If I didn’t already know what Hell was like, I would compare it to the long drive to Palm Bay in the August heat. The drive to the ‘buyer’s’ house somehow felt even longer, largely due to my hatred of trying to navigate cities I was unfamiliar with around a ridiculous amount of traffic for the time of day I got there. The address Parker gave me was to a large house probably closer to being categorized as a mansion, but having spent a large chunk of my life living in a castle, my perception might be a bit skewed.

I do know that my jeep, old and beat up as it is, stuck out like a sore thumb when I climbed out.

Parker met me at the door accompanied by a tall, hawkish man with a reserved expression and the distinct air of someone who considered themself above others.

“You’re the ‘expert’ this one was telling me about?” The man spoke with an eyebrow raised and a critical eye as he looked me over in a way that reminded me of a museum owner. “How interesting.” I ignored the hairs standing on end at the back of my neck and drew my fake smile across my lips as I offered a hand in greeting.

“Reyna Wildes. I hear you’re considering the purchase of a rather rare exotic mammal and need someone to determine whether it’s real.” The man nodded slowly in confirmation but made no move to shake my hand so I stuffed it into my coat pocket instead.

“Reginal Bacchus,” his introduction was curt and clipped before he turned back into the house.

“He grows on you,” Parker broke his silence once the man in question was out of earshot; somehow I doubted that, but I didn’t comment as I followed him inside. “My buddy is waiting with the beast further in, we’ll meet him there.” I took a deep breath, keeping my focus on the back of Bacchus’s very expensive jacket to avoid getting sticky fingers while I followed his lead with Parker in stride close by.

-----

When Bacchus introduced the side wing of his house as the gallery, I was expecting art or artefacts like what you might find in a museum. Instead, that only fit if we’re talking mostly of the zoology exhibit. A chill ran down my spine as I surveyed what seemed to be a massive collection of taxidermy creatures or artefacts most humans would only have nightmares about.

“This way,” Parker drew my attention from the pukwudgie—a small, quilled goblinoid—curled in the fetal position in a jar that smelled of formaldehyde, glassy eyes staring out in the terror written clear across its face. I swallowed hard and followed him down the hall with deliberate tunnel vision until I picked up the sound of two new heartbeats and what sounded at this distance like a fast watch. There was a large cage at the end of the hall, 12 foot by 12 foot I’d guess based on the fact the Béluæinside was about the same length as each side she paced.

There was fear and anger coming off her in waves with the faint scent of milk—she’d given birth recently, the poor bastard. She smelled of a caged animal, enough to cast a dark haze over my vision as I took in the relatively fresh straw with traces of blood in her otherwise empty cage.

It took everything I had to keep my canines and my eyes from changing as my blood became an icy boil.

“You must be the expert Parker mentioned,” a tall, lean man I pegged vaguely as Middle Eastern or North African based on the faint lilting accent I picked up drew my focus away from the Béluæ as we drew near, “He didn’t tell me your name though.”

“Reyna Wildes,” I spoke numbly as I offered a hand, looking away from the intense gaze he fixed on me as he drew my hand to his lips.

“Queen of the Wildes, a beautifully fitting name for such a woman.” I pulled my hand free in rising distrust, letting it linger near the knife on my belt, “My name is Achar.” First name only—he’s a veteran in the business. He moved away from the Béluæ with a sweeping gesture, “If you would?” The expression on my face must have betrayed my apprehension because there was a charming smile on his lips when I glanced his direction before crouching near the bars of the cage.

“Coliquie,” I murmured the Lurakil and watched the beast approach, her movements slowed and sluggish until she collapsed against the bars in front of me, chuffing quietly to herself. I stroked wirey fur in a soothing motion and closed my eyes for a moment, taking down the psychological walls I’d put up to keep from ever really looking at anyone unless I needed to know what they were without their scent.

When I opened my eyes again, my world was dark shades of grey with silvery lines detailing my surroundings and splashes of color in the living creatures nearby; Alix’s blood ran thicker in me than it did in most Soul Collectors, she’d told me once that what I saw was closer to how she saw the world. The beast’s soul was black like smoke, with the odd flashes of reds and oranges as if an onyx stone catching firelight; she was truly as they claimed, a Béluæ.

