Heroes and a Hellhound: Book One

by Eleanor Rousseau

  I licked his cheek. “You know, I’ve never seen you mad. It seems kinda fun. You don’t seem the type to get easily riled up.” It was true, he was surprisingly chill for an evil demon. Except when it came to that damn TV show.

  “I hate to be unoriginal but I gotta say, you won’t like me when I’m angry.”

  “That remains to be seen,” I teased, squirming against the press of his body.

  “Who’s the guy?” he repeated.

  I punched him in the solar plexus, quick as a striking snake, and he dropped me with a satisfying grunt. I ducked down and spun away, putting some space between us. “You’re going to have to try harder than that if you really want to know.”

  “Cute, that almost tickled. You really want to play, baby, let’s play.” He teleported, popping up behind me and yanking my arms behind my back. He pressed his nose against my neck, a spot he knew was sensitive. Bastard. “You’re just a little hellhound, you really think you can take on a full-blooded demon?”

  “Any day of the week.” I stomped back on his shin and wrenched free from his arms.

  He grinned and let me get to the other side of the room before coming after me. He struck out with his fists. He was powerful as demons when, but he wasn’t an experienced fighter and I managed to block each blow before landing one in his gut. He barely reacted.

  He grabbed my arm and chuckled. Then he shoved me against the wall, pinning one hand behind my back with his body and holding the other against the wall. “Are you ready to give over that name yet?” he enquired.

  “And what are you going to do if I give it to you?”

  “Oh, I’m going to do some very, very bad things,” he promised.

  “Tease.” I turned my head to bare my fangs at him.

  He leant closer to kiss me again, a soft firm press of lips. “You’re the one who insists on all this foreplay.” He eased back and turned me to face him, lifting me up against him.

  I grinned. “The jumper belongs to Alex from uni,” I confessed.

  His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. “American Alex?”

  “No, eyeliner Alex.” I straightened the jumper, it was exceedingly comfortable, even if it did swamp me a little. “I had an incident and my shirt got a little singed. Alex offered me the jumper when he noticed my boobs hanging out. He knitted it himself.”

  “Oh,” he said, slightly subdued. “You should not go around wearing another man’s clothes

  “You know, you never usually get worked up when I hang out with men,” I told him.

  “Humans are weak and unathletic. None of them would be able to hold your interest,” he said, pulling me closer to him.

  “That might be true, especially since you can barely hold my interest.”

  He huffed. “I’ve been keeping you well fed and looked after for some time now. A little gratitude wouldn’t go amiss.”

  My gaze sharpened on him. “I’m not some loyal dog, Timothy.”

  “Of course, babe. You’re very disloyal, because you’ve been hanging out in close proximity to other men,” he teased, kissing my cheek before nipping at my skin.

  I pouted a little. “You don’t have to worry, you’re still my favourite male… well, my favourite male demon.”

  He huffed. “Well, I will have to strive to gain a higher standing.”

  “Not possible, Terra’s my soul mate,” I told him, grinning.

  “Maybe you should have married her then,” he growled.

  “Oh, sweetie, you know I don’t swing that way.”

  “And I thank my lucky stars for that fact. Now, how about you take off that jumper and take me for dinner?” he suggested, placing me back onto my feet.

  I smiled. “Fine, but drinks are on you,” I said, since he was the only one who actually ate food. “And I’m not going to dinner shirtless.” I took the jumper off, folding it neatly over my arm as I headed upstairs.

  When Alex had given me the jumper, I’d discarded the shirt entirely so I wouldn’t have to go around stinking of smoke. I had a feeling places around here abided by that whole ‘no shirts, no shoes, no service’ policy. With the exception of Mangos; that place got crazy on a Thursday night.

  21

  21 - Debt Collector

  Nevaeh -

  “Hey, beautiful,” Tim said as he answered the phone, his voice silky and a little seductive. It was the voice he usually used when he wanted nooky during the time I usually designated for afternoon naps. But, since he wasn’t here, he probably wasn’t after sex. Or maybe he was just thinking ahead; hoping to get some head.

