Sulfur.
"Oh, fuck."
"What?" he said, his gaze still ahead, his body alert.
"Hellhounds."
He glanced at me. "The ones that were at the warehouse with the crow and the zombie?"
"I think so. They've obviously come to finish the job." And Jessica had obviously suspected me a whole lot more than I'd figured.
I swung my bag around and began picking through the mess of clothes to find the small containers of holy water. I dragged out two and handed one to Kye.
Kye shook the container, then gave me a somewhat dubious look. "Water?"
"Holy water. It burns them like acid and will blind them if it gets in their eyes."
"You really are a most surprising woman, Riley Jenson."
His expression was an odd mix of amusement, excitement, and hunger. The hunter was ready for his kill-and I wasn't entirely sure who, exactly, was his prey. Nor was I sure whether the shiver that rolled across my skin was excitement or fear.
"So how do we kill it?" he continued.
"Them," I corrected, shoving the container into my jeans pocket, which freed up my hands but kept the water within easy grabbing range. "I think there's two-one in front, one behind. And decapitation is the only way we can get rid of them."
"Do we attack, or do we wait for them to come to us?"
He didn't seem perturbed either way, but then he hadn't fought these things before. I had, and I'd prefer not to relive the experience if I could avoid it.
"Let's keep moving. They may not be here for us at all."
"You don't believe that any more than I do."
Well, no. And I couldn't help wondering why they were stalking me tonight. If they'd been at the club all along-and I had no doubt their mistress would keep them close, for safety's sake if nothing else-then why hadn't they come after me last night? She'd suspected me then, too.
And the hounds couldn't have picked up my scent at the club because I'd used Liander's special soap both times... Then I stopped and cursed myself for being a fool. I may have used Liander's soap before my shift, but I hadn't used it when I took a shower after work. Which meant I'd washed away the neutralizer and allowed my own natural scent to come through.
That's why they'd picked it up. It was a stupid, stupid, thing to do, and one I'd make sure never to repeat. If I got out of this situation okay, that is.
We walked on, our footsteps light on the concrete. Cars rushed by, their headlights tearing through the surrounding shadows and revealing nothing more ominous than discarded soda containers and old hamburger wrappings.
I flared my nostrils, trying to catch the scent of sulfur, but it seemed to have disappeared as easily as it had come. Yet they were still out there, still watching. I could feel them, like a blot of evil growing on the horizon.
Kye stopped again. "The feel of magic just got sharper."
I viewed the street ahead. I still couldn't sense anything more than I had moments ago, but that didn't mean much. "You're sensitive to magic?"
"Yeah, something like that," he said, voice clipped. "There's people walking this way, too. Unless you want to endanger them, we'd better bring this thing to a head in a more secure spot."
"And here I was thinking you didn't care about anything or anyone else but yourself," I said, then pointed up Little Bourke Street. "There's several small alleys there that aren't really used at night. It'll limit the possible damage to others."
"That'll do, then."
We headed across the street and down to the first alley. The sulfur scent drifted past again, sharper and closer than before. I still couldn't feel the hellhound in front of us, but there was definitely one behind.
The reek of rot and rubbish from the nearby bins filled the air, overriding every other smell. As I stared into the darkness, I reached into my bag for the knife, drawing it from the sheath and out into the darkness. The silver blade seemed to glow with its own blue fire, and markings I hadn't noticed before suddenly appeared along the blade's length. But its closeness burned my skin. I wouldn't be able to hold it for very long, bone handle or not.
"More magic," Kye said, voice flat and all the more dangerous for it. He was looking at me rather than at the knife. "That's an interesting looking implement you've got there."