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I was ready.

6: Hellhounds

The sound of the howls grew closer, leaving us with only one option—run…runfast.

My legs pounded the street, each limb stretched out as far as it could go, trying to consume as much pavement as possible. The burn in my muscles told me I was tired, my body aching for rest, but we couldn’t do that. Not with what chased us.

Wes was normally faster than me, but tonight he was lagging, barely keeping up with my strides. And the knowledge that he was struggling sent fear swelling through my body. Fear for him…fear for me…fear for what would happen if we didn’t reach the park in time.

We didn’t have that far to go. Telvia’s Central Park was in the center of the city, close to the Administration Buildings. I knew we were only a mile away, but the mile seemed to stretch endlessly before us. The park felt like a distant hope that flickered weakly with each passing second, threatening to be extinguished by the sounds of hell calling out into the night.

And then it changed.

And the change sent a fresh wave of gooseflesh crawling through my skin. The howl that collided with the silence shifted. No longer drawn-out and eerie, the next call that greeted my ears was a yip, followed by another, and then another. And before I knew it, a cacophony of yips and yaps rose and fell, creating a staccato sound as the beasts communicated to one another.

“They’re on us,” Wes shouted through gasped breaths. “They’ve picked up our scent.”

Yes, they had…the iron-rich smell of blood. The symphony of bone-chilling calls were the victorious howls of Raúl’s most wretched creations. I’d never seen one myself. I had always been told that they were only used at the Bellfire Tower—never in Telvia because they were too much of a risk to the citizens. Clearly, that was a lie. Just another to add to the endless list of lies fed to me from day one. And not just me, but to every Telvian citizen. Telvia was nothing but a city of lies, maintained by my father, the grand master of deceit himself—Raúl de la Puente.

My instincts wanted me to push harder, to run faster, but I was terrified of leaving Wes behind. “You’ve got to move it, Wes,” I yelled back at him.

“What the fuck do you think I’m doing…baking cupcakes?” His voice was tart, sharp as he gritted his teeth and grunted through the pain I imagined he was feeling.

“What does that even mean? What the hell is a cupcake?”

He ignored me, waving me off.

Note to self: research cupcakes if we make it out alive.

We ran through the streets, not caring who saw us because it didn’t matter anymore. The hounds were loose and anyone else on the street was going to be just as screwed as we were. Memories played through my mind like a movie as sweat trickled down my temples and my heart thundered in my chest.

I thought of Edith, my best friend, the only other person willing to volunteer for this mission. If she were here, she’d be pulling out her katana and planting her feet, readying herself to face the hounds.

And then there was Chelsea. I hadn’t seen her in a while. Our relationship was extremely complicated, made worse by the fact that we had both fallen for the same boy. But no matter how much Chelsea and I hated each other, she sacrificed herself for me months ago at the Telvian processing plant. And now she was still all screwed up, stuck in the institute while they worked to figure out what the Telvians did to her while holding her prisoner.

Then, there was Matias, the boy caught between Chelsea and me. But he didn’t come with me. He didn’t volunteer to help. It wasn’t about me, though, and I knew that. It was about my brother.

I knew Matias liked me. He’d made that clear back at the rebel camp before it was destroyed by the REG. But when Chelsea was released by the Telvians and showed back up at camp, bloodied and clearly beaten within an inch of her life, she revealed Jacob was the one who had laid his hands on her…over and over again. I couldn’t believe it, but it was true. And Matias couldn’t get over it. He chose her, and then when I asked for help to rescue my brother, Matias refused to assist. I understood, but it didn’t take the sting out of his refusal to help me. It didn’t make things less awkward, less tense between us. It just ratcheted up all the pain, the hurt, the jealousy, and—if I was going to be honest with myself—the betrayal. I felt so betrayed by him.

I shook my head, trying to pull myself out of the memories that swam in my mind, my life wanting to flash before my eyes. But I couldn’t do that. I refused to die tonight. Jacob’s life depended on it. Wes’s life depended on it. I kept my eyes focused on the road ahead, pushing my legs to go faster, following the curve ofthe street as the sinister sounds of the hounds overwhelmed my ears.

We weren’t going to make it. There was no way.

We were going to die.

“Mara!”

I turned my head to look over my shoulder at Wes and instantly regretted it.

WHAM!

My body flew, completely lifted off the ground with the force of the impact before landing hard on my back, knocking the wind out of me. My eyes flew open just in time to witness the yellowed teeth and glistening red gums of a maw getting ready to sink into my face. I tried to scream, but my lungs were still trying to recover from the force of the collision.

BANG! BANG!

The massive jaw closed as the full weight of the hellhound slumped on top of me…all 120 pounds of it. The sudden dead weight made it difficult to breathe as the creature’s boney elbows dug into my hip. I tried to shove it off, using all my strength to try and lift it, but I could barely move it.

“Push!” Wes was at my side, squatting down and burying his fingers under the mangy black fur of the hound, and then lifted. I obliged, giving the thing another shove, gritting my teeth as I finally felt the pressure release. It rolled off me, and I was finally able to breathe again. “Come on,” Wes growled as he took my hand and pulled me up to my feet.