by Avery Rae
"He helped you too?"
"Of course he did. Kid doesn't belong here any more than you do."
"Then why is he?"
"Same reason the rest of Samael's hunters are here. He laid it out to me once when I told him he should have let me burn. He told me his hunters were those who had even a shred of something redeemable inside them. And yeah, that goes for Amberlynn, too."
"She seems alright, but she still killed forty men in cold blood."
"I'm no better. The thing is, he can't just go for good people, they have to be strong, too. There's no point in turning them if they don't pass the trial, right?"
"So, the Brotherhood is like . . . rehab for criminals?"
Lucas laughed and gave me a slow nod. "That's one way of putting it."
"Do people ever fail out of rehab?" I asked with a hint of caution.
"All the time. Samael brings someone in about once a month and gives them a shot. Nobody's lasted since he brought me in a few years ago. The world chews people up and spits them out down here, y'know? Even we can't handle the people ending up here these days."
"Have you ever met, you know, Satan or whatever?"
Lucas' expression darkened. "Rumor has it that both God and the Devil abandoned Earth long ago."
"But where did they go?"
"Nobody knows, but it's been hell for us. More and more souls are being let out with each day as the Druids try to restore the balance. They don't seem to realize they can't. Heaven and Hell are being run by the B squad, right? It's all a mess."
"And that's what the Brotherhood is for? It's why Samael is here?"
"Yeah, he got the fuck out of Heaven when things started getting crazy up there. He won't talk about it much, but I hear we might not be much worse off here."
If Samael wasn't keen on speaking to him about it, I doubted that Lucas could tell me much more. I eyed his hellhound, who was sniffing the ground as we walked.
"So, I guess hellhounds are like tracking dogs, right?"
"Bingo. They're great at hunting down souls. But they're snotty as hell. If none of them find you worthy, there isn't much I can do except make sure they don't tear you to shreds. But then you'll get tossed into the pits, so this is pretty much the end of the line, isn't it?" He frowned, as if just now considering how serious this was.
"You're not kidding, are you?"
"Nope."
"Great," I murmured. "That's just great."
Lucas' hellhound, Carbon, stilled his large form and went straight as a board, nose pointed to our right. Lucas patted the beast on his head, then turned to me with a grimace. "It's time. You ready?"
No. I forced myself to nod and draw myself nice and tall, as if that would somehow save me from being burnt to a crisp. Lucas' hound took the lead down a slope that led to a small sea of black hellhounds. They were sprawled out among rocks. The biggest of them was high atop the largest one. When I dared to look up at it, it lifted its lips in a snarl and its flaming eyes bored down into mine. As crazy as it made me feel, I couldn't help but smile.
"I want that one," I said before I realized it.
"Are you insane? That's the alpha. We don't tame alphas."
"I don't know if you know this about me yet, but I'm an overachiever." I took a step forward and the alpha growled louder, rousing the hounds below. "And I know for sure that's my hound."
"Don't say I didn't warn you. Enjoy your mauling. Carbon and I will try to get you out if it gets too gnarly, but no promises you'll get to keep all your limbs."
I was already moving. A thrill shot through me as I stepped into the pack. Growls filled the air, one after another until I could hear nothing else. I was standing in a viper's nest and I had never felt more alive. I didn't know whether I should be disturbed or exhilarated by how excited I was. I strode forward, my heart beating a surprisingly calm, steady thrum.
The alpha, up until now disinterested, lifted its head. It directed those flaming eyes at me and bared its teeth in challenge. I didn't stop moving. The jagged soil crunched beneath my feet as I drew closer. The hulking beast rose on its rock, muscles rippling beneath its black fur, and snarled.
My heart rate quickened even as I drew to a stop a short distance away. Although I stopped, I wouldn't look away. I refused to back down. I had spent my entire life doing the same thing as this hound. I went through life with teeth bared, growling at anyone that got too close.
