Page 108 of Hounded: Ashes to Ashes

Sully let me take the lead and, together, we walked to the door.

At the entry, I stepped aside and situated my grip on the metal shaft of the polearm. With my back against the wall, I wouldn’t be seen by the newcomer, which gave me the advantage of surprise. I would have seconds to strike, and Sully would have equal time to choose her next move. To run, I hoped. Maybe even escape. I couldn’t stand to lose anyone else today.

We shared a nod before Sully reached for the knob, then pulled the door open inward. I didn’t see the person on the other side of the frame, but Sully’s expression told me everything I needed to know.

The glaive disappeared, and I stepped around to find Gunnar, Abigail, and Dottie hunkered in the hall outside. Relief came with a jagged edge of guilt because I would have traded them all to get my treasure back.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Sully threw herself into the huddle, flinging her arms wide and dragging all three hounds into a mutual embrace. After a brief hug, she pulled back and beckoned them into the apartment, then swiftly shut and locked the door behind them.

With everyone safely inside, a tearful reunion carried on while I stood apart. I’d been displaced, after all, but not by the other hounds. I’d done this to myself. I kept my distance and built my walls so high there would be no scaling them now.

“I’m leaving.” I said it the moment I decided.

Four heads turned toward me in unison, all wearing looks of confusion.

Rather than answer their unspoken question, I asked first, “Where is Nero now?”

The hounds consulted each other. No one seemed certain enough to reply until Abigail piped up.

“He disappeared.” She twisted her delicate hands. “From the bowling alley. I think the light sent him back to Hell.”

“Then I’ll find him there.” I gave a curt nod and sidestepped, ready to cut a path toward the closed door.

Sully moved in front of me and set her stance with her fists clenched and her face flushed. “Lorenzo Moretti, you stop right this instant.” She planted her foot the same way Indy did when he was trying to make a point.

“Stop with your pity party and your martyrdom and just…” She flexed her hands, looking like she wanted to slap me. Instead, she drew a chest-swelling breath, then spoke through the exhale. “Quit being ridiculous. If you go to Nero, he’ll kill you.”

“I know,” I replied, but she carried on as if I hadn’t spoken.

“And you may think you’re okay with that because you’re sad right now?—”

“I’m done, Sully.”

I was sad, too, but that rarely changed. I sometimes felt like sorrow had been born into me. Like it was some intrinsic piece buried too deeply to dig out. Not for lack of trying. I had flayed myself open to find its root. Reached into the tangled mess of my guts in search of the thing that didn’t belong, only to find it had made its home in my chest and set hooks in my brain.

Indy once told me he saw it there.

I had never been very good at hiding it.

When Sully shook her head, her dreadlocks swung, and the beads and charms knotted in them seemed to dance.

“No, you’re not,” she said. It wasn’t a statement so much as a plea, and I responded with one of my own.

“Can I be?” My voice dropped to a whisper. “Please?”

“Oh, honey…”

Sully’s eyes shone. She stepped forward, ready to hug me again, but if I let her take hold, I knew I wouldn’t be able to leave. So, I backpedaled, then flicked a glance at the door.

“Let me go to Nero,” I said, sounding far less determined than I felt. “Let him do what he wants to me. And you…”

My focus strayed to the trio I’d been trying to ignore. Gunnar, Dottie, and Abigail were weary, flecked and splattered with dried blood, and wearing ragged clothing. I’d seen each of them forced into battle in Moira’s training arena, only to emerge similarly bedraggled by their efforts. It was sobering to think Earth hadn’t been much of a reprieve from Hell. Like the torment followed them here.

My brow furrowed. “None of you need to die because of this. And if you stay… IfIstay, you will.”

Whitney wouldn’t lead them into an ambush, and I was not as good a hound as he was. Definitely not as good a leader. But I had learned from him. He’d been willing to stay so Indy and I could go. Now, I was doing the opposite with the same intent.

Sully’s locs swung through another fervent head shake. “I think I speak for all of us when I say this is personal now. I don’t want to run or hide from that horned bastard. I want him to suffer.” The other three nodded in solemn agreement as she continued. “Even if we can’t beat him, we should try. We should make him regret ever leaving Hell.”

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