Page 25 of Hellhound AU

“Yeah,” Rowan mumbled.

I looked at him, raising my eyebrows. He knew what this fucking thing was.

He sighed again. “Milo, meet my sister, Riley.”

11

Author’s Note:

Sorry it took me so long to upload this. The ferryman formerly known as Charon was having a wee bit of an identity crisis, and we needed a night of drinks and dancing to chill out. Also, I just want to say that sometimes people find out that their boyfriend is really a big fiery dog and they actually don’t freak out, so it’s a perfectly acceptablereaction to NOT have a panic attack or freak out and run away when learning supernatural beings exist. Just saying.

ROWAN

Of all the times for Riley to show up. I swear she made my life difficult on purpose. I got out of the car, despite Milo trying to grab my arm. “Stay here,” I told him.

So, of course, he got out right after me.

Riley hissed when she saw us, and I could only roll my eyes, adding, “Seriously, Ri?”

She hissed again, flexing the talons of one claw against the pavement. Well, that would leave a mark.

Milo sidled up next to me, but he didn’t look frightened for his life. Nope, he looked curious and interested. Because the man had zero self-preservation skills.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked, starting to getreallyannoyed.

Like Riley could sense that she’d reached the end of my patience, she folded her wings in, folded her arms, and glared at me. “You didn’t answer my phone calls, asshole.”

“Well, I was a little busy. Which I’m sure you knew,” I growled.

“Some stranger answered my call. You could have been kidnapped,” she grumbled.

“That wasdaysago. If you were really worried about kidnapping, you would have shown up sooner. Plus, I’msureyou know I talked to Troy.”

She humphed at me, starting to tap one talon on the ground. SheknewI fucking hated when she did that.

“And now you scared Milo,” I said, gesturing to Milo. Only he didn’t cooperate and look scared. Nope, he looked interested. And… “For fuck’s sake, Milo, are you eating an apple?” Where the fuck did he get all these damn apples?

Riley and I both watched as he took a bite starting at the bottom. He continued to eat his way up through the apple, eventually getting to the seeds, which he ate.

“Well,” she finally said, “that’s freaky. Chaos demon?”

“Nope,” I answered, glad to know something she didn’t. I swear Riley was really a spy. She always said she wasn’t, but isn’t that what a spy would say?

Milo, who had finished eating his apple and tossed the stem into the woods, turned to me. “Am I hallucinating?”

Ahh, finally, some self-preservation. He thought he was crazy. Not that I blamed him—seeing a harpy when you didn’t know supernatural beings existed was kind of a shock. There was no way to explain them away.

“My sister is a harpy.”

Milo smacked my arm and glared at me. “Rowan! She’s family! You cannot call her names like that!”

Riley gave a throaty laugh at that. “Yeah, Rowan.”

I just rolled my eyes. “No, I mean, she’s anactualharpy. A half woman-half bird vengeful seeker of justice. You know, like from mythology.”

“Ohhhh,” Milo drawled out. He looked her up and down, and she bristled a bit. “Do your nails match your top? That’s a great color on you.”

She unfolded her arms and looked at her fingers, smiling. “Yeah. I was thinking of painting my talons, too, but maybe that’s overkill.” She tapped her claws on the ground again, drawing our attention to them.