But all I ever wanted was for someone to push through. I wanted someone to care enough to open their arms to me, and when I rejected them, I wanted them to pull me in for a hug. I couldn't accept love. I would always—always—run unless someone held me there. They never did.
The hound let out a furious, thundering roar and leapt from the rock.
I stood my ground.
"You have got to be kidding me," Lucas shouted from behind me. "That's a good way to end up dead. Go find one that doesn't want to kick your ass up and down the length of Hell."
"I basically died once already," I shouted back, my eyes never leaving the hound's. "I can take it."
As the alpha lowered to the ground with a growl that made the ground tremble, I hoped that I wasn't talking out of my ass. I started forward once more, feeling like my plan was more and more asinine the closer I got. But I couldn't shake the feeling that this hound was just like me—on the top and none the better for it. Lost, alone, and angry.
"C'mon, puppy, let's be angry together," I said, outstretching my arms.
Saliva glistened on the hound's bared fangs as it growled even louder with my approach. Did his teeth grow? They didn't look that huge a few steps back. But I kept on moving, like a train that couldn't stop. I was going to do this. When I was within reach, it lunged and snapped. But I didn't stop.
"You're going to die," Lucas called out.
"If I can't tame this hound, I'm as good as dead anyway, right?" I replied without looking back.
"Fair point, but I still question your methods. There are plenty of other hounds. Much smaller ones."
The hound lunged forward and crashed its large body into me. I dropped into the dirt, landing hard on my knees, but I gritted my teeth through the pain. "You and me, top dog, we can go up to Earth and get into all sorts of trouble."
I kept my eyes focused on the hound, who seemed confused by me not attacking. It chomped its slobbering jaw in front of my face, but I stayed completely still. Finally, it let out a soft whine and sat down in front of me, head tilted to the side.
"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Lucas yelled.
Just when I thought I'd won, the hound lifted a heavy paw and whacked me in the face. I fell sideways into a rock and as my consciousness faded in and out, I thought, wow, I'm an idiot.
15
Priscilla
"Weirdest thing I've ever seen." Lucas' voice was filled with disbelief. "I think her hound took pity on her."
We had returned to the Brotherhood's fortress and were once more in the room that seemed to be the preferred gathering place of the hunters. Gale hadn't returned from whatever he was doing with Samael, so it was just me and the other hunters. Lucas, Amberlynn, and Edwin had taken their usual seats at the main table, while Zachariah stood off to the side, leaning his shoulder against a wall and watching with folded arms.
I was on the floor playing with my new hellhound, who I had named Atlas. He responded well to it and I thought Gael might find it funny. I quickly learned Atlas was a big, protective puppy underneath it all. When I woke from my accidental knockout, he had been guarding me from Lucas, who was really just trying to make sure I was okay. So, I basically considered us instant best friends. Anyone who had my back was a friend these days. I couldn't afford to shut anyone out.
"You for real?" Amberlynn eyed me with one eye squinted, as if she didn't know whether to be disgusted or impressed.
"Yeah," I replied, dodging a swipe from Atlas' massive paw. I was really going to have to teach him how to play without maiming anyone. "I don't know
how I knew, but I could sort of tell he wasn't happy."
She snorted out a laugh. "You're sitting there talking about happiness while I got a scar from my tits to my navel 'cause my hound tried to disembowel me." She paused, looking thoughtful. "But maybe that's why we get along so well."
Lucas mused over that idea for a moment, then realization lit his eyes. "Maybe that's it. You and your hound pick each other. Like fate."
"Why would I choose a dog like Debbie?" Amberlynn scoffed. "She's a psycho."
I resisted the urge to comment on that one and instead asked, "Why did you name her Debbie?"
She grinned. "Named her after Debbie Harry. No woman did denim and smoky eyeliner like that babe."
It was the most genuine, non-feral smile I'd seen from her yet. I couldn't help but smile back at first, but a sudden thought made me frown. "How come I've never met any of your hounds? Gael's is around now and then, but I've only seen Lucas' once and none of yours."
