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Around dusk, Eddie broke. “We couldn’t kill a mother with two children.”
“Eh?” Yesterday peered at her.
Xerxes rolled his eyes and disappeared on another scouting mission.
Cronus it was then, and Eddie tapped his mammoth shoulder. “It wouldn’t be right. If we killed the mother, then who would look after the children?”
“Mistress Edme.” Cronus heaved a canine sigh. “This is hell, and things do not proceed here in the same way as they do on earth.”
At least he was talking to her. “Enlighten me.”
“That demoness will have a litter of four to five pups every year. Some will live, most will not. She was a saurian, and they reproduce at an alarming rate.” He glowered at Yesterday. “And like imps, they are not to be trusted.”
Still, Eddie couldn’t be responsible for the death of someone who happened to have their lunch stolen by the wrong imp. “It wouldn’t be right.”
“There is right, and there is necessary,” Cronus said. “And here in hell, those distinctions could cost you your life.”
She couldn’t say she was sorry, so she settled for, “I understand, but I’m not made that way.”
“If you want to survive here, you may have to become that way.” Cronus looked around them and sniffed. “We will need to find shelter for the night.”
He didn’t bring up feeding her, and given how earlier had gone, she certainly wasn’t going to risk raising the issue. “Any sign of Shade?”
“Xerxes informs me he passed through here very recently.” Cronus veered off to the right and pushed his way through the dense vegetation. “There were signs that he was followed, and signs of a fight.” He turned and looked at her. “You must prepare yourself, mistress. The master is still gravely injured.”
“Shouldn’t we push on then?” Finding Shade had become more critical than ever.
“The danger of night is too great.” Cronus nudged aside some low hanging branches with his head. “Xerxes is within, and all is safe.”
Again, hell surprised her with the cave Cronus led Eddie to. Entrance hidden by unruly vegetation, a downward sloping tunnel opened into a wide, humid space. Phosphorescence on the walls and roof lit the space in a gentle blue light. It felt safer than where they’d sheltered the night before.
“The master was here,” Xerxes said and found a small nook in the rock and curled himself into a ball.
Cronus was only slightly more cooperative and suggested she get some rest before he found his own nook and closed his eyes.
Still too keyed up to sleep, Eddie watched them for a long moment before turning away and exploring the cave a bit. A few meters of careful exploration with the hounds still in sight led her to a smaller cave with an electric blue pool in the center puffing out moist warm air.
When in Rome—or a cave in hell—and all that. Eddie tested the water temperature with her hand before giving in to temptation and stripping down and climbing in. Water lapped playfully against her skin as she edged forward. Deciding not to take a chance on the depth, and ignoring the possibility of aquatic beasties, she perched on a submerged rocky ledge and put her head back against the pool lip. Blue light playing across the cave’s roof in hypnotic patterns, along with the warm water, lulled away her lingering tension.
With no soap, she did her best to wash off the worst of the grit and sweat and dunked her head beneath the water. Time slowed to the soft trickle of water and the warm touch of the thick air.
The saurian demon had said she smelled of Wrath. Her trip to hell was turning out to be one surprise after another. Not that she had anything to compare it to. The odd trip to Ottawa or Toronto hardly counted as comparable.
As soon as the hounds woke from their naps, they would be off again, and she may as well take their example.
She climbed from the pool and dried herself on her clothes before fighting her way back into them. Leggings versus damp skin—the struggle was a constant. Back in the main cave, she picked a spot between the two hounds and propped her back against the wall.
Cronus belly crawled closer to her and pressed against her side. After some deep grumbling, Xerxes flanked her on the other side. The hounds gave off a lot of heat, and their fur was silky and soft. Eddie’s eyelids drooped as her muscles relaxed. As she drifted off to sleep, her bite tickled, and she rubbed it. Was it smaller? She’d thought it might be when she was bathing, but she’d think about that after a quick rest.
“Nephilim.” A persistent prodding at her forehead woke Eddie.
Crouched beside her, huge eyes gleaming iridescent in the dark, was Yesterday.
Perhaps it was a comment on the development of their relationship that Eddie no longer demanded he stop that. Yesterday wouldn’t listen anyway.
“What?” She swatted his poking finger away.
She was curled into a little spoon with Cronus, her head resting against his belly. Completing the furry circle around her, Xerxes was awake and glowering at Yesterday. The hounds had made a nest for her of their bodies, and she felt rested and strong.
