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Chapter Eleven
The frayed edges of the string tied at my throat were the only thing that kept me from panicking. I kept telling myself that the men would come looking for me, that they’d find me because of those strings, because of Hunter’s tracking.
All I had to do was buy time.
But whyhadn’tthey found me yet?
It didn’t seem like we’d gone far, though the streets all ran together so I wasn’t sure. Hunter had said he’d give me five minutes, and it had been far longer than that.
Jerrod had tugged me through the city, then to a building near the inner edge, I was pretty sure. Few had looked out way, and the only ones who had had scurried away at the first good snarl from Jerrod.
The closer to the center we got, the more deserted and run-down things became, and the place we stopped at was no different.
It looked like it had been a shop at one time, with a large counter like a register, but the glass front had been broken then boarded up.
Jerrod hadn’t bothered to bind me, just tossed me to the ground when we reached the building as if I weren’t a real concern to him.
The kid came, too, though his language had further deteriorated.
Hearing him talk like an angry, vulgar eighty-year-old man was at best disconcerting.
“Come on, you don’t even want atasteof her first?” the kid asked.
“I’m not into mortals. It’s like sleeping with farm animals,” Jerrod snapped. “Besides, Raylor, we don’t have much time.”
“This place is too close to the wardens for anyone to pick up a scent. You worry too much.” Raylor knelt beside me. He caught my chin to force me to look into his eyes, ones that glowed green. “Whores cost a pretty penny, and it’d be a fucking waste to put her down without getting some use of her.”
I shuddered at the threat, swallowing down the sickness churning in my stomach.
Jerrod let out a low growl, one that sounded so much like Hunter’s. “I saidno.You were paid for your help already. I suggest you leave before I take away your option to do so.”
Raylor released me, then took off as if he couldn’t get out of there fast enough. It told me who exactly was in charge.
Then again, most beings in hell had given Hunter a very wide berth. It seemed Jerrod had earned a similar level of fear.
“What do you want with me?” I scooted backward until I could lean against the wall. Nothing being able to sneak up on me helped me focus. “Because someone already tried to plant me. Turns out I’m toxic to those things.”
He lifted his eyebrow. “Really? That is unusual. However, no. Planting you for ambrosia would be a waste. I’m not some farmer, mortal.” He paused, then came over to sit in front of me, one of his knees bent, his arm there. “Hunter sure had a tight grip on you, though. I have to wonder why.”
“Why don’t you ask him?”
“Because you saw when we fought. Hunter hasalwaysbeen stronger than me, just not as smart. It wasn’t hard to set the lure, to remove the pass as an option and drive you into town instead. I didn’t really think you’d be dumb enough to fall for Raylor’s trick, figured I’d have to snag you another way, but you managed to prove me wrong.”
He sounded like Grant, scolding me for my stupidity. I’d loved to have argued, but given my current predicament, it felt hollow.
“If he’s that much stronger, is it really smart to screw with me?”
“The secret about us immortals, especially those of us on the higher end of the food chain, is that we don’t hold grudges. Forever is a long time. He’ll be mad for a few centuries, but he’ll get over it.”
The reminder of how long forever was hit me, at how brief my life was in the scope of things. Some people found comfort in that big picture, in the fact that there was so much else going on. Not me—it made me feel even more insignificant than I had before.
Stay on topic.“None of that says why you went through this trouble, though.”
“How much has Hunter told you about what he is?”
“A hellhound. A tracker who catches things that escape from hell, that sends them back.”
Jerrod nodded. “We are one of the few things that can pass into the living realm at will, who can pass the boundary. Do you know what allows us to do so? What makes us more powerful than the other things in hell?”
