Page 53 of Hellhound AU

So the power is fixed but now the fridge and microwave aren’t working, and so then the bf and I had to go appliance shopping. Note: Do not take a hellhound appliance shopping. Dexter did a lot of growling at the salesman, and I almost thought he was going to take the one guy out if he came over and asked if we needed help one more time. Luckily,that salesman wasn’t a rotten soul, so he was safe from hellhound justice. We did get a really good deal on the fridge, though.

MILO

Rowan was here, and from the sound of it, his sister was here, too. I wondered if it was Riley, the one I’d met, or Raina, who I hadn’t met yet. I sort of hoped it was Riley, because how embarrassing to have your first meeting be when you're being held hostage by neo-Nazis.

The next few minutes happened quickly—it was like time sped up with all the chaos. There was the screaming from downstairs, the shriek of the harpy, and then the sound of breaking glass. Riley came in through the window, and the guy with the gun shot at her.

I mean, yeah, she looked kind of terrifying, but that was really rude. So I went to grab the drawer from the dresser to knock the guy unconscious, but I sort of tripped into him, and he ended up firing the gun and hitting the guy sitting down. He swung towards me then, but I brought the wood down on his head, cracking the drawer with the impact. He fell, and Ethel went and grabbed the gun.

“Riley!” I yelled, turning to check on her, because, you know, she’d beenshot. Only she was standing there looking perfectly fine. Well, aside from the whole harpy thing she had going on, which was scary-as-shit looking.

“Milo?” Ethel whispered.

Riley ignored her and stared at the two men on the ground. “You didn’t even leave one for me to take care of?” she grumbled.

I looked back at the men. Huh. Yeah, they both appeared to be dead. Unconscious at the very least, but with all the blood, and the way the one guy’s head looked, I was going with dead.

I looked back at Riley and shrugged, then I turned to Ethel. “Ethel, this is Riley, Rowan’s sister. She’s a harpy, and he’s a hellhound, and they’re here to rescue us.”

Ethel stood up, staring at Riley. She didn’t look scared, like I expected. No, she looked… interested.

Riley was still by the window, but she walked in a little ways, slowly, like she was making sure Ethel didn’t get freaked out.

“My, what lovely wings you have,” Ethel said.

Riley smiled and tilted her head, then she winked at Ethel. Ethel blushed.

“Oh, no,” I said. “Nope. Definitely not. Not happening,” I muttered, pulling Ethel over next to me.

Riley folded her arms. “Don’t be a killjoy, Milo.”

“She’s old enough to be your grandmother!” I responded, then, “Ouch!” because Ethel pinched my side.

“I’m older than I look. Or hasn’t Rowan filled you in on that yet?” Riley asked.

Throughout this, we were all sort of ignoring the screams and gunshots that were occurring from outside the room. But really, should my boo get to have all the fun?

“We should go help Rowan,” I said.

“Nah, he’s fine. Raina and Troy are here, too. I’m sure they’ll be up in no time at all.”

“Still…” I commented, looking toward the door, then toward Ethel, then toward the door. I wanted to go and make sure my boo was okay, but I also couldn’t fathom bringing Ethel out into that kind of bloodshed.

Riley smirked at me. “Go on, Milo. I’ll stay and protect Ethel.”

I gave her a look, then I gave Ethel a look. “No funny business, you two.”

With that, I grabbed the gun Ethel had confiscated and walked out the door, ready to shoot some kidnapping, money-laundering neo-Nazis.

Only Rowan was bounding down the hallway toward me in his hellhound form. He was massive and beautiful, and he was covered in blood.

“Aww, boo, you came and rescued me and vanquished all my enemies. And you even got all bloody for me while doing it!” I gushed.

Rowan gave himself a shake, and flames lit up along his body, cleaning the blood off of him. My heart melted a little bit—he’d gotten messy just for me, even though hehatedbeing messy. It was crazy sweet.

“I love you,” I told him, because I couldn’t hold it back anymore.

Rowan transformed into his human self—his very naked human self—and grumbled, “I was gonna tell you first.”