An overwhelming wave of sorrow threatened to drown me from my connection with the beast and I jerked back, closing my eyes and dragging a hand down my face as I rebuilt the walls in my head. I sat back on my heels as I opened my eyes to the familiar warmth of color and the beast huffed, rising to her feet to continue her pacing.

“So what is your… professional,” he sounded as if it physically pained him to call me that, “opinion of the beast?” Bacchus awaited my answer with an eager gleam in his eyes and I thought about asking which one just to be difficult; Achar didn’t smell completely human though I hadn’t recognized what he was, Parker was capable of some pretty terrible things in the name of survival, and I… I’m the monster that gives monsters nightmares.

Achar observed me with an increasingly unnerving degree of interest and any smartass quips I might’ve made lost their appeal.

“She’s real,” my voice was low as I straightened up and turned to leave. Their voices followed me back down the hall as they discussed a price.

-----

“Miss Wildes,” Achar called as he approached but I paid him no mind, too focused on the very large muilti-tailed canid with the coloring of an African Wild Dog in the display before me. “Miss Wildes?” Achar tried again, peering into my face, “Are you alright?” His fingers brushed my arm and I jerked away with a fox’s snarl…

or I would’ve normally…

Instead, I almost leaned into the touch as if he was magnetic.

“Tell me, in your ‘professional opinion’,” there was no small amount of sarcasm in those words as I mocked Bacchus’s manner of speech, “how much would a hybrid of a Soul Collector and an Alcaimynder go for by your estimation?” He raised an eyebrow at the question.

“They’re both pretty rare so either one would be quite pricey, but a hybrid…” he trailed off in thought, “The only hybrid I’m aware of is—” he broke off with a laugh as he realized why I’d asked, “Something like that—” he reached out to trace along my cheek, “Something like you is far too beautiful for a cage, your highness.” I bared my teeth in an unconscious snarl at the title and his slight bow, but he only laughed again as if it were a game, “and I’d pity the fool who tried.” Some distant part of my brain registered that I don’t like contact, but the complaint was lost somewhere in the haze that krept through my mind the same way it usually did each December. Achar’s smile was charming, the gold in his eyes glittering in the light, “Our host has offered you a room for the night,” he smelled of aftershave and cinnamon as he leaned just a bit closer, whispering the suggestion in my ear, “I recommend taking him up on the offer.” Then he was gone, but the haze lingered and I…

I felt as though I could only watch myself from the outside.

-----

There was a knock on the door to the room Reyna had agreed to stay in and she answered almost immediately, setting her journal aside and scrambling out of the armchair. Achar stood on the other side, his five o’clock shadow painting him a little older despite the rather boyish grin he flashed her.

“You decided to stay,” it wasn’t a question the way he said it but she still nodded slightly, stepping back to let him in before closing the door behind him.

“So what did you come here for?” Her voice was softer than it normally would’ve been on those words as Achar began to close the distance between them.

“How far do you trust Parker?” Reyna was silent for a moment, thinking over how to answer.

“I’d say about as far as I could throw him, but I’m not sure I even trust him that much.” He breathed a sigh of relief at her answer settling his hands on both of her arms as if to hold her in place.

“Does he know what you are?” She cocked her head to the side.

“I don’t believe so, at least not anything specific beyond Soul Collector and something else,” she paused a moment, tapping her temple in reference to her eyes, “it would take an immense amount of energy to hide my pupils long term, but Raposa are more common than Owhi or any other kind of Alcaimynder and we get mixed up often enough. Why do you ask?”

“He has debts, big ones he planned to sell you to Bacchus to pay off, I was to be the broker for the deal but you… you are not one I would make an enemy of lightly.” Reyna laughed at those words, annoyance creeping through the haze in her mind. She turned, started to leave but he tightened his grip on her arms to hold her in place, “How would you do it without witnesses?” She knew why he asked, she’d seen the tight security throughout the building and she could magically kill the system, but a system that runs the entire building would leave her with a nasty headache and there was a better option anyway as a slow smile curled devilishly across her lips.

“The Béluæ,” she spoke simply, “I’ll let out the Béluæ.” His grip would around her waist as she started to pull away again, holding her tight against him with one arm while the other traced up to her cheek, lifting her chin to press his lips hard to hers.

“Tomorrow,” he breathed the word when he pulled back. She offered Achar a brief smile before pulling out of his grip.

“Tomorrow, but tonight is the best time to unlock the cage,” Reyna left with those words, off to sneak back into the gallery.

