Page 4 of The Hellhound's Mate
I turned off the flashlight app only to go cold with the realization that I’d just made it harder to see the predator lurking in the shadows in front of me. Harder, but not impossible because with every breath the beast took, its chest glowed a brighter red-orange before it dimmed again. I knew exactly where the creature was…and when it stood up.
“You can see me,” the beast said in a voice like thunder.
I gulped, that deep rumble stirring my desire in the strangest way. Well, no, my desire for this beast was strange, but that a subterranean male voice and the frisson of fear could cause such a reaction wasn’t odd at all. I did have a few kinks.
“Y-yes, I can see you. Better, um, better in the light, of course,” I said with a breathless laugh. “But yes. Should I not be able to see you?” I asked with a frown since he knew Iwas dealing with something beyond the realms of the reality I’d thought I understood.
“Some can. Some cannot.” The glow from his chest showed his open mouth and all those teeth as he talked. “You didn’t scream, though.”
“Oh, uh, no. Well, this isn’t the first time I’ve seen you. Though I didn’t scream then either, actually. That, um, spirit? They screamed.”
“They always do.”
I had no doubt about that. “I probably would’ve if you’d been running after me like that.”
“Then don’t try to escape Hell.”
I couldn’t resist a step closer. “Is that what happened? I’d heard what had sounded like a gate opening, and then that ghost-like person running… Wait, are there actual gates to Hell?” I gasped again, a hand over my heart. “Is there a gate to Hell on this property?”
“Yes…and yes.”
“Hell is real,” I said absently.
“And damned souls find ways to escape from time to time. I catch them and send them back.”
A shiver went down my spine as I gazed at those terrible teeth and the orange flicker of flames behind them. And then all of a sudden, the beast blew out a breath and a collection of candles on top of the crypt blazed brightly. The golden glow now illuminating the beast’s thick black fur, muscular body, and long clawed fingers had me feeling hot and cold as the world tilted alarmingly.
I gasped when I found myself held by massive hands—one at my waist and one behind my head—and realized I’d been about to faint. And the beast had caught me. Saved me. “Oh, thank you,” I whispered as I looked into the deep golden eyes staring back at me.
The giant creature nodded and steadied me before letting me go and stepping away. Something inside me opened wide, like I was making room for this nightmare being to come in and be cared for. It must be so lonely to be something another person might never be able to see. I wanted to change that.
“I’m Ambrose Augustine. What’s your name?”
“Saph.” He cleared his throat, and it sounded like rocks in a blender. “Saphrax Sableclaw.”
“Sable? Are you the caretaker? Oh, my!”
Saph actually wound his fingers together as though he was nervous. “I’ve kept out of sight and only done the minimum while you’ve gotten settled. I’ll stop coming into the house if you don’t want me to.”
“No, no, I’m not upset,” I said with a hand out. “I just had no idea. I mean, of course I didn’t. Who would? Oh! Did Mister Dodge know about you?”
That great black head nodded briefly. “He treated me… But I was allowed…” Saph closed his eyes and swallowed hard.
I couldn’t resist taking a step closer. “It’s okay. You can tell me.”
I didn’t miss the way Saph edged around to the other side of the sarcophagus, putting it between us. If he needed the space, I’d let him have it, but that he was afraid of me was almost laughable.
“He treated me like a talking pet, but he allowed me into the basement. And he…” Saph gestured to one of the cubbies in the mausoleum’s wall. “He let me read the books.”
My heart clenched. “Then you can have that again. Of course, you can! Whatever you need is yours.”
Saph eyed me up and down, and I let him look, hoping my desire to make this amazing person comfortable was clear. I helped that along by saying, “You have a very important job todo, and I want to make sure you can do it to the best of your ability.”
Saph’s big golden eyes crinkled and the corner of his mouth curled in the smallest of smiles. “Thank you,” he rumbled.
Before I could say anything back, a huge crack of thunder sounded outside and had me squawking as I jumped, bumping into the crypt. Goddess, I’d known it was supposed to rain tonight, but not that it was going to storm so ferociously. Looking outside, I watched as a gentle rain became a downpour. A glance at my velvet brocade jacket and silk dress nearly made me pout since both would be ruined when I walked back to the house. Oh, and my Louboutin boots! They’d never recover.
“There’s a tunnel into the house from here.”
