LD rolled to his feet as I slammed into the wall, gasping for air as my lungs burned. Peaches landed with all four paws on the wall and pushed off into a roll. He increased in size and landed upright with a crash, shattering parts of the wooden floor.
“Oh, shit,” I whispered under my breath, and winced against the sudden pain in my brain. “That’s bad.”
Peaches had grown larger than the London incident. He had passed small-bus size and had firmly entered large-truck territory. I don’t know how many transformed hellhounds LD had faced in his past, but he remained composed, gesturing rapidly as Peaches stared at him.
Wonderful, I was being corrected by Neil deGrasse Peaches.
The orange field around the door disappeared as Peaches’ eyes began to glow. LD swept his arms in front of him, and a light gray rune-covered orb enclosed him.
Runes materialized along Peaches’ flank as he focused on LD. With a loud growl, his eyes grew bright, unleashing twin beams of red energy. They shot forth and blasted the orb around LD.
I managed to catch my breath and headed toward Peaches as the door to the Danger Room slammed open, cratering the wall next to the entrance. TK stepped into the room and calmly took in the scene.
“I clearly remember saying prep him for the bond exploration, not trigger the bond.” She held what appeared to be a large necklace in one hand.
“I’d like to take this moment to confirm that their bond is quite strong, even though the hellhound is a pup. Look, he even has a baleful glare. I’m impressed.”
“How do you suppose I get this around his neck now?” She lifted the necklace. “I fashioned it to the neck of a normal-sized hellhound. Not this hippopotamic landmass.”
Peaches kept blasting LD’s orb with his eye beams as he stomped closer. LD looked Peaches up and down from inside the orb.
“Yeah, he’s pretty big.”
TK sighed. “I just said that.”
“Don’t they get larger than this?” LD gestured, and another layer of energy appeared around the orb, reinforcing it. The omega beams bounced off the new layer of energy, cutting grooves in the ceiling. “Like, much larger?”
“Let’s not find out.” TK approached Peaches. She gestured and his beams disappeared. Peaches turned suddenly and faced TK. She crossed her arms and looked up at him. They remained that way for a few seconds, before Peaches wisely stepped back and chuffed. He didn’t lower his head and maintained eye contact with TK.
“Thank you, dear,” LD said. “I could have totally done that, you know.”
“Of course you could have, darling.”
LD gestured and the orb disappeared. Peaches blinked out and pounced, moving faster than any hellhound that size had a right to move. LD was faster.
He leaped to the side as Peaches reappeared, avoiding a massive paw that slammed down where he’d stood a second earlier, cratering the wooden floor. “I think he’s still a bit upset.”
Peaches rumbled as he circled around LD, who turned to make sure he was facing the oversized hellhound as they moved around the floor.
TK turned to me. “Simon, could you inform your hellhound that crushing my husband, while probably an incredibly satisfying and well-deserved act, is something I reserve the exclusive right to do.”
I nodded.
Peaches narrowed his eyes at LD and growled.
Peaches sat back on his haunches and sent tremors throughout the Danger Room floor.
“He says he’ll stop trying to crush LD.” I looked at LD. “If you attack again, he promises to bite parts off of you.”
“My job here is done. No more attacks from me.” LD raised his hands in surrender as he stepped close to TK. “I knew you would be busy with the limiter and the reservoirs. I figured I’d trigger the bond and see the extent of the connection.”
She shook her head. “I think you are the one with the deep and abiding interest in pain.”
He turned to look at Peaches and me. “A few more decades, some training, and these two will be dangerous. I just nudged them on the path.”
“How proactive of you. You realize if he had reached full size and phased, he could have upset the temporal stasis? Sent Fordey into schism and disrupted the timeline?”
“That’s why I activated the floor runes. He grew at a controlled rate even though Captain Obvious over here was trying to warn me. I know, I know, my brilliance is blinding.”
She glared at him, putting her hands on her hips. “Have I told you how dizzying your intellect is?”
LD raised an eyebrow. “I’m just getting started. They both managed to pull off multiphasing and effective thought transference…you can thank me later. He actually used a coordinated attack and made me almost get serious.”
“Almost serious?” I said. “Those black orbs looked plenty serious.”
“They were. If I half-assed it, your hellhound would have picked up on it. They operate on intent. My intent was to erase you.”
“What if he hadn’t pushed me out of the way? Those orbs would’ve—”
“Unmade you,” he said, his voice hard. “I told you we’re heading into enemy territory. If you can’t fight, then you’re a redshirt. I don’t fight alongside redshirts. They have a bad habit of spreading the dead to the group—no thanks.”
