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When Russ had shifted, he’d been surprised—after all his resistance and all his blocking out—how natural it felt to let his body flow from one form to another. The second surprise was how much he was still himself, even on four legs. Before, the hellhound had always had to wrestle him back in order to exist at all, just like he’d tried to keep it safely asleep in the back of his mind. He hadn’t even realized this kind of dual-vision, dual-thinking was possible.
For the first time since he’d been bitten, he was aware of what it was like to be a hellhound. To look at the world with those smoldering-ember eyes.
And, of course, Anita was what he was really interested in looking at.
She was gorgeous, even in the barely tinted black-and-white of his hellhound’s vision. And the feeling of sheer rightness seemed to sing out whenever she touched him.
But when he had looked at her, he had seen something that didn’t belong. It was almost completely overwhelmed by all the Anita of her, by her tough, funny kindness, but it was still there, skittering around the edges of her like some kind of constantly moving shadow. When she had stroked his ears, the shadows had all fled down her arm to her hand—and then bolted back up again the moment they reached her fingertips, like they’d been burned.
What am I looking at? Russ had asked his hellhound.
It had let out a low internal growl, looking at the shadows, but it didn’t seem completely sure. It wasn’t like he had let it have any real experience, after all.
I just know I don’t like them, the hellhound had said. They don’t belong with our mate.
He agreed completely. And now, he thought he knew what the shadows had been.
Anita’s curse.
They seethed around her like smoke, doing their best to poison her life with loneliness, and whenever she seemed like she might touch someone, they all rallied together to hurt her. To make her feel, as she’d said, like a million hot blades were cutting through her.
But contact with him—with his hellhound—had driven them away, almost like they were scared.
Fire was cleansing.
Fire could light up the darkness and burn away the shadows.
Russ told her all this, adding again, “I have no idea whether or not it’ll work. I don’t have a road map for any of this. But if you think it’s worth trying...”
“God, yes,” Anita said immediately. “Either it’ll work or it won’t, but you wouldn’t hurt me. Neither would your hellhound. There’s no harm in trying.”
She was actually shaking a little, no matter how crisp and sure she sounded, and he wrapped his arms around her.
“I’m not afraid of you,” she said against his chest. “It’s just... the thought of having all this over, after so long...”
“If it doesn’t work—”
She shook her head. “If it doesn’t work, I’ll still have you.” Her voice was firm, even though he could feel that her face had gotten wet. “And you’re enough. Having the curse lifted would be one of the best things that ever happened to me, but it still wouldn’t take the number one slot away from you.”
He kissed the top of her head. The strength of her love and trust flooded through him, leaving him in awe of her and only more determined to give her all the best things in the world. He wanted her to be able to move through the bar without even a trace of fear, not having to worry about getting a jolt of searing pain if someone bumped into her. He wanted her to be able to hug her family and friends. He wanted to chase all the shadows out of her life for good.
Fuck the family curse. He was a hellhound. He had fire and justice on his side, and he was going to protect his mate, dammit.
“Are you ready?”
Anita settled back, resting on her heels. She wiped her eyes, and she put on an adorable, unbelievably brave kind of game face, like she was steeling herself for battle.
No wonder. He just had to try to drive away some shadows. If it didn’t work, she would have crushing disappointment to deal with. She was trying to keep all her hopes at bay.
She was the most courageous person he’d ever known.
“Ready,” she said. “And whatever happens, it’s okay. I promise.”
Disappointing our mate is never “okay,” his hellhound said.
I agree. But we have to try. Are you ready?
It bared its teeth in silent affirmation: its game face was on, too.
Russ let himself change.
This time, he didn’t dwell on how the transformation felt: his eye was entirely on the prize. As soon as all four paws hit the ground, he lifted his head to look at Anita.
Anita and her shadows. The shadows that should never have belonged to her but had latched onto her like malevolent parasites, sucking so much joy out of her life. But she’d been too strong for them. She’d fought her way to happiness despite her curse.
Maybe she had even demoralized them, if such monstrous, wriggling little things ever felt disappointment. He was going to make sure they could feel fear, though.
We can make them run, his hellhound whispered. I can feel it.
