Hel stepped up alongside me. “If he kills her, there’s no getting her back. I can’t save her from the nothing.”
I had to get Vince away from her. There was only one way I could think of. I didn’t want to pull on Addie’s arcana while she was unconscious. She’d already suffered enough. I didn’t know if pulling on her power would cause her further harm.
However, there was a capable goddess standing right next to me. I gave her a sidelong glare with the hopes that she would understand the silent message. She was a goddess. Maybe she could read my mind.
If so, then I hoped she heard my plan loud and clear—as well as the middle finger I had saved just for her. The gods had power, yet they chose to let things like this happen. Hel could have stopped Vince in his tracks. She could have taken care of this long before people died.
I saw now why Addie and her friends rebelled against the divine.
Hel, seemingly understanding, bowed her head. She reached out with that skeletal hand, fingers pulled tight together as she sliced through the veil between the worlds.
“You have a limited amount of time before that portal will close,” she said.
I didn’t know what that meant. Did I have thirty seconds? Or five minutes? It didn’t matter. I lunged.
Vince dropped to all fours, and fur burst along his back. His form looked startlingly similar to my own. Great white paws had talon-like claws that bit into the earth. He lifted his head and met my gaze with burning red eyes.
Still reeling from changing forms, Vince didn’t move out of the way of my attack. He braced himself instead. I hit him with my front paws. It should have driven him to the ground, but the wolf tanked the blow without flinching.
My earlier confidence had been a bit foolhardy, I realized. I couldn’t afford to let it slip, though. I would get this wolf into the portal that Hel opened. Vince couldn’t see the portal, so when I leapt behind him and gnashed my teeth in a feinting bite, he didn’t notice that I was herding him.
I couldn’t let up. Over and over, I snapped at him. Vince leapt out of the way of each bite. His head rose higher. He likely thought that I was struggling. I let him think whatever he wanted so long as I got him where I needed him.
Once I got Vince between the portal and myself, I jumped. There was no time to think about the consequences. Where would this portal take us? Would I be able to come back?
That didn’t matter.
I had to keep Addie safe.
I ducked my head and rammed Vince with all the force I could muster. The impact sent pain rippling down my spine. Vince staggered, but didn’t fall into the portal. I gathered myself, claws screeching against the asphalt, and spun to slam my bone tail into his body.
Out of the corner of my eye, I registered the tilt of my SUV.
Are you freaking kidding me?
Vince staggered back into the yawning portal. For a moment, I thought that I was safe. I’d avoided falling into the portal. But Vince lashed out. He bit down on my flank and pulled. I held my ground.
Until a force shoved me from behind. My claws screeched against the asphalt. The world tumbled around me until I saw the face of the devious goddess glaring down at me. The human part of Hel’s face quirked with a satisfied half-smile.