And Ubie was a big guy. She would’ve had to use a lot to make him compliant. I just couldn’t figure out how she was doing it all. I might soon find out, however. The vehicle approached slowly, its lights making it impossible to tell what kind of car it was.

I ducked down again just as the lights flashed twice, then went out. Recognizing the wicked black muscle car, I hurried through the woods as Reyes killed the engine. I rushed into his arms before he’d found his balance, but he caught me to him and held me tight.

“You’re here,” I said, my fear for Uncle Bob easing knowing Reyes was there.

Then again, Uncle Bob had just taken him in for questioning for a crime he didn’t commit – for a second time. He might not be very inclined to help.

The passenger door opened and Cookie came flying out. “Is he here? Did you find him?” she asked, her gaze darting about wildly before she made it to me and embraced me with the enthusiasm of an offensive tackle.

“I don’t know yet, but what are you doing here?”

She gaped at me. “Are you insane?”

“She threatened to jump on the hood if I didn’t let her ride on the inside,” Reyes said. “She was very determined to come.”

“I can see that.” I nodded in approval, loving her all the more for her dedication. “But you have to get right back in that car, missy.”

“What? No. I’m going with you.”

“Cook, we don’t know what’s going on in there yet.”

“She has him,” Osh said, jogging back to us. “They’re in a basement below the house.”

Cookie’s hands flew to her mouth with a loud gasp.

I was right there with her. Fear consumed me in one spinal-tapping rush, and Reyes tightened his hold. “Is he —?” I started to ask the fifty-thousand-dollar question, but it got stuck in my throat.

“Is he alive?” Cookie asked for me, her voice soft with hope.

“For the time being. It was hard to see, but I think he’s been shot.”

That was all I needed to hear. We were out of time.

I took off, heading at a breakneck speed across the dark and uneven ground, having every intention of tearing through the front door and beating that bitch to a pulp.

Reyes was on me before I made it halfway. He tackled me in the clearing and we tumbled head over heels to a stop. Osh was right behind him, ready and waiting for anything crazy I might do.

I fought him, using the vast arsenal at my disposal to slow time and drop him to his knees. I needed him, so I didn’t want him hurt, but I wasn’t about to argue. I had to get to Ubie.

As he fought for a hold on my wrist, I twisted and turned the move against him. But he was a warrior. A general in hell and a champion on earth. And rather deadly at both. In hand-to-hand combat, I didn’t stand a chance. We fought for dominance. He was also trying not to hurt me; otherwise, I probably would’ve been whole wheat toast much sooner. But his reluctance to cause me physical harm was his weakness. I took complete advantage.

I was on top once again and just about to utter a word that would disable him momentarily, when Osh tackled me to the ground. We hit the rocky terrain hard and skidded across the landscape, his body taking most of the abrasions. But my lungs seized with the impact. My diaphragm contracted, making it almost impossible to take in air. The impact disoriented me, and I lost my grip on time long enough for it to crash back with a vengeance. Which disoriented me even more.

That was when I felt an ice-cold grip on my forearm. The departed socialite had wrapped her fingers around it and pulled at me, as though I were on a track with a train barreling down upon us and she was trying to drag me clear. Her eyes rounded as she looked at me. Her mouth opened to scream.

Then I heard it. A growl, guttural and deep and inches from my neck. I turned just in time to see Reyes dive toward the silvery black outline of a beast. It was so close, I felt its blistering hot breath fan across my cheek like dragon fire, causing an eruption of goose bumps over my skin.

The clock slowed of its own volition that time, and I watched in horror as a second hellhound bound out of nowhere and hit Reyes midflight; his body – like a swimmer’s darting through the water – buckled under the force. They soared over Osh and me, and plummeted to the ground in a whirlwind of dust and limbs. All I saw as they fought was the slick glint of its razor-sharp teeth. They sank into Reyes’s rib cage, burrowing deep into the flesh and bone there. Reyes showed no sign he’d even felt the bite. He ripped the beast off him and in one quick movement broke its neck. It crumbled with a whimper as another took its place. Reyes easily bested it as well, grabbing its jaw and jerking its head back until, again, the neck snapped. But something happened to the first one. After a moment, sparks of a silvery light glittered around it and it slowly regained its footing, shaking its head as though Reyes had only rung its bell.

It lunged and sank its teeth into Reyes’s shoulder as he fought a third one. The second one he’d taken out was already coming to, and I realized what a futile battle we fought. They really were indestructible.

One sank its teeth into his left thigh, and he went down onto one knee, but before I could get to him to help, I felt just how sharp those teeth were. The one closest to me turned its attention to Osh and attacked, knocking him to the ground as they tumbled and rolled. Another took its place instantly. Its teeth sank into my calf, and it pulled me into the darkness of the forest beyond. The socialite lost her grip, but she turned as another hound barreled down upon me. She stepped between us, her shoulders set in determination. It grappled her to the ground, its growls thundering against the silence of the night.