Chapter 27: Marinah

"Did they kill the two hellhounds you have?" I ask Axel, hoping my wish came true.

He crosses his arms. "King told you about the two we hold?"

"King did more than tell me, he showed me. Alcohol didn't numb the sight of them or the smell." I can't help the revulsion running over my skin and I shiver.

Axel's fingers are steepled and he softly thrums them together. "Did he explain what they are?"

He's being careful. He must know if I find out certain things my life is forfeit. And that sounds as stupid as it is. "Yes, I know we're really fighting hellhumans and not hounds."

He gives a relieved sigh. "We still call them hounds. Makes it easier than thinking of them as once being humans."

I get that and feel the same. Something's been bothering me since King explained what they learned, though at the time I was too afraid of the answer. "I never saw my father's body. Is he one of those... things now?" I dread the answer and thinking in these terms about my mother is too hard and real