Heroes and a Hellhound: Book One

by Eleanor Rousseau

  “It’s just a dislocated shoulder and some torn cartilage. You’re overreacting.”

  I raised my shirt, revealing a black and purple bruise across my hip.

  “Ouch.”

  “Yeah, ouch. He also broke my knee and took a chunk out of my ass.”

  “Aw,” he whined. “I love your ass.”

  “I also love my ass, it must be avenged,” I snarled.

  “Alright, calm down. I think we’ve established that you’re no match for Wrath. You’re not going to risk your ass again on this suicide mission. This ass is mine; what I say goes.” He had on a very stern expression.

  “Remind me, when you died, was it still the Dark Ages?”

  “You got a smart mouth, dollface. You need a strong man to take you in hand and teach you how to behave,” he said, sounding like a lame detective from the thirties.

  “Call me dollface again and I’ll tear your face off.”

  “You know, you’re kind of sexy when you’re mad.” He gave me what might have been his smouldering look.

  “Dude, no sex until I heal. New house rule.”

  He growled softly under his breath. “I thought that was the one perk of being married.”

  I glanced up at him, my eyebrow quirking slightly. “You’ve never really hung out with married people, have you?”

  “No, why?”

  I suppressed a smile. “No reason. What are you even doing in my flat?”

  He gave me a look as if the answer should be obvious. “I wanted sex.”

  I sighed. “Go away, you’re annoying me.”

  “Are you sure I can’t kiss it better?” he asked with mock sincerity.

  I gave him a flat look. “Ass-kisser.”

  He laughed. “Anytime, babe. I can also kiss other parts of your anatomy,” he teased, bending over me.

  I slapped him across the face.

  “Ow.” He huffed a breath and slumped back in his seat. “You are an exceptionally unreasonable woman,” he accused.

  “Yeah, well… you’re a jerk.”

  12

  12 - Archenemy

  Nevaeh -

  “Whatever you think is here, isn’t,” I snarled as a second blast rocked the building.

  “We’re out of time, Jason, let’s go!” Juliette snapped.

  “No, he has to have left something. He always does. These are the twisted games he plays!”

  Juliette and I shared a look. This wasn’t like Jason; he was usually the levelheaded one. “Take him out!” I yelled as there was a loud crack which shook the foundations of the building.

  Juliette grabbed Jason and yanked him towards the door. Usually, Jason probably could have out muscled her—she had an inch or so on him in height but she was leaner—but she wasn’t taking no for an answer.

  I hurried after them but a piece of the ceiling struck my head and I was suddenly dazed. A continued towards the door but a beam above cracked and I couldn’t move fast enough. I tried to dive out of the way but it hit my leg and I screamed as I was pinned down and my head bounced against the concrete.

  Everything went black.

  “I’ve got you, Neva,” Rosa said. It didn’t sound like her and I couldn’t see anything but it smelled like her, so I trusted it.

  My vision briefly cleared and I saw large, man hands gripping the beam that had me trapped. Someone else grabbed me and began to pull me free. The renewed pain caused me to black out again.

  When I opened my eyes, I was outside. Safe from falling debris. The hulking man above me began to shrink into a thin girl with short blond hair, fair skin, and delicate, elven-like features. “Rosa.”

  “I think it’s broken bad. Do we need to set it?” Rosa asked.

  “I think this is beyond us,” Zo replied, they must have arrived together just as the building was coming apart.

  I groaned, the pain in my leg was excruciating, and it wouldn’t let up until the bone was back where it needed to be. “Call Tim.”

  “Who the hell is Tim? We need to call an ambulance,” said Zo as she knelt down beside me.

  I reached to punch her in the shoulder. “No, I just need Tim.”

  “Seriously, who’s Tim?” asked Jason.

  Terra reached inside my pocket and pulled out my phone. When had she arrived? I was still feeling dizzy. “I got it,” she said as she dialled. “Hey Timmy, you better get your ass down here.”

