chapter Eighteen
Arthur fell first. His knee bent at an unnatural angle and he reeled sideways. His torch fell to the ground, still flickering. He moaned and tried to stand, but a dark shadow hit him on the jaw and he doubled over on the ground.
Lawson was on him in a flash, drawing the hound away. Come out! he yelled. Stop hiding in the dark, cowards!
All his fault. Edon was right. Romulus had recognized him, of course, and had pinpointed his location; it hadn't taken them that long once the hounds found the right scent. Or was it Bliss who had led them here? He'd heard Edon accuse her as well. Had she led the hounds to them? He was confused and angry, but there was no time to dwell on mistakes just then.
Draw them out of the glom, he thought, out of the shadow, where they will have to fight hand to hand. He leapt at the hound but caught nothing but air.
He could hear his brothers doing the same dance, swinging at shadows, fighting phantoms, chasing after specters, Rafe grunting, Edon cursing, while the hounds surrounded them. The biggest one came straight for Lawson, but Lawson saw him coming and feinted left, then struck, holding the hound in a choke hold.
Where's Tala? he demanded. Where is she? What did you do to her?
The hound smiled a cruel smile. The little one? She's dead, of course. We killed her. But first we made her scream. We made her beg for death at the end. Death was kind after what we did to her. You did this. You killed her. You left her to die. You left her to burn.
Return to us. Take the whip. The mantle is yours. Romulus will forgive. Bring us your brothers.
"NO!" Lawson cried, falling back and releasing the hound. They both fell into the glom, where Lawson's rage transformed him into a wolf. They were all wolves now, Rafe large and black-furred and red-eyed, Edon golden and lean, his teeth sharp as razors - wolves with red markings around their necks, where their collars had once choked them.
Lawson snarled at the hounds that surrounded them; they had transformed as well, shedding their human aspect for bestial form, with sleek glossy hides, sharp ivory teeth, and long silver claws. He leapt at the nearest one, his teeth bared, seeking blood. Blood and revenge.
He made quick work of the beasts, breaking the necks of two, smashing the third against the wall. Four. Only one left.
Where? he sent.
Rafe shook his head. Edon paced the stone. It got away.
Then he saw it - it was running toward the light, toward the end of the passage, running for the girl. Bliss. Arthur and Malcolm were far ahead, almost at the end. But Bliss was slow - not a vampire anymore, she'd told him. Lawson snarled, bared his teeth, and ran as fast as he could.
Bliss had fallen and her leg was bleeding. She was cringing away from the hound - Lawson could see its shape as it loomed large above her, casting a huge shadow. Its crimson eyes were brilliant with hatred.
He roared at the hound, and the monster turned to him.
The hellhound growled and leapt to attack, its claws tearing into Lawson's body, from neck to stomach; then it sunk its teeth into Lawson's neck and began to shake him like a rag doll.
"REVERTO UT ABYSSUS! REVERTO UT OBSCURUMI"
Lawson turned to see Bliss holding aloft the knife from the butcher shop. Her eyes were blazing, her voice ringing with the tone of command. He held his breath, waiting for the hound to mount another attack - a human girl with a kitchen knife as her only weapon was no match for a hound of Hell - but instead the beast cringed before Bliss, yelping and turning tail, whining as it retreated, disappearing into the night.
He turned back into his human form, and Bliss helped him to his feet. He was bleeding from the cuts in his neck, on his torso. "Who are you, Bliss Llewellyn?" he asked weakly. "The hound feared you."
There was a heavy silence, broken by another pop - Rafe and Edon appeared, as humans. Both were bleeding from cuts and breathing heavily.
"Where's the hound?" Rafe asked, spitting out a tooth.
"It left," Lawson said. "Bliss told it to go away."
Edon scratched his head. "Curious." The boys all looked at her then, fear and suspicion in their eyes.