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I shook my head. “Why did he let Naomi come?”
A hint of a smile played on her lips. “She used her magic to dupe him, then asked me and Aziel to take her. He was upset.”
My heart softened. “I didn’t know he cared for the coven so much.”
She smiled knowingly. “I don’t believe he cares for them that much.”
“Then why would he?—”
Thalia placed her finger against my lips, stopping my next question. A twig snapped nearby.
“They’re here,” she whispered and stepped in front of me. I wondered why she was protecting me. If she cared so much for mortals, then why was she disappointed the coven couldn’t come to help? Or stop Naomi from going with them? How did they even find out about Lucius?
Shock rooted me to the spot. As I peered around Thalia, my scream caught in my throat, my next breath stopping behind my lips. Deep crimson eyes found us in the night. With fur so black, the hounds managed to appear as moving shadows. Their long, yellow canines dripped saliva as they pawed the ground, growling toward us slowly. Thalia poised to attack. There were two of them, twice the size of any normal dog, and I didn’t stand a chance. Around their necks were thick chains, broken off at the bottom. The stench of singed fur and ash accompanied them as they grew closer.
Thalia backed away slowly, as they were in lunging distance. I moved backward with her. I hated how helpless I was. My magic was next to useless in this scenario. If only I had my dagger or pistol… although I didn’t think they’d be much help against the hounds.
“Eleanor,” she whispered over her shoulder. “When I move in a moment, I want you to climb this tree.” She placed her hand against a trunk we shuffled past. “Do not hesitate, no matter what you see.”
I didn’t argue. “Okay.”
Once the hounds were dead, I’d persuade her to take me to Naomi. There was no way I was leaving the forest without her. I blew out a tense breath, then blinked.
Within a flutter of my eyelashes, she was gone. The hounds growled into the night. Cold swept past me, and something howled in my ears. They barked, and I grabbed a low branch and pulled my weight up, feeling around for a stump with my foot. Finding a groove to stick my foot into, I pulled myself up just as a hound reached me.
My heart skipped a beat, but the creature was thrown aside by Thalia, who emerged from shadows at inhuman speed.
“Climb!” she shouted.
I scrambled to reach for the next branch and pulled up again, wishing I’d spent more time strength training. My arms trembled as I huffed my way up the side of the tree. I didn’t look down when a whimper sounded below.
I reached a high, thick branch and felt out for it. I curled around it until I was sitting at its base, overlooking the scene. One of the hounds sank its teeth into her thigh, letting out a demonic growl as it did. Crimson splashed the dirt mixed with leaves. A whelp left her mouth.
She placed her hands in its mouth and forced its jaw open until it stopped with a loud crack. A shiver snaked down my spine. She unsheathed her dagger, the hilt made from precious gems, which glinted in the light. It glowed white as it had before. She sank it into the hound with the broken jaw, and it yelped, then went silent. The second hound snarled, then turned and fled between two trees.
Quickly, I clambered down the tree and over to Thalia. “Will you heal?”
“A hound bite will not heal as fast,” she explained. “Their venom is meant to weaken anything and anyone, even immortals.” She hissed when she placed her fingers against the pumping blood dripping down around her thigh. I removed my jacket and pulled off my T-shirt, then tore the bottom of it around until I had a thick piece of fabric. I tightened it around her thigh, pushing hard against the bite.
“Thank you.” She smiled, but her eyebrows flicked upward as she looked behind me. “Eleanor.”
I turned in what felt like slow motion as the second hound returned, lunging across the earth toward us.
I reached out for the only light, the dagger with its moonlight hue, and crouched. Fuck, it was huge. I held my breath as it snapped its canines against the air. I twirled out of the way of its bite when it reached us, then I spun, kicking my leg out like I would in practice with Edmund, but everything was sharper now. Adrenaline fueled, I grabbed a handful of thick, warm fur and felt claws against my arm. Inhaling sharply, I brought the dagger into its head. I lifted it and pushed it down again until I heard a bone crunch under the blade.
I closed my eyes and removed my shaking hands from the stone-encrusted hilt. My arm was soaked, and iron tanged my taste buds. Blood coated my tongue from where I’d bitten my cheek mid-attack.
“You killed it.” Disbelief guided her tone.
“I killed it.” The same disbelief coursed through me. I scrambled away from the lifeless beast. As soon as my adrenaline began to settle, the cold around us sank through my skin and into my bones. I pulled my leather jacket back on and zipped it over my shirtless torso.
Raiden’s voice boomed. “What the fuck happened here?”
Aziel joined us. Naomi’s eyes found mine.
“Nai.” My voice croaked into a cry as she ran to me and flung her arms around my blood-coated body.
Naomi buried her head in my tangled hair. “I was so worried she’d killed you. Elle, can you believe it? They’re gods!”