TK sighed.
“Darling, could you see how Tristan is doing? I need to key the reservoirs to his energy signature, and I would prefer he be awake for that.”
“Got it. I need to eat anyway. That little exercise managed to work out some of the kinks.”
Little exercise? I looked around the Danger Room and understood why it looked like a war zone. In that moment, I realized Dex’s friends were powerful and dangerous. It made sense after seeing Dex in action that he would surround himself with mages just as—or more—powerful as himself.
LD gave me and Peaches a quick nod, kissed TK on the cheek, and left the Danger Room. I looked on as he stepped past the threshold and closed the door behind him with a wave of his hand. TK stood quietly and observed me.
“You’ve managed to achieve thought transference?” She walked up to the massive sun-eclipsing Peaches and patted his flank. “Your bond is advanced for such a young hellhound. How did it happen?”
“We had an incident in London that kind of accelerated the process.”
“I think I understand. Here.”
She extended the arm holding the necklace.
“I thought you were going to put this on him?” I asked as I took it from her and held it up. The necklace was made of the entropy stones and was inscribed with glowing red runes I couldn’t decipher. It vibrated in my hand and gave off a low hum as I examined it.
She gave me the ‘you must be insane’ look and shook her head. “I think you have me confused with another suicidal mage.” She handed me a smaller bracelet, similar in design to the large necklace. “The small one is for you. Think of it as a physical representation of your bond. Put that one on first. Only you can place the limiter on him.”
“You mentioned something about him becoming full size?” I looked up at Peaches, whose shoulder was easily a few inches above my six feet. “Does that mean he gets larger than this?”
“W
hen he reaches adulthood,” she said, looking at Peaches. “His transformed size will match that of an African elephant. There have been rumors of larger hellhounds, but those are reserved for his sire.”
“Does this collar grow with him?” I held up the limiter and the hum grew louder. The sound reminded me of a hive of angry bees.
“It’s called a limiter for a reason. Once you can control your bond, he won’t need it. Put yours on first. I suggest the arm that doesn’t contain the mark.”
I put on the small bracelet. A surge of power raced up my arm. It felt like hitting my funny bone—with a sledgehammer. My arm grew rigid for a few seconds as the bracelet became tighter around my wrist. When I tried to remove it, I found that it was affixed to my skin. A jolt raced up my arm as I tried to remove it again, convincing me it was a bad idea.
“It’s permanent?”
“When you grow strong enough to control the bond without the limiter, you’ll be able to remove it with ease. Now, you need to shrink your hellhound.”
She crossed her arms and stepped back.
“Easier said than done. Are you here for the assist?”
She shook her head slowly and gave me a slight smile. “You misunderstand why I’m here.”
“Why are you here?” I asked, focusing on the enormous infernal canine in front of me. I had an idea, but I wanted her to say it out loud.
“If for some reason you fail to revert your hound to a normal size, he breaks free of your bond, or worse, grows out of your control, whether figuratively or literally, my role is to prevent the massive destruction that would ensue.”
“How? By locking us in here forever?”
“No, by reducing you both to ash.”
“Oh, so no drastic measures. Good.”
I glanced over to see if she was smiling.
She wasn’t.
FIFTEEN
I SHOOK OUT my arms, took a deep breath and let it out. This was going to suck. Peaches sat and looked down at me. The industrial-sized version embraced the full effect of intimidation and fear.
The butterflies in my stomach crashed and burned as I looked up at him. He wasn’t even at full size and all I wanted to do was run out of the room screaming. I stomped on the fear, remembering that this was my hellhound, no matter what size he reached.
I stepped closer, careful to avoid a slobber attack that could easily drown me where I stood. The runes along his flanks still pulsed with latent energy. Looking into his faintly glowing eyes only reminded me that I was in his direct line of fire.
I took another breath and released it slowly as I remembered the last time he was ginormous. I needed to reverse the process without the agony we went through in London.
He looked over at TK and chuffed. At normal size, this reaction let me know he’s displeased about something. At planet-Peaches-size, his chuff managed to drench me in slobber and nearly knocked me off my feet.
I looked over and noticed that TK was slobber free, but she wore a small smile.
“I hear hellhound saliva has restorative properties. Judging from the amount of slobber you’re wearing, you must feel completely rejuvenated.”
I almost glared at her, but then my brain rushed me a memo reminding me that she shut down his omega beams with a gesture.
“I’m not rejuvenated, just covered in slobber, thanks.”
