was being in that old, beat-up truck with Sam. He’d told her…Call it off…or you die.

Then the world had stopped. No, not the world. That crappy pickup truck. Glass had exploded, and a hound’s roaring cry had filled her ears.

Then, nothing.

“The minute she went out, the hellhound vanished. The beast didn’t hurt her, not even once, but it sure tried to take more than its pound of flesh from me.” Sam again. She could feel him, knew he was close.

Sam threatened to kill me. The thought had rage building within her. She’d saved his butt, and he’d actually said that he’d kill her?

She hadn’t even seen anything in the back of that pickup. Yeah, something had been there. Once the blood started flowing, there had been no denying that fact. But she hadn’t summoned anything. She didn’t even know how to do something like that.

As for killing her? Kiss my ass, Fallen. The way Seline figured it, their deal was now over.

And the fact that it felt like Sam had ripped her heart out? Well, she’d find a way to deal with that later. She was good at dealing with disappointment.

Shouldn’t have trusted him. She knew better than to trust anyone.

Seline tried to talk, but only a moan slipped from her lips.

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