But that brought up a more salient point. “If this colleague of Kel’s is using bound Klothod, doesn’t that substantiate the claim that they were all demons at one point and that the ‘host’ has simply changed its backstory?”
Booke nodded. “This doesn’t look particularly angelic, does it?”
A hellhound broke away from the other two, its nails clicking on the stone as it sniffed in our general direction. I froze, willing it not to find us, willing Butch not to make a sound. Sometimes my dog could be inappropriately confrontational, barking when he had no hope of winning a fight. This time, however, he cowered like a pro at the bottom of my purse, so I guessed he knew how high the stakes were. We’d get only one chance to take these guys out.
“What’s our play?”
Booke was searching silently through his pockets, seeking a spell. Gods, I wished I could be more useful in a fight. Though I didn’t miss the incredible power for myself, magick would come in handy at times like this. No use in wishing for the moon, however; I could only use the skills the trip to Sheol had left me. At best, we faced two-to-one odds—three ferocious hellhounds, plus a Nephilim, wielding a knife that would kill anything, from what I’d seen. He probably had Kel’s fast healing abilities too, but there had to be some way to incapacitate him.
“No creature, however powerful, can function without its head.”
“Cockroaches can live for weeks without their heads,” I pointed out.
Booke aimed a sober look at me. “These aren’t cold-blooded creatures, except in the moral sense. Which means my strategy is sound.”
But before we could tackle the Nephilim, we had to take out the Klothod-powered dogs. The one sniffing toward us decided there was something hiding in the shadows, breaking away from the others to investigate. I didn’t have the ability to destroy the hosts by banishing the demons, but there were fewer Rottweilers than there had been monkeys, so maybe if we killed the animals one by one, it would have the same effect. I backed away from the main chamber, letting the natural shadows of the tunnel swallow me. The spell Booke had used earlier helped in that regard, but the hellhound knew we were there. It could smell us; the creature just couldn’t see or hear us, which might permit my impromptu plan to work. I tightened my grip on the Taser, signaling that I had this.
I hope.
Booke crab-walked back behind me, not bad for a guy who could barely move, period, a few days ago. He was ready with a spell just in case, but the premise was sound. As soon as the dog rounded the corner, I pressed the button and the sparking filament leapt between us. I poured full voltage into the animal—and as I’d hoped, its host body couldn’t handle so much electricity. It dropped in spasms, rendering the demon temporarily helpless. At best, we had seconds.
I sprang forward with the knife and opened its throat. The stink of sulfur and brimstone boiled out. This animal had been possessed a long time, as it reeked of death and decay—and even in this faint light, I could see the blood wasn’t red anymore; it looked more like tar, black as pitch and just as sticky. Booke motioned at me to be careful as midnight smoke rose up from the corpse. Instead of dissipating, as I’d hoped, it sped off toward the other dogs.
“Run,” Booke whispered.
He didn’t need to tell me. As soon as the Klothod joined its brethren, they’d know we were here, and then the next dog we faced would be twice as strong. As I ran, I fumbled in my bag, fingers brushing Butch’s shivering body, while I searched for a fresh cartridge. The Taser only offered one shot as a distance weapon. Though I could still use it as a stun gun otherwise, I didn’t like my odds of survival if these two monsters got close enough to bite me.
An awful, blood-curdling howl echoed through the caverns behind us. I stumbled as I ran, scraping my palms on the rock; fresh blood prickled my hands. Booke scrambled out ahead of me and spun in search of better ground. Outside, there were only rocks, dirt, and darkness, no staging ground for a fight of this magnitude.
Please let the Nephilim think these demon dogs are chasing squirrels. Give us time to deal with them, before we have to fight him.
“Take the left,” Booke ordered.
I hoped he had a plan for the one on the right. At his command, I planted my feet, aimed the Taser . . . and missed, as the monstrous Rottweiler leapt at me. Impact rocked me back, and the thing sank its slavering fangs into my upper thigh. Its jaws clamped down, savaging the muscle, and my leg buckled. I went down as Booke threw something at the other monster. The statuette shattered, freezing the creature in place. I slammed the Taser against the hellhound’s throat and stunned the shit out of it, probably more volts than it needed—but no. It still didn’t let go. Shocks ran through the animal’s body, but it must have twice the demon-enhanced power, so it only bit down harder. I swallowed a scream, determined not to be the weak link. Some dogs wouldn’t let go until their prey was dead or they were. My leg hurt too much for me to remember if Rottweilers were among them.
“Your blade, Corine! The spell won’t hold forever.”
I tossed the knife at Booke—or tried to, but it dropped from my trembling fingers. Now I could feel the Klothod draining me through the host animal. My life essence trickled away like the blood running down my thigh. My vision went gray and sparky, and I couldn’t feel my fingers anymore. With my last burst of strength, I rammed the Taser against the hellhound one last time. The resultant shock finally dropped it, but it still didn’t let go. Booke came in with my dagger in hand, and he stabbed it repeatedly in the neck. At first, through dizziness and pain, I thought he was in a rage, but when he kicked it hard in the skull and the monstrous head popped off, I realized he had been perforating the thing. With gentle hands, he opened the inert jaws and removed the teeth from my leg. I fell back onto the rocks, sick and woozy with shock.
“We don’t have long,” he said. “Soon the Nephilim will notice that its guardians have gone missing and come to investigate.”
“I know,” I managed to say.