-----

The Béluæ watched with onyx eyes as Reyna approached the cage on silent feet.

“Coliquie,” she spoke the same Lurakil as earlier, but with more force behind her intent, enough that the beast took one staggering step and collapsed while her eyelids grew heavy, “tomorrow morning when you wake, the door will be unlocked.” Reyna stroked through the Béluæ’s fur between the bars before shifting to the lock on the door, using the picks tucked into her belt to unlock the deadbolt before tucking them away again. Then she was gone, back to her room for the night as if nothing was wrong.

-----

Reyna woke to the soft sensation of someone pressing light kisses along her neck and sunlight streaming through the window casting mottled shadows across the bedsheets. She stirred slowly, looking back with an easy smile as Achar tightened his grip on her waist to hold her closer as he pressed another silent kiss to her shoulder. His eyes glittered like gold in the light.

“Good morning, Reyna,” he spoke softly with a smile and a light kiss.

She started to reply, but there was a knock at the door and she glanced that way with little worry.

“I guess I should get that,” she spoke the words barely a whisper, but still Achar chuckled, pressing a kiss to her cheek at the corner of her lips before loosening his grip on her waist enough to let her up. Reyna pulled a robe before answering the door with a stifled yawn.

“Miss Wildes,” the man outside gave a slight bow and she frowned, shaking her head slightly at the gesture, “Master Bacchus has invited you to dine with him this morning,” the man looked past her, surprise flickering across his face for the briefest second before his composure returned, “an invitation he extends to you as well, master Achar.” Reyna looked back over her shoulder to find Achar propped up on an elbow, listening quietly to the one-sided conversation. He gave a slight nod before rolling onto his back, arms folded behind his head.

“Alright,” Reyna turned back to the man at the door, nodding slightly, “thank you. We’ll be there once we’ve dressed.” The man gave another slight bow before he turned on his heel and disappeared down the hall to deliver their answer. Then she closed the door, leaning back against it. Achar watched her, patting the bed beside him to call her back over.

Reyna started to go, but something cut through the haze on her mind and made her stop.

She remained silently by the door until he sat up with a look of confusion.

“Reyna?” She smiled at his voice, something distant in that expression.

“I’m sorry,” she spoke softly, “I need to take a shower and get ready to go.” She started toward the bathroom, pausing with a hand on the doorknob and flashing a smile over her shoulder, “Did you want to join me?” Achar’s expression fractured into shock for a moment before he grinned back.

“If I did that, we’d be late.” Reyna laughed quietly before slipping through the door.

-----

Breakfast ended in blood.

It went quite simply.

Bacchus died with his heart in Reyna’s hand, blood pouring from the wound and staining her fingers red.

Not that she minded really, she was used to having blood on her hands… and it was delicious as she licked her fingers clean.

They left the body there, the Béluæ would likely get to it soon.

And I didn’t care.

Achar watched as I licked the last drops away, his eyes glittering like gold as he smiled. He started to speak, but another voice cut him off.

“I was right about you.” Achar and Reyna looked toward the voice in surprise. Parker stood in the doorway with a gun in his hand and Reyna smiled, a slow, wolfish curl of her lips to reveal sharp teeth in a chilling reminder of how easy it would be for her to tear open his throat. “You’re going to be just as valuable as I thought.”

“Parker,” Achar began but Parker ignored anything he might’ve had to say.

“Move,” he gestured toward the door with the gun, “to the gallery.” Achar and Reyna exchanged worried glances—the Béluæ should be waking soon—before Reyna took the first steps toward the gallery; she didn’t see much choice at the moment, she was fast and a bullet wouldn’t kill her, but it would still hurt. Parker walked behind the two, calling out directions from time to time and repeatedly jamming the pistol into her spine until Reyna finally lashed out, her eyes red-gold constricted to slivers and canines slicing into her lip. Her fist connected with his jaw and he stumbled back, but then the gun went off and a searing pain ripped through the haze of my mind…

...waking me up.

Parker laughed, slamming the cage door in my face before I could get my hands on him. “A beast like you should feel right at home until I need you.”

“Open this door Parker,” my voice was low, a smile curling across my lips again, “let me show you why they call me a monster.” I slammed a hand into a bar with enough force to dent it and Parker took an unconscious step back, fear in his scent now. Then he grabbed Achar and dragged him deeper into the gallery. They disappeared around a corner and left me to pace.