"We have to be much more careful than Gael," Zachariah replied. "Don't need to be accused of tryin' to kill anyone when your hound attacks. Like that time Debbie ended up in my hallway on accident. Right, Amberlynn?"
"Yeah, that sure looked real bad, didn't it?" She ruffled her wild hair, then winked at me. Zachariah bristled and pushed away from the wall, but Lucas gave them both exasperated looks.
"Anyway," he shouted, trying to diffuse what was clearly the start of an old argument, "I'm just saying, think about it. Gael's hound is the only one that isn't rabid, right? He still had to fight his, but the hound was just testing him. Us violent assholes? Ours tried to kill us. It's some kindred spirit shit."
"Holy shit." Amberlynn brought both of her hands to her head and mimed an explosion, complete with sound effects. "Mind blown."
"I'm pretty sure you just jinxed your victims," Zachariah chipped in with a sneer. "You know, because you blew out their brains."
Edwin, quiet until now, sat back in his chair with a sigh. "God damnit, Zachariah."
Amberlynn slammed a hand down, all her good humor disappearing in a heated flash. "Seriously, could you fuck off with that for one day? I know you hate women and whatever, but we all got reasons for being here, numb-nuts, so quit getting your dick in a twist over mine."
I slid my focus back to Zachariah, who shrugged and gave me a lazy smile. What did Amberlynn mean by that? Did he really hate women? He had been nothing but kind to me since I ended up here. In fact, he was the first person to make me feel like I wasn't a total fish out of water.
Amberlynn was on her feet in the next moment with that dangerous knife of hers held aloft. I hadn't even seen her get it out. "You're lucky I ain't got my gun, Zachariah. I'd do you like the rest. It'd be worth my soul. I swear to you."
Atlas lowered to his haunches with a low, rumbling growl. I jumped up and stood between the two of them, my back to Zachariah and my hands held up to Amberlynn.
"Hey, come on, there's no need for all this," I soothed. "We're already in Hell, why make it worse?"
She lightly pressed the tip of her knife to a fingertip and spun it between her hands. "You got no idea how hateful that man is."
Part of me couldn't help but wonder if that was her bias talking. I could put the pieces together. I knew without being told that she had been abused by men. I knew. It seemed to me like Zachariah just liked getting a rise out of her. Probably not the kindest or wisest thing for him to do, but nobody was perfect. Especially down here.
"Ignore him, alright? He's just needling you."
Zachariah chuckled behind me. "Yeah, I'm just needling you, pet."
"Don't you fucking call me that." Amberlynn's expression contorted with rage, then she hauled back her arm and threw the knife over my shoulder. I froze as I listened to the metal sing by my ear with such force that it ruffled my hair. It landed with a wet thunk. I inched around in a tight circle to see Zachariah standing with folded arms, Amberlynn's knife firmly lodged in his shoulder.
"Next time I'm taking one of your balls," she warned.
A clank of metal echoed through the tense room as the door slid open behind us. Samael's towering form filled the doorway as he moved inside. He was already focused on the scene in front of him, eyes darting around to piece together the situation. Gael appeared from behind Samael, arms folded. His focus was solely on Zachariah.
I gave him a small wave. "Hey there, you two. Good news is I got my hellhound. Bad news is that things got a little tense."
"I wish I were more surprised," Samael replied with a sigh. "I'm disappointed in you, Zachariah. And don't look so smug, Amberlynn, you need to learn to control your temper."
"But—"
Samael held up a hand. "You must learn."
"Yeah, sure, I'm the one that needs to learn," she grumbled before stomping over to her usual seat and sitting with such force that the chair groaned.
Samael strode past me, a large, surprisingly soft wing brushing my arm. The very air trembled in his wake. He stopped in front of Zachariah with a disappointed sigh, then gripped the knife lodged in his shoulder and yanked it out with one pull. Zachariah didn't even wince. He only closed his eyes for a brief second, then pressed a hand to his already healing wound. He looked up at Samael with a cool smile. "Thanks, old man."
