Authors: Dina James

All Wounds (35 page)

BOOK: All Wounds

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I’m a Master. Trust isn’t something I think about having. I just know it’s there. I suppose I just...always assumed I had it. Perhaps I confused obedi-ence for trust. To have your trust...I do not know why that frightens me.

The thought of losing that, or betraying it in some way... Rebecca, I would never...I would sooner take a stake through the heart and be tied to greet the dawn than do so.”

“I know,” Rebecca said. She stretched up and kissed him again. He returned it without hesitation. She deliberately met his eyes and held his metallic blue gaze. “Do you honestly think I’d fight with you if I didn’t care about you? If I...if I loved you because you were a Master, I’d have done what you said that night, like someone who obeys your every word. It’s how I knew what I felt wasn’t because you’re
what
you are, but because of
wh
o you are.” He peered down at her and smiled a little. “Forgive me for doubting you? And for doubting my own...inclinations?”

Rebecca giggled and nodded. “As long as you don’t expect me to suddenly morph into some adoring girlfriend-type who thinks you’re a god, we’re good. You already know I’m not real great at that ‘obey Syd’ thing.” Syd laughed and smiled broader, showing his fangs. “I’m willing to forgive your obstinacy if you’re willing to...love me...even though I’m not human, centuries older than you, your teacher, and a leader of my people.

Now let us also hope Martha forgives me for...bewitching her granddaughter.

And that the Clan forgives me for—”

Her brow furrowed at the faraway look on his face.

“For...?” she prompted when he didn’t continue.

“For falling in love with a Healer.”

epilogue

The mark on her neck tingled, waking her up. Voices whispered in Rebecca’s ear, adding to her state of awareness.

The enclave was calling to her.

She sat up, switched on her lamp and turned to her night-table. Ryan’s lucky lighter fell over. She smiled and used it to light the candle she kept at her bedside. She was about to set the lighter back on the nightstand, then looked at it for a long moment before she tucked it into her pajama shirt’s pocket.

The whispering sound came again, reminding her of her purpose.

Rebecca got out of bed and switched off her lamp. Taking the candle, she left her room and started down the hallway.

A low growl reached her ears. Rebecca froze.

“Where you think you’re goin’?” Billy’s sleepy voice asked.

Argh. Rebecca had forgotten Billy was denning in the hallway entrance instead of his garage den this week. With the winter solstice approaching, he said he wanted to keep a close eye on her just in case. Apparently he didn’t entirely trust Rebecca’s revocation of the oath of neutrality to keep demons out of the house.

It’s too late for them to be interested in me now anyway, right?
She was already seventeen.

“I heard something,” Rebecca whispered.

“Don’t hear nothin’,” Billy replied with a snort.

Wow, he was grouchy when he woke up.

“Hush!” Rebecca admonished, lifting her candle up a little so she could better see the stairwell. “I need to go up there.”

“Not alone you ain’t,” Billy grumbled as he got to his feet.

“Okay,” she whispered with a nod.

Billy snorted again and got down on all-fours, nudging her hip with his shoulder in an Anubin gesture of reluctant acquiescence.

“Thanks, Billy,” Rebecca said as she laid a hand on the werewolf ’s massive head between his ears.

Taking a deep breath, Rebecca held the candle up high, well away from Billy. Together they went upstairs. Rebecca opened the linen closet door and reached in, pushing the knot that swung the shelves back and revealed the entrance to the enclave.

Rebecca cringed as the movement of the shelves seemed to scrape the floor louder than usual. Was it always that loud? Or was it only loud because she didn’t want her nana to wake up?

“Wait out here,” Rebecca ordered the anubi in a whisper.

“Was going to,” Billy growled as quietly as he could. “You be careful.”

“I will,” she promised.

Billy growled and nodded.

Holding the candle in front of her, Rebecca stepped into the passageway behind the linen closet shelves that led to the Healer’s enclave hidden behind it.

Nothing greeted her. It was completely dark inside, but that didn’t mean anything. A lot of things needed complete, or nearly complete, darkness. It’s why she used candles and not anything brighter.

“Hel o?” Rebecca called, remembering to use the low, soothing Healer’s voice.A tingle of fear tightened her insides and she fought to quell a shiver.

She was a true Healer now, but would she know what to do?

Rebecca forced herself to think and focus and trust herself. Of course she would know. The knowledge was there, inside her. She just had to let it come to her, and that was hard. It was harder if she fought it or panicked.

She took a deep breath and let herself relax, trying to feel what was in the room. What she was needed for.

A faint light caught her attention over by the restored portal. Rebecca held her candle up again and took a careful step toward it. She recognized light like that. Only one being illuminated itself with fire.

A hellhound.

One that size could only be young, and Rebecca couldn’t help but smile at the picture that entered her mind. They were adorable when they were young.

Scary, of course, but adorable.

Setting her candle down without a sound, Rebecca lowered herself to her knees and bowed her head. She remembered that respect and deference were extremely important to hellhounds, and Rebecca thought it best not to insult this one, no matter how old it might seem to be.

Though she kept her eyes on the floor in front of her, Rebecca could see the faint, glowing red light move closer. It was hesitant, and Rebecca wondered why.

She waited and didn’t say anything. The light dimmed slightly as it approached her, then stopped. Rebecca looked up to see a young, crimson-eyed hellhound, blacker than the darkest night and swathed in flame that didn’t scorch its surroundings, holding a bright yellow daffodil in its mouth.

