Infernal Bonds

by Holly Evans

  “Well now, you’re quite a little firecracker, aren’t you?”

  I restrained the urge to punch him in the mouth. “You’re coming with me. Hound.”

  He pursed his lips and said mockingly, “Is that all I am to you?”

  I smiled sweetly and said, “If you’re a very good boy, you’ll be a nice pair of shoes and a pile of cash.”

  He laughed at me and made a sweeping motion with his arm. “Lead the way.”

  Fifteen

  I desperately wanted to ask the hound the hundreds of questions that raced around my mind. Instead, I sat next to him on the tram on my way back to Kadrix’s. He leaned that little bit too close to me, the small smile refusing to leave his lips. I was torn between wanting to wipe it off his face and put him in his place as a supernal beast, and trailing my finger along it. I’d texted Quin with the news while we’d waited for the tram to arrive. The tram was packed with people, many of whom kept glancing at me and the hound. Not that I could blame them; he was rather striking. I caught more than one woman looking him up and down, drinking in every detail as though forming a mental composite ready to pull up for a more private moment later. He loved every second of it.

  The architecture couldn’t hold my focus; not even the view across the river towards the great iron bridge could pull me away from the moment. An older woman kept huffing and sighing melodramatically; we both ignored her. My phone vibrated with a text from Quin asking where we were. I could almost feel him bouncing at the prospect of meeting the hound. We were only one stop away. The scent of hot metal and petrichor invaded my space, and I could feel his amusement tickling the back of my mind. That only served to infuriate me further.

  The tram emptied at Malá Strana. People spilled out onto the square and went their separate ways, each studiously ignoring everyone around them. I kept a close eye on the hound as we stepped out into the square; he remained practically glued to my side. Suspicion bubbled within me. He’d gone from slipping into the shadows to being attached to my hip. I walked as quickly as seemed reasonable to Kadrix’s lékárna; once again, it was quite busy. We stepped into the hallway, and I breathed a sigh of relief at finally being able to speak freely. The hound growled when he stepped through the doorway. I glared at him. He muttered under his breath but remained close.

  When we stepped out into the main workshop area, I pointed at the only free stool. “Sit.”

  “Yes, mistress,” he purred.

  Kadrix and Quin bounded over to us. The elf circled around the hound, a grin plastered across his face as he scribbled notes down into a leather-bound journal. Quin stood in front of him and looked him over, drinking in every detail. The hound remained still and laughed softly. I wanted to shoo them away, but I could understand their curiosity; hellhounds were a rarity.

  “How old are you?” Kadrix asked the hound.

  He pouted and said in a deep, gravelly voice, “Now, now, that’s a little rude don’t you think?”

  Kadrix huffed and stood a little taller.

  Quin asked, “What do we call you?”

  The hound smiled and brushed some imaginary lint off his jeans.

  I rolled my eyes and stepped forward. “Answer them.”

  He gave me a sly smile. “Yes. Mistress.”

  The knowledge that he was trying to get a rise out of me didn’t ease the growing anger at him and his attitude.

  He looked at Kadrix and said, “Old enough.” Turning to Quin, he said, “Marrok Lysander.”

  Kadrix scribbled something else down. “Marrok is your rank, correct?”

  The hound sat a little taller. “Correct.”

  “Why did you bind us together?”

  I had to know. I’d been dying to ask him that since he’d completed the blood bonding.

  The corner of his lip quirked and he said, “Because that was the only way to stay on this plane, to be joined with my mistress. The one who brought me here.”

  My heart stopped.

  Sixteen

  “The ritual,” Quin said quietly.

  I perched on the closest stack of books, ignoring the dark look Kadrix gave me.

  I looked at Quin. “We both spilled our blood in the circle, but... there was no sacrifice.”

  Elise put her arm around my shoulders. “It’ll be ok, Evie. My lady has plans for this.”

  I swallowed hard and took a deep breath. Panic wasn’t going to get me anywhere.

  I asked no one in particular, “What am I supposed to do with him?”