-----

I was sitting on the floor against the back wall having grown tired of my mindless circles. Very faintly, I began to hear the click of claws on concrete and shifted to my feet in a low crouch. Moving very slowly, I approached the cage door to find on the other side the Béluæ. She watched me with a certain intelligence in her eyes as I settled against the bars to watch her.

“You’re not growling,” I observed softly after a moment, “Why aren’t you growling?” I cocked my head to one side curiously, “Can you smell death on me the way I can on you?” She seemed to study me a moment longer before shaking herself and slipping away down the wall. There was blood on her muzzle and in her tracks and I wondered how many she’d killed so far. I sat back on my heels, trying to make myself decide what to do.

I felt the tiny toy sniper in my pocket.

Then I pulled the picks from my belt and got to work on the door. It only took a few minutes to trip the lock and the cage door opened with a quiet click. I slipped out, careful to stay silent and hidden as I found my way back to the room I’d stayed in.

Never have I been so glad to see a beat-up old military duffle in my life.

In a hurry, I unzipped the bag, shrugging on my shoulder holster with my .45 before I readied the tungsten glaive I’d really hoped I wouldn’t need. It was quiet outside my door so I poked my head out to check both directions before I slipped through the gap. Just around the first corner, I found the Béluæ at the end of the hall, a low growl in her throat when I stopped in my tracks. “Go away,” I kept my voice even, taking a slow step back, “Leave me alone.” I wasn’t ready to face her just yet.

I took another step back.

The Béluæ followed.

I bolted, praying to the Corvid Prince that he hadn’t written ‘mauled by a Béluæ’ as my cause of death. Hope came in the form of a security office around the next corner, complete with surveillance and a thick steel door. The door slammed behind me and I leaned my weight against it while I fumbled with the latch until it slid into place with a heavy thud. The Béluæ snarled from the other side, slamming into the door a few times before it seemed to lose interest. After a few minutes of hesitation, I took a small step away from the door, pausing a moment to make sure she had really gone before I approached the bank of security cameras.

Within every feed, I found death.

Blood splattered walls and mutilated bodies draped over and inside displays throughout the gallery. Books, blood, and glass shattered across the floors of the main house with gnawed on bones in broken corpses.

That much blood flickering on the screens made my teeth begin to itch with hunger, but I clenched my jaw and pushed the thought away.

The Béluæ is a killing machine from the wilds of Africa where it has to compete with lions and panthers for food or resort to taking down big game like rhinos or elephants and Bacchus brought one into his home as if it was just another lifeless display.

I shook the thoughts away and started to map out the building in my head when movement on one of the screens caught my attention. Parker and Achar appeared on the camera, a line of static following Achar across until they stopped, the Béluæ at the other end of the hall. The two men stared at the beast until it rushed forward and they turned, but not fast enough. She brought Parker down with teeth and claws and tore into his while Achar ran on. I adjusted my mental map and bolted through the door.

Like a rat in a maze, I raced down hall after hall toward the sound of Parker’s screams and the ripping and tearing of flesh. I slammed into Achar at almost a full sprint, both of us staggering from the impact before we caught ourselves.

“Reyna,” he began breathlessly, his scent a mix of surprise and relief, “it—it killed—”

“I know, I saw,” I cut him off but didn’t explain as I caught him by the arm and took off back the way I’d come, shoving him in front of me.

He tried to drag me after him once I’d gotten him to the door, but I couldn’t leave the Béluæ loose.

I didn’t stop running until I’d found the cage in which she’d started. The Béluæ found me quickly, stalking slowly forward with teeth bared teeth before she charged forward, claws outstretched to tear me into the same ribbons she had everyone else.

The end of the glaive caught against the floor and the wall as I dropped to one knee to hold it steady.

Momentum carried the Béluæ into the sharp tungsten tip, driving it through her heart and out the other side as the body slammed into me.

My back and head hit the wall and my world spun away from me with a flash of pain.

-----

I breathed.

I opened my eyes to find emergency lighting and the wail of an alarm over head and ringing across my vision.

With a groan, I shoved the Béluæ’s corpse off of me and climbed to my feet to pull my glaive free. My clothes were a bloody mess and I breathed a heavy sigh as I felt it slick them to me.

