Page 11 of Snowed in with the Demon Lord
Every other concern seemed unimportant, and I smiled as the darkness closed around me.
8
HOLLY
Everything hurt, and my head rang like a bell. By the time I pulled myself to my feet, shivering and staggering, I’d lost what little sense of direction I had. The pillar of flame had vanished, and without it, I couldn’t tell which way the shed had been.
I called his name again. No answer. Fuck.
Okay, okay. I can figure this out. I’m not a helpless damsel in distress.That might be more aspiration than truth, but I had to try. The alternative was freezing to death. Snow was already settling over the door Abaddon threw me through, but it let me orient myself. That gave me a direction, assuming the landing hadn’t spun me around. Given my dizziness, I didn’t want to take that bet, but I had no other clue to work from.
Wrapped in a blanket and frozen to my bones, I stumbled forward, doubting myself at every step until I bumped into the shed. Or rather, what remained of it. The hellfire might not burst out in a pillar of cursed death, but the wood was still too hot to touch. A lull in the shrieking wind let me hear the crackle of flames inside, and I called Abaddon’s name again.
Still nothing.
I found the remains of the doorway, choking on black smoke as I pushed my head inside. Tears streamed from my eyes and my throat burned, but I just about made out Abaddon lying in the center of a burning room. Motionless, maybe dead. I didn’t have time to think about how much that hurt.
Everything I knew about fires said not to go back into a burning building. Everything I knew could fuck right off. I stepped inside, crouching low and covering my face with the blanket. I got all of two steps before the sheer heat forced me back.
He’s dead. No one survived this. If I don’t want to join him, I need to get indoorsright now.That was my sensible self talking, and I told her to fuck off, too. I even had an answer: the hellfire was gone, and normal fire didn’t hurt Abaddon.
It’ll still kill me, though. Alive or dead, there’s nothing I can do for him.Sensible Holly had a point, damn her, but that also gave me an idea. Feet numb from cold, knowing that if I fell I probably wouldn’t get up again, I limped my way back from the shed to the cabin, stumbling into the dark room and leaning back against the door. What felt like an icebox when I left was now a welcome, warm oasis, and the temptation to close my eyes nearly got the better of me.
“Belial,” I called out into the darkness. “Belial, come here. Abaddon needs you.”
Red burning eyes opened beside the fireplace. The hellhound looked at me quizzically, and his softwuffsounded like a question. As though he didn’t believe his master might need help.
“Please?” I asked, desperation rising in me. The numbness left my hands and feet, replaced by an agony of pins and needles. “Belial, I’ve been frozen, thrown through a door, and scorched, and your master got itworse.You’re going to help me save him if I have to fucking drag you there by the collar.”
Did I mean it? Yes. Would I do it? I’d try, but Belial was too much dog for me to move, especially now. That wasn’t a reason to give up, though, and I advanced on the massive dog with determined purpose.
Who knows how much our animal companions really understand? Not me, and even less with a demon dog. But as I approached, he rose to his feet and snuffled the air, then nodded. I grabbed hold of the heavy black chain collar, and off we went.
It took less than a step for Belial to show me who was in charge of this expedition. By the time we reached the door, I hung on to his collar, and he pulled me forward. A low growl prompted me to open the door, and then we were off, snow crunching under my feet and melting where Belial touched it.
The shed still burned when we reached it, and part of the roof had fallen in. Black smoke billowed out of the hole, but Belial didn’t seem to mind. I let go of his collar just in time to prevent him dragging me inside, and then vanished into the smoke.
It wasn’t long before he returned, backing out and dragging Abaddon. The hellhound’s jaws gripped his shoulder, and I winced at the thought of being dragged like that. It didn’t matter—either Abaddon was too dead to feel it, or he’d live to complain about it later.
Getting him back to the cabin wasn’t easy, and would have been impossible without Belial’s help. At least this time, the demonic heat radiating from him gave me some protection from the blizzard.
As soon as we crossed the threshold. Belial dropped his master’s shoulder and whined pitifully. He looked up at me, flaming eyes wide, while I shoved Abaddon’s legs out of the way and shut the door.
“Yes, Iknow,”I told the dog as the lock clicked. “I just don’t know what to do. Any suggestions?”
Another whine, this one carrying an overtone ofwhat do you want from me, lady, I’m a dog.Which, I had to admit, was fair.
I’d put off examining Abaddon as long as possible. Frightened of what I’d find, I kneeled beside him. To my relief, his chest still moved, though his breathing was shallow. I didn’t find a pulse, but was I even looking in the right place? Abaddon wasn’t human, as I had to keep reminding myself.
His right shoulder bore fresh bite marks, but other than that, he seemed uninjured. His shallow breathing worried me, since he’d been in that horrible smoke for far too long. I tried to remember my first aid course, but it had been years, and anything I’d known about treating smoke inhalation had long ago slipped out of my mind.
Hopefully he’d recover now he was in clean air, because if he needed anything else, he wouldn’t get it.
The fire hadn’t marked his skin, but his clothes were a different matter. Abaddon’s pants had burned in places, and I blushed as I realized what that meant. Or what I wanted it to mean.
If I wanted to check him for burns and other injuries, they needed to come off.
“This is purely medical,” I said aloud. Who I meant that for, I didn’t know. Belial? The hellhound didn’t seem to understand English better than any mortal dog. Abaddon was unconscious. And I knew it was a lie.
