The hellhound plowed toward me, headbutting me and knocking me onto my back. It grabbed my forearm in its massive teeth, and though it still couldn’t break skin, the strength of its jaws kept it locked onto me like a vise.
I swung my arm, the strength sigil allowing me to slam the one-hundred-plus-pound beastie into the ground, but still it didn’t let go. It hopped to its feet, digging its paws into the dirt and yanking me away from the box.
“I know you’re just doing your job, but can you lay off? I’m not leaving here without that skull, and I’ve got six hours of speed, strength, and protection. Do you really want to do this for that long?”
I jerked my arm from its mouth and felt the first rip of flesh. Its longest canine pierced my skin, creating a three-inch gash as I freed myself from the beastie’s jaws. Shit. The protection sigil was already wearing off. How could a few bites unravel it so quickly?
I didn’t have time to ponder it. The beastie lunged again, this time latching onto my other arm. A fang sliced through my strength sigil, weakening the magic Ash had infused and leaving me no other choice but to unalive the dog.
My fingers tightened around my dagger, and I jabbed it between the hellhound’s ribs. The beast yelped and released me. I scrambled to my hands and knees, but before I could get my feet beneath me, it chomped onto my calf.
A flash of heat spread up my leg like my blood cells had turned into razor blades. Every nerve in my body fired at once, the electrical shock making me convulse and bite my tongue.
“Son of a banshee.” I’d forgotten to activate the resistance to poison sigil.
The razor blade blood cells crawled up to my glutes, making the muscles contract hard enough to crack a macadamia nut between my butt cheeks. I groaned and shot a stream of fire onto the dormant sigil, and it pulsed on my arm, sending a wave of magic toward the bite.
That was how the hellhound had unraveled the protection magic so quickly. It was strong and venomous. Fabulous.
I shot another stream of fire at the beastie’s eyes. It yelped and let me go. With the speed magic still intact, I grabbed another dagger and jammed it into the hellhound’s neck. Black blood spouted from the wound. It was no doubt a fatal blow, but if I’d learned anything from the horror movies I loved, it was to always double tap.
I yanked both daggers from the beast, and it stumbled, catching itself against the wall. I swung my blade again and pierced its neck, the tip extending into the dirt wall, pinning the dying beast in place.
My stomach lurched, the bond I’d created with Discord pulling me to the box. As I reached for it, the beast groaned and lashed out a clawed paw, striking me in my lower back.
I couldn’t tell you what came over me in that moment, but I’d like to blame it on the demon I was about to summon…because I lost all control. Even with its dying breaths, that hellhound stood in the way of me getting to my demon, and that just wouldn’t do.
I slammed a second dagger into the beastie’s side before grabbing a knife from my holster and pinning the offending paw against the wall. Reason should have told me not to impale the nearly-dead beast with every weapon I’d brought in, but not a single shred of logic remained in my brain at that moment.
I had to get that skull.
The beast exhaled its final breath, and I turned my attention to the wooden box lying on the floor. It was plain and brown, with no markings or sigils to indicate what lay inside. A pair of hinges lined one side of the lid, but there was no lock or latch keeping it closed.
I laid my hand atop it, searching for signs of magic, but all I felt was a low vibration that begged…no, commanded…me to open it.
So I did.
Inside lay the skull, though it looked nothing like I’d expected. Discord was a demon, so I’d assumed the skull would have horns or tusks or sharp, pointy teeth. Instead, it looked human. Absolutely mundane.
Had I been wrong? Was it possible I’d bound myself to a trickster, and he’d led me to a trap? Dropped me into a hellhound’s lair to feed the beast?
My stomach lurched again, the pull demanding I pick it up. The moment my skin touched bone, the vibration seeped into me, making my entire body hum. I jerked my hand away, and the sensation dissipated.
“It’s really you, isn’t it?” I tilted my head, studying the skull. “Is this a shroud, or do you really look like a human?”
I reached into the box, slipping my hands beneath the jaw and lifting the skull. The vibration penetrated my skin, rolling up my arms and settling in my chest, taking root at the base of my sternum where I’d felt the tug since I’d created the bond.
“I guess we’re about to find out, aren’t we?” I crouched and duck-walked through the tunnel, rising to my full height as I returned to the church basement.
The preacher, still frozen on the stairs, sucked in a breath. “How?” He squeezed his eyes shut and opened them wide, the only movement the spell allowed. “You passed through the wall.”
I scrunched my brow and looked from the tunnel to the preacher. “You don’t see the door there?”
He cut his gaze to the wall before looking at me, bewildered. “What door?”
“Interesting.” Isabel’s cloaking spell was even stronger than I’d thought. It appeared the mundane still couldn’t see through it.
I turned toward the exit, and my head spun. “Whoa.”