I can too, Russ said. Speculation had become ironclad certainty. This was what hellhounds did; this was what they were for. They went head-to-head with evil and burned it away.
These shadows wouldn’t touch Anita anymore. They wouldn’t hurt her anymore.
He growled at them, his hackles raising and his fur bristling. He could feel something unearthly rising out of him, a kind of ethereal flame that didn’t burn him and wouldn’t burn Anita. No, this fire had a more specific purpose in mind. It built up around his head and his shoulders, like he was gathering it out of the air. He could feel it the same way he had felt his hellhound: this was something savage, but not something evil. It was a part of him.
And it wanted what he wanted.
He unleashed it and let it surge forward.
The fire wrapped around Anita, enveloping her in pure golden light. It looked completely natural there, like she should always have been wreathed in this glow like some kind of avenging angel.
He could feel it reaching out beyond her, even, stretching to the rest of her family, whom he’d never even met. The flames were stretching along her whole bloodline.
But at the heart of it was Anita, beautiful and glowing.
And then, with no warning, the fire winked out.
The shadows were gone.
*
EVEN BEFORE RUSS CHANGED back, Anita knew that something had happened.
It was like she had spent the last twenty-odd years with a weight strapped to her, and now Russ had burned through the rope and sent it falling to the ground. She felt as light as air. She was going to float up to the roadhouse ceiling.
She could barely catch her breath. “Did it work?”
Russ’s head dipped forward just a little, but then he stopped it. “I think so. It felt like it did—like it maybe even burned it out of your whole family. But you’ll have to tell me.”
Anita spun around in a circle, looking around the abandoned roadhouse like someone besides the two of them would suddenly pop up for a little experimental handshake. Nothing. Nobody.
Russ realized it in the same instant she did. He whipped his cell out of his pocket. “I’ll call Emily.”
Emily the literal night owl, right. Anita paced around the room, half-listening to Russ’s conversation—
“No, we don’t need a ride anywhere, but I’ll pay you anyway. It’s... hellhound-related, sort of.”
—but mostly just listening to her own wild heartbeat.
Never even mind her—she had someone she could touch anyway. But Aunt Angela, her mom’s older sister... she was the sweetest lady in the world, and if what Russ had done had cured her too, it would be the best news imaginable. Aunt Angela deserved at least the same kind of happiness Anita had been having. She could finally tell her widowed neighbor how she felt about him... she and Anita could finally hug...
Russ hung up and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.
“She’s not far away,” he murmured against her head. “She’ll be here in just a minute.”
She couldn’t seem to make her voice work to thank him, so she just hugged him even tighter.
She stood by what she’d said earlier. As long as she had Russ, everything else was just a bonus. Whatever happened, she already had an incredible life here in Heaven’s Limits, and it already felt like her life. Being here, with him, was like finally waking up from some long, groggy sleep. Everything felt miraculous. If she didn’t get this one last miracle, she could absolutely live with it.
The door creaked as Emily came in.
“Hey, guys.” Emily sounded understandably confused. “So... what do you need, if it’s not a ride? And, Russ, does she—know?”
“She knows,” Russ said. He gave Anita one final squeeze before they stepped apart. “She’s my mate.”
She loved how she could hear the pride and wonder in his voice.
“Oh, dude!” Emily said, clapping her hands. “That’s so awesome! Hey, congratulations!”
She bounded forward like she had springs on the balls of her feet—and flung her arms around Anita’s shoulders.
“I knew you were great. No wonder you and Russ belong together.”
Anita could feel Emily’s cheek against hers. Bare skin on bare skin.
There was nothing there but smoothness and warmth. No pain at all. Just an enthusiastic new friend celebrating with her.
Anita let out what sounded like an actual whoop of victory, and she hugged Emily so hard she lifted the pixie-sized woman up off her feet.
“It worked?” Russ said.
“It worked!” She let go of Emily and just about jumped into his arms, pressing her mouth to his.
It was incredible to have the rest of the world now too, but no other touch would ever thrill her like his. And while they needed to calm down and explain things to poor confused Emily, and while she needed to call Aunt Angela and give her the good news, right now she just wanted to savor this moment with him. She wanted every kiss with him to last forever, just because it was theirs.