Infinite Magic (Dragon's Gift: The Huntress Book 5) (15 page)

Damn it!

My magic was still ashes inside my chest. All I had were the daggers at my thighs, and the odds weren’t looking good. Aidan and I couldn’t even shift to get out of here.

The heavy body on top of mine was shoved aside. Aidan’s big hand grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

The demons stood opposite the door. Four more demons appeared.

“Run for it,” I said.

We whirled to escape, but more demons waited in the hall.

They closed in on us, all shapes and sizes. Shadow demons, the fire sword demons, and two I didn’t recognize.

I wanted to draw my daggers, but they weren’t enchanted to return to me like my other pair, so I’d be chucking away my only weapon. Instead, I reached deep for my magic, praying that I could access even a little of it despite the cauldron’s effects.
 

It sparked to life inside my chest, a tiny ember. I fanned the flame, pulling the magic from deep inside of me and calling upon my gift of lightning.

While I did so, Aidan drew his own pair of daggers and surged into the crowd of demons blocking the exit, slashing and stabbing.
 

When the lightning cracked and burned beneath my skin, I released a jet at the nearest demon. Thunder boomed as it cracked toward him, but it was a puny bolt. Not even enough to kill.

The demon shook and dropped, and I built up my magic again, letting the lightning crackle and grow inside of me.
 

There was a lake of power within me that I could access only with a straw.
 

A demon lunged for me and I dodged, but the bite of steel cut into my arm. I gasped at the fiery pain as I threw a bolt of lightning at a demon near the exit.
 

As it slammed into him, another demon leapt toward me, swinging his fire sword in a great arc. I barely managed to dodge the burning blade, but another struck me in the back, slicing across my shoulder.

Beside me, Aidan had felled three demons, but there were still a dozen more now. Only a few seconds had passed, and we were already screwed. I didn’t have enough of my power, and there were too many of them, with more appearing every second.

We were trapped.
 

This was the end of us.

I’d fight ‘til I died, but I would die here.

“Do not kill them!”

My skin froze at the sound of the voice. I glanced over my shoulder, dread crawling up from the pit of my stomach.
 

Victor Orriodor stood in the center of the room, having just transported here. His dark gaze was gleeful as he looked at me. It was the most emotion I’d ever seen in him. Normally, he just looked like a bored banker, with the bland haircut and suit to match.

Despite the Gundestrop cauldron’s dampening power, his evil flowed out from him like a dark fog.

Oh, we were dead meat. No matter what he said.

The only positive was that Victor didn’t have his powers. Or did he?
 

I glanced at Aidan, and his gaze said the same thing I was thinking.

Run.

Even if it was hopeless, we had to run.

I turned back to the demons blocking our escape and fought with everything I had. I drew my dagger because my magic was just too slow. I sliced and stabbed, more savage than I’d ever been. But within seconds, a massive demon had his arms clamped around my middle. He squeezed so hard I dropped my daggers, but I thrashed and kicked.
 

It did no good. It was like being trapped in a stone wall.

Beside me, Aidan staggered beneath the weight of two demons who tried to drag him to the ground. Their muscled gray arms bulged as they gripped him, but Aidan was a huge man. It would take more than two demons.

Others rushed forward, intent on overpowering Aidan. My heart threatened to explode from my chest.

All was lost. We couldn’t fight over a dozen demons without our powers. Not with measly daggers.

A brilliant red bird zoomed by my face, plowing into one of the demons clinging to Aidan. The demon burst into flames and howled, staggering back. A blue blur flew at my face. It dodged me at the last minute, exploding against the head of the demon who gripped me from behind.

Icy water rained down on me as the demon choked and gagged, drowning in the water.

The dragonets!

The stone dragonet smashed into the other demon gripping Aidan, his little brown form packing the punch of a cannon ball. The gray demon was thrown back against the stone wall.

Aidan raced toward me. We had to run for it. The way was clear for just a moment.

Not long enough.

The other demons surged forward, blocking the way. The dragonets could help, but they weren’t enough. I didn’t care. I’d go down fighting so hard they’d have to kill me to get me out of this tower.
 