  She paused and the voice on the other end was loud enough that they all heard it, even if they couldn’t make out the words.

  “Relax, Tim, she’s going to be fine,” Terra assured him.

  “Tell the idiot to get his ass down here,” I growled.

  “Alright, babe, there’s no need for an attitude,” said Tim as he appeared at my side in a swirl of black smoke. Dramatic ponce. He crouched as he looked me over. “You look like crap.”

  “Either fix my leg or take me to a hospital, you bastard.”

  He pulled off his tie and wrapped it around his hand to fold it over before holding it to my mouth. I carefully took it between her teeth. He nodded and reached down, resting both hands on my broken leg. “This won’t tickle,” he stated.

  I murmured something through the material that sounded suspiciously like a curse and he nodded again.

  “On three. One, two-” There was a loud crack sound and I whimpered through my makeshift gag.

  I pulled the fabric free and glanced down at the two puncture holes in the material. “I ruined your tie,” I commented, running my tongue along my teeth to find that my fangs had grown to full length.

  “You can buy me a new one. How’s that feel?” he asked, squeezing my leg.

  “Like some asshole just snapped my leg.” I glared up at him.

  He took the tie and shoved it into his pocket. “Hey, I just snapped it back. You’re welcome.”

  “I hate you.”

  “You love me.” He reached down and pulled me carefully into his arms. “This one’s mine, I’m keeping her,” he told Terra.

  “I’m not some stray puppy, you ass.” My head was beginning to clear from the minor concussion and I felt appropriately grouchy.

  “You’re right. I’d have no use for a stray puppy. Please excuse us, Azrael,” he said to Terra, using her demon title.

  “Look after her,” instructed Terra.

  Tim nodded before transporting us both away.

  * * *

  Rosa -

  There was a brief pause after the stranger disappeared with our injured friend. “Seriously, who was that?” asked Zo.

  “Her husband, you forget she had one?” asked Terra.

  Jay frowned. “Wait, the guy from the night we got drunk? She actually hangs out with that guy?”

  “Sometimes,” said Terra, smirking.

  I had the distinct impression that there was a lot more than that going on between Nevaeh and her surprise hubby. I’d have to ask Terra more about that later. “What happened? How did the building come down?”

  Juliette turned to Jason but it soon became clear he wasn’t going to answer.

  “The place was booby trapped. We should have left after the first explosion but he wouldn’t let us leave. Who was this, Jason? What kind of a tip-off could have led to a collapsing building?” she demanded, clearly pissed.

  He combed both hands through his hair. “I’m sorry. This is… It’s personal. I shouldn’t have involved any of you.”

  “Well, you did. Now we’re involved and we have an injured hellhound on our hands. You need to start talking,” Juliette growled.

  He was clearly hesitant to respond but when he glanced at the rest of us, he realised we wouldn’t be interceding on his behalf. He sighed. “His name is Debay. I knew him before all of this, even before I came to this country. Our history is long and tangled and we have the same training so he knows all of my moves.”

  “And your weaknesses,” Juliette added.

  Jason clenched his jaw.

  “He knew you would rather stay
in a building that’s coming apart than risk missing some damn clue that might not have even existed,” she said harshly.

  He took a deep breath. “I know. I am sorry. He just gets under my skin. You know how I fight, we were trained together. As we grew older, the rivalry took a darker turn.”

  “In other words, you’re both a total cliche,” Terra commented.

  He glared at her. “This isn’t a joke. He’s completely lethal.”

  “Jason, if he is here, this needs to be something we face together,” Zo told him. “We’re a team, and you can’t drag us into a situation blind. You did it once and now Nevaeh will be out of commission, for god knows how long. You could have gotten all three of you killed.”

  “And Nevaeh might still kill you anyway,” Terra mused.

  “Not helpful,” I told her. She just shrugged.

  “Okay, I will open an official case on Debay Bao. I don’t know if he’s in town or this was some kind of long distance prank he set up but—even on the off chance he is here—you all need to know his MO. If I’ve brought his brand of trouble down on our heads then we need to be prepared to face him. I would do it on my own but… in all honesty, I don’t think I would win.”

