Page 10 of Hellhounds Never Lie

He was decidedly handsome with his messy dark hair and green eyes so pale they almost looked gray. Sure, it was dark inside the cab of his truck, but I could see him clearly when I let my hellhound’s flames enter my eyes. The guy had a bit of a scruff over his jaw and pale pink lips that looked invitingly soft. That pink matched the color of his fluffy sweater, which drew my attention back to his mouth again. Not that I was going to kiss him or anything. But today had been spectacularly shitty, and I’d learned a long time ago it was good to stop and appreciate beauty when I saw it.

Maybe being saved by a handsome man was a sign that my luck was improving.

Yeah. Right.

I was never that lucky.

"Hi there," my would-be rescuer said. He sounded out of breath and his heart was beating faster than a hummingbird's wings. An anxious laugh shot out of his mouth. "You need a lift into town?"

He forced a smile, and I knew he was trying to joke about the situation. When I didn’t laugh, his gaze darted to me. He rolled his hands over his steering wheel.

“Is that okay? Going to town, I mean? Because that’s the plan.”

I inhaled again. I still didn’t sense any deceit and I hoped that meant I could trust him. When I’d first seen the guy while in my hellhound form, the glow of his magic had eclipsed everything else. Power pulsed around him. He was more of a threat than all those pups chasing me through the woods just now.

"Witch?"

The guy lifted his shoulder in a stiff half-shrug. "We usually call ourselves mages, but witch works too.”

"Who sent you here if it wasn't the alpha?"

"That asshole isn’t my alpha and his merry band of fuckwits aren’t my pack. I already said I'm not here because of him.” He paused and squished up his nose. “Or I guess maybe I am because they were chasing you. The oracle, who we didn't know was an oracle, gave us the message they were after you. But I'm not here because I personally know that sorry excuse for an alpha or those wolves. Never met them. They were gone when I moved here. Only seen them from a distance, you know? Well, I guess you don't. You're not from here, are you? I would have remembered you…" The guy's cheeks darkened. "Spells and curses, why am I talking so much? Why were they chasing you anyway?"

His nervous babbling was kind of cute. Actually, the witch as a whole was cute. And he hadn't spoken any lies yet. So that also helped increase his adorableness by a factor of ten.

"I stayed there for a bit. They kicked me out today," I said, figuring I could offer the witch a bit of information since he had helped me out. Not that I’d needed help. I would have figured something out. But this was a hell of a lot easier.

The witch nodded.

I leaned back in the seat and concentrated on cooling down, which wasn’t easy when the temperature in the cab of the truck rivaled the inside of an active volcano. As a hellhound, I never minded heat, but I needed control right now, which meant I needed to cool the flames still churning through me. My hellhound’s fire always heated my blood and made me feel volatile. Flames danced under the surface of my skin, still fighting to be free, eager to char the bastards who had decided to hunt me down through the woods.

"You alone?" The witch glanced in his mirrors. The wolves wouldn't have been able to keep up with the truck, but the guy might not know that. Different kinds of supes didn’t often interact with one another.

"Yes."

"Like I said, we're going back to town. Hope that's okay. It's safer than out here anyway."

"So there is a town? I wasn't sure," I said, glancing out the window at the dense woods along the side of the road. "I was hoping to find a motel."

"Willow Lake isn't much, but we like it. And I’m sure there are some vacancies at the motel or the inn." The guy’s shoulder relaxed a touch, and the truck slowed as his fears eased.

I doubted he’d have let down his guard so quickly if he could still hear the wolves baying in the night like I could. Witches tended to have weak senses, not much better than regular humans. I wasn’t sure if it was cruel or a blessing that the Eternal Magic had given the weaker species such dull senses.

"Name's Ash, by the way. Ash Avery," the witch said.

"Dillon Emerson."

Another engine roared through the quiet. It was loud and coming fast. Ash didn't react until headlights rounded the bend in the road behind us.

"Shit." Ash adjusted the rearview mirror. "Think that's them?"

“Probably.”

Our truck fishtailed on the loose gravel as Ash floored the gas again. Pebbles pinged off the undercarriage.

"Crap. Okay," Ash said.

"How far to town?" I grabbed the oh shit handle as the truck careened down the road.