I walk over to the grumpy hellhound and kneel beside her.
“Don’t be jealous, Lou. No one could ever take your place. I trust you more than anyone else in this world, especially with my protection.”
“I’m so sure, Aurora. You’ve got the shadow dick and the shadow mutt now. What the fuck d’ya need me for?”
Are all creatures so goddamn moody?
“Are you serious, Lou? Some shadow dog won’t replace you! You’re family. And now that we can talk, I can’t wait to get to know you better. Once you remember, that is. I trust you with my life. I’m still on the fence about the shadows.”
Ezra growls behind me while I run my hand between Louie’s peaked ears. My chest warms when her tail slowly thumps against the floor. She’s coming around.
The Cù Fèidh trots over to Louie, hesitantly leans down, then sniffs at her neck. When the hellhound growls, the beast backs up with a whine and falls to the floor.
“At least the bitch knows her place,” Louie grumbles, glaring at the shadowed dog lying on the floor next to me.
“Bitch?” Ezra asks, looking confused.
“Shit, I thought an intelligent, ancient creature could tell the gender of a beast that literally lives inside of him. It’s okay, Ezra. Not everyone gets to be the walking definition of perfection. Like me.”
Louie’s loud barking laugh makes me chuckle, which I quickly, and poorly, cover up with a cough.
“Conceited bitch,” Ezra grumbles.
He crosses his arms over his chest and glares at Louie while she continues to crack herself up.
“Ezra … how do I send her back?”
His glare falters. He exhales, rubs the back of his neck, then finally drops his arms and meets my gaze.
“I’m not sure, Aurora. As I said last night, this is new for me as well.”
I guess it doesn’t hurt to ask. But the minute I even think about opening my mouth, the Cù Fèidh looks at me, then drifts back to Ezra, rejoining the rest of his shadows.
Well, that was surprisingly easy.
And if I can use my mind to call to her, I won’t look like a complete ass every time I need her.
Louie stands, then trots over to Ezra. She plants herself at his feet and glares up at him.
“I’m watching you, ancient twat. I’ll team up with that shadow bitch in a heartbeat if you hurt her or allow her to come to harm. It’s been centuries since I’ve tasted monster flesh.”
Thankfully, Ezra just chuckles.
He stares down at the hellhound as he takes a long, unbothered sip of his coffee.
These two may never get along, but they do have a common goal—keeping me safe.
Hopefully, they can set aside their differences and focus on that because I need them both for whatever my clusterfuck of a life throws at me next.
Ezra
Who the fuck am I becoming?
When I left the splatter of blood that used to be Jameson, I fully intended to charge into Aurora’s cottage and claim what was rightfully mine. But when I burst through her door, she looked so broken, I swear something inside me broke with her.
I was whole for billions of years. She shattered me in a single night. The blood caked on her face and the black handprints around her neck made something dark and uncontrollable shiver through me.
Let every soul in Heaven and Hell pray that no one tries to take my little goddess from me. Because the thing inside me? The thing I don’t fully understand? It would burn the world to its fucking bones.
