A Proper Hellhound

by Orlando A. Sanchez

  “There’s got to be an easier way to do that,” I said with a groan as I rolled to the side. “You okay?”

 

  He looked different this time. His skin had transformed from fur to scale. All of the Rakshasas turned in Peaches’ direction.

  “What happened to your fur?” I said, rubbing his side. It reminded me of dragonscale. “You have dragonscale skin?”

 

  “Fine, let’s deal with the Rakshasas first.”

 

  He lunged forward and impacted the first Rakshasa with his head, exploding it into small Rakshasa bits. Another tried raking his side, causing sparks to fly in the air with the swipe. Peaches turned and chomped, his massive fangs shearing the Rakshasa in thirds.

  The remaining two charged at his head. Red energy coalesced around his eyes as he fired his omega beams, blasting them both to dust.

  The second pack of Shadowhounds advanced. This one was larger than the one we faced in the hallway. Ten Shadowhounds split into two packs of five.

 

  Mori fired, getting the attention of several of them, but they were focused on Peaches.

  “Simon, use your Incantation!”

  “But, the focus…I’m not a mage.”

  “If you don’t, they’ll kill your hellhound. He can’t get them all.”

  TEN

  I TOOK A deep breath.

  Every time I had tried to use this incantation, something had gone horribly wrong. If I didn’t use it, the Shadowhounds would get to Peaches.

  I extended my left arm. “Ignisvitae,” I said, aiming at the closest pack of Shadowhounds.

  I felt the energy rush out of me as a group of violet orbs formed around me and sped at the Shadowhounds. I missed some of them, punching holes in the floor and wall. The ones I hit burst into dust. They turned their attention from Peaches and focused on a new target—me.

  I counted six Shadowhounds. Mori dealt with two. The remaining four approached me. Peaches growled and fired his omega blast. Two more disappeared in a cloud of dust. I aimed at the other two.

  Ignisvit—” I started, when a Shadowhound clamped onto my left arm and took me down, biting me several times. I placed my other hand against the side of its head and released a violet orb into its body, disintegrating it.

  I felt my body flush with heat, but the bite burned and I felt dizzy. I leaned on the counter to get my bearings. I saw Peaches bound over to Mori and crush the remaining Shadowhounds with an oversized paw. One more blast of his omega beams cleared out the dining area.

 

  He padded over to where I stood, causing tremors with every step.

 

  Mori rushed over and removed my jacket, exposing my arm. “This is bad,” she muttered. “The poison is in your system.”

  Peaches rumbled next to her and nudged her with his head. She stepped out of the way. I was surprised he didn’t launch her across the deli.

 

  I tried to step away from the massive tongue headed my way. I stumbled and fell on my side. The floor tilted in every direction as I sat on the floor next to the remains of the counter. I held up a hand and shook my head.

 

  All sensation in my left arm was gone from the shoulder down. I looked down and saw that the area around the bite had turned black. My body was dealing with the damage as warmth flooded the area, but a part of my brain knew it was a losing battle.

  “The poison is too aggressive,” Mori said, pulling out a blade from her bag. “I’m going to remove the infected area before it spreads farther.”

  “Remove the what—? Don’t slice the ham too thin or else the pigs won’t fly.”

  “I have to remove your arm before it’s too late. The poison is spreading. If it gets to your vital organs, it’s over. Although it sounds like it already reached your brain.”

  The black area on my arm had grown and was slowly spreading. She was right. Peaches stepped closer and this time he did shove her out of the way.

  “What are you doing?” I heard her say. “He’ll die!”

  Another loud rumble and Mori stepped back, holding her hands up in surrender.

 

 

 

  The poison must have had a psychotropic effect on me. I swore I saw Peaches’ tongue turn gold as he proceeded to drown my arm in hellhound drool. The last thing I remembered before losing consciousness was thinking that the potent mix of sausage, pastrami, and hellhound breath was a weapon in its own right.

  ELEVEN

  I OPENED MY eyes in a dim room. The blinds had been drawn closed and I lay in the cool darkness of a large hospital room. Haven.

  “Welcome back,” said a familiar voice. Hades. “Mrs. DeMarco has cleared you to leave at your discretion. She didn’t seem pleased to see me.”

  “You’re not exactly high on her favorite god list, I’m sure.”

  “She’s quite formidable—for a human.”

  “She would be the wrong sorceress to piss off.”

  “Indeed. She wanted me to let you know that she is dealing with an emergency and won’t be here to see you off, but she will follow up later.”

  I nodded and squinted into the darkness. Across from me sat the reason for my current state. The god of the Underworld. He wore a pair of faded jeans, a white dress shirt, and hiking boots. His hair was impeccable as usual. I looked around, but he was alone.

  “I didn’t realize the Underworld did casual Fridays.” I moved to sit up and my brain tried to escape my skull through my eyes. The shooting pain forced me to lay my head back on the pillow. “What are you doing here?” Where’s Peaches?”