  I leaned back in my chair. “Hey, peaches, did you send me something in the mail?” I asked, toying with the tape on the open box before me.

  “Why would I do that when I can just give anything to you directly?”

  Good point, but it was addressed to me and I certainly hadn’t ordered it. “Okay, did you maybe lose something?”

  There was a thoughtful pause. “Nothing that I can think of.”

  “Nothing that someone might have wanted to return by mailing it through the post?” I pressed.

  “Sorry, babe, I can’t think of anything like that,” he told me calmly.

  “Oh, okay, so this wouldn’t be your severed foot that I just received in a neatly wrapped package?” I accused, turning the bloodied appendage over in my hands.

  “Ah, that could be anyone’s severed foot,” he stated, sounding slightly defensive.

  “Did you forget you married a hellhound? I’d know your scent anywhere.” And that scent was currently rather pungent.

  “Oh, yeah, I suppose there’s a possibility that it’s mine…”

  “In the parcel, there was also a note with an address, and a message saying ‘be there by noon or we’ll send him back piece by piece’,” I told him.

  “Hmm, that’s interesting.”

  I nodded, even though he couldn’t see it. “I thought so. But, you see, it’s quarter to, and I’ve really only just woken up.”

  “Oh, then don’t trouble yourself, babe. It can wait,” he assured me seriously.

  “That’s so sweet, thank you. I was also wondering if there was any way you think they’d let me request which pieces of you I want back first.”

  “You know what, give me just a sec, I’ll ask for you.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled.

  I heard the phone move and the murmur of voices. Then he was back. “Sorry, babe, they didn’t seem to think that was a reasonable request.”

  It was nice of him to check. “Oh well. I’m putting your foot in the freezer. I don’t really want it stinking up the place. I still need to get dressed but I can probably be there by one.”

  “Take your time, babe. I know you’ve been a little overworked lately.”

  I sighed happily. “You’re the best, but I don’t want to leave you hanging.”

  “It’s no problem. It’s not exactly reasonable for me to make requests on your time at such short notice.”

  “Come on, I’d be disappointed if you didn’t make demands on my time every so often,” I said, my voice flirtatious.

  “I knew there was a reason I married you.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

  I climbed to my feet and walked to my wardrobe. “Can I ask what this is about?”

  “Well, I made some bad bets with some very bad people. I lost quite a bit of money but thought I’d be able to win it back. Only, by that point, I was out of money so I had to offer something else.”

  “Please tell me you didn’t do something foolish like losing our house in a bet.”

  “Of course not. I just… I may have lost you in a bet.”

  I sighed heavily as I pulled on a pair of jeans. “And they were okay with that?”

  “Well, to be fair, they haven’t met you.”

  “Good point.” I did appear relatively harmless, at least to unsuspecting mortals. “I won’t be needing backup, will I?” I asked, pulling on my boots.

  “I don’t imagine so, these g
uys just caught me off guard with a demon trap. You’ll be fine.”

  I smiled. “I’m guessing they’ve never come up against a hellhound before.” Which meant they probably wouldn’t realise that the trap wouldn’t work on me. The benefits of having human parents.

  “I’d say it’s a safe bet, but be careful.”

  “Always. You want me to bring anything?”

  “I guess I could use some mints.”

  That was an easy enough request to fulfil. “On it. See you soon, peaches.”

  “Bye, babe.”

  Smiling, I hung up and strapped on two thigh holsters, one for a gun and one for a dagger, then I pulled on a jacket and yanked up the hood. Once outside I paused. Taking a car made more sense but with my speed, and the shortcuts I knew, running would take about the same amount of time.

  I flexed my hands, clicking joints, then I cracked my neck and started free running. It had been a while since I’d done this; having a husband who could teleport, and a bus stop outside my house had made me lazy, but my instincts quickly took over.