  “I can think of a few things...” the hound said.

  I glared at him.

  Kadrix said thoughtfully, “You should collar him, at least. The other hunters will ask questions, and you’ll need some control over him.”

  The hound went to stand; Quin put his hand on his shoulder and pushed him back down again. Kadrix wandered off into the lab mumbling to himself.

  Elise said, “I will help in making the collar.”

  Kadrix pursed his lips and crossed his arms for a minute, but relented with a sharp nod. “So be it.”

  That left me and Quin with the hound while the other two spoke in hushed tones around clattering sounds, pops and crackles. I’d been waiting for the moment to confront him, and all of the questions had fled my mind.

  Quin on the other hand, had no such problem. “You’re supposed to be a hound, why are you in human form?”

  The hound stood slowly, his eyes never leaving Quin who refused to step back. The hound’s face elongated, his bones crunched and muscles tore. It took what seemed like a few agonising seconds for him to change into a large dog. His shoulder reached my hip; he looked like a mix between an Irish Wolfhound and a Rottweiler. Pitch-black fur covered his well-muscled form, with blood-red tan creeping up his legs and marking his chest.

  I tilted my head and said, “Well, I’m a bit disappointed. I’d expected... more.”

  His mouth fell open into a grin just before he burst into flames.

  Kadrix shouted, “Quin! Bottle some of those flames.”

  Quin frantically hunted for a bottle or something to capture the flames while the hound patiently sat in front of me. Bright orange flames flickered over his body; the dark fur was barely visible beneath it, but his grin was clearly visible. His long tail tucked up around his hind legs. The flames brushed along the edge of the books, but left no discernible mark. I was enthralled.

  Quin desperately ushered some of the flames into a beaker and held a small ceramic disk over it. The hound yawned before he changed back into his human form. I was a little disappointed to see his clothes completely intact; I chided myself for such foolish thoughts. He sat back down on the stool and crossed one leg over the other, resting his hands in his lap.

  He leaned closer and whispered conspiratorially, “Do we really need to worry about the collar thing? Couldn’t we just... pretend?”

  I crossed my arms. “No, we could not ‘just pretend’.”

  He pouted at me and glanced over at Kadrix and Elise.

  Quin returned and said, “What was it like in the infernal realms?”

  The hound smiled and said, “What was it like growing up here?”

  Quin paused and looked over at me.

  I looked at the hound. “How could this have happened? Hellhounds are supposed to be owned by demons. I am not a demon.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile. “No, you’re not, but there’s something in you, Evelyn.”

  “How do you know my name?”

  “You brought me here.”

  I ground my teeth.

  Elise shouted, “You have to keep him safe, that means you can’t throttle him.”

  She knew me too well. Quin and the hound laughed.

  I leaned forward and said, “Safe is a very big place.”

  He leaned into me; the smell of fire surrounded me. “I’m sure we’ll come to some sort of mutually beneficial arrangement.”

  The purr on his words had an undesired effect on my bod
y. I stood and walked away, leaving Quin to throw questions at him about his fire, and how much it hurt to transform between his human and hound forms. Elise and Kadrix were busily pouring what looked like molten metal from one jug thing to another jug thing. I had no idea what I was supposed to do once he was collared. Hellhounds were verging on a myth, they were so rare, and no human had owned one. Quin was talking animatedly while the hound responded good-naturedly. It was too surreal.

  Seventeen

  After some pacing, my logical mind finally returned to me.

  Quin was poking at the hound, who raised an eyebrow at him before he said to me, “You really should call me by my name. I don’t refer to you as the human.”

  I glared at him. “I haven’t said a damn thing.”

  He smiled at me. “We’re connected, darling. I pick up snippets from you.”

  I would not allow him to get a rise out of me. I perched back on the pile of books in front of him and said, “There is a second hound here. How did that happen, and why were you both allowed here?”

  He paled and looked away from me. I felt the fear building in the back of my mind.

  He lifted his chin and looked at me defiantly, “That’s nothing to concern your pretty head with.”

