“Shit.” Hades wheeled to the hounds. “Call for backup! Now––”
An arrow punched through his chest. Agony tore through him, but as a hail of arrows fell on them, all he could think about was getting Cat to safety. A fierce, protective instinct surged through him as he took her to the ground and covered her with his body while the hellhounds charged an army of demons pouring out of fissures in the ground that hadn’t been there a moment ago.
“Son of a bitch!” Silth, pincushioned by a half a dozen arrows, shouted in anger and pain, but he didn’t go down. Palming his sword, he leaped into the fray.
“Let me up,” Cat yelled against Hades’s chest. “The human is close now. If I can get to him––”
“They’re trying to draw you out.” He held her tight, cocooning them both in his wings as he peeked between hellhound legs. “They need to behead you both simultaneously to open the holes in the barrier.”
“Behead me?” she screeched. “Maybe you could have shared that little factoid sooner?”
“Maybe,” he said, keeping it light to hide how fucking terrified he was for her. “But nah.” He signaled to one of the hounds who had arrived at the hut with Cerberus, a scarred son of the hellhound king Hades knew only as Crush. “Take her to the graveyard. If I’m not there in ten minutes, take her back to the hut.”
“What?” Cat punched him in the arm and struggled to her feet. “No. I can help!”
He didn’t have time for this, but he gripped her shoulders and shook her. “There are thousands of demons coming at us, all with one goal; to behead you.”
“But what about you? If you’re not there in ten minutes––”
“Then I’m dead.” Before she could say another word, he kissed her. Hard. And he poured as much emotion into it as he could. Because whether they won the battle or not, this would be the last kiss they shared.
Quickly, he stepped back and signaled to the hound. A heartbeat later, the beast was gone, and with him, Cat.
Even above the sounds of battle, he heard her scream, “Noooooo,” as she faded away.
Chapter Fifteen
Cat and the hellhound materialized in the weird graveyard where she’d started this bizarre journey.
Damn Hades! She eyed the mausoleums that corresponded with the five Rings, but even as she zeroed in on the one she’d originally entered that went to the 5th Ring where the battle was going down, the stupid hellhound got in her way. It even snarled at her.
“You’re an asshole,” she snapped.
It cocked its big head, raised its pointy ears, and looked at her as if it was expecting her to throw a stick or something. Then it burped. And dear God, what had the thing eaten today? She tried not to gag as she turned around and searched the wall for the opening to Azagoth’s realm. Yes, she knew it was locked, but it couldn’t hurt to try. It wasn’t as if she had anything better to do, since clearly, the gassy hellhound wasn’t going to let her go back to the 5th Ring.
Hurry, Hades.
His kiss still felt warm on her lips. Her skin still burned from his touch. She missed him, and they’d only been apart for a couple of minutes. What would happen when––and if––she finally got out of here? How could she deal with knowing he was just a doorway away?
Maybe it would be better if she got to go back to Heaven. He wouldn’t be a temptation to her anymore. And besides, being accepted back into Heaven meant her family would take her back, right? Her friends would forgive her. She could forget the terrible things they’d said as she’d been dragged to the chopping block.
Traitor.
Satan’s whore.
You’re no daughter of mine.
You sicken me.
Yes, she could forget. With enough demon bloodwine, anyway.
An electric tingle charged the air, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. She pivoted around as Cerberus materialized, his black fur shiny from blood, one of his massive jaws clenched around a broken, bleeding human.
And dangling limply from the second set of jaws was Hades.
Oh, shit! She sprinted to the giant hellhound, who dropped both bodies to the ground. Sinking to her knees, she gathered Hades’s lifeless body in her arms.
“Hades? Hades!” She shook him, but there was nothing. He wasn’t even breathing. How could this be? How could he be dead? He couldn’t be, right?
“He’s only mostly dead.”
She wrenched her head around to see Azagoth striding toward them, a trail of griminions on his heels.
“M-mostly dead?”
“Haven’t you ever seen The Princess Bride?”
It took her a second to realize he was making a joke. Mr. Serious, the Grim Fucking Reaper, was joking.
The opening in the wall must lead to an alternate reality.
The griminions gathered up the human and scurried back through the doorway where Lilliana was waiting.