  I used my power to draw a shadow over myself so if anyone did catch more than a blurred glimpse of me, I wouldn’t be recognised. By the time I got to the building my limbs were sore but the ache was easy to ignore. I dropped the shadows.

  Two men were hanging out just outside the front doors. “Gentlemen, I believe you know my husband.”

  They shared a look before one of them held the door open and gestured me through. I walked inside and found myself in a large, empty section of the warehouse. Halfway across the room, my hubby sat, bound to a chair and surrounded by men with guns.

  Including the two at my back, there were ten of them.

  “Well, she’s ballsy, I’ll give her that. I honestly didn’t think she’d show,” said one of the men. He was the only one, besides Tim, who wasn’t standing.

  “You don’t know my wife,” murmured Tim, with some trepidation.

  I continued to walk forward until I felt magic tickle my senses. I was demon enough to feel the trap but my human DNA confused it, allowing me to break it with ease. But, for the moment, I chose not to.

  “I’ve come for what’s mine, so hand him over and I can be on my way,” I said diplomatically.

  The guy who was seated chuckled and rose to his feet. “Did you seriously think that would work?”

  “You should know there will be three parts of this little meeting. The first and by far the easiest was me asking nicely. Could you just clarify that you’re not going to comply so we can skip to part two?” I pulled a flask from my pocket, unscrewed the lid and took a sip.

  He crossed his arms over his chest, looking amused. “Sure, and what would part two be?”

  “Negotiation, you seem like a smart guy, I’m sure we can come to a reasonable offer.” I carefully poured some of the liquid from the flask down one sleeve.

  “I’m listening.”

  I dampened my other sleeve and my fingertips. “Okay, here’s the best offer you’re going to get, so I recommend you take it. You let me and my husband leave without any further harm, and I will let you have nine.”

  I put the flask back into the inside of my jacket before pulling something small from the side pocket and letting the jacket fall to the floor.

  “Nine what?” he demanded.

  My eyes started glowing an angry red and my fangs grew to sharp points. “Take the deal,” I suggested.

  “Nine what?” he repeated, scowling.

  “Take the deal,” I growled, my voice an inhumanly feral sound. All the guns in the room were suddenly pointed at me. At least they’d wisened up to the true threat in the room. I revealed the lighter I held in my hand and lit it with a flick of my thumb.

  Tim smirked from where he sat and his eyes lit up with malicious glee. He knew me too well.

  “Now it’s eight.” I moved my sleeve over the bare flame and, with the help of the alcohol, my arms and torso were soon engulfed in flames. I moved and grabbed the closest man, setting him on fire and snapping his neck in a swift, practised move. The crack of bone wasn’t a sound I’d heard since my time in Hell, but it still made me wince internally.

  I held his body against me to shield me from bullets but the flames were burning through his body faster than any regular fire. I felt the heat of the flames but it was only a warm caress to me. The flames licked me and played across my skin but never burned.

  “You want to make it seven?” I yelled over the sound of bullets. When I didn’t get a verbal response, I took it as a yes and pounced on the next closest man. He was dead in a heartbeat. “Shall we go for six?” I demanded.

  This continued until he only had two men left. They saw which way the wind was blowing and tried to run, but I was faster. I stabbed one in the back and shot the other in the head with the previous man’s handgun. Messy.

  I walked back over toward my husband, my steps slow and deliberate, then I dropped my weapons to the floor before they melted from being so close to the heat of my flames. I made my way to the ringleader who stood still in shock, trembling with fear.

  “See, now you get nothing, because you weren’t willing to negotiate,” I said, poking him in the forehead between his eyes. The sharp smell of urine filled the air and I moved away, wrinkling up my nose.

  Tim grinned up at me.

  “Well, this is embarrassing,” I said as I let the flames die down.

  “Nice show, babe. Why let that one live?” he asked curiously.

  “Someone needs to tell the tale.” I used my power to call the shadows to me again, this time letting them cover my body. My boots had made it out mostly unscathed but my jeans were in tatters and anything that had been north of that had been turned to ash.

