Page 77 of Muzzled

She blinked over and over in a desperate attempt to clear the haze that had settled over her vision, further blurring the already darkened terrain.

“Ryan?”

Her voice was hollow in her head, as though the sound was being carried through tin cans miles away. Pressing her palm to one ear, she tried to release the building pressure leaving her hearing damaged, her arm dropping to the ground when the exertion became too much.

Alone.

No terrifying images, no muted memories belonging to another, no flashes of visions filled with more emotion than detail.

No shade.

No Bo or Alex.

No Ryan.

The haze of her sight wavered, the peripherals darkening as it pin-holed into precision, obscured when her own blood dripped off her brow and through her lashes.

Dying.

A low howl broke through the muted silence, waxing and waning as though piercing through waves of water until there was a soft pressure on her chest, brown and amber eyes filling her limited vision among black, matted fur.

She tried to lift her hand, frowning when it refused to comply. “Hey,” she murmured, her words slurred. “You’re back already. That can’t be a good sign.”

Ryan’s muzzle lowered to her cheek, the chuffing growing fainter until she could hear nothing at all.

“I was never a dog person until I met you,” she replied, her voice tinny and distant in her head as he looked down at her, his muzzle tinged with her blood. “Are you sure it isn’t just a scratch?”

His head dropped, the twins nudging him gently until he raised it again, his distinctive eyes tearing up.

“I know you’re sorry,” she whispered, her body growing colder in the night heat.

With a deep breath, Cerberus bared his teeth and buried them into her throat.

*

Ryan could feelthe Cerberus form disintegrate around him amid the chaos, his spine aching from the hit it took when he’d landed on the hard marble with Micah’s lifeless body cradled against his underbelly to shield her from the impact.

Hands were grabbing at his paws, trying fruitlessly to open the viselike grip he had on her. He snapped his jaws blindly, grazing the odd limb with his canines while voices shouted around him. He rolled onto his stomach to hold off the assault, cocooning her against those who would toss her into Charon’s boat and force her into the abyss of hell.

No. Fucking. Way.

Hades’s voice cut through the din, punctuated with the booming baritone of Dio. “Get that thing on him and get her out of here!”

He snarled when Bo and Alex advanced on him, his hackles raised as they restrained his hindquarters. Hades circled him while Dio closed in, iron muzzle in hand. Persephone’s orders wove through the noise and he bared his teeth at her, daring her to come within striking distance. Hades’s arms locked around his throat and snapped his jaw shut, holding it until Dio shoved the muzzle over his face.

Bucking against his brothers, he rounded his back to keep his weight from crushing Micah, and snarled when Hades tightened the buckles of the muzzle around his head.

Dionysus moved into his line of sight, his hands outstretched while he crouched. “You need to let her go, Orion,” he hollered as Hades snapped a choke chain on him and jumped off his back. “Orion. Now.”

The leash was yanked, the chain tightening around his throat as he growled, his jaws locked behind the iron cage. His paws slid under Micah’s body and he clutched her, unable to focus on anything but the lifelessness of her form and the fading scent of vanilla and raspberries, while his brothers’ voices joined in the mayhem surrounding him.

His snarling began to stutter as the chain dug into his neck, cutting off his airway and pressing against his vocal cords.

You’ll have her over my dead body.

“We’re losing time!” Dio shouted, his hands wedging between him and Micah. “Get this goddamn dog under control!”

A foot bounced off his head with a brutal blow, sending him skidding across the marble as Micah was ripped from his hold and flung over Dio’s back. The old god tore out of the room with Persephone on his heels. Struggling to his feet, he barreled after them, his shoulder ramming into the heavy doors as they slammed shut.

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