  He pointed to the floor and I looked down at my sleeping hellhound sprawled out on the floor next to my bed.

  “Actually, it’s been a few days—three, to be precise, and I wanted to see how you were doing.”

  “I’m touched.”

  “In more ways than one, I’m sure.” He steepled his fingers and leaned back. “Ezra tells me you and Peaches surpassed all expectations.”

  “Excuse me? What are you talking about? We had to deal with Rakshasas and then Shadowhounds. Did you know they exist to kill hellhounds?”

  “I should. I helped create them.”

  “You helped—? What is Ezra talking about?”

  “Did you think your hellhound needed lessons on how to be a hellhound?”

  I paused before answering. “The lesson wasn’t for him?”

  Hades stared at me and looked down at the snoring sprawl-master lying on the floor next to my bed. “No. I needed to know if you could rise to the occasion.”

  I looked at my bandaged arm. “Judging from the outcome, it seems I missed the mark.”

  “Not at all. You managed multi-teleportation, size differential, transference of a baleful glare, and you initiated your hellhound’s battlemode.”

  “That was the full immersion?”

  “The moment you crossed the threshold into the back room.”

  “You knew?”

  “Yes. I honestly didn’t think you’d survive a full immersion by Ezra.”

  “I had help. Mori.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Really, how much did she assist you?”

  I thought back to Mori’s actions at the deli.

  “She gave me a focus.”

  “Which lasted how long?”

  “Not very. One use.”

>   He nodded. “Forcing you to rely on your power. Anything else?”

  “Kept the Rakshasas distracted, and the silver cord. The tether.”

  “Did it disappear after she invoked it?” Hades asked with a smile. “How many Shadowhounds did she dispatch?”

  “Are you saying this was all an illusion?”

  He pointed to my arm. “That bite was very real. You nearly lost an arm, if Peaches hadn’t intervened.”

  I looked down at my bandaged arm.

  “He always said his saliva had healing properties.” I glanced at Peaches and sat up with a groan. “I never believed him.”

  “You still have much to learn about your hellhound and the bond you share. The incantation was unexpected, but quite useful. I would keep its use minimal—and secret.”

  “Surprised me, too.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me and nodded.

  “I daresay that is the limit of your magical ability without extensive training. However, it’s a good spell to have for a non-mage. Your bond, though still entwined, is stronger now.”

  I nodded. “What was this for? If it wasn’t for Peaches?”

  “My giving you Peaches, a hellhound, wasn’t a whim, Strong. I have enemies, powerful ones, and they are making overtures. Testing the fringes.”

  “I imagine it comes with the territory.”

  “Indeed, it does,” he said with a sigh. “Consider your being bonded to Peaches as part of my strategy to stave off a catastrophic endgame. An unexpected variable designed to upset the board.”

  “Endgame? By whom? Who would try to take you on?”

  He stood, brushed off his jeans in a very Montyesque manner, and walked to the door.

  “If I knew that, it would be a simple matter of confrontation and elimination.”

  “Guessing it’s not that simple.”

  He shook his head slowly. “I believe in preparation, Strong. Combat the expected with the unexpected.”

  “Like an immortal bound to a hellhound type of unexpected,” I added. “Pretty much unstoppable from what I heard.”

  He faced me. I felt a wave of subtle energy rush over the room as he stared at me. “A bonded hellhound and his mate can be more dangerous than any magic-user.”

  “Could they face a god?”

  “One day they may have to,” he said. “We’ll talk soon.”

  “Hopefully not too soon. No offense, but our conversations usually end violently.”

  “None taken,” he said with a nod and disappeared.

  I lay back in the pillow and sighed. Gods and their games.

 

 

 

  I was feeling better by the second. I noticed my mark had returned. I looked over and saw my weapons on the side table. Peaches had his collar on again and I wore the matching bracelet. My other wrist held my mala bracelet. I had some questions for Ezra. A pastrami on rye sounded like the perfect excuse.

 

  Peaches moved faster than any dog that size had a right to move. He sat by the door, chuffed, and waited, staring at me, barely containing his excitement as he vibrated in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  “One hellhound in my life is enough, thank you.”

 

  I laughed and rubbed his head as I got dressed, grabbed my weapons, and headed out of the room.

  THE END

  AUTHOR NOTES

  THANK YOU FOR reading this story and jumping back into the world of Monty & Strong. Those readers who wanted Peaches to be showcased requested this story. I hope you enjoyed it. Peaches (and Frank) will be teaming up soon in their own adventures.

  With each story, I want to introduce you to different elements of the world Monty & Strong inhabit, slowly revealing who they are and why they make the choices they do. If you want to know how they met, that story is in NO GOD IS SAFE, which is a short explaining how Tristan and Simon worked their first case.

  There are some references you will understand and some…you may not. This may be attributable to my age (I’m older than Monty or feel that way most mornings) or to my love of all things sci-fi and fantasy. As a reader, I’ve always enjoyed finding these “Easter Eggs” in the books I read. I hope you do too. If there is a reference you don’t get, feel free to email me and I will explain it…maybe.