  “Is that really necessary?” asked Tim. Clearly, he’d been enjoying the sight of my naked chest.

  I rolled my eyes. “Yes, I’m not walking around in my birthday suit in an old abandoned warehouse, much as that might get you off.” I walked back over to pick up my weapons and my jacket.

  I pulled the jacket back on so I didn’t feel completely exposed and began to saw through Tim’s restraints with one of the weapons the debt collector had left handy. Once he was free, I stepped out of the demon trap, shattering whatever hold it had on both myself and Tim.

  Then I moved back to Tim, snagging a tray that held a severed ear from a nearby table. Clearly, they had intended to send me another gift, how thoughtful. Tim took my arm and flexed his power, using it to teleport us both back home.

  He collapsed back onto the bed and groaned.

  I frowned. “Do you want these reattached?” I asked hesitantly, glancing at the tray in distaste.

  “No, I’ll just grow new ones,” he breathed. “Come here,” he murmured.

  I placed everything aside and moved closer. He grabbed me and pulled me down on top of him. One hand held the back of my neck while the other squeezed my thigh. He kissed me. It was a deep, hard kiss that made my heart rate pick up.

  “God, you’re sexy,” he said when he finally pulled back.

  “It really shouldn’t surprise me that mass murder gets you all hot and bothered.”

  “It’s the way you went about it. You put the fear of God into that guy. You were terrifying, it was glorious.”

  “Well, I am a hellhound, not some fluffy puppy. Putting the fear of God into people is kind of my thing.”

  He grinned. “Yeah it is,” he purred. “So, part three; that was killing everything?”

  I nodded. “You’d be surprised how often I have to resort to part three.” People could be so unreasonable.

  22

  22 - Anniversary

  Nevaeh -

  “I really think we need to revisit the issue of the guy who kidnapped Jason,” Juliette commented.

  I waved off her concern before tearing off a piece of tape. “Relax, he was a troglodyte. Those guys have the IQ of a six-year-old and can rarely find their way out of a paper bag, let alone their little pocket
dimension.”

  “Low IQ or not, he still managed to kidnap me,” Jason said.

  I lifted the pair of scissors that had been holding down the tab and taped it down. “I think that reflects more on your abilities than his.” Deftly, I folded over and taped down the tab on the other side. Now all I needed was the ribbon.

  “You’re sure the… troglodyte isn’t coming back?” Rosa pressed.

  “If he does he’ll come to see me, to see if I’ve fulfilled my part of our bargain, at which point I’ll send him straight back to his dank little dimension.” Well.

  Wrapping and then tying off the ribbon took a little finessing but I finally got it right. I carried it over and placed it on the coffee table.

  “Okay, I have to ask, what’s with the present?” asked Rosa.

  I glanced at her. “You forget it’s my anniversary?”

  “What anniversary?” asked Jason.

  I rolled my eyes. “My marriage anniversary. It’s May, I’ve been married a whole year thanks to your weird affection for goats.” A demon’s handfast isn’t the same as a human marriage and annulling such a union required a sacrifice.

  “What are you talking about?” asked Rosa.

  “You don’t remember how you told me I couldn’t sacrifice a kid to annul a marriage?”

  There was a long moment of silence.

  I shared a look with Terra. “You guys know she meant a baby goat right?” she asked.

  “Wait! All you needed to do to annul the marriage was kill a goat?” asked Zo.

  Terra nodded. “Yeah… Did you think we were going to kill a human child? Well, yeah, I mean I would but she wouldn’t…”

  “You guys honestly thought I was planning on killing a human child?” I demanded, feigning outrage. “You guys are sick, you know that? Sick and twisted. Besides, it’s not even necessary. One baby goat’s heart is all that’s needed.”

  “And for the record I never have,” stated Terra, as if I hadn’t spoken.

  “Neither of us have killed anyone below the age of eighteen, for the record.”

  “Well, sixteen…” Terra clarified.