Page 9 of When Annika Met Thom

“Go where?” Annika demanded but he began to shut the door.

It appeared that he thought the matter was resolved and thus undeserving of further comment.

Annika thought otherwise.

“No. Wait! I could come in,” she said again. “I could put this down and wait for him...” There was a snort from the apartment, then the sound of claws on hardwood and the guy looked back.

“No, Cerberus,” he ordered. “Stay!”

Cerberus?

“Just let me come in and...”

“I have to go to work,” he said with resolve. “You would be here alone. It wouldnotbe a good idea.”

This soliloquy was astonishing for both its length and its content. “Why wouldn’t it be a good idea? I’m going to stay here, in Leo’s apartment for two weeks. That was the plan. Thatisthe plan.” Annika heard her voice rise. “What exactly keeps that from being a good idea?”

And why was it up to him?

A huge black nose shoved between the door frame and the guy’s thigh before he could answer. If it was the nose of a dog, this was the biggest dog she’d ever seen in her life. Its black head was above his waist and the nose itself had to be three inches wide.

When the dog sniffed, Annika was sure half the oxygen was sucked out of the corridor.

Annika took a step back, then another. The nose disappeared and the dog howled, the sound making the hair stand up on the back of her neck. Then it barked and she could have sworn the floor vibrated.

The hound of the Baskervilles was in Leo’s apartment.

Strange that he hadn’t mentioned it.

“No!” the guy said to the dog. Thom. He had to be Thom. “Shhh, Cerberus. Keep it down!”

The dog barked louder, ignoring him, the sound of nails on hardwood more insistent. It sounded like it was running laps around the apartment.

Something crashed and she winced.

“You have to go,” Thom said to her, with more than a hint of desperation. “You’re getting her excited.”

“I don’t care. I have to come in, not leave,” Annika countered, trying to work with a moment of weakness. “We can work this out inside.” She seized the door knob and pushed. It had to be futile because he was about eleven times bigger than her, but she was tired and had nowhere else to go.

“No,” Thom said, and she didn’t know whether he was talking to her or the dog.

He looked back, hinting that he spoke to the dog, and Annika jammed her foot into the gap between the door and the frame. Good thing she’d worn her Blundstone boots.

The dog appeared again, taking advantage of the slight widening of the gap between the door and the frame. Its head was huge, its eyes bright, and it barked in excitement at the sight of her. Thom tried to close the door and finally spotted her boot in the way. He seemed to be debating whether he should forcibly remove it.

But one glimpse of the dog’s teeth up close and personal made Annika release the door knob. She dropped Percival’s cage and the dog barked with excitement, the loudwoofreverberating in the corridor. Percival hissed as the dog shoved its entire head through the gap.

“Now you’ve done it,” Thom muttered.

The dog was enormous, pitch-black and perfectly named. It was exactly the kind of animal you’d want to have guarding the gates of Hell—or anything else, for that matter—even with just the one head. It lunged further into the corridor, moving with unexpected speed, then shoved its nose against the metal bars of Percival’s cage, tail wagging with enthusiasm. The tail struck the walls of the corridor on either side.

The dog suddenly howled and retreated a few steps.

Percival must have bitten its nose, but Annika felt vindicated.

Thom swore, seized the dog’s leather collar, and bodily hauled it back into the apartment, which was some kind of feat. Thom stepped into the corridor, shutting the door quickly behind himself.

Damn. He was huge.

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