Page 33 of Hounded
I raked my fingers through my hair, pulling it over my cheek to hide the color that bloomed there.
“Maybe you can introduce me to one of those new hellhounds,” Sully added.
Panic flashed like fire in a pan. My shadowy claws threatened to emerge, and I bared my teeth in a snarl.
“No,” I snapped.
Sully recoiled, and her face washed pale. “Geez, Lore, I was kidding. Kinda.”
As I relaxed, she did, too. I thought she’d moved on until she asked, “Are any of them hot, though?”
I remembered Karst leering and Moira unsubtly bragging about how she fucked Whitney and me.“Some humans are more aesthetically appealing than others,”she’d said. It made my skin itch.
“They’re animals, Sully,” I replied. “Dangerous. Demonic.” The emphasis was for her benefit. I wasn’t up to being corrected on semantics again.
She nodded while appearing unconvinced. Fortunately, she was willing to change the subject. “But a ward might work. Possible downside, though: if the other hounds can’t sense him, neither can you. But it’s not like you don’t know where to find him.”
I snorted. “As long as he stays put. Which he won’t.”
One of the things about Indy that never changed was his restless nature. He was intrepid, easily bored, and prone to misadventures that frequently required my intervention. The only time he sat still was to paint. He could do that for hours, but not forever.
The idea of severing my strongest tie to Indy terrified me. But, if I relied on his scent to track him across the city, so could anyone else.
“It won’t hurt him, will it?” I asked.
Sully shook her head. “It’s something he wears. I can even put it in jewelry.”
The statement gave me cause to consider the numerous necklaces and bracelets I’d never seen her without. I’d assumed they were purely for fashion; I hadn’t considered they might have magical applications.
After a moment’s study of Sully’s beads and bangles, my brow scrunched. “Can you just… give it to him?” I asked. “As a gift? I haven’t told him about… us.” Or anything about the supernatural world. Witches and demons and hellhounds and phoenixes. It was all rather fantastical, and it opened doors I preferred to keep closed. For now.
Sully’s features twisted into a look of vague scorn. “But you’re going to,” she said.
My eyes dropped to the floor.
“Loren,” Sully pressed.
I didn’t reply before Indy came strutting toward us. I used his approach as an excuse to push away from the wall and greet him.
“Ready?” I asked.
“I think so.” His gaze flicked from me to Sully, thenhe nodded. “Nice to meet—er,see—you, Sully.”
A pained look crossed her face, but she chased it with a smile. “You too, Indy. Don’t be a stranger. And put my number back in your phone.” She shot me a meaningful look while Indy bobbed his head and pulled his cell from his pants pocket.
While he input her information, Sully tagged on, “I’ll come by your place later tonight. I have a gift for you.”
When Indy turned toward the exit, I mouthed silent thanks to Sully.
We left the gallery and made our way to the car. Climbing in, I found the interior hot and stuffy, so I started the engine and cranked the A/C.
Before I reached for the radio dial, Indy spoke up. “So, Sully. Is she your friend, too? Or are you guys… yanno?”
I arched a brow.
“Hooking up,” he explained. “Is she your girlfriend?”
Every lifetime came with repeats. Familiar conversations and encounters. Some because I wanted to recreate favorite memories, others because Indy seemed to gravitate toward particular lines of discussion. Since Sully was a recent addition to our lives, he’d never asked about her before. Certainly not in a way that made me wonder if he might be jealous.
