“Well sense it, Cassius. See how far he is. You can sense everything else, and you ought to be able to sense that,” she commented.
Cass took a deep breath, and he opened his vision again. He could sense Kushiel off in the distance, and he could pinpoint the general direction. Aunt Ro was right, because when he really concentrated, he could feel distance as well. Kushiel wasn’t far. Based on the direction, the distance, and the clues from the ghost, Cass guessed they were somewhere in the nearby state park.
“Not far. I think maybe the state park,” Cass replied.
“Ok, so you can get there in ten minutes. Did Michael or the hellhound answer you?” she asked.
Cass had to move, so he started walking toward his car, pulling out his cell phone at the same time. He needed to start driving; he needed to be doing something. He needed to be closer to Kushiel.
“I’ll call them from the car,” he answered, getting in. Aunt Ro appeared in the passenger seat beside him, and he was surprised but pleased. She hated taking transportation anywhere; she complained about how much she needed to concentrate to stay with the moving object.
He started the car, pulled out of the driveway, and used the speaker to call Michael first.
“Good, you got my text. Are you on your way?” Michael asked when he picked up the phone.
“What?” Cass asked. “Do you know something about Kushiel going missing?”
He heard a squawk of surprise and some rustling, then he must’ve been put on speaker, because he heard Michael tell Ari that Kushiel was missing.
“Dude! What the fuck! Who messed with my bruh?” Ari called out. “We’ll figure out a way to find him, Cass. No worries, dude. We’ll figure this shit out.”
“I know how to find him,” Cass replied, thankful to have their support nevertheless. “We’re mated, and I can feel where he is. I’m heading toward the state park now. We think it’s Mammon, and when the ghost tried to tell us, it disappeared, and Kushiel grabbed onto them and disappeared too.”
“Perfect. Our place is on the way. Stop here,” Michael answered.
“But—” Cass started.
“Dude, trust us. I’ll transport us to the state park once you’re here,” Ari reassured him. “I know you’re probably freaking the fuck out, because I would be if my s’more went all poof, but we have something you need.”
“Fine. I’m already in the car and will be there in like two minutes. Meet me outside,” he grumbled, then he hit end on the call.
His phone rang before he could think what to do next, and he saw it was the hellhound calling.
“How did you get my number?” was the gruff response as soon as Cass said “Hello.”
“Hmph. Do people not even say hello anymore?” Aunt Ro grumbled.
Cass ignored her, answering the hellhound instead. “I knew it when you came into the shop a couple weeks ago, and I saved it in my phone.”
“You just knew it?” the hellhound asked suspiciously. “And why are you texting me about finding some guy named Mammon?”
Cass realized his text was probably confusing to a hellhound who was pretending to be human, but he didn’t have time to play games. Kushiel was missing.
“Look, I know you’re a hellhound, and I’m sorry about the vague text. I know you don’t know me, but I’m a seer and an oracle, and I’m unfortunately dealing with afterlife bullshit right now. A demon has gone rogue and taken a whole bunch of souls from hell and turned them into ghosts and hidden them, and now he stole my angel, too,” Cass explained.
The hellhound was quiet on the other end of the line.
Cass let out an exasperated sound as he pulled into Michael’s driveway.
“Look, I know this is all shocking and weird, and I know hellhounds generally only deal with the mortal plane of existence, but a demon has kidnapped my soulmate and taken him to the state park, and he’s holding who knows how many souls there captive so they can’t be redeemed. I was going to seeif you could find him, but I can find him now because he took my soulmate,” Cass explained.
“A rogue demon. That explains the undefined evil floating through town,” the hellhound muttered.
“I’m going to deal with it. Somehow. And I’m going to get my soulmate back,” Cass declared.
The hellhound made a hmph sound, and then the line went dead.
“Well, that was rather rude,” Aunt Ro complained.
