"You're a pretty boy, aren't you?" He bounded forward and heeled staring up at me with intelligent eyes. "Where's your handler?"
I looked around the backyard for the Fallen or Upper Demon that should be around to control the beast. "Come out, come out wherever you are..." I whispered, casting out to the area around me for the aura of a demon. I should've been able to sense one, especially an upper level. But then, I hadn't sensed the hound, so that part of my magic was probably subdued by my human body.
"Damn it, pup, you shouldn't be here." Hounds weren't allowed out of Hell without a handler. "I'm out here, in the dark, big as a damn house, dealing with a Hellhound."
He wagged his tail and woofed at me, and his eyes glowed red, a sign he was excited. He'd been looking for me. And I was sure he was the same dog to knock me over in the kitchen, though I hadn't recognized him for what he was then. Michael would have, but he hadn't gotten a good look at him. Throwing up my hands in exasperation, I froze the drooling, happy beast so he wouldn't bark anymore and draw Lucian's attention.
I did have access to some of my power, so I gathered what I could and tried to send the hound back to Hell, but it didn't move, just stayed frozen in front of me with a happy, goofy expression on its slobbery face. Damn it. Being human with my ethereal knowledge just made me feel powerless.
"Gabriel," I hissed. "Gabe!"
If Lucian looked outside for me, he'd see this giant crazy dog.
Gabriel appeared beside me, wearing his tunic and Angelic armor. "What?" he asked. "I'm busy."
"I don't have time to explain. I can't access enough of my power to take care of this." I gestured behind me at the dog.
"Oh, how'd he get here?" he asked.
"Since no Upper Demon is controlling him, I'm guessing he escaped Hell," I said. "Which is not good." Crossing my arms, I waited for the inevitable.
"I keep trying to tell you that," Gabriel whispered. There it was. He had to say it.
"Lucian will be out of the bathroom any second," I said. "And it's not that dark out here yet. Can you do something about it?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry." He waved his hand. I didn't notice a difference, but he smiled at me. "He can't see us now, even if he looks out."
"Thanks. I want you to make this dog look like a golden retriever."
He scratched his head. "Why?"
"Because I want to keep it."
"We could just zap it back to Hell," he suggested. "Or kill it."
His body emitted a soft glow as he considered using his Light to destroy the hound.
"No," I said fiercely. "You're too kill-happy lately, what's gotten into you?" I unfroze him and scratched his head.
He stared at me like I'd sprouted horns. "Lil, you'd normally be the first one to suggest killing a demon loose on Earth."
"Well, not a hound." I snapped my fingers, and the animal bounded to my side. "Sit," I commanded. He sat. "He got out of Hell, but look. He found his mistress." And he could help guard me and Lucian if demons were running around loose.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. "Is he one of yours?"
I had a pack of hounds in Hell. They lived on the grounds of our estate in Limbo. "No, but he will be now. Make him look like a golden retriever then go back to whatever you were doing."
Gabriel snapped his fingers and the massive, black Hellhound transformed into a fluffy golden pooch. The poor fella looked back at his body and whined at me. "It's not permanent," I assured him. Hellhounds were far more sentient than anyone gave them credit for being. They understood a lot.
Wagging his tail, the good boy accepted his new look and stared at me with love and devotion in his eyes. "See?" I pointed to the dog. "He wants me to keep him."
“Whatever," Gabe said. He popped a kiss on my lips. "I'm trying to get a hold of Raphael to see if he has any insight to this Lucifer fiasco. He's good with spells and curses."
I nodded. "Okay. Tell him I said hello."
Lucifer, Michael, and Gabriel were decent spellcasters as well, but they generally deferred to me, or good sense, in the end. Raphael never did. I couldn't abide by a man that refused to see reason. There had been plenty of times over the years that I'd accepted something from one of my men and changed my mind, but I'd never known Raph to do so.
"And Gabriel?" He looked at me before disappearing. "Stop trying to kill Lucian."
