Page 82 of Live Like Legends

Elise tilted her head to the side, her black hair swaying along with her. “Is she here?”

“How would he know that?” I narrowed my eyes at our surroundings, wondering how this would help us.

She ignored me and continued to stare at her pet. Axel let his tongue droop out, but then he was gone. A puff of black smoke took his place, leaving nothing else behind. Elise sat back on her heels. Reese was wiping red clay off his pants as he sidled up to me, confused.

Garrett, like Elise, didn’t look phased by what had just happened. Before I could ask any questions, the black smoke returned and so did Axel. Reese and I slowly walked over to them, careful not to make any sudden movements that could throw off whatever the fuck was going on.

Axel raised his head to stare at us, showing us his sharp canines as he happily panted. He sniffed the air, right before thin veils of smoke bellowed off of him. He slapped his tail against the ground as if he was pushing the smoke towards us.

“Elise what the hell is…” I started, but then something stopped me. The thin smoke floated right under my nostrils and I tentatively breathed it in and my breath caught.

It was cinnamon.

I nearly fell onto my knees with the way my heart started to constrict in my chest.

Axel started to whimper, pawing at Elise’s knee and then he pointed his snout over to Garrett. He pawed harder at Elise and then turned back to Garrett again.

“Leah? The kids? They’re okay?” Garrett bent down, placing his hand on top of Axel’s head. I was too stunned at everything to even consider the fact that we were all talking to a hellhound as if he was going to start speaking to us.

Axel nuzzled his face against Garrett’s palm and licked his skin. He did one solid hop and let his tongue connect with the Enchanter’s cheek. I was going to assume that was a yes to Garrett’s question.

“Can he..” I let my words trail off, not really knowing how to ask my question.

“Can he what, Nicholas?” Elise pressed.

I bit my bottom lip, readjusting my sword at my back. “Can he in some way let me know if she’s okay?”

Elise raised an eyebrow at me over her shoulder, but turned back to Axel. “Is Dani okay?”

Axel’s playful grin contorted quickly into a sneering growl. He snapped his teeth and his claws dug into the clay under his pads. Elise placed one of his hands under his chin, causing him to freeze and look at her. There was a small moment between them and then she huffed out a breath. “Shit.”

“What? What’s wrong?” I questioned.

Elise pushed up from the ground. “She’s in there, yes. Dimitri has her in a Hell locked cell.”

“Which would mean…” Reese pressed.

“Every cell in this prison is locked by Hell magic. Axel can move in and out of those cells in a shadowy form without issues. Dani’s cell is locked by Hell magic as well, but it’s also sealed with infernal fire.” She held her hand up to Reese. “And no I don’t have time to explain to you what that is.”

He rolled his eyes, but let her finish. “It just means, no entity from Purgatory or Hell alike can enter, unless he’s given permission. Axel can’t shadow in there, like he can for wherever Leah is, but he can waft her scent to us.”

“What in the demonic fuckery?” Reese muttered, pining his hazel eyes on the black dog.

Garrett stared up at the large building. “He can take us to her though? To all of them?”

Elise scoffed. “Of course he can.”

Axel wiggled his way around us, heading straight for the wide, ominous building that lay ahead of us. A breeze went bybut instead of pushing heat towards us, it felt like ice. The sweat that was at my neck froze in place at the sudden disturbance.

The heat came back with a vengeance when the cold air had moved on. Elise followed her hellhound with Garrett right on her heels. I wiped my hand across the back of my neck, looking around at the trees, trees that acted as if I was an intruder. In some type of fucked up way, I was. I felt my insides wanting to rage against me.

The darkness I’d managed to place at a simmering level since we got back from Purgatory, it boiled inside of me. I swallowed hard, resisting the urge to let it ruin this for me. I knew when to ignore it and when to acknowledge it enough so that it didn’t think it had power over me.

I curled my hands into fists at my sides and took short breaths in, letting my mind adjust.

I wasn’t going to let it win.

Half of my heart was locked away in that building and I wanted it back.

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