  “Give us the basic’s, anything else can wait,” Juliette said, though she still seemed annoyed.

  “Okay. Well, last I knew, he was locked up in a Chinese detention centre. He was convicted for murdering several people but, with the help of an unscrupulous lawyer, he talked his way down to a five-year stay in the detention centre. He still has another two years on that sentence. At least, he should have.” He paused, rubbing at his chin. “But, if anyone could weasel his way out of there, it’s Debay. The only thing he does better than getting himself into trouble is getting himself out of it.”

  “Why did he kill those people?” I asked.

  “They were all part of one of his damn schemes. It was a series of insurance scams that were set to give him and all those involved an enormous pay out. It began to fall apart when someone started blabbing to the insurance companies. Debay lost it; he began going through his accomplices, trying to work out who was the leak.”

  “He killed them?” Zo pressed.

  Jason nodded. “He wasn’t exactly known for having an even keel. He can get nasty fast when he doesn’t get what he wants. And he wasn’t going to get what he wanted, not from them.” He glanced down at his hands.

  “You were the leak?” I asked.

  He sighed heavily but nodded. “I wasn’t involved but I stumbled across one of the cases, and I knew Debay was buddies with the guy receiving the pay out. That’s always a red flag. So, I began looking into things. I knew what to look for.”

  “Did you know what would happen?” Juliette asked.

  Jason shook his head and gave a helpless shrug. “Maybe I should have. I knew the type of guy he was, but I never could have imagined… not that. I had hoped it would be all over before he even caught wind of the leak. I underestimated him. Again,” he growled softly.

  “Well, chances are he’ll have no clue what the fuck we are capable of. So, if he messes with us, he’s in for one hell of a surprise,” Terra declared.

  That almost put a smile on Jason’s face.

  “Yes, a dumbass who kills off his allies won’t be prepared to face our particular brand of justice,” I added.

  “Especially when it comes to light that he dropped a building on a hellhound,” Dee added with a smirk.

  This time Jason really did smile. “Hell hath no fury…”

  * * *

  Nevaeh -

  “Thanks for the ride,” I murmured as Tim lay me down on my bed. Even though he was careful, I winced at the movement, especially when it came to resting my broken leg on the mattress.

  “Is this going to become a habit of yours?” he asked, snagging a pair of scissors from the dresser before reaching to cut off my bloody jeans so he could get a good look at the worst of the wounds. It was a shame, I really liked those jeans. I only had about three pairs that I wore.

  “I sure as hell hope not. This really hurts,” I told him, pouting.

  “You poor baby,” he mocked, eyeing the wound which was already starting to heal, the bleeding having stopped and the torn fleshed looked a little less ragged around the edges. It was still pretty gross though. “Are hellhounds susceptible to infections?” he asked.

  “Not as far as I know. You’re worried about me,” I accused, smirking up at him.

  “Of course, when you get yourself killed, who’s going to be their main suspect?” he pointed out, gently touching my leg just beside the wound.

  Pressing my eyes closed, I tried to block out the pain. Talking helped, it was a good distraction. “Ah, so that’s not concern, it’s self-interest.” I wasn’t surprised.

  “Obviously. Besides, you belong to me, and you’d be worth less if you’re broken.”

  I smiled up at him and reached for his hand. “You know, you’re very good at that.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “At what?”

  “Pretending you don’t care.”

  He leant down to brush his lips against mine, though his eyes had hardened. “Well, I do have a reputation to maintain. So you can’t tell anyone, or I shall have to kill you myself.”

  I bit my lip. “Like you could if you tried.”

  “Stay put, I’ll get you a drink to help you heal up.” He kissed me again, briefly, before heading downstairs.

  I stretched out, wincing a little. Then I shifted and pushed myself up so I was sitting. I smiled as he came back. “Thank you, peaches.” I accepted the drink.

