Page 22 of Fiends and Familiars
I winced, wondering if bedding a witch had addled his brains. Was this what I had to look forward to?
“Yes. We know his location, but haven’t yet laid eyes on him. The man was tricky when he was alive, and I’m willing to bet he’s learned a thing or two since his escape.”
“So you know his general location? As in a few square miles?” Lucien’s expression was hopeful. “Do you honestly think we might finally be able to retrieve this bastard and drag him back to hell where he belongs?”
Shit, I hoped so. “He’s in a house. He’sinsidethe house, but he could be hiding anywhere inside. I’ve verified this personally. My hellhounds have felt his presence there, and so have I.”
Lucien frowned. “Then what’s the problem? It’s a house. Search it. Tear it down. Set it on fire and wait for him to come out. Why haven’t you hauled him back to hell yet?”
I clenched my teeth, unwilling to admit that we’d been trying with no success—thatI’dbeen trying with no success.
“There are some…difficulties in that. First, he’s cagey and we don’t want to tip him off that we’ve discovered his whereabouts only to have him vanish on us. I’d like your permission to send my pack to surround the house and remain there until he can be retrieved. Secondly, there are some fairly strong wards around the house, and the dwelling is in a neighborhood. Breaking them would bring attention from the humans.”
There was a time when I didn’t have to ask permission to send my pack of hellhounds to scorch the earth and shred every living thing in their path. The world had changed though—for the worse in my opinion.
“Why can’t your hellhounds retrieve him?” Lucien asked. “Just snatch him on his way to the grocery store if there’s a problem getting into the house.”
“We haven’t seen him leave the house. If I can have the hellhounds do a twenty-four-hour surveillance, we might be able to grab him if he leaves, but that means the humans are going to see a pack of hounds on a stakeout. And if we go in to forcibly retrieve him…well the humans are going to notice that as well.”
I had a plan. I was ready to move. But I didn’t want to have the upper management of hell coming down on my head because I freaked out a whole bunch of humans and possibly risked breaching our stealth contract with heaven.
“You and your hounds can break into one human’s house to retrieve Faust.” Lucien rolled his eyes. “We’ll take care of any fallout. Just go get him.”
There was my permission, but if thousands of years in hell had taught me anything, it was to make sure all the risks had been laid on the table, and that I had informed consent to proceed.
“We haven’t been able to observe him inside the dwelling, but he appears to be living with a woman and using magic to keep the hellhounds outside. There are wards,” I reminded Lucien. “They’re powerful enough that smashing through them would do significant damage to the house, and cause quite a lot of noise.”
“The longer Faust is free, the more we look like fools.” Lucien shook his head. “We should have secured him better once we’d dragged him into hell. It’s not your fault, Typhon. He just wasn’t an appropriate soul for your level and punishment methods.”
I bristled. Even though the prince might not blame me, I blamed myself. I’d lost a soul. Well, notlostper se, but had one escape me. Yes, Faust had help getting out of hell. Yes, he was rumored to be capable of magic and he’d managed to live for centuries, slipping away from every reaper who’d been sent to snag his soul. I should have realized he’d need special precautions—and special punishments.
I needed to do what I needed to do, regardless of how the consequences of that might pain me. There was no escaping this. I’d need to use my hellhounds to guard the residence, then break through the wards and go in myself to retrieve him. I was strong enough to break through the wards, strong enough to resist the witch’s spell. I’d go in, grab Faust by his scrawny neck, and drag him back to hell.
And then the witch would hate me. No more sexy dream time. No more nothing. I needed to ensure the makeup sex was truly exemplary, or I’d spend the rest of my life mourning her loss.
“I’m going to send Abraxas in to take care of it,” Lucien decided. “There’s no need for you or the hellhounds to get involved. I appreciate your tracking him down, but Abraxas is better suited to bring Faust back to hell.”
I nearly growled. The thought of that asshole demon facingmywitch made me want to strangle someone. And the humiliation… Faust had escaped frommylevel of hell. Sending in another to retrieve him was an insult.
“My Prince, there’s no need to interrupt Abraxas from his very important duties. I can handle this myself. Me and my hellhounds.”
Lucien waved a hand. “No, you’re right. I don’t like the idea of sending in your pack. They poop all over the neighborhood. People complain. Next thing you know the police are called—or worse, animal control.”
“Animal control?” Last I’d heard that was a local human government group that didn’t do much beyond scraping dead animals off the roads and picking up lost kittens.
Lucien scowled. “Yes, animal control. They’ll take one look at your hellhounds then they’ll call in…well, they’ll call in a contractor, and it’ll get back to someone I don’t want it to get back to. Ifshehears, she’ll want to know what’s going on and she won’t be happy.”
I was totally lost. “Shewon’t be happy about us retrieving Faust?”
“No, she won’t be happy about hellhounds prowling around a human neighborhood twenty miles outside of Accident.”
I was still lost, but I nodded as if I knew what in the hell the prince was talking about. “So I’ll go in without the hellhounds.” It would be difficult. Faust might slip away while I was battling the witch—or doing other things with the witch. Having my hellhounds there would ensure the fiend didn’t slip out the back door and vanish for another few centuries.
Lucien nodded. “Go ahead, but I’m still putting Abraxas on this as backup. I don’t want this guy getting away again. Granddad’s been busting my father’s chops over this for centuries now.”
I winced. “Don’t worry. This time we’ll get him.” And I’d make sureIwas the one bringing Faust in—not that slime-nosed, web-footed Abraxas.
Leaving the house where Lucien had set up residence with his witch, I wandered down the street, musing on how I might accomplish my goal without the hounds. In the time I would need to forcibly break through the wards, Faust could slip away. Plus there was the witch to deal with. I needed a way to get into the house with stealth and to do it when the witch wasn’t at home. Or I needed a way to quickly neutralize the witch and grab Faust before he got away.
