Page 60 of Gift for a Demon

“No minion or demon will dare go near you. They’ll see Gaz is bonded to you, and hellhounds are feared by all demons. They’re the only creatures that can kill us.”

“The fuck?” His heart raced. “And why are you telling me? Is this another one of your games? Why would you give me something that can kill you?”

“Because you don’t want me dead.” Dave tilted his head to the side. He wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t think Melchom fully believed his words. “Even if you did, you need me alive. Having a hound will keep you safe from most demons, but you won’t be untouchable. And you still need me to provide for you. Demons will keep their distance, but they won’t bow to you because you have Gaz on your side now.”

That made more sense.

“And I am the minions’ paymaster. Don’t think I don’t have them in my pocket.”

“But don’t you want to come with me anyway? So I don’t see something I shouldn’t?”

“Demons seeing us together is riskier than you stumbling upon a painting.”

Dave frowned. Melchom had hinted at that the day before, but Dave hadn’t been sure what he meant then either. He’d been too occupied with the fear of what the cave might hold first, then with all the dogs—even if Melchom wanted to insist on calling them hellhounds—that were begging for attention.

Maybe, once Dave learned more about the way Hell worked, he could become the hellhound trainer, or something. Spending his days surrounded by dogs didn’t sound too bad. The fact that they could apparently kill demons had to be a plus, too.

“Why? I’m just your gift, right? You’ve been drilling that into my head over and over.”

Dave had begun adjusting to it, not losing sleep over it. The back and forth was giving him whiplash, though.

Gaz growled beside him, and Dave gasped. He might not have noticed a different day, but after all the time they’d spent in extremely close quarters, and with his focus on the demon… Melchom flinched.

Melchom was scared of the hellhound… but he had still told Dave she was his.

“You don’t want me to spell it out. Not yet.”

“Okay, edge lord.” Dave didn’t even try to figure out what Melchom meant. “But, actually, no, that doesn’t fly with me. So, start talking.”

He felt the demon’s anger spike, the air around them growing hotter. Gaz growled again, but Dave kept her behind him. Maybe he could figure out how to communicate with her the way demons did. That had to be a thing, even if Melchom said no human had ever managed. It was probably that no human had tried, though. Not that Dave believed he was that amazing, but he was pretty sure no other human was allowed to hang around like he was.

“Come with me.” Melchom spun on his heels, heading to the bathroom.

“Fine,” he huffed.

Dave would’ve just followed, but there was a hellhound he had to keep in mind, one that kept butting his hand.

“Okay, gorgeous, I know you need to go out, and you probably have for a while, and that’s on me, okay?” Gaz just wagged her tail at him. “I promise I’m not the worst owner ever, and I will walk you all the time, and figure everything out, but first I need to go talk to Melchom, okay? And I don’t know how long it’s gonna take, but I need you to behave in the meantime, yeah?”

“Woof!”

“I’ll take that as a yes.” They would both be in trouble if it wasn’t, but Dave didn’t say that out loud.

He remembered it was important to stay calm around dogs. They read their human’s emotions or something.

“Wish me luck, baby girl.”

A hellhound’s lick felt different than an actual dog’s, but the sentiment was the same. It helped.

Dave tilted his head to the side, watching the hellhound who seemed obsessed with him already. He should’ve gotten a dog for himself a long time ago.

Then again, now that dog would be…

Nope. Not going there.

He left Gaz there and headed to the bathroom. This time, it would be him leaning against the door. Melchom was sitting against the edge of the tub, elbows on his thighs. Dave was surprised he wasn’t tipping the tub over.

“So…” Dave shifted on his feet. “Why? Why can I now walk freely?”

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