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Chapter Fifteen
Ryder
I fucking hate being right all the time.
Jerking Ven forward, I take off through the woods. My thoughts reel. We can’t outrun the dogs, and we can’t hide, either. They’re amazing trackers. The things have tracked us even after traveling by Jeep and boat, for fuck’s sake.
Usually, I’d resort to battle magic in a case like this, but with our forcefield, that’s not going to work, either. Not without frying ourselves inside our own little prison. Damn.
The snarls of the beasts fill the air. I listen as we run, to both their growls and their footfalls. There are three of them. I’ve been in a lot of binds, but this is bad. This is really bad. If only Ven’s spell actually protected us from outside forces, rather than just trapping us inside with no defense. If there was some way to separate and lead the dogs off in another direction, I’d let Ven make a run for it. But of course, that’s impossible.
I really don’t want to see Ven get torn about by beasts of Hell. But then, I’m probably going to be too busy getting torn apart myself to see much.
The dogs are right behind us, so close now that I can feel the blast of heat from their bodies. I can’t risk a glance over my shoulder, but I’ve encountered them before, so I know what they look like. Akin to wolves, if wolves were made of glowing molten stone. Dark gray bodies lit from within by their hellfire, flames that pour out of their mouth with each breath. Flames and sulfur.
One of them snaps at my heels, so close it burns.
It’s at that moment that Ven grabs me and yanks me down. We hit the dirt hard. A white shimmer moves from her over to me. She claps her hand over my mouth and we fall still. The dogs go charging past us, then pull up hard and spin in a circle.
What on earth?
Ven has made us invisible.
I realize that the magic is contained only to our bodies, not extending more than an inch away from our skin. That’s why it’s not bouncing around inside the orb. My heart hammers in my chest. That’s only going to bring a momentary reprieve, because they’ll sniff us out soon enough. I look at Ven as we cling to each other on the forest floor. Her eyes are clenched shut, but not in fear, in concentration. Her lips move ever so slightly as she murmurs something soundlessly over and over again. A spell, no doubt.
The hell hounds backtrack and begin to sniff the ground leading toward us. Ten feet. Five feet. Two feet. I can feel the blast of heat and sulfur, so intense it sears my skin. If I were full-demon, the destruction of my physical body would simply mean that I returned to Hell until I found another vessel. But that half-human part of me… that part means I just die. Just like anyone else. And then get to go to Hell permanently.
Which is most certainly what they call getting the short end of the stick.
The hound closest to us opens its massive jaws and lets out a growl that vibrates my whole body. Then, it shifts track slightly and goes around us, missing us by an inch. We can’t be that lucky…
And we’re not. Another approaches, heading right for us, and then the third. But each time they’re upon us, they somehow skim around the edge as if deflected. Shock pulses over me. Ven’s magic is doing this. There’s no other explanation.
Finally, after five harrowing minutes, the hounds let out a series of terrifying, bone-quaking howls, and they gallop off into the jungle. Ven’s eyes open slowly, but she doesn’t let down the shimmer of magic surrounding us. We wait another five minutes after the hounds depart, and then she finally drops it.
“That was…impressive,” I say breathily, pushing myself upright.
Ven follows suit, but her arms are shaky and she wobbles in place. I reach out and grab her. “You alright?”
“I’ll be fine,” she says. “That just took a lot out of me. It was a very complex spell. Actually, two at once.”
I raise my brows. “Wow.”
“A spell of concealment and a spell of deflection,” she murmurs. “Plus, I had to control the flow of my magic so it didn’t bounce off the walls of the orb.”
“It’s a finicky thing, isn’t it?” I reach out an arm in each direction until I bump up against it. “You’d think it would change shape or something when we’re lying on the ground. Or wherever. It seems that as long as we don’t get too far apart from each other, it doesn’t zap us.”
Ven nods wearily.
I stand and offer her a hand, which she accepts. But the moment she’s standing, she wobbles again, even more this time. I catch her as she sags against me.
“You are not okay,” I say, brow crinkling.
“I just need a couple minutes,” she insists.
“Well, we don’t have a couple minutes.” I look down at her. “Those hounds aren’t going to give up. We’ve got to get as far away from here as we can before they pick up our scent again.”
She chews her lower lip in worry, and I’m reminded of tasting her up against the rocks. Those lips…
