I trusted my mates, but it didn’t stop me from glowering at them. “I’m not some damsel. I’ll protect you back.”
“Of course, Cookie.” Axel grinned. “I’ll need a lot of protection. You’d better stick with me.”
I’d keep an eye mostly on Héctor since he could get hurt easier than my other mates, but I didn’t say it out loud, as I didn’t want to injure his pride. I’d thought I’d lost him, and it had broken me. I wouldn’t risk losing my love to the jump and the river.
“How can we get past the armada of beasts?” Zak pondered, rubbing his thumb across his chin.
“I have an idea,” Héctor said, “but you might not like it.”
I darted a glance across the cave. Both Ares and Lucifer pricked their ears, straining to eavesdrop on us. If they still had their supernatural power, they’d surely hear our every whisper.
Héctor lowered his rough voice even further and explained his plan.
Paxton, Axel, and Zak considered his proposal for a second, their faces grim. Then they nodded and looked at me expectantly.
I bit my lip, not liking the plan at all. “I promised Héctor when I first met him in the Dreamscape that I wouldn’t bitch too much. I know how to keep a promise.”
Héctor chuckled, and my other demigods looked befuddled.
Axel shrugged. “Gear up, old boys.”
Héctor stalked out of the cave and returned with five beast corpses. We’d killed a dozen to clear the path to the cave. Angel leapt at one of the dead beasts, eager for his treat.
“Back off, hound,” Héctor said. “These aren’t your food. And you’ve just eaten.”
Angel whimpered.
“Will it work on him?” I asked as Héctor passed one carcass to each of my other mates, reserving two for himself.
“Better than nothing,” Paxton answered for my hellhound. He pulled out his knife and began to skin his beast. My other mates followed suit.
“What are you up to, demigods?” Ares demanded.
The devil and the god had been watching our every move.
“Get a life, punk,” Axel hissed.
Lucifer studied us briefly before turning to his pal. “They won’t work with us. You and I need to watch each other’s backs in this dire situation. I’m going out to get two bodies for us.”
“Fine,” Ares said grumpily.
Lucifer darted out of the cave. The monsters’ howls changed to ferocious snarls as they attacked him.
While he fought the monsters outside to pick up beast corpses, I debated stopping him from returning to the safety of the cave. But that would end up eating too much of our time and energy.
Lucifer soon sprinted back into the cave with two beast bodies. His arms and legs showed multiple slashes from the monsters’ claws and teeth. It seemed that they’d grown fiercer and more desperate.
Lucifer and Ares started skinning the beasts, too. The devil had figured out our plan.
We’d each wear a beast’s skin to confuse the horde’s sense of smell while we made a run for the cliffs. Lucifer and Ares didn’t know there were cliffs and waterfalls at the edge of the region, but somehow they believed it couldn’t go wrong to mimic us.
I seethed. “I hate copycats.”
“Tell me about it.” Axel gritted his teeth.
Soon the demigods finished skinning the beasts. They tested it by wrapping a beast’s skin around Axel first. When my mates finally laid a bloody skin on me, I cringed.
“This is worse than Hell,” I whined. “It’s so gross.”