ONE
I knew something was wrong when I saw the cold girl’s face.
She ran over to me and gave me a big hug.
“Peaches!”
I stood still and let her wrap her arms around my neck. The cold girl was growing. Simon still called her a child, which I guess was like calling me a puppy.
Except I was much larger than the cold girl.
Her power was growing inside, even though she wasn’t very big.
I could smell that she was getting stronger.
I liked her hugs because she always tried to squeeze me hard, but I was mighty, and her squeezes felt nice. Her Guardian, Rags, the most amazing hound, stepped close to her, giving me a look before sniffing my mighty smell.
“Miss,” her Guardian Rags warned as she stared at me with her wonderful eyes. “Do not hug the hellhound. He does not appear to have bathed recently. His odor indicates water has not touched his skin in some time.”
My mighty smell was hard to resist. The Guardian was so powerful that she could resist my mighty smell without surrendering to my hellhound strength.
“Peaches isn’t dirty,” the cold girl said, tightening her hug. “He’s just a bit scruffy. And he doesn’t smell bad, he smells strong.”
“Strong is not the word that comes to mind,” Rags the beautiful Guardian said. “Pungent or foul would be closer to the truth.”
“My smell is mighty,” I said. “Everyone says so.”
“Of that I have no doubt,” Rags said. “Mightily odious is probably what they meant. Does your bondmate even bathe you? Or have you eradicated his sense of smell with your mighty aroma?”
“My bondmate says he will give me a bath soon.”
“It can’t be soon enough,” she said. “Miss, please step away from the hellhound. You don’t know what germs have chosen to dwell in his fur.”
“He doesn’t smell bad.”
“You only say that because your sense of smell is significantly weaker than mine,” Rags said. “Please step away from him.” Rags nudged her away from me with her head. “Where is your bondmate, hellhound?”
“Simon is away,” I said, looking across the courtyard. “He is busy with the angry man and wanted me to stay here until he came back.”
“He wanted you to stay here?” she asked. “Apart from him?”
“Yes, he said it would be too dangerous to go with him.”
“Too dangerous for a hellhound?”
“Yes,” I said. “My bondmate is getting stronger. He said to wait here until he came back.”
“You are his bondmate,” Rags said. “You should go where he goes. Why would he leave you here?”
“The dark scary lady wanted to talk to me.”
“Aunt Mo wanted to talk you?” the cold girl asked. “Why?”
“Nothing good, I’m sure,” Rags said. “He is a hellhound after all.”
“What’s wrong?” I asked. “You look sad.”
“I think someone took Kai,” the cold girl said. “Peanut can’t find him. She’s worried he’s in trouble.”
“A dragon is not a pet,” Rags said, upset, “much less a suitable candidate for a bondmate. She should have sent it back to its plane.”
“Kai is her friend and protector,” the cold girl said. “She would never send him away.”
“Dragons do not make good protectors either,” Rags said. “They either incinerate everything, or try to devour what they don’t incinerate. What was that child thinking?”
“Peanut saved him,” the cold girl said. “That’s why they became bondmates.”
“Somehow I have trouble accepting that young girl saved a dragon,” Rags said with a sniff, “even when the dragon is a drake. She is not strong enough to save a dragon.”
“Peanut is plenty strong,” the cold girl answered and then leaned in close. “I hear Aunt Mo made them bondmates.”
“Madness,” Rags said. “What was the Morrigan thinking? Bonding a child to a dragon is a recipe for disaster.”
“I’m bonded to you,” the cold girl pointed out. “That’s not a disaster.”
“I am a Guardian,” Rags said, puffing out her chest, which made her look very powerful as she stood taller. “Being my bondmate makes perfect sense. A dragon is dangerous—it’s quite possible Peanut is in danger with this Kai as her bondmate.”
I made the sound Simon called chuffing, not exactly happy about her words. Peanut was nice and almost as mighty as me. Her bondmate, Kai the dragon would never hurt her. Bondmates are supposed to protect each other. I would never hurt Simon, even if he made me his healthy meat that broke my stomach.
I would never hurt him.
“We can’t always choose our bondmates,” I said. “Simon chose me, but he didn’t know me before he knew me.”
Rags turned her beautiful eyes on me and rumbled.
She was not happy, but I think she was more worried about the cold girl. Something was wrong. I could smell it.
“Then he was worse than Peanut,” Rags said. “He chose a hellhound without knowing what you were? Has he suffered damage to his brain?”
“A few times,” I said. “There are many people who want to hurt him. They usually want him to disappear and so they attack him. Sometimes he makes them angry and it makes them attack him more. Those times they hit him on the head.”
“It explains his behavior,” Rags said. “He should not have bonded to a hellhound. The pairing is dangerous.”
“I’m not dangerous,” I said. “Not to Simon. I would never hurt him.”
“You are his bondmate,” Rags said. “You would be risking your life if you hurt him. That is not what I’m referring to. There are enemies that would fear you and Simon being bondmates.”
“As they should,” I said, standing a little taller. I let my eyes glow a bit to show how scary I could be. I had a feeling that would impress the Guardian. “I am a mighty hellhound.”
“What are you doing with your eyes?” she asked. “Why are they glowing?”
“That is my baleful glare,” I said, proud. “It scares those who would want to hurt me or Simon. Do you like it?”
“This is what I meant,” Rags said. “Does that work on your enemies?”
“Sometimes,” I admitted. “Sometimes I have to hit them with my glare, then they stay away.”
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