“Hello,” Rebecca said in her most gentle voice, smiling at the hellhound puppy.The slobber-drenched daffodil was deposited on the floor at her knees.

Rebecca picked it up.

“Thank you,” she said with sincerity as she brought it to her nose. “May I have the honor of your name?”

“They gonna hurt my mama,” the thing said, not bothering to answer her question. “And Father.”

“Who is?” Rebecca’s heart seemed to stop beating for a moment.
Is
something attacking the Hell Realm in retaliation for the Healers being kidnapped?

The poor thing was trying hard not to tremble, and Rebecca could hear the fear in the little one’s voice. He was being brave, but she knew he was really scared.

“The ones without souls,” he said, his red candle-eyes widening as they dimmed a fraction. “I saw it, in my head. I was sleeping and they came and hurt my mama.”

Rebecca bit her bottom lip and thought a moment.

“You were sleeping when you saw this?”

The little hellhound gave a slow nod of his fiery black head, looking less like a tiny black wolf cub with a shark’s mouth and more like a scared puppy.

A bad dream.
He was telling her he had a bad dream. Hellhounds had dreams? Why not? Dogs did. Anything that slept probably had dreams.

“They hurt Kaia, and Jaia too,” the young hellhound continued. “And Porl, he don’t run so good as the rest of us.” His littermates, she understood. Rebecca’s heart ached for the scared little hellhound who had brought her the traditional Healer’s flower in the hopes that she might make his bad dream go away.

Poor little hound. He wasn’t hurt on the outside, but he was hurting on the inside. Rebecca did the only thing she could think to do. She held her arms out.

The hellhound puppy came immediately to her and all but jumped into her arms. She hugged him close and stroked the black fur down his back, marveling yet again at how the flames didn’t burn her or anything else.

“They won’t come,” Rebecca soothed. “I know a couple of those ‘ones without souls’, and I’ll tell them not to.”

“They won’t listen. They’ll come and hurt us!” The little thing sniffed and started to cry.

Oh, man. A crying hellhound. Oh, cripes.

“Hey,” she said, stroking her hand down his back. Wow, was he soft.

She’d never felt anything so soft. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Noth,” the little hellhound replied. “I’m the oldest.”

“That’s a nice name,” Rebecca soothed. She hugged him closer and rocked with him, slow and gentle, wondering how on earth was she supposed to help a scared, crying hellhound puppy.

She remembered something Nana had told her.

“
Compassion
,” Nana had said. “
You’ll need that in abundance, because sometimes,
that’s all you can offer. Sometimes that’s all something needs to heal on its own—a safe
place to stay and a compassionate hand to hold
.” A safe place to stay...and this little guy had come to her to make it better.

She looked again at the little hellhound, already half-asleep against her neck.

“Want to sleep here with me for a while?” Rebecca asked. “Bad dreams can’t come in this room.”

The black pup nodded and cuddled tighter against her.

“All right,” she said. “If you’re sure your mama won’t eat me for this.

Come on. I’ll even stay here with you to make sure no bad dreams try and come here.”

The hellhound puppy giggled. “Mama won’t eat you! I won’t tell,” he assured her, already half asleep. “Father said you help hurt things, so you’ll help if they hurt us...”

Father? Noth? Is this one of Lord Notharion’s babies? A...Nothlet?
She remembered what the chief of the Hellguards had said to her.

You and I will have an interesting relationship
.

“I sure will,” she assured the baby hellhound, and walked out of the enclave.

Billy was still there, waiting. Rebecca held a finger to her lips, warning the anubi to be quiet. She pointed to the hellhound puppy.

“Bad dream,” she whispered.

“So?” Billy growled, unsympathetic. “What are you going to do with him?!”“Stay up here with him while he gets some sleep,” Rebecca said. “Look at him! He’s so tired. He can’t sleep at home.”

“Bit, that’s a damned hellhound!” Billy argued, scowling. “They guard the Hell realm, and answer to Hellspawn! Want to tangle with demons again?

You’re asking for it if you don’t put that thing back or send him home or something! Get rid of him!”

Rebecca scowled back at the anubi. “He’s not a ‘thing’, he’s a baby!

Have you already forgotten what it’s like not to be able to sleep because you’re afraid something might happen now that
you
have a safe place to stay?” Billy didn’t reply to that, but Rebecca could tell by his raised hackles and stiff tail that he wasn’t happy about her being so close to a hellhound, no matter how young it was.

“You watch that thing’s teeth,” Billy growled darkly. “He’ll tear your throat out as soon as look at you.”

“He will not,” Rebecca replied. “He’s not like that. Don’t ask me how I know. He just needs a safe place to be tonight, and I’m going to help him.” Billy growled again, unhappy, but resigned. “Your hide. Goin’ back to sleep. Martha gets up before I see you in the morning, I’ll tell her you’re up here with the flaming furball.”

“Thanks, Billy.”

The werewolf snorted and went back downstairs to sleep. Rebecca went back into the enclave and curled up on Ryan’s former bed, the hellhound puppy cuddled against her shoulder. She stroked his back and kissed the little hellhound’s nose.

He was already asleep and snuffled against her neck as he cuddled closer to her warmth.

She wondered if she was the first human to ever curl up for a nap with a hellhound.

She’d have to ask her nana in the morning.