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But that brought up abound Klothod, doesn’t that substantiate the claim that they were all deed its backstory?"

Booke nodded "This doesn’t look particularly angelic, does it?"

A hellhound broke away fro on the stone as it sniffed in our general direction I froze, willing it not to find us, willing Butch not tocould be inappropriately confrontational, barking when he had no hope of winning a fight This time, however, he cowered like a pro at the bottoh the stakes were We’d get only one chance to take these guys out

"What’s our play?"

Booke was searching silently through his pockets, seeking a spell Gods, I wished I could be h I didn’t ick would co for the moon, however; I could only use the skills the trip to Sheol had left me At best, we faced two-to-one odds--three ferocious hellhounds, plus a Nephili, fro abilities too, but there had to be some way to incapacitate him

"No creature, however powerful, can function without its head"

"Cockroaches can live for weeks without their heads," I pointed out

Booke aimed a sober look at me "These aren’t cold-blooded creatures, except in the y is sound"

But before we could tackle the Nephilis The one sniffing toward us decided there was so away froate I didn’t have the ability to destroy the hosts by banishing the demons, but there were fewer Rottweilers than there had been monkeys, so maybe if we killed the animals one by one, it would have the sa the natural shadows of the tunnel s ard, but the hellhound kneere there It could sht perrip on the Taser, signaling that I had this

I hope

Booke crab-walked back behind uy who could barely o He was ready with a spell just in case, but the pre rounded the corner, I pressed the button and the sparking filae into the animal--and as I’d hoped, its host body couldn’t handle sothe demon temporarily helpless At best, we had seconds

I sprang forith the knife and opened its throat The stink of sulfur and bri time, as it reeked of death and decay--and even in this faint light, I could see the blood wasn’t red anymore; it looked more like tar, black as pitch and just as sticky Booke ht s, as I’d hoped, it sped off toward the other dogs

"Run," Booke whispered

He didn’t need to tell me As soon as the Klothod joined its brethren, they’d knoere here, and then the next dog we faced would be twice as strong As I ran, I fu body, while I searched for a fresh cartridge The Taser only offered one shot as a distance weapon Though I could still use it as a stun gun otherwise, I didn’t like h to bite h the caverns behind us I stu my palms on the rock; fresh blood prickled my hands Booke scraround Outside, there were only rocks, dirt, and darkness, no staging ground for a fight of this nitude

Please let the Nephili squirrels Give us tiht him

"Take the left," Booke ordered

I hoped he had a plan for the one on the right At his command, I planted my feet, aimed the Taserand missed, as the monstrous Rottweiler leapt atfangs intothebuckled I went down as Booke threw so at the otherthe creature in place I slaainst the hellhound’s throat and stunned the shit out of it, probably o Shocks ran through the animal’s body, but it must have twice the demon-enhanced power, so it only bit down harder I sed a screas wouldn’t let go until their prey was dead or they were My leg hurt toothem

"Your blade, Corine! The spell won’t hold forever"

I tossed the knife at Booke--or tried to, but it dropped fro h the host ani down ray and sparky, and I couldn’t feel th, I raainst the hellhound one last time The resultant shock finally dropped it, but it still didn’t let go Booke caer in hand, and he stabbed it repeatedly in the neck At first, through dizziness and pain, I thought he was in a rage, but when he kicked it hard in the skull and thethe thing With gentle hands, he opened the inert jaws and re I fell back onto the rocks, sick and woozy with shock

"We don’t have long," he said "Soon the Nephili and coed to say

My jeans were shredded and sticky with blood; he cut part of the h, and I bit down on entle, and I i to his comrades Clearly he had some first aid experience, but Booke wore a ferocious frown