I ducked another leap, then twisted and ran for Tao, calling to the Aedh within me as I leapt straight at him. I could feel the hound behind me, feel the wash of its fetid breath against my neck. I knew it was going to be close. I hit Tao hard, heard his grunt in surprise as I wrapped myself around him. Saw the gleam of yellowed teeth as the creatures leapt at us …
Power surged through me, around me, a fear-fueled storm that shattered both our forms, tearing us apart swiftly and brutally, until there was nothing left but two streams of tremulous smoke, separated and yet together.
In that state, I fled the cell.
It was hard—harder than I'd ever imagined it could be. Every particle ached, as if carrying Tao was a physical weight even in this ethereal form.
I wouldn't—couldn't—go far. But the minute we reformed, those hounds would come after us. They had our scent. Had the taste for our flesh.
We needed to find somewhere safe. Somewhere as far away from Ilianna and Stane as we could get.
I could think of only one place.
I didn't really believe in heaven or God as such, but if ever there was a sanctuary from hellhounds, then surely a church would be it. After all, holy water and blessed knives could destroy them, so there had to be some form of protection offered by churches themselves.
If I was wrong, we were dead meat. I wasn't going to be much use fighting-wise after this flight. Tao—who'd been caught so unaware by this move—wouldn't be, either.
Hell, he probably wouldn't even be coherent.
Tao's weight forced me low to the ground as I fled the building. I whisked along the street, feeling the grime of the concrete seeping through my pores, feeling the terror of what we were fleeing pulse through every aching part of me.
The streets were quiet still, but I could hear the howling of the hounds. They were hunting for us. If I could have shivered, I would have.
I rolled on, heading for the small brick building I'd seen on the way down here. It was only a couple of blocks away, but it might as well have been several miles. By the time I whisked underneath the old wooden doors, I was barely holding it together.
I stopped near the pulpit and reached for the Aedh magic once more, carefully piecing together our two separate entities, until flesh was fully formed and we became ourselves once again.
I landed with a splat on the old wooden flooring, and even though I wanted to do nothing more than collapse, I twisted around, ignoring the red-hot needles that jabbed into my brain as I looked for Tao.