Demon Bound

whimpered and growled, nudging the woman’s hip with one of its heads.
    She looked down at the hellhound, startled. “Oh, yes. Thank you, meiraks . We go inside. You will follow me.”
    Turning, she strode away from the statue, the hellhound at her side. Alice glanced up at Jake.
    “Do not dawdle,” the woman called. “I have already seen you discuss it. You decide to come with me. There is no reason to do it twice.”
    Jake’s gaze held hers. Waiting around for those bats isn’t such a hot idea. But we don’t have to go with her. We can jump.
    Alice looked back at the statue, then at the woman. With a sigh, she said, You know I cannot leave now.
    His mouth tilted into a smile. I can’t, either. But I thought I’d give you a choice. Still holding her hand, he began to walk after the strange duo—toward, Alice realized, one of the enormous stones scattered over the sand. I think she learned English from you—by listening to your future. Then she picked up more from me, so that she could translate the slang.
    Her fingers went slack against his, transmitting her surprise and disbelief. Finally, she recovered enough to say, I hope that means I have enough of a future to learn from.
    A future in which you say “dawdle.”
    Alice bit back her nervous laugh. The hellhound turned one of her heads to look back at them.
    What is M-E-H-I-R-A-X? Jake approximated the spelling.
    “Little girl.” It’s from the Attic Greek.
    Damn. I guess I should have learned a few more ancient languages—because all of ten people speak them. He was grinning when she met his eyes, quickly, before looking away and pursing her lips to stop her own grin.
    Was he trying to ease her anxiety, or his? Either way, she was grateful for it.
    The woman paused in front of the stone, her figure an insignificant relief against the enormous wall of marble. Her fingers traced a vertical line over its surface. A tiny crack appeared; she pushed, and it widened before swinging open. She stepped into the darkness beyond.
    “Ye-e-e-ah,” Jake said slowly. We’re going in there?
    Alice glanced at the dark cloud scudding across the sky. Yes.
    You know the story of Hansel and Gretel, right? If I see an oven, I’m grabbing you and jumping.
    I thought we would push her in, instead. She could barely hear his quiet chuckle over the pounding of her heart. At any rate, this entire realm is an oven. I’m not certain it is any better out here.
    That’s true enough. And what’s one crazy Guardian? But, Alice, listen— He stopped, and she looked at him; all trace of humor had fled his expression. Stay close.
    She nodded, and they stepped over the threshold together.

CHAPTER 15
    Whatever he’d been expecting, a dinner party wasn’t it. Yet that was the only description Jake had for the four sculpted figures seated around a table in the center of the large chamber. Three males, one female. Jake recognized the faces of three—they matched the statue of Zakril in Hell, the female statue in Tunisia, and Michael. The woman dressed their nude bodies in tunics, speaking to each one in a soft, lilting language. They were as white as department-store mannequins.
    Everything was white, with the appearance of stone. Not marble, though. Jake narrowed his focus on the table, then the statues, and his stomach lurched.
    It was bone. Shaped and molded into faces, furniture, and overlaying the walls, ceiling, and flooring.
    Threads of orange light, as thin as fiber-optic strands, were embedded in the walls. In the soft glow, he met Alice’s eyes.
    There are degrees of creepy, Jake said. You’re sexy creepy. Nephilim rituals are sick creepy. And this is creepy creepy.
    Yes. She averted her gaze. How long has she been here, do you think?
    She must not have intended for him to respond; she let go of his hand and moved toward the wall. Apparently, something more than the bone bothered her, and he watched as she traced her fingers down the luminescent threads. She stood sideways to the wall, wary, but distracted, her naginata between her body and the woman fussing at the table. Jake angled himself between them.
    Two more chambers led away from the room; the hellhound lay in the left doorway. From his position, Jake could see enough to guess that the interiors had also been surfaced with bone. All that white . . . was she trying to re-create the look of Caelum?
    Pity rose up, and he squashed it. No Guardian he’d known would’ve appreciated it.
    And he didn’t know if