"Why do I have to babysit while the others go demon hunting?" Noah complained.

His new role seemed more as a punishment than a responsibility to him. He could put up with Bertram, even though he sometimes talked too much and hid behind him whenever they interacted with a woman, Geller's son did his job well and stayed out of trouble.

Miles, on the other hand, was a