Page 7 of Dante
“I’m not sure. I have a lock on the council,” Atticus said. “Do you not?” he asked us.
I reached out, and my magic was certainly able to focus on the council. I nodded. We heard a familiar sound, one that was identical to what had just caused us to enter the Nexus. Was it Damien and Warwick and the other two hellhounds? Were they making such a noise when moving through the Nexus?
“What is that?” the chatty demon asked.
“Something or someone moving through the Nexus.” Atticus glared. “What are your names? Have you been given one yet?”
The demons all shook their heads. “None of us have. We were told to run. If we survived, we would be gifted names and the ability to have a mate.”
Atticus rolled his eyes. We’d all heard that many times, and we’d all spent countless hours chasing after demons who had been told those very words.
“How long were you running?”
The demons looked at one another before shaking their heads again. “We do not know. How long were you chasing? Who are the other hellhounds? They seem weaker than you. Are they not the same?”
“No,” Atticus growled. He looked at us, then shook his head. “I have no way of warning Master Edison that we are arriving with three demons. Not that they seem to be able to answer any questions if they don’t know how long they’ve been running in the Nexus.”
“What if it’s been years?” I asked.
“I have a thought,” Augustus said. We all turned to him, waiting for an answer. “If you’re unsure of bringing everyone back to the council, can you not reach your mate?” Augustus asked. “If you can, is Brice not able to figure out where you are with someone’s help?”
Atticus shook his head. “He is yammering in my mind and has been nonstop since we arrived here. It’s all just adding to the confusion.”
I blinked at Atticus. “If you can talk to Brice through your bond, then have him tell Master Edison that we’re lost and we’re coming home with three demons.”
Atticus stared at us, then closed his eyes and shook his head. I glanced first at Augustus before looking down at the demons. They all looked similar, and I had to wonder if our creator had created them all around the same time. There were five of ushellhounds, and we all looked different. Well, aside from all of us having dark hair and eyes.
“Brice says he’s not on Treasure Ridge.”
I looked at Atticus and shook my head. “What the fuck, man,” I said, getting more frustrated as we went. “You aren’t normally this dense.” Atticus’s eyes flamed.
“Of course he’s not on Treasure Ridge. You don’t live on the mountain. Tell him to call,” Augustus said with a bit of growl in his voice. “We would, if our phones worked.”
I understood Augustus’s frustration. Atticus wasn’t normally so clueless. Atticus shook his head and plopped down. “Is it me, or is it odd here?” he asked.
“Odd how?” I was suddenly concerned about our pack’s alpha. Was he all right?
“It’s just odd.” Atticus looked around, then focused on the demons and narrowed his eyes. “Have you seen any others in the Nexus?”
“Just the hellhounds that were chasing us. But those two weren’t the ones that were chasing us.”
“We need to come up with names for them,” I said.
“What? Why?” Atticus said. “Do you think we’re keeping them?”
The three demons suddenly looked concerned. I shrugged. Atticus stood and smiled.
“Master Edison has been contacted. He’s trying to locate us.”
I sighed. “Why? We can get to him. We just don’t know where we are. Which is an issue because we didn’t exit the Nexus where we went—” Master Edison and Alpha Sergei suddenly appeared in front of us. “—in,” I finished.
“What in the fates are the three of you doing in the Atacama Desert?” Master Edison asked.
“The what?” Augustus asked.
“The Atacama Desert. It’s in Chile. You’re in South America. Should I ask why?” Master Edison looked around. “Where are Damien and Warwick?”
“They were grabbing the hellhounds that were chasing these three, err, four,” Atticus said. “Warwick’s didn’t make it. It’s been a day. A very strange one.”