I grabbed my daggers from the ground just as the strangest clattering sound came from the round stairs. A half second later, the massive form of Pond Flower appeared in the hall. Her eyes blazed with flame, and her muzzle was pulled back from her teeth, revealing glinting white fangs. The smell of brimstone was so strong I almost gagged.

Behind her, more hellhounds appeared from the stairs. Black and brown, all as big as Pond Flower and all with flame-red eyes.

They charged.

My heart leapt into my throat, but they passed by me, headed straight for the demons. They bowled over the demon nearest me, opening the way for my escape.
 

“Thank you!” I cried.

Aidan lunged to my side. The hounds set up a barrier between us and the demons. An eerie black flame rose up from their fur, creating a wall. Why their magic worked here, I had no idea. Perhaps because they were animals. Or their magic was fueled by hell, something that had no basis on Earth.

I didn’t hang around to ponder why. I wasn’t an idiot enough to look a gift hound in the mouth.

Aidan and I ran for it, sprinting down the hall and the spiral staircase. The stairs were so old and uneven that I nearly fell three times.

By the time we made it to the bottom, the strange clattering sound came from the stairs again.

Hellhound nails on the stone, I realized. They were retreating.
 

“Go!” Aidan shouted.

We raced through the corridor and out into the great hall. There were demons in there now. Shadow demons, from the look of them.

They hurled smoke bombs at us as we raced through the great hall. I dodged one, but was caught by another. Pain flared at my back as the smoke bomb plowed into me. I flew forward onto my front, barely managing to break my fall with my hands.

Aidan grabbed my arm and pulled. I scrambled up off the stone floor and glanced behind me. The hellhounds charged across the great hall, fleeing the mass of demons behind them.
 

Our pursuers hurled smoke bombs and fireballs. They exploded all around, bouncing off the hellhounds’ thick hides. But Aidan and I weren’t protected by the same magic.
 

We turned to flee. We just had to make it outside or to a window. From there, we could shift and fly away.

But there were no windows in this whole magic-forsaken castle. If we couldn’t make it to one, escape was impossible.

Del burst into the great hall from the other side of the room. The smoke dragonet was just ahead of her.

Leading her to us.

Her gaze widened as she caught sight of us, chased by hellhounds and demons. She sprinted harder, her dark hair flying behind her. When a smoke bomb nearly hit her, she turned into her phantom form, her skin glinting blue.

She collided with us, wrapping her incorporeal arms around Aidan and me, ready to transport us away. Her touch shocked my skin, but I’d take more than a little shock to get us out of here.

“Not without the hounds!” I yelled.

Her startled gaze met mine. “I don’t think I can take so many!”

The hounds were almost upon us now, only feet away. They gathered around, pressing close in a huddle.

“Try!” I cried.

The demons were almost upon us. Del clenched her eyes shut, and I felt the ether pull us in, sucking us through space.

When I opened my eyes, we stood on the tarmac at the tiny airport. The thirteen hellhounds were gathered around us, panting and smelling of brimstone.

We’d made it.

CHAPTER TEN

“This is the weirdest plane ride of my life,” I said.
 

I was still partially shell shocked from our near escape. We’d all made it out of Victor’s castle, though barely, and were hurtling into the sky in Aidan’s jet.

“So you got them all?” I asked my friends.

Every one of my friends had bruises or cuts, but their gazes were bright with victory.

“Yeah,” Nix said. “Three boys.”

I glanced toward the back of the plane. Emile was sitting with them, Ralph and Rufus on his shoulders. The boys looked to be about twelve and were skinny and pale. But they looked happy, surrounded by all thirteen of the hellhounds, who lounged on the floor. Actually, we were all surrounded by hellhounds. The huge dogs took up every bit of floor space in the plane.

Which smelled like brimstone.

At least we’d been partially successful. And no one had been killed, which was a small miracle.

“How did you transport so many hellhounds?” Connor asked Del. “I thought you could only take a couple people at a time.”

“And why did you?” Claire asked.

“Pond Flower and her friends saved us,” I said. “And we promised her a new life.”