  You will notice that Simon, although still a smart-ass (deserving a large head smack), is learning more about magic and its use. He’s still mostly clueless about what’s going on, but he’s acquired his first spell (an anemic magic missile!) even though he needs some practice with it. He’s slowly wrapping his head around the world of magic, but it’s a vast universe and he has no map.

  Bear with him—he’s still new to the immortal, magical world he’s been delicately shoved into. Fortunately he has Monty(and Peaches) to nudge (or blast) him in the right direction.

  Each book will reveal more about Monty & Strong’s backgrounds and lives before they met. Rather than hit you with a whole history, I wanted you to learn about them slowly, the way we do with a person we just met—over time (and many large cups of DeathWish Coffee).

  Thank you for taking the time to read this story. I wrote it for you and I hope you enjoyed spending some moments with Simon and Peaches.

  If you really enjoyed this story, I need you to do me a HUGE favor— Please leave a review.

  It’s really important and helps the book (and me). Plus, it means Peaches gets new titanium chew toys, besides my arms, legs, and assorted furniture to shred. And I get to keep him at normal size (most of the time).

  If this is your first Monty & Strong story…WELCOME!

  I’ve included the first chapter of TOMBYARDS & BUTTERFLIES the first full-length Montague & Strong Detective Agency Novel. Please read on and enjoy!

  TOMBYARDS & BUTTERFLIES

  A MONTAGUE AND Strong Detective Novel

  ONE

  What’s more exciting than chasing a rabid werewolf in the middle of the night? Chasing that rabid werewolf in Downtown Manhattan in the middle of the night. The Village, as a neighborhood, was a warren of intersecting streets and dead ends. We had already been at it for thirty minutes and we were closing in.

  “This is what the English did,” I said as we ran down Sixth Avenue. “Who lays out a city like this? A grid, Monty, would it have killed them to use a grid?”

  “The Dutch were here first,” he said. “The English didn’t arrive until 1664. That’s how you get the name New York.”

  We chased it down Minetta Lane off Sixth Avenue. The wet-dog smell punched me in the face as soon as I turned the corner.

  “There’s something wrong with that smell,” I said. “God, he reeks!”

  “I didn’t realize you were a werewolf scent expert,” Monty said as he caught up, his long legs making it easy.

  “I’m not, but this guy smells like he hasn’t bathed in a year. And did you see his eyes?”

  “I did,” Monty said. “He seems to be suffering from some kind of reaction.”

  “Reaction? He tore that poor woman in half. That’s not a reaction. That’s a full-blown infection.”

  “It does seem like he’s unstable,” Monty said as he looked up and down the street.

  “Just a bit, yeah.”

  We followed the scent to the end of Minetta and on to Macdougal Street, when a large, furry blur shot past us.

  “Shoot it, Simon! Shoot!”

  “What do
you think I’m doing?” I said as I fired several times.

  “Shoot it harder!”

  We jumped behind a parked SUV. The license plate read RUFFRDR. The truck was one of those huge things that wasn’t quite a tank but could never pass for an ordinary car, either. I figured there was enough vehicle to protect us from the Were’s razor-sharp claws. That theory evaporated, though. We jumped to the side as it sliced through the metal and plastic with ease, rendering our cover useless. The SUV fell apart like blocks of LEGO and I couldn’t help thinking that RUFFRDR was going to wake up in the morning and have a very bad day.

  “Really, that’s what you’re going with, Monty? ‘Shoot it harder’?”

  “Strong,” rasped the creature on the other side of what used to be a perfectly functioning mode of transportation. “I’m going to rip out your intestines and eat them while you watch.”

  “Wow,” Monty said. “He’s pissed. What did you do to him?”

  “Now would be a good time for magic,” I said. “You know, a fireball or two? Or some Were-melting spell?”

  “Can’t—he’s wearing a null proximity rune,” Monty said. “But I don’t understand why the silver ammo isn’t affecting him. You did switch out for silver ammo, right?”

  “Silver…ammo? Of course I packed the silver—shit.”

  I forgot to switch the ammo.

  “You forgot, didn’t you?” Monty said, exasperated. “We’re out here fighting a werewolf, Simon.”

  “I know,” I said. “It’s a little hard to miss.”

  “I’m going to die,” he said as his voice hiked up an octave. “Out here on the filthy street, alongside you. Wonderful.”

  “No, I just misplaced it,” I said with feigned indignation. “Hey, I had to pack all the bags while you did your meditation thing to charge the magic you’re currently not using.”

  Monty narrowed his eyes and glared.

  “Are you saying this is somehow my fault?”

  “I’m just saying a little magic would make this go smoother, especially since I forgot to pack the silver ammo.”

  The werewolf shoved the debris of the SUV to one side. Saliva dripped from the corners of his mouth as he snarled loudly enough to rattle some of the windows. I jerked my head to one side to let Monty know that tall, dark, and fangy was about to shred us.