A quiet whimper drew my attention and I relized I was still hearing that sound—like a fast watch—but there was no one around but me. In my curiosity, I began poking through the bloody straw until I found a tiny animal—as much a ball of fur as anything else—nestled in a back corner and whimpering quietly for his mother. His eye were still sealed and he didn’t seem to have much in the hearing department just yet as I lifted him carefully in blood-slick hands.

“Hello little one,” I tucked him into my jacket and zipped him inside as the whimpering became something like quiet chuffing as he settled against me, “s’pose I’ll be taking you with me.” Once the tiny Béluæ was secure in my jacket, I took down my glaive and climbed around the corpse to lift my duffle. It was quiet now, outside of the alarm as I made my way back to the front door to load my duffle into the back of my Jeep outside. I paused briefly to settle the Béluæ whelp in the passenger seat bundled up in my jacket before returning to the house. I drew a single rune into the threshold and whispered the words to give shape to the immense amount of energy I put into them and a sourceless inferno sprang to life inside, consuming everything it came into contact with.

There would be little left once the fire was done, just charred walls and melted glass.

I called the local authorities to give them a heads up and then put the inferno in my rearview as I started on the long drive home.

-----

It was mid morning the next day by the time I got home. Loki and Zevi slammed into me when I opened the back door, Loki shouting with entirely too much energy for as tired as I was, wanting to know everything that had happened while I was gone, and Zevi clinging quietly to my leg. They drew a smile on my lips as I reached down to ruffle their hair and pull them both into a quick hug—careful not to get blood on them as well—before I slipped by with promises that I’d tell them all they wanted once I’d cleaned up. My glaive and duffle returned to my cabinet under the stairs and I paused to unzip the Béluæ whelp from inside my jacket, balancing him in the crook of my arm as I pulled the toy soldier from my pants pocket.

“I guess it worked,” I pressed it back into Zevi’s tiny hands and his face lit up with a smile. The door into the shop proper opened and I looked up to find Michael in the doorway.

“You made it back alright?” I nodded slightly as he took in the blood dried onto my clothes.

“Why don’t you two go on upstairs for now,” I spoke softly as I ushered the boys towards the stairs.

“I expected you back yesterday,” he trailed off as I straightened up again.

“Yeah well, things happened.” I knew full well I was being dodgy and it wouldn’t be appreciated, but at the moment, I couldn’t bring myself to care.

“Reyna,” Michael began slowly, but I could already guess what he was going to say, I’d heard it enough times before.

“Leave it, Michael,” my voice came out more of a low growl but he didn’t listen.

“You seem to be getting more reckless lately, you’re not eating, you’re not sleeping, and—”

“I said leave it !” I snapped, sharpened canines bared in a snarl as my eyes glittered red gold around slit pupils.

“Jesse’s worried about you too,” he continued with a low and steady voice as if to ease a wild animal, “she’s— we’re all afraid you’ll get yourself killed.” I studied him for a long time, long enough he finally seemed to give up with a heavy sigh as he turned to head back into the shop.

“Michael,” I broke my silence with a bitter, broken smile, “have any of you ever considered that maybe I’m hoping to get myself killed?” He studied me for a moment longer before closing his eyes for a moment and heading back into the shop. I watched him go, taking a deep breath before heading up to the kitchen in search of something for the Béluæ and a phone that wasn’t dead. I settled him on the counter with a plate of fish before lifting the land line to dial a number I knew by heart.

“Hey Reyna, how’re you?” Jack sounded distant, as if I’d caught him in the middle of something.

“I’m—” I stopped, I didn’t like lying to him if it could be avoided, “things are fine.” I spoke quickly and changed the subject, “Listen, I need a favor.” Jack was silent for a while.

“Go on…” he sounded as if he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what I’d ask.

“Would you be willing to take in a newborn Béluæ? The pups are too small for me to keep him around here.”

“Alright,” he spoke with an exasperated sigh and I couldn’t help the smile that tugged at my lips, “I’ll pick him up tomorrow, I can come back for a day or two.”

“Thanks Jack,” my voice was soft.

“Well, as it happens, I just got my own place a little outside of Pembroke, and it happens to have a decent yard; I’d get lonely there by myself,” the way he seemed to try to cover himself had me laughing.

“I’ll have to bring a house warming gift then.”

“Yeah,” Jack finally spoke again after a moment’s silence; I could almost hear the soft smile in his voice, “I’d like that.”