  He went to the bathroom and came back with a damp cloth. He started to clean the blood from my leg. I tensed and a small sound of pain escaped me but he grasped my leg to hold me still. “Take it like a demon. I know you hellhounds are quite brittle, how long until you’re back in working order?”

  “Maybe a day or so, it wasn’t a bad break.” I took a long swig from my glass, it would help speed up my recovery faster than anything else.

  “Hmm. First a demon, now a building, what will I be helping to heal you from next?” he mused. The skin around the wound was heated so the cool cloth felt nice, until it drifted too close to the wound.

  Despite my discomfort, it was nice to feel like I was being taken care of. Though, a demon was the last person I’d have expected to make me feel that way. I liked it and, despite my better judgement, I liked him.

  “You know, demolishing buildings is more fun when you do it from the outside,” he teased, reaching to tuck my hair behind my ear.

  I smiled. “What makes you the authority on demolition?”

  “I’ve seen more cities raised to the ground than you could ever imagine, Nevi.”

  I gave a soft laugh. “You’re not that old, Timothy, don’t bullshit me.”

  He snorted. “Well, I’ve seen a couple. Maybe one day we can destroy some cities together,” he purred, his voice low and seductive.

  “Mmm, you are such a tease,” I murmured, pulling him down to kiss me. Unfortunately, all his demolition talk(and sexual tension) had distracted me and I moved my leg, yelping loudly at the abrupt spike of pain.

  He pulled back and glanced down at my leg with a small frown. “Do you have anything for the pain?”

  I had a feeling the paracetamol in my bathroom wasn’t going to cut it. Then I remembered something that would be much more effective. “My roommate keeps some pot brownies in her bottom desk drawer.”

  He lifted both eyebrows at me and he grinned. “In that case, let’s get high, hound.”

  13

  13 - Enthralled

  Nevaeh -

  “Who’s birthday is it?” I asked, eyeing the small cake box on my desk. I draped my jacket over the back of my chair and studied it quizzically. Maybe it was an apology cake from Jason after he basically broke my leg. Or maybe it was another pastry laced with narcotics. Tim and I did have a good few days high as a kite. I could see him trying to re
create that again.

  “No one’s,” Juliette said, eyeing the box. “That wasn’t here when we left, and why was it on your desk?”

  I might have guessed it was a mistake but my desk was pretty distinctive. It was the only wooden one in the room. I’d insisted because I liked to carve the names of my victims into the surface. I smirked at the thought and glanced at the stack of books on the desk. They were from a series about the Grim Reaper and they each had the word ‘grave’ in the title.

  So surely they’d realised it was my desk, and everyone here knew that I didn’t eat cake.

  “I’m not sure you should touch that until we know where it’s come from,” Juliette warned.

  “I’m not going to eat it.” I opened the box and the most delicious smell wafted up to me. “Well… maybe one bite.”

  “Neva!” she snapped.

  I glanced up at her. “Wha?” I mumbled around a mouthful of the cake.

  “Why are you eating it?”

  “It tastes really good.” Before I knew it I was licking chocolate flavoured crumbs from my fingers. Wow, the only good thing that usually ended so quickly was sex.

  “But you don’t even eat food. What if it was poisoned?”

  “Who poisons cake?” Poison seemed more the kind of thing you’d slip into wine or soup. I didn’t like soup. Was it a food? Was it a beverage? The ambiguity unnerved me.

  “Who gives a hellhound cake?”

  I glanced at her. “Touché.”

  She eyed me warily. “How do you feel? Homicidal?”

  I shrugged. “No more so than usual.”

  “I’m going to check the logs to see if anyone’s been in here since we left this morning.” She headed quickly over to the computer at her own desk.

  I waved a hand dismissively. “Relax, if someone wants to feed me awesome cake then they should be free to do so.” I checked the box for any sign of where it had come from. If I ever had a craving for human food again, I’d want to know where to go. But it looked like the generic sort you might buy at a supermarket.