wings flared. And now your demon uses it to put out fires… He made a uniquely feline sound of disgust. It’s like I’m not even here.
I bit my lip. “You are very valuable,” I offered. I knew enough about cats to know that if I didn’t appease his delicate feline ego, I’d have to deal with his sulking for days on end. And for all that they were quiet and unobtrusive, cats could sulk right in your face. “If not for you, I’d be overrun by vermin! I’m so grateful you’re here and making sure this space is free of nasty critters.”
Another delicate sniff. You’re lucky you have me.
“Of course. Your hunting prowess is beyond compare.” I gave him a bright smile.
He licked his paw and purred.
All right, feline tantrum successfully averted, I hurried into the bathroom. I didn’t want to keep Hael waiting any longer than necessary.
Fully bathed and dressed—my belongings had indeed been delivered to this suite while I’d been with Azazel—I stood next to the door and placed my hand on the plaque. When the goblins showed up, I asked to be escorted to the grand room, wherever that was.
Instead of calling for Caleb or Hekesha, the little fiends led me there themselves, grumbling at me the entire time. Fine, I was still mad at them, too, for hog-tying me like a wayward cow.
The grand room turned out to be almost as large as the entrance hall, its vaulted ceiling held by pillars decorated with carvings of fierce beasts and stylized flames. A water fountain bubbled in the center—an ostentatious display of wealth, as I now knew—and Hael sat perched on the low border.
The floor all around him glistened with splashed water, and the slobbery hound responsible for it currently lapped up even more directly from the fountain’s pool.
When I neared, Vengeance lifted all three of her heads, water dripping from her maws, and made as if to bound over to me.
A sharp command from Hael made her sit her butt down.
Okay, she didn’t sit as much as slipped on the spilled water, but hey, the effort counted.
Hael stood and inclined his head.
“Thank you for waiting,” I ventured.
“I have trained her to respond to this,” Hael said and showed me what looked like a small whistle, “in addition to voice commands. You can use it to augment your spoken orders.”
I nodded.
Hael seemed to hesitate. “Have you ever owned a canine?”
“No, but I had this tamagotchi once that looked like a puppy.” Sadly, it kept dying on me, not that I would mention that fact right now.
I had the impression Hael tried really hard not to grimace. This was probably like handing the keys to a Lamborghini to a teenager whose only experience with driving was playing Grand Theft Auto.
“Since she is meant to be your guard,” Hael said, “she will stay with you in your rooms.” Clearly an unorthodox choice, judging by Hael’s expression. “You or someone else will need to take her outside once a day to do her business.”
I cast Hael an arch look. “I know that much about dogs.”
“Your tamagotchi kept dying.”
Dammit with the mind reading!
The demon sighed. “Let’s run through the commands she knows.”
We practiced for a good half hour until Hael seemed somewhat satisfied that I’d remember the basic commands and Vengeance would respond to me. She only ran into pillars twice, which I thought was admirable. I gave her a good scratch behind all six of her floppy ears for it, and her left hind leg made adorable phantom scratches along with my caress.
“All right,” Hael said, holding the whistle out to me.
I closed my hand around it and tugged, but Hael didn’t let go of the string attached to it yet. His gaze on the hound, expression slightly pinched, he heaved a deep breath.
“Hael?” I ventured.
A muscle ticked in the demon’s jaw. “Her favorite treat is dragon jerky.”
I really hoped that name was a euphemism. “I’ll make sure she gets it,” I said gently.
Hael let go of the whistle, turned on his heel and marched out of the room.
“So,” I said, facing my four-hundred-pound pet, “it’s just you and me now, girl. What do you say we go explore this joint a bit?”
Her middle head yipped while the others tried to chase her tail, resulting in her keeling over.
I was hiding in the library when Azazel found me.
Vengeance and I had prowled the meandering halls of this ridiculously large mansion for what felt like at least two hours, and this