“What were you thinking?” Torben questions harshly when I’m finally dressed. He was trying to be respectful and keep his eyes off my goodies, but now that I’m decent he doesn’t hold back. His attention is wandering across my curves and stomach even as he grumbles on. “That was reckless and irresponsible.”
“You said one needed to be cunning to be granted entrance,” I snipe back, because really… what can I say? He’s kind of right. Kind of. I shrug anyway. “You’re welcome.” I grin like my plan couldn’t have gotten me killed for my stupidity rather than my cleverness. “He’s just a puppy.”
“An evil hell pup who eats people like they’re hors d’oeuvres,” Aric adds.
“He almost ate you,” Latham obligingly points out to me.
“He was just hangry.”
All three men raise their brows at the unfamiliar word. Honestly, if it’s not already added to the dictionary, it should be. It embodies the feeling perfectly.
“You got lucky,” Torben grumbles, trying to get the last word.
I’m too competitive for that shit. “You catch more flies with honey than vinegar.”
“That makes no fucking sense!” he bites out, trying to roll that saying around in his head. I can see the gears turning as he mulls it over. “Why would you want to catch fucking flies?” he finally says, and I giggle at the brute of a man.
At my side, Garm licks my hand and whines, asking for more food.
Aric empties his pockets for the beast before I even have to ask. I offer the last of our rations to the puppy, and he gobbles them up quickly.
There’s no more protest as we move past him and knock on the gate that leads to Hell. The loud clanging of fist to metal echoes into the crimson sky above. It takes a few long minutes. They tick by with the heavy pounding of my heart.
I don’t glance around. I don’t look questioningly to Latham like I want to. I try my best to act like I’m not scared shitless that I came all this way and nearly died so, so many times just to be denied at the door.
Out of thin air, a figure appears.
I flinch but hold my ground.
The black cloth of the person’s cloak drags in the dirt, and yet none of it stains the pure onyx fabric. Not an inch of their features or hands can be seen. Darkness clings to whatever lies beneath the hooded cloak.
The shrouded figure answers the door, swinging it open on a cry of hinges before ushering us inside.
“This way,” a woman’s voice says, a ghostly air lingering along her words. I take a step, but she speaks once more. “No pets allowed.”
I halt instantly, my gaze falling on the small gray cat at my feet. My stomach drops at the thought of leaving a house cat in the depths of Hell.
Until Loki bursts into fucking flames. The fiery hellcat languidly strides toward Garm. Loki takes a seat in the curve of the hound’s resting body and watches me intently.
He and I came here together, both of us trying to find where we truly belong. Our journey is over though. My sweet lifelong friend can’t come along with me any further. This is where I leave him. It’s possibly where he’s belonged all along.
Just like me.
My heart dips at that thought, but seeing him side by side with Garm feels safe.
I smile sadly at the enormous flaming cat who will forever be my pet and guardian. His head dips with a curt nod, a strangely knowing nod.
And I turn away with a sense of peace.
The three men follow me closely on all sides. I swallow hard and stride forward with my head held high.
With a backward glance, I make a silent promise that I’ll find a way to help Garm find freedom, one way or another. No one—not even this beast—deserves to be treated like a dog, or worse, like a possession to be abused.
I know all too well about being a victim of circumstance.
Garm and I are more alike than anyone realizes.
And now, I’m walking into his prison.