Claire glanced at the dogs doubtfully, clearly wondering where we were going to keep thirteen dogs who weighed at least two hundred pounds each and looked like they came from hell. Which they had.

“But how did you manage, Del?” Claire asked.

Del had been silent until now, her gaze alternately shocked and thoughtful. “I uh, felt strong when they touched me, I guess. Normally, transporting drains me. It’s why I can only take a couple people—that’s all the juice I have. But the hounds felt like part of me. It was so easy to take them along.”

Pond Flower, who sat at Del’s feet, pressed herself against her side and gazed at her adoringly.

“Holy shit,” Nix said, realization in her voice. “It’s because you’re Death. And those hounds are from hell. Death. Hell. Get it?”

She nodded slowly. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

Okay, wow. That was a revelation.

“So are they your dogs now?” Claire asked.

I glanced at the dogs. With the exception of Pond Flower, the rest were piled around the boys.

“I think they’re theirs.” I hiked a thumb at the boys.

Del nodded. “Yeah, I agree. I’m not a hellhound whisperer or anything.”

“They turned on Victor quickly,” Aidan said.

“They didn’t like him,” Emile said.
 

We’d reached our cruising altitude, and he’d come up to the front to join us. I glanced back to see the boys asleep on the couches, the dogs piled around him.
 

“Pond Flower here says they were sold to him by some demons,” Emile continued. “They didn’t like him, but they didn’t know where else to go. Once we came, they saw a better opportunity and took it.”

“They saved our life,” I said.

“Yes,” Emile said. “Hellhounds have rare powers. They make excellent guard dogs because of their black flame. No one can touch it or pass through it without their permission.”

“We saw that,” Aidan said. “They turned into strange torches and stopped the demons. But the Gundestrop cauldron didn’t affect them the way it did the other supernaturals. They still had their powers.”

Emile nodded. “They don’t get their power in the way other supernaturals do. They’re fueled by the powers of hell. As long as hell exists, so do the hellhounds and their powers.”

“Thank magic for that. And for Pond Flower.” I reached down and scratched her ears.

“Yes. Ralph and Rufus have quite taken to her.” The rats jumped off his shoulders and sat on Pond Flower, who didn’t seem to mind. “I think she named herself for a water lily. I saw the image in my head when she told me her name.”

“It suits her,” Aidan said.

Nix grinned, then held out her hands. Her magic flowed on the air, smelling like flowers and feeling like a fresh breeze. A moment later, a broad white flower sat in her palms.
 

A water lily.

Pond Flower made a huffing noise of approval, her dark gaze bright on the flower.

“This is you, huh?” Nix asked.

After the stress of the last few days, watching Nix hold the lily so that Pond Flower could sniff it was easily the highlight of my week.

“We’re going to need to find a home for them,” I said.

“I don’t think the pound takes hellhounds,” Connor said.

Del stared at him, aghast. “As if we’d turn them over to the pound!”

Connor raised his hands. “Sorry, sorry! A bad joke.”

“What about the League of FireSouls?” Nix asked. “We’re going to ask them to help us find the boys’ families. What about taking the dogs as well? That place they live in is huge and basically empty. Plenty of room to run around. And the whole Arcadian forest for them to enjoy.”

“Good idea,” I said. When we’d visited a few weeks ago, the place had been beautiful but far too big for the FireSouls who lived there. “We could even pay for their food, if necessary.”

“I think it might be,” Del said. “Look at the size of them.”

“It won’t be necessary,” Emile said. “They survive off of magic. Fire is an occasional treat for them.”

“It’s settled then. We ask the League of FireSouls for help with the boys and the dogs.” Our team was much bigger than I’d ever expected it to be.
 

“How did you make it out of the castle with the boys?” Aidan asked.

“The old-fashioned way,” Claire said. “Fighting.”

“Then we ran for it,” Connor said. “We just had to make it to the car. We were nearly there when the smoke dragonet came back for Del.”

“They’re always there when I need them,” I said. “Like they have a sixth sense where I’m concerned.”

“Did they get out okay?” Aidan asked.