This hound had sunk its teeth into Tomas’s shoulder. Blood spilled beneath him. Tomas tried to grab the hound’s head, and almost lost his fingers.
But Sam was there. She watched as he shoved his foot into the hound’s head, giving a kick that made the beast howl.
Tomas leapt to his feet. “Get the f**k back to hell!” He roared and lifted his hands. Fire blasted out at the hound.
“No!” Seline yelled, but the fire had already reached the hound. It absorbed the flames and its eyes flashed an even brighter red. Then the hound got bigger.
Dammit.
“Help me!” A woman’s scream came from inside the room. Oh, no, that woman—Sierra—had actually been trapped in there with the hound? And the monster hadn’t eaten her?
Tomas’s head jerked at Sierra’s cry, and he rushed forward, right into the path of the hound.
But Sam knocked the beast out of the way. Seline expected the hound to lunge for Sam, but instead, the hound’s head turned, slowly. It licked its lips and focused that fiery stare on Tomas once more.
“Rogziel gave it your scent,” Sam snapped. “You’re its prey.” The hound slammed its body into Sam’s side and knocked him back.
You’re its prey.
Sam had told her that a hound didn’t stop until it took its prey.
Sam’s shove had sent Tomas stumbling to the ground. The hound closed in on him now.
This time, Seline ran in front of Tomas. Her heart raced so fast that her chest shook. But she’d stopped a hound before. She could do it again.
Right?
“Get back,” she gritted to the beast. Flames were snaking down the hallway. Great. Fabulous. Just what the hound needed—more power. “Get away from him. Go back to hell!”
The hound looked up at her with its fangs bared.
She straightened her shoulders. “Go back to hell!” Her words were close to a roar.
“Seline!” Sam screamed.
The hound leapt at her. Powerful paws slammed into her chest, and she hit the floor. The hound’s paws shoved against her and the beast hurtled forward over her—right at Tomas.
But Tomas wasn’t alone. Mateo stood beside him. “Let’s see just how well you can hunt,” Mateo said to the beast as he tossed a bottle into the air, a small bottle that Sam snagged with his left hand. In the next instant, Mateo and Tomas vanished.
Get-the-fuck-away spell. Seline knew the witch had used it. Talk about some nice timing . . .
The hound howled and raced down the hallway, and Seline knew the monster was chasing after Tomas’s scent. Her breath choked out in a relieved gasp. That had been too close.
Sam grabbed her hand and hauled Seline to her feet. “The hound will find them.”
She knew he was right. The hound wouldn’t stop. Not until it had them. “I-I couldn’t stop it.” She’d tried, but—
“Please, God! Someone, help me!”
“You can’t control them all.” Sam kept hold of her hand and pulled Seline inside the room. “You can only control the one bound to you.”
Knowing that little piece of trivia would have been helpful earlier. Before she’d jumped in front of the hellhound.
“You have to summon it, Seline. You have to control it. You have to get it to kick ass for you.”
A woman with dark red hair waited in the middle of the room. Seline tried to hurry toward her.
Sam hauled her back. “No.”
“Please!” The woman’s fists thudded into some kind of invisible wall. Tears streamed down her cheeks. “There was some kind of wolf in here with me. I thought it was going to eat me!”
Sam pointed to the ground. “A spell has her locked in.” A thin line of white powder circled the woman. “I don’t think this one is too strong, but we can’t take any chances on it being a trap.”
“The wolf could come back!” The redhead screamed. “You have to get me out of here!”
“The beast has gone after Tomas.” Sam frowned at the line of powder. “It won’t be back till he’s dead.”
The redhead blinked. If possible, her face paled even more. “Dead?”
But Sam didn’t answer. He pushed Seline back a bit. “I can burn through it.”
Like there weren’t already enough flames around them.
“Burn?” the woman whispered. “Wait, don’t—”
There was no waiting. The flames were already around her, burning in a bright circle, following that trail of white powder and enclosing the woman.