Samael said nothing. When he moved to return Amberlynn's knife to her, he made a point of showing her the red-streaked blade. "This is the blood of your brother. My blood. When you wound him, you wound me. See that you don't inflict such pain on me again."
Unlike when he first came into the room, this time I saw a flicker of honest guilt in Amberlynn's expression. She averted her eyes and took the weapon, wiping the blood on her dark leather pants.
"Now, Gael and I bring grave news," Samael said as he stood at the head of the table, gripping the back of a chair in his big hands. His wings, although tucked against his back, twitched with obvious irritation. "Ronove called for us because he had over a hundred souls escape at once last night."
"A hundred?" Lucas asked. "How?"
"Druids, as usual," Gael said with a grimace.
"But their magic ain't even that powerful anymore," Amberlynn scoffed. "They couldn't pull that many souls outta here without killing themselves, could they?"
"No, they couldn't," Samael replied, matter-of-fact.
I swiveled my head between them as they conversed, mostly at a loss. I knew very little about the Druids so far, so that word still summoned an image of a flower-crown-wearing nature lover, not someone that helped souls escape Hell. Let alone someone that would die for such a thing.
"What are Druids?" I asked. "Why would they do something like this?"
"All you need to know is that they're nuts," Amberlynn growled. "I told you guys it was too damn quiet. We should go up there and slaughter all of those idiots."
"That's not the way the game is played and you know it," Gael replied.
"Yeah, well, I'm getting pretty fucking tired of this game. Those Druids think it's cute to unleash killers on the world and I'm tired of cleaning up after them."
"Some of them would probably like that," Edwin said, voice quiet and thoughtful. "Many of them think the fewer humans there are, the more the balance is restored. That includes themselves."
"What exactly is the balance?" I asked in confusion.
There was bitterness in the laugh that came from Edwin. "I don't even think the Druids know anymore."
Gael was at my side. He discreetly touched my arm, sending a little shock through me, then knelt down to my hellhound. "He's much bigger than I expected. What did you name him?"
I could barely resist a smile as I said, "Atlas."
Gael smiled back at me, but that look quickly faded. "It's good that you were able to get your hound so soon. We're going to need all the help we can get."
"Does this mean I'm going back . . . up there?"
16
Priscilla
My nerves were getting the best of me as we made our way down the mountai
n from the fortress. All I could think about was how scared I was to go back to Earth. How stupid is that? I was walking through Hell with a giant, pony-sized hound with flaming eyes walking on my right and several demons, a fallen angel, and their hounds to my left. The sky crackled with red lightning and the flames licked at the trees, which were crawling with curious winged creatures.
And yet I was afraid of leaving this place. That didn't make much sense at all, yet it was how I truly felt. I looked at Gael out of the corner of my eye and my stomach did a funny little flip. Stop that, would you?
We walked far past the area where I had gotten Atlas. He happily trotted along beside me, not even glancing back at his old home. I took a deep breath of the hot, smoky air, wondering if I would feel the same when I went back to Earth. I was so nervous about going back that I couldn't believe it would happen. But even though I'd been condemned here, things could still get worse for me.
"This is it for me, isn't it? It'll count as my trial?" I asked Gael in a soft voice.
"Yeah." Gael ran a hand along his jaw, then looked off to the side with a shake of his head. "I don't doubt someone in the Tribunal gave the Druids a little encouragement."
"Would they really do that?"
"The faction leaders are old, bored, and greedy. There's not much they won't do. At least they're honest about it, unlike what I hear about the guys above."
"Heaven?" I asked with a frown. "I haven't heard many great things about it so far. Isn't it supposed to be a paradise?"
"What's paradise without your god?"
I kicked at an ash-covered rock in front of me with my boot as I walked. "Where is he? God?"
"Who knows?" Gael shrugged. "It's been forever. My bet is playing with humans got boring fast. Most of the stories you've read or heard? They come from the minds of humans trying to explain a world with absent gods."