Page 119 of Hounded: Ashes to Ashes

“Watch out, baby,” I said. “I’m going in hot.”

The coals inside me stirred, sending out sparks that snapped, crackled, popped until it felt like even my hair was sizzling. Heat bloomed from my back as my wings sprouted, and Loren let out a breathless sound.

I glanced over and saw my golden flames reflect in the dark pools of his eyes.

This was my moment. My chance to say all the goodbyes I never got to.

Maybe Loren was rubbing off on me because I couldn’t get it out. After a handful of seconds standing there, burning through fuel I could not afford to waste, I simply shook my head. Words seemed inadequate, incomplete, and I was pretty sure I would start bawling if I opened my mouth.

Instead, I pinned my lips together then sprang toward Loren, looping my arms around his neck and kissing him hard. I hoped it bruised. I hoped it throbbed and ached like I was still there even after I was gone.

Before he could react and before doubt could shatter my fragile confidence, I pulled free of him and wheeled toward the demon’s door.

I would have tried the knob, but there wasn’t one. Just that gross, drippy knocker ring that I grabbed, then rapped against the tap plate in a series of echoing clangs.

“Knock, knock, motherfucker!” I shouted. “Heard somebody ordered a phoenix!”

I was readying my next insult when the door swung inward, eerie as a Halloween prop. It was dark inside, so I couldn’t see much beyond the threshold. Then Loren whined, and I knew.

“You have to go,” I told him. “Find Whitney, okay?”

He didn’t agree, but I knew he would do it. That was the other good thing that would come out of this. Whitney could be more than merely content. He could find the kind of happiness Loren and I had together. Sully could have it, too. And Loren… Maybe he would meet some nice hellhound and settle down. Live a life that lasted more than a decade at a time. Have something that wasn’t so temporary.

I looked over at where he lingered with his damn puppy dog eyes, and my phoenix soul sang,Mate.Mine. Always.

“Go, baby,” I whispered because I knew why he sent me to Heaven: he didn’t want to watch me die, and I wouldn’t make him.

I didn’t wait to make sure he actually left. I didn’t wait at all. I simply rolled my shoulders and gave my wings a rustle, trailing smoke and liquid fire into the demon’s chambers.

Once inside, the darkness took on color. It was deeply green, like Central Park at night, and the familiarity brought a much-needed sense of ease. It fed my courage as I paraded into the vast space, shouting and hearing my echo call back.

“Come on out and sign for this package, you slimy piece of demon shit!”

Something clattered, like the chain around Moira’s ankle in Heaven’s basement. It clinked from above, and I rocked my head back in time to see some kind of massive web dropping fast. I ducked when I should have dodged, and the web struck with the force of a blow. Far from the wispy gossamer of a spider’s making, this was hard and cold. Yes, chain. A net made of metal with weights on all sides that pinned it—and me—to the ground.

I groaned, driven to my belly while my head rang from the impact that felt like I’d taken a hammer to the skull.

It dazed me. Definitely knocked the wind out of me, and I lay gasping while a voice resonated in the cavernous dark.

“Well, this is a welcome surprise.”

My eyelids fluttered as I looked around, seeking the source of the noise. The chains were heavy across my back, inordinately so, flattening my wings like a blanket spread across the cold stone floor.

I must have triggered a trap, or the bastard saw me coming or, fuck, heard me announcing myself taking centerstage. And what had I expected? That I could prance into Hell, strike a match, and bask in my own warmth until the fire went out?

Shifting and wriggling changed little about my prone position, and my breaths began to quicken. Panicking wouldn’t help, but knowing that didn’t slow my descent into a steaming heap of scared.

“N-not such a surprise you weren’t prepared for it,” I stammered.

A rumbling chuckle answered me. “I could not have possibly prepared for this. Who should I thank for bringing you to my door?”

“I came alone,” I replied. It was a bad lie, and the demon laughed again.

“Impossible,” Nero said. “But never mind that. I’d rather not have to reward some flea-bitten mutt for playing a game of fetch.”

Glancing side to side, I saw dark and dark and dark. Fire licked from my feathers and curled around the chains that bound me. Metal could melt, given enough temperature and time, and I focused on that, bearing down and stoking the fire until the radiant heat singed my cheeks.

The chains didn’t yield, and when I pushed up again, straining to get on my hands and knees, the net held as fast as ever. I was in the thick of it now, heart hammering and lungs burning with the strain of sucking air hard and fast. I’d intended to die here, but not like this. Trapped and useless, wasting myself and all my power while the demon leered from too fucking far away.

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