  I continued to look at him as I called over to Elise, “How long until that collar’s done?”

  “Twenty minutes or so.”

  I crossed my arms and made myself comfortable. He lost even more colour from his skin and glanced around the door. Quin stepped a little closer, blocking Lysander’s movements somewhat.

  Lysander brushed at his dark coloured jeans and ground his teeth together for a few uncomfortable minutes before he finally said, “Our master sent us to open up a hellmouth.”

  A cold chill ran down my spine; that would be disastrous for the city. There weren’t enough hunters in the country to deal with that sort of influx of infernal creatures. The city would be lost.

  He leaned towards me and went to put his hand on my knee, a hint of pleading bleeding into his words. “I chose my freedom. I fled him as soon as the bond with you emerged and his control over me shattered.”

  I couldn’t trust such a beast, particularly when it came to matters as grave as that. He may not have even known how to tell the truth; the infernal creatures were notorious for their sadism and trickery. I gave a silent prayer to the moon goddess for patience and strength. I didn’t like leaning on her, but I needed something to help me through the moment. Quin’s eyes had lit up. The prospect of dealing with a hellmouth, of fighting that many creatures and potentially visiting the infernal realm, was a dream come true for him.

  “How does the bond with your master work, exactly?” Quin asked Lysander.

  The hound’s name felt comfortable in my mind and on my tongue; too comfortable. It was unnatural. I needed to find a way to remove the bond and send Lysander back to his home. The smell of lavender mingled with wood smoke filled the lab; a faint golden mist crept along the floor. It pooled behind the books and slipped around the table legs. I eyed it with suspicion; Lysander tucked his feet up and glared at it. His mouth was twisted into something of a snarl, but his indigo eyes smiled. I looked away from him. It was no good getting attached, we’d find a way to send him back where he belonged.

  Quin stood over Lysander. They were a similar build; Lysander had some height on him, but not much. When my dear twin wanted to be imposing he rarely failed; Lysander shrank back a little and pulled his lips back. He was used to dealing with demons, and yet a human concerned him; a smile formed on my lips. He was just another beast after all.

  Lysander finally gave and looked up at Quin, “My ex-,” he spat, “-master branded me a few days after my mother birthed me. He used magic to bind my soul to him; that gave him control over my actions that I couldn’t fight. Evelyn’s bond overrode that, thankfully, and allowed me my freedom.”

  He gave me a soft pleading expression.

  It quickly hardened before he looked back at Quin and said, “Anything else?”

  I smiled sweetly and said, “Do you know how much your hide would bring us on the open market?”

  Kadrix called over, “I’ll pay you a flat million crowns for it, as long as it’s entirely intact.”

  Lysander’s expression darkened, his eyes narrowed and his shoulders stiffened. He smiled and brushed it all aside as though nothing had happened.

  “I’m yours to do with as you please, mistress.”

  The growl to his words sent a thrill through me. I stood and walked away. The mist had thinned, giving the floor a pale golden glow. Elise gave Kadrix a dark look. Her lips pursed and her brow knitted. The elf ignored her entirely, until she poked him firmly in the ribs and pushed him to one side. Kadrix tried to snake his arm around Elise’s waist, but she stamped on his foot and set about sprinkling the powder into the shallow bowl. A small plume of popcorn-scented smoke casually drifted upwards from the bowl. It shifted into a cloud of tiny butterflies. Each one rainbow coloured, they shimmered and fluttered around the lab, bringing a smile to my face. I’d chosen butterflies as my tattoo as a reminder of the fleeting fragility of life; it was supposed to remind me to embrace every moment, every opportunity. I looked over my shoulder at Lysander, who was rolling his eyes at Quin. Maybe the beast was an opportunity.

  Eighteen

  “This might hurt, but bear with it, ok?”

