Page 87 of Hounded: Ashes to Ashes

I nodded.

“But you don’t believe it,” he said flatly.

I couldn’t.

I’d seen the end a dozen times, witnessed Indy’s passing and mourned him. But he always came back and, as much as it was a curse, it was also a relief. Some part of me knew the pain was only temporary. We would be together again. But this, what the angel said now, this changed things.

It changed everything.

My fingers curled into useless fists. Not angry but grasping. Trying to hold onto the thing I’d just been told I was destined to lose.

“Why tell me this?” I asked, my voice unsteady. “And how would us being allies help any of it?”

A father, mother, and son walked by arm in arm in arm. The little boy clutched a bundle of balloons that bobbed in the sky like a multicolor cloud. It was fitting that I was looking up when Evander answered.

“I can take him to Heaven.”

It shocked me, like an actual electric current that caused me to jolt.

“If Indy comes with me to Heaven before the last of his powers are gone, he’ll be preserved,” the angel explained. “He can exist on that higher plane as a soul laid to rest.”

“And the demons can’t get him,” I said.

Evander nodded. “Correct.”

It was the only part I could process or begin to accept. Indy would be safe. Not dead. He would keep on living—existing—and he would be better protected there than in Brooklyn. There were no demons in Heaven, save one.

The thought of Moira made my gut twist, and I scowled at Evander.

I’d asked for his help before. I had begged on my knees for something better for Indy and me, and I and been rebuked.Nowhe was involved.Nowit was his problem, and I knew why.

“Is that the real reason you care?” I asked. “Miss ascended, and hers alone was one too many hellish souls in your version of paradise?”

Evander gave his head a stern shake. “They would make him suffer. His existence would end in torment. I see no need to leave him to that fate.”

“Iwon’tleave him to that fate,” I replied.

“Lorenzo,” the angel sighed my name, “try to listen to reason…”

I leaned back, tensing, feeling the hair prickle down my hound’s spine and make his tail bristle. I wanted to growl out loud, to flex my claws and swipe until Evander ran away. To defend. Protect.

Treasure.

“You can’t have him,” I sputtered, feeling sweaty and choked. “Heaven can’t. I won’t let him go somewhere I can’t…” My voice cracked, and I swallowed then tried again. “Somewhere I’m not…”

Not welcome. Not wanted. Not ever.

I would have held onto my conviction as long as it took. Stayed angry and ready to rage at anyone who dared to get between Indy and me. But this wasn’t an attack; it was an offering. A rescue. The solution to a problem I couldn’t fix.

Evander puffed out another heavy breath. “I am sorry,” he said. “I know how much you care for him.”

“You don’t,” I mumbled. It was a weak argument.

“I’ve seen,” he replied. “And I wouldn’t take him if there were any other way.”

I couldn’t look at him, so instead I cast my gaze toward the water where dark waves lapped and rolled under the moon’s glow. The cuff of my sweater sleeve found its way into my palm, and I smoothed my fingers across it. The soft fibers pressed into the heel of my hand over, and over, and over…

“What do you need me to do?” I whispered.

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