“Fuck. Yes, Aunt Ro, you did neglect to mention that. Tell meeverything,” Cass demanded.
So Aunt Ro did, and although she seemed to be able to explainwhyMammon had done what he did (greed and jealousy of those more powerful, just as Lucifer had said), she still didn’t knowhowhe was keeping Kushiel and the ghosts trapped. Her description of the area made Cass sure that the natural surroundings were being used in the ward, but that didn’t answer how to break the ward.
Nor did it answer how to help the ghosts.
But Cass had a magic spear, and he could only hope that would solve things. With that thought, he could hear Mammon’s voice as he got closer, and Aunt Ro was right—he was indeed monologuing.
Cass didn’t think subtlety mattered, so when he made it to the clearing, he stepped forward out of the treeline.
Thank heaven, his angel looked just fine. The ghosts in the clearing, however, were another story. There were hundreds of them, and they were torn, fragmented messes, but Cass couldn’t feel them. He was thankful that the ward hadn’t somehow interrupted his ability to sense Kushiel as well, but he supposed a soulmate bond trumped any ward.
He noticed that Kushiel was staring across the clearing, and Cass looked at Mammon, who, as Aunt Ro had explained, did not look… healthy. He looked old and worn, and obviously whatever he had been doing had taken something out of him.
What surprised Cass, though, was the hellhound standing behind Mammon. It was the same one Cass had called earlier, and obviously he had hunted out the evil. Cass just had no idea what he was planning on doing, and he didn’t like the unknown.
“Oh, what do we have here!” Mammon cried out. “A wee little human interrupting our lovely chat!”
“He’s my soulmate,” Kushiel stated, and pleasure and joy flooded Cass at those words. Maybe Kushiel was finally beginning to understand his worth and accept that he did deserve a soulmate. It felt amazing to be claimed so openly.
Kushiel looked over at him and smiled, probably sensing Cass’s joy.
“Another abomination,” Mammon mumbled. “Whoever heard of demons and humans bonding? When I’m in charge you can rest assured that such things will no longer take place.”
Cass merely sputtered at him. Did the demon think soulmates didn’t want to be mated?
“I told you. Total villain. Delusional, too,” Aunt Ro whispered from next to him.
Kushiel turned his back on Mammon then, looking at Cass. “I’m stuck here, but perhaps if I give some of my light to the ghosts?—”
“Absolutely not,” Cass whispered. “I have a plan to take care of Mammon. We just need to figure out how to get you out of there.”
“Isn’t this an interesting gathering,” the hellhound called out.
Mammon turned around then, looking shocked and then pleased. “Ah! A hellhound! I haven’t seen one of your kind in… Well, it’s been centuries at least. You deal with sending evil to hell, so perhaps you can speed along this whole ghost dematerialization process so these souls can be transported to hell. At the very least, you can help with the warding. I seem to recall that your kind can do that sort of thing, and this is sapping my strength quite a bit,” Mammon complained.
The hellhound, whose name Cass still didn’t even know, tilted his head while staring at Mammon. The look in his eyes gave Cass chills, even though it was focused on Mammon. The demon didn’t seem to notice, though, turning his back on the hellhound like he just expected his orders to be followed.
The hellhound stepped over to one of the sick trees, placing his hands on it. Cass thought he saw fire in the hellhound’s eyes, and he seriously hoped they weren’t about to be caught in the middle of a forest fire. He thought about trying to step into the clearing with Kushiel, but Mammon was outside the clearing, and he had the spear, and if they were both trapped, that wouldn’t do them much good.
The hellhound’s eyes closed, his hands were encased in a blue flame, yet the tree didn’t catch fire. There was a rumblingsound, like thunder in the distance, and the hellhound lifted his hands and stared at Mammon. He looked murderous.
Kushiel must have sensed it too, because he backed up toward the edge of the clearing… and kept right on backing up until he bumped into Cassius. He turned around, and Cass grabbed him in a hug, so glad to have his angel back in his arms.
“I’m ok,” Kushiel reassured him.
“Well isn’t that sweet,” Mammon muttered snidely.
Cassius and Kushiel broke apart as Mammon walked forward into the clearing. He then shot an accusatory glance at the hellhound.
“You broke the ward. Do you know how much it took to put that up?” he complained. “Well, I guess you needed to in order to send the souls along to hell. I can’t see the ghosts, but I’m assuming hellhounds can. Or perhaps that’s why the human is here? Human, can you see the ghosts?” he asked Cass.
Cass stared at him, utterly bewildered. The idiot thought they were going to help him? Cass looked over at Kushiel disbelievingly, and Kushiel just gave him a shrug.
The hellhound spoke. “We are of the mortal realm, and yes, we can see ghosts. Our kind is also no longer under the purview of your kind. I do not take commands from you, demon.”
Mammon turned around and sputtered. “Absurd! Yet another thing I will fix when I am in charge! But really, that doesn’t matter, does it, because your job is to send those to hell that belong there. These ghosts belong there,” Mammon argued.
“They don’t!” Kushiel argued. “They are redeemable! They have light in them still! It is not for you to decide that souls cannot be redeemed!”
