Gideon bit Silas's gun-hand while the manacles simultaneously hit Silas in the temple. The gun went off, Silas floundered, and Gage flinched. I searched for blood on Gage as he dove for the falling manacles but didn't see any. Then Garret joined the mix, taking Silas into a roll with Gideon. Gage ran for the melee, the manacles dangling from one hand. And when Silas saw those cuffs, he went wild.
Thrashing as he dropped to the ground, Silas fought to get free of Gideon and Garret. But their bites were too strong. They also had a determination to please their master driving them. They couldn't fail Hades.
Blood sprayed. Gage reached the roiling mass of bodies and grappled for one of Silas's wrists. Silas bashed into him, sending Gage stumbling back. He steadied himself and jumped back into the fray.
“You fucking dogs!” Silas shouted. “I'll kill you! I'm going to kill every fucking Cerberus on this planet!”
Light blasted from Silas again, but this time, my mates were prepared for it. They held on and rolled with Silas, crashing into a display cabinet. Glass shattered and rained down on them along with the random chatchkies inside the case. Silas grunted when a porcelain figurine hit him on the head.
Another blast came, sending Gage reeling back.
And another.
And another.
That's when I saw the haze. At first, I thought it was a trick of the light. Just a flash off glass. But then it moved in a very sentient way. I saw limbs—hands lifting.
“Shit,” I whispered and ran for the backdoor. “What am I doing?” I reached the door and found it locked. “Of course.” I rolled my eyes, but then the sound of a hound whimpering jolted me into action.
I kicked the door. It didn't budge.
“Motherfucker!” I shouted and kicked it again, channeling all of my rage and fear into my foot.
I didn't have boots on, just a pair of flats. Kicking that door should have hurt. It didn't. And it shouldn't have worked, but it did. The door cracked and went swinging inward. I gaped at it a second before I ran through the opening and down a corridor, passing the entrance to the room the hounds were in with Silas. I went to the next room over and there it was. The hazy form was still there, standing in a connecting doorway. I ran toward it with no plan in mind beyond tackling it. It moved as I ran. I assume it had noticed me.
Light gathered around it until it became blinding. I closed my eyes and kept going. A grunt came when I hit. Meanwhile, I heard canine growling and Gage grunting. I had to distract this guy long enough for my mates to manacle Silas. So I fought dirty. Yup, I kneed it in the groin, hoping it was a him and that a wounded dick would hut a god as much as a human. My gamble paid off. The hazy form was indeed a man, confirmed by the very male cry of pain he emitted as he fell backward. The light winked out, but his body remained hazy.
Then he vanished.
I ran into the other room just in time to see the hazy form appear behind Gage. “Gage, behind you!” I shouted.
Gage automatically ducked.
A blade swung over his head. A huge, long, sharp blade! Whoever that glowing haze was, he knew the hounds couldn't be hurt by god magic. Knocked aside, yes, that had been proven, but not hurt. So he was resorting to more hands-on measures.
Gage kicked out at the haze, but it vanished again. It reappeared beside the wrestling ball of hounds and Silas. Or rather, the weapon it wielded did. That vicious blade seemed to slice its way out of thin air, coming down toward a hound. I shouted again, and Garret released Silas to leap out of the way. Another slice, and Gideon had to do the same.
As soon as the hounds released him, Silas vanished. The blade remained a second longer, hovering in midair as if in threat, and then it disappeared as well.
All three hounds lifted their heads and howled in fury.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Hades, God of the Underworld and one of the most powerful gods in the Greek Pantheon, sat sipping coffee out of a delicate teacup. His large hand turned the cup into a child's toy, making him look like a father having a tea party with his little girl.
“Cookie?” I asked and offered Hades the plate.
“Yes, thank you.” Hades took one of the chocolate chip cookies I had baked that morning.
We'd been expecting the divine visitor. Gage had gone to the Underworld to make his report the night before, and Hades told Gage that he'd come to speak with us today. Us, not just the hounds. When questioned on the Lord of the Underworld's mood, Gage only shrugged. I understood now. Hades was absolutely unreadable. The best poker face on the planet. He munched on his cookie, sipped his coffee, then set both down, angling the cookie onto the teacup's saucer.
“Silas is gone. I have alerted all the Cerberuses about possible Host infestations and passed on your theory that Dionysus is Silas. I don't think it's him, though.”
“Why not?” Gage asked.
“Dionysus doesn't have resurrection magic. If he did, he wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble when he was younger.”
“Oh, fuck. That's right,” Garret said. “I hadn't considered that.”