  The corners of Elise’s eyes were down-turned, her mouth set in a small, concerned line. I held out my right wrist for her to place the inch-wide silver cuff on. It was etched with complicated symbols that I couldn’t even come close to deciphering. Lysander fidgeted on his stool and kept looking around him while he tapped his foot. Quin stood over him with Kadrix on the other side of him. Quin’s hand rested on Lysander’s shoulder. Just in case. Elise slowly slipped the icy cold silver over my wrist; the ice was quickly chased by a searing heat that shot up my arm and filled my chest. My heart constricted, the room shrank and turned black before everything snapped back to normal as though nothing had happened.

  The silver cuff encompassed my wrist; the engravings, in their smooth elegant script, had a faint white glow to them. I twisted my wrist around, looking at every side of the cuff that now surrounded my wrist. It was a part of me. It would require a grand ritual to remove it. The engravings felt smooth under my fingertip; they tingled with a pleasant coolness that radiated in the back of my mind. It felt right, natural, and that scared me.

  Quin’s hand tightened around Lysander’s shoulder, keeping him firmly seated on the stool. The hound had frozen. His eyes widened, and his jaw tightened. Elise bent before him and slowly wrapped the thin silver band around his throat; it snapped to and shrank to fit snuggly against his light golden skin. He snarled and thrashed against Quin and Kadrix. Elise didn’t so much as blink. She merely ran her fingers over the collar and whispered quiet soothing words until he settled again. I almost fell backwards into the hard wooden table behind me when I felt his presence in the back of my mind. It was like a different entity, foreign sensations that I somehow knew were him. His fear and pain unfurled back there, bringing forward a complementary feeling of guilt within me. He was mine now.

  Elise knelt before me. She took my hands in her own and said, “This is going to take a little time, Evie, but there are some things you should know.”

  I swallowed hard and tried to push his pain and fear back away from my conscious mind; he refused to look at me.

  “I adapted the usual collar design a little, I made it more... modern.”

  Kadrix muttered something at her.

  “This means that he cannot lie to you; the collar makes that a physical impossibility.”

  I smiled. That was comforting.

  “However, you also can’t lie to him.” My stomach dropped. “You can control him, though, although I would hope you wouldn’t feel the need to. You can call him to you, and force him to change if you wish. The control his demon master had over him was too much; I ensure
d that Kadrix didn’t give you the ability to override the poor creature’s will and morality, such as it is.”

  I nodded in understanding.

  “And how do I do that?” I asked.

  She squeezed my hands and stood. “You will feel him in the back of your mind; you can use that connection to will him to do what you wish. That same presence means you’ll feel each other’s emotions. You’ll be able to block that over time, but it will take time and practise. So be prepared for that.”

  They’d thrown me in at the deep end. Quin’s eyes danced; he had a broad grin on his face that was matched by Kadrix’s.

  Elise offered me a small smile. “Why don’t you try while we’re here safe?”

  I looked at Lysander who kept his eyes low and his head drooped. I focused on the presence in the back of my mind and willed it to change into the hound form. His head lifted a little, he looked at the door to my left before I pushed harder. With a heavy sigh his face contorted, his bones snapped and muscles tore as he took on the hound form. He lay at my feet with his head on his front paws and his tail tucked up around him. I could feel his misery in the back of my mind; the guilt was welling up within me.

  Elise smiled at me and said, “I’m proud of you, Evie.”

  Kadrix shook his head and made a shooing gesture with his hands. “If you don’t mind, I do have other customers.”

  Quin shared a meaningful look with him and I wondered what the sacrifice had been, for the collar. Kadrix shooed us again, and I stood.

  He said brusquely, “Don’t fret, Evelyn, my payment was the hound’s fire. I know you were worried sick about how I was going to pay my bills.”

  I gave him my sweetest smile and said, “I’m glad to hear you can continue to live in the lap of luxury, my dear elf.”

  With that, I patted my thigh to summon the hound and walked out of the lab with Elise at my side. Quin remained behind, no doubt to have some alchemy lesson. The hound held his head low and dragged his feet a little; the misery sat heavily in the back of my mind. He’d hoped for freedom, and yet there he was, collared once more. Elise and I sat on the edge of a statue. The hound flopped at our feet with a heavy sigh.