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"Something's not right here. Xaphan is an asshole, but he never acted like this before," Apollyon said, which only had me worried for the blond-haired hothead even more.
"What do you think it is?" I asked.
"It's hard to say. This is out of the ordinary for him, so there's no telling what's going on. Not without him telling us."
"We need to go after him now. Whether something is wrong or not, we can't leave a feral hellhound on his own. Not with the possibility of him hurting someone else." Helios turned and looked about ready to jump off the balcony too, but Abaddon called for him to wait.
"If we all go after him, then he may keep running. Maybe only one of us should go and try to reason with him."
Helios nodded begrudgingly. "Fine. Abaddon, you go after him, but keep our mental link open in case of any threats lurking."
"I'm going too," I found myself saying. It surprised me since I knew how much Xaphan didn't like me.
Maybe that was why I wanted to go. Maybe I wanted to see what it was that he hated about me being here. If it had to do with Deimos, then we could talk about it. I knew the dangers of keeping feelings bottled up, and I didn't want Xaphan to crack. No more than he already was.
"Absolutely not," Helios protested. "There's no way you're going out there. It's too dangerous."
"Well clearly being here in the castle is dangerous too now that Orpheus knows I'm here, so what's the difference?" I fired back.
"The difference being that if Orpheus attacked you here, we'd all be ready to protect you. I'm not saying Abaddon is incapable of looking out for you, but I don't like the idea of you being out there with only him to watch you."
"I don't like it either, little witch," Abaddon added with a sympathetic look on his face. "As much as I'd love to explore the dark forest with you, I wouldn't want to risk your safety either."
"Ugh!" I threw my hands up in frustration. "Look, I get your guys' job is to look out for me, but I can't be locked away forever. Besides, you just said you guys would be on standby is Abaddon needs it, so what does it matter?"
"It matters because our job is to protect you," Apollyon explained.
"Is that all I am to you guys? Just a job that Deimos assigned you to?"
"No," Helios said firmly. He stepped closer to me, reaching out to tilt my chin up to face him. I could get lost in those pools of evergreen, but right now they were bleeding red as his hellhound was close to the surface. "You're not just a job to us, which is why we want to protect you."
"But it's not just you guys who are supposed to protect me. Xaphan is too," I said. Whether I liked to admit it or not, Xaphan was also a part of this group. And right now, his sanity and safety were just as important to me as it was to these monstrous men.
"You're not giving this up, are you?"
"Ni un poco," I said in Spanish, then again in English. "Not even a little bit."
"She's stubborn, so she fits right in with us." Abaddon shrugged then pressed his fist against his heart while addressing Helios. "I'll take her with me. I'll make sure she and Xaphan returns safely."
I could tell Helios still wanted to object while Apollyon stayed quiet, but I could tell from his stance that he was apprehensive about letting me go too. I wanted to urge them to make up their minds faster. The longer they prolonged this, the farther Xaphan may go.
Finally, Helios relented. "Fine, you can go. But I'm serious about this, Antonia, stay close to Abaddon, and do what he tells you. Abaddon knows the dark forest better than any of us."
"Don't sweat, big guy. We'll be back before you know it." Abaddon beamed before moving past Helios.
I watched in amazement as Abaddon's body was consumed in red-hot flames. One minute he was there, and the next, a beast that looked like a bulldog the size of a horse took its place. Its black stone body held a sheen of red to it, matching the crimson flames for eyes and the glowing ridges along his body. For a second I was starting to second guess my decision. If I climbed on his back, would he burn me? These guys may have been fireproofed, but I sure as hell wasn't. The last thing I needed was third degree burns on my vagina.
"Go on, climb up on his back," Helios urged right as Abaddon squatted down to make it easier to climb him.
"Uh." I was stumped on how to address my obvious concern.
Apollyon seemed to have guess what I was thinking. "If you're worried about him burning you, don't be. Abaddon's body temperature is controlled. Trust me, if he doesn't want you to burn, you won't."
I sighed in relief then took a leap of faith by approaching the giant hellhound and climbing up on his back. Like Apollyon said, his body temperature was warm, but not life threatening. If anything, it was more akin to a warm blanket that enveloped me.
Once I situated myself, Abaddon stood back up. My fingers slipped into some of the stone gaps that made up his skin and held on. I hoped doing that didn't hurt him.
"All right you two, get going, and bring our brother back home," Helios commanded.
