Page 123 of Hounded
I paused to check the aisle signs for coolant. Driving through the desert could wreak havoc on my truck’s aged system, and broken down on the side of a remote highway was the last place I wanted to be.
I located the coolant near the back of the store andtucked a jug under my arm. I was about to head for the oil when the front door’s bell rang again. Clamoring voices and shuffling steps disrupted the quiet in the store.
My attention roamed across the shelves as I continued my search, but my hound’s ears tuned in to the muffled conversation at the front of the shop.
“Not sure why it’s so damn important,” a male voice grunted. “Let Miss find her own lost pup. We’ve got better things to do.”
Cold washed over me, and I gripped the jug of coolant so tightly I was lucky it didn’t burst.
“How’d he get out, anyway?” another male asked. “I never could. Tried everything.”
“Doesn’t matter,” a third voice chimed. “The sooner we get him, the sooner we can get back to looking for the bird.”
There was no mistaking who they meant. Miss, the lost pup, and the bird. Less than a day on the road, and we’d already been found. Not because of Indy—Sully’s wards ensured that—they had come looking forme.
I should have known my release from the kennels wouldn’t go unnoticed. But in all my planning and scurry to get out of New York, I never considered that I was not only Indy’s sole protector, I was also his biggest liability.
The hounds grumbled amongst themselves while I stood rooted to the spot. I hadn’t yet seen them, and I could only assume they hadn’t seen me, either. With only four aisles in this place and their noses as keen as my own, it wouldn’t take them long to sniff me out.
I set the coolant on the floor and searched the shop for exits. Besides the windowed storefront with its singledoor, there was one other avenue for escape. A dented metal door provided employees access to the garage bays on the outside of the building. It had a numbered keypad above the lever handle and would no doubt be locked, but that was a much smaller obstacle than at least three hellhounds on my trail.
I moved slowly, softening my footsteps as I crept along the side of the store. The locked door was about thirty feet ahead, and progress was painstaking. The other dogs could hear as well as they could smell, and I hoped not to alert them to my movements till the last possible moment.
My heart pounded, driving blood into my ears and making me fight not to gasp for frantic breaths. I needed to get back to the truck, throw it in gear and speed out of here. Indy wouldn’t know what to think when his mobile home started rattling through the city at breakneck speeds, and I didn’t know what to do to keep this from happening again. MaybeIneeded to be warded, too, which meant going back to Sully and undoing all the progress Indy and I had made. But maybe then we would be safe.
I reached the end of the aisle. Advancing to the garage bay entrance meant venturing into plain sight without a clear idea of where the other hounds had gone. I heard them talking and walking, but panic dulled my keener senses, and I hesitated until my taut muscles demanded that I move.
No sooner had I bolted from cover than a chorus of voices responded.
“Is that him?”
“Told you!”
I grabbed the steel door handle and yanked. It snapped off in my hand and puckered the metal around the latch. Swearing, I stepped back and kicked, half-convinced I would put my foot through the damned thing before the hinges broke and sent the door tumbling away.
In the garage bay, the odors of motor oil and rubber thickened the air. Three cars were parked, one on a lift in mid-tire change, and a small flock of mechanics in coveralls turned toward my intrusion. Any other time, being the center of attention would have given me pause, but I didn’t even catch my breath before spotting the clearest path toward one of the open overhead doors and the parking lot beyond.
I made it two sprinting steps before a full-bodied force struck me from behind. One of the hounds barreled into me, knocking me to the ground where we landed, then rolled.
The mechanics shouted then scrambled in all directions while the rest of the hellhound pack charged into the garage.
Claws ripped my skin as I shoved at my assailant, baring my teeth and snarling. I barely got a look at the man while shielding my eyes from swiping strikes that could render me blind. Barring my arms and drawing my legs up, I kicked him off then got onto my hands and knees.
If I could get my glaive, I could establish a barrier. At least a threat that would make the other hounds think twice before closing in. But, like I’d told Abigail, I had a glaring weakness: I floundered in close combat.
Speaking of Abigail seemed to summon her. She was with them, standing aside and looking aghast while twoother male hounds lurched toward me. They attacked in tandem before I made it to standing, only seconds after I’d taken count of the odds against me.
It was a pack of five, four males plus Abigail.
I didn’t recognize any of the others, didn’t have time to, before one of the attackers grabbed a handful of my hair and wrenched my head backward.
His accomplice piled on my back, driving me down onto the greasy concrete floor. My hound alternated between whines and growls as I scrabbled for purchase on the smooth ground. When the hound holding my hair shoved my head forward, my nose crunched against the cement in an explosion of dizzying pain.
More hands grabbed me. Claws slashed and teeth gnashed, rending my skin. Warmth leaked out and soaked my clothes. The smell of iron spoke of grievous wounds. Blood everywhere.
Curling into a ball, I tried to shield myself from my attackers. The onslaught of blows was like a pelting rain. But I couldn’t hide here. Couldn’t stay down. That would be cowardice, and I was trying so hard to be brave.
I squirmed and thrashed but connected with nothing. I was pinned facedown with knees grinding into my spine and driving the air from my lungs.
