Page 4 of His Fiery Mate

It had, but he wasn’t about to tell his brother that. “I’m sure they are making plans…”

“They made them and then carried them out.” Hayden picked up a piece of parchment and held it up so Tanner could see the names of the others at the bottom. “They threw you under the bus, little brother. They said you coerced them into taking a stand with you. I don’t believe that for a minute, nor do I believe that their desire to force our females into bondings not of their choosing was guided by a benign, but misguided, belief that it was necessary to save us from extinction. Your followers are little more than thugs who only looked to their own pleasure. They requested that I pardon them, which I did.”

“Them, but not me?”

Hayden nodded. “But not without consequences. They have all been pressed into service as guardians of the In-Between for the next five years. They will live separately from our people and will have no mate nor family to call their own. Should they violate the conditions of their pardon, I will banish them into the Shadowlands to wander forever. If I didn’t believe your intentions had been honorable, I would have done the same with you.”

“You knew they would turn on me,” said Tanner, sitting down hard on the chair at Hayden’s table.

“I suspected as much. Had any of them come here with you today, I would have spared them, as well. You are to leave the Hollow and the In-Between for a period of five years to live amongst those of the living. Find your way there, Tanner. Learn a better way to address your concerns and grievances. Learn to be a better judge of those you would seek to lead.”

“I can’t come home?” Tanner asked, bleakly.

“If and when you need to, you can enter one of the safe places in the In-Between, but you are forbidden to return to the Hollow. I have not forbidden any of our kind, except those assigned to patrol the In-Between, from seeking your company. In time, who knows what may happen.”

“Where am I supposed to go? What am I supposed to do?”

Hayden laid his hand on Tanner’s shoulder. “That, little brother, is up to you.”

Tanner knocked Hayden’s hand away. “You fear that I would challenge you for leadership of the hellhounds.”

“In part. I fear even when you lost, you would not accept it, and in the end I’d be forced to kill you. I would not want that for either of us.”

“You’re a bastard, Hayden,” Tanner said, standing. “Five years is a long time. As you say, who knows what may happen.”

Without waiting for any kind of reply, Tanner picked up his bag and exited his brother’s dwelling and then shimmered from the Hollow into the land of the living. He made his way to Otter Cove and from there to Kodiak to carve out a life for himself.

Kodiak, Alaska

It hadn’t taken long to secure a job as a dishwasher at the Black Bear Diner in Kodiak, nor too long after that to know he wanted to do something with his life outside the Hollow. On his way home one night, he’d spotted a fire. Hearing a child’s cry from the top of the building, he watched as the other residents emerged and pointed to a window on the fifth floor. The sirens of the firetrucks could be heard in the distance, but watching the flames, Tanner knew the child couldn’t wait.

Tanner sprinted toward the burning building—a wreck of a decrepit apartment house—his face a mask of determination and urgency. Thick, black smoke billowed from the windows, and flames licked the sides of the structure, casting an ominous glow.

As he entered the building, the heat was intense, radiating outward and making the air almost shimmer. His clothing became stained with soot and sweat. Tanner was not afraid for his own safety, as he was a hellhound, but for that of the child. Covering his mouth and nose with one arm, he tried to filter the acrid smoke as he plunged into the inferno, but the fire repulsed him as if it were some kind of living demon. No fire had ever made a hellhound back down, though, and this one wouldn’t be the first. Quieting his mind, Tanner called forth his hellhound and galloped up the rapidly disappearing staircase. He made his way toward the sound of the terrified child. Inside, visibility was almost zero, but he navigated by sound and instinct, heading toward the cries of the child trapped within. His heart pounded in his chest, each second feeling like an eternity.

The sounds of the building creaking and fire roaring filled his ears, but he focused solely on his mission: to find and rescue the child before it was too late.

Inside the burning building, Tanner stumbled through thick smoke, guided by the faint cries. Shifting back to his human form, he found a pair of sweatpants and pulled them on. He’d have to think of an excuse for why it’s all he had on. He kicked in a door from the hallway and spotted the child in a corner, huddled and terrified, her small face streaked with soot and tears. Kneeling down, he spoke calmly despite the chaos and assured her she'd be safe and that he’d get her back to her mother. Scooping her into his arms, he shielded her from the heat and flames as best as he could and headed back out the way he’d come.

At the head of the main staircase, he could see the fire greedily eating its way up from the bottom. He spied the building’s elevator. It, too, was filled with flames, and the fresh supply of oxygen caused the fire to flare higher. No good.

“Hang on, poppet,” he said to the child. “We’re going to go for a ride.”

“Like at the amusement park?” she asked, her eyes wide, but excitement replacing fear.

He grinned at her. “Just like, only more fun. It might be scary, but we’ll be fine.”

Again, he focused his mind and shimmered from the world of living to that of the In-Between. He knew the presence of life would draw reapers, so he made his way quickly toward his goal before shimmering back into being.

With the child clutched tightly in his arms, Tanner navigated his way through the In-Between, every part of him feeling the presence of reapers closing in. His vision was blurred by smoke, and he could feel the deadly vapor of the In-Between filling his lungs with each breath. Icy, deadly fingers reached for them from behind. Tanner roared, stunning the reaper just long enough to shimmer into the back alley of the building.

God, it was cold. He headed toward the light, finally emerging from around the corner of the building into the glare of the floodlights.

“Look!” shouted one of the onlookers.

“Oh my god, he’s got her!” cried another.

“My baby,” sobbed her anxious mother as she rushed towards Tanner.

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