Page 95 of Their Promise

Four hellhounds, much larger than any hellhound I’d seen before, ran out of the portal and headed straight for Mom and I.

Was it a trap? Was the pup just a ruse and he would turn and attack us?

Taking a warrior form, I prepared to launch myself at the hellhounds to keep them away from Mom.

Mom yanked two large boulders from the ground and threw them at the hellhounds. It hit one in the face, but the other three dodged them.

The pup stepped forward, growling and puffed up, his quills rattling. As the hellhounds got closer, he darted forward and clacked his teeth together. Pacing back and forth in front of Mom and I, he made a snarling, snapping, quill rattling wall.

The hellhounds skidded to a stop before they reached him, growling with spit flying from their snouts, but after one last look at us, they turned and headed towards the others.

“Well, I’ll be a rabbit’s auntie,” Mom whispered.

Chapter

Twenty-Three

The pup trotted back to me and sat on his rump at my side.

Reaching down, I patted the top of his head, being careful of the direction of his quills. “Good boy.”

The ground shook beneath our feet, making all of us gasp.

As it continued to shake, I realized it was footsteps.

“Giant!” I shouted just as the largest demon we had ever seen stepped out of the portal; its head reached almost the top of the portal. It was covered in thick, shaggy, purple fur, had two horns curving down around his face, and a face that looked like a warrior shifted werewolf.

“Is that a werewolf demon?” Mom asked softly.

The pup tilted his head back and howled. All the remaining hellhounds joined the howl.

Wolf howls had always been calls of friends and family, something happy to me, but in this moment, the hair on my nape rose and I felt fear shudder through me.

The giant werewolf-demon lowered his head, looked at everyone, and focused on Mom and I, though I had an awful feeling it was me he was really focused on.

“Mom,” I whispered and swallowed hard, “I think it’s me.”

“I see that, Lily.” She created a portal beneath my feet and I fell through to the other side, right next to Caleb.

“Giant werewolf-demon!” I shouted at him as I gasped for breath since I’d not been prepared for the portal Mom had created and fallen onto my back. “After me, we think.”

Caleb was in a warrior form that combined all of his heritage of dragon, werewolf, mage, elf, and siren. We called it his ultimate form. His eyes glowed silver as he snarled and said, “No one touches my daughter.”

The giant werewolf-demon stepped around the portal, each step making the ground shake, and continued until he saw me.

“Yep, definitely after you,” Kayden said, suddenly behind me.

Tony ran from the other side of the portal.

“About time you showed up,” I grumbled at him.

“I was on the other side of town. Mom told me to come stay near you.”

“That’s after her,” Kayden said and pointed at the giant werewolf-demon.

Tony sighed. “Of course it is. Why wouldn’t Mom have sent me to do an easier job?”

“Keeping Lily safe has never been an easy job,” Kayden muttered.

---