“Unfortunately not. My powers cannot bypass the dense darkness of a hellhound.”
There it was.
All hope was lost.
It felt like my entire world collapsed in that moment, but I quickly came to terms with it. Gage would be this way forever, and I would stick by his side no matter what. Hellhound, Lumen, or Shade, Gage was still Gage and it didn’t change that I loved him and always would.
“But… if you were able to get Gage to separate from his beast and then kill it, he would no longer be a hellhound,” Cael said.
My head snapped up so fast that dizziness washed over me. “What did you say?”
Cael gave me a knowing look. “Gage and the beast might seem like one being, but they’re not. The hellhound is a parasite which enters through the saliva, and Gage is the host body. Only the strongest, mentally and physically, can separate from the parasite, but it’s not impossible.”
If Gage could rip the hellhound parasite out of him and I could kill it, then he’d be back to normal? That was the best thing I’d heard all month.
I burst forward, wrapping my arms around the giant angel, having to jump up on my tiptoes to reach him. He stiffened for a moment, and then wrapped his hands around me as well.
“You’re welcome,” he said. I didn’t even say thank you, but that’s what the hug meant.
I backed away with a smile. “Okay. I can totally do this. I got this. And the Tartarus thing, and the freeing the souls thing too.” I gave him two thumbs-up.
He nodded. “And the defeating Apollyon thing?”
Oops.“And that!” Hopefully without triggering the curse and killing myself in the process.
“And, Tatum, thank you for returning Apollyon’s life book back to the Hall of Angelic Records, but I won’t look away next time.”
Oh snap. He knew about that?
I winced, and then held my breath as I waited for Cael to rain some sort of punishment down on me, but I let out a sigh of release when several moments passed and he did nothing but stare at me with a slightly annoyed look on his face.
“Right, yeah, sorry about that,” I said.
Before Cael had an opportunity to chastise me for anything else, I turned and walked back through the portal that had brought me here.
CHAPTERTEN
Istepped back in the sanctuary to find Jacob pacing back and forth. He stopped when he realized I’d returned.
“What is it?” I asked, instantly knowing something had happened. “Is Gage back? Is he all right?”
It was still the night of the full moon, so he shouldn’t be back until tomorrow, but maybe something had happened. Was it because he’d died and Apollyon had returned his dead body to torture me? My mind spun as terror overrode any common sense.
Jacob waved his hands in front of him, shaking his head. “No, no, nothing like that. It’s your sister.”
My sister?
“What about her?” I asked, my heart suddenly in my throat.
“She’s here.”
The news was so surprising I just stood there blinking back at Jacob.
“Come on.” He grabbed my hand and tugged me out the door. He waited until we were past the guards to add, “Dash is hiding her in his room.”
Wait… what?
This was getting even more bizarre, but at least my mind had finally caught up enough for me to ask questions. “Did you guys capture her or something?”