I remembered LD’s words. Hellhounds read and operate on intent.
“Are you spooling energy?” I asked without taking my eyes off Peaches.
I felt the shift in energy around us as TK stepped back with narrowed eyes.
“Yes, I am. He’s quite advanced for a pup.”
“Could you not do that? It’s making him nervous.”
“You’re standing in front of a seven-foot hellhound, telling me he’s nervous about my spooling of energy.”
“Yes, he thinks you want to use it against him.”
“Who else would I use it against? Do you see any other hellhounds in here?”
“If you want him back to normal, I need you to stop spooling energy.”
“Only if you can guarantee he will return to normal size. Can you do that?”
“He will return to normal size. On my life.”
I reached out with the arm that wore the limiter.
He growled but remained motionless as I placed my hand on his head. A surge of power rushed through my arm and forced my eyes open. I grunted in pain and saw TK begin to gesture. I waved her down and she stopped.
The power coursing through my arm increased but, unlike the last time, I was able to direct the flow. My muscles were strained but they didn’t feel like they were tearing themselves apart. The pain was worse than last time, and I really hoped that it wasn’t correlated to his size. If it was, his full transformation would kill me.
Peaches’ growl turned to a whine as the pain soared even higher on the ‘melt my brain’ scale. I collapsed to one knee as my vision tunneled in.
I clenched my jaw and ground my teeth as the sensation raced past my tolerance. The skin on my arm felt like it was being peeled off inch by inch, seasoned with sulfuric acid, and then sliced with red-hot razors. Warmth flushed my body as the curse tried to deal with the damage. I know at some point I started to scream. Part of my brain noticed the floor runes explode orange around us.
I could barely form a thought to answer him.
A cloud of red energy flowed around us. His runes erupted with light. In the space of a few seconds, I sensed him getting smaller as the energy of our bond flowed between and around us.
I reached over and placed the limiter around his neck. It adjusted to his body. The entropy stones turned bright red as another surge of energy blasted through my arm. I felt that familiar weightless sensation of being airborne. I landed hard and bounced across the floor, crashing into a far wall.
I lay on my back and took stock of the situation. TK stepped into my field of vision as a wet tongue slapped me across the face.
“I’m pleased I didn’t have to end either of you.”
“Me too,” I managed after sitting up. “That wasn’t fun.”
I pushed him away before I drowned in slobber. “I’ll get you meat in a second. Let me catch my breath.”
TK gestured and formed a large sausage. She held it out to Peaches, who delicately removed it from her fingers and proceeded to devour it.
“He says thank you.”
“He is quite the proper hellhound.” She patted his head and rubbed his ears, miraculously k
eeping all of her fingers as he focused on the sausage. “The limiter will help you harness his abilities and strength. In time, he will become truly fearsome.”
“In time?” I tried to get to my feet but the room swayed, suggesting that sitting would prevent me from introducing my face to the floor repeatedly. “What is he now? Because I’m not getting ‘cute and cuddly’ from anything that just happened.”
“Right now, he’s dangerous.” She rubbed his flanks. “With the limiter—”
A tremor rocked the Danger Room, and I reflexively looked at Peaches. He looked up and rumbled, entering ‘shred and crush’ mode. I knew it was serious when he ignored the remaining piece of sausage.
“What the hell was that?” I leaned against the wall and got unsteadily to my feet. The curse was working to restore me back to normal. “Did LD explode something, like half of Fordey?”
Black energy covered TK’s hands as she moved to the door.
“We have a breach.”
SIXTEEN
I HAD TROUBLE keeping up with her as she raced down the corridors. We came to a T-junction, and I saw LD running toward us.
TK faced him as she began to gesture.
“The outer defenses have been triggered,” LD said, biting the sandwich he held and groaning in approval.
TK turned at the sound. “Is it lean?”
“This is nice and lean. You make the best sandwiches.”
“Thank you. Darling, when you were ‘nudging’ Simon and his hellhound earlier today, did you, by chance, happen to use a temporal spell?”
LD feigned insult and shook his head. “You know I would never use that type of spell when we’re in stasis, dear. That would be reckless and put us all in danger.”
“Precisely. That’s why I asked.”
“No,” he said around a mouthful of sandwich. “He was the one messing around with time.”
“Excuse me?” TK said, turning to face Peaches and me. She finished gesturing and a doorway opened in the center of the juncture wall. “The hellhound is otherworldly, but not enough to disrupt the time stasis.”
Homecoming A Montague & Strong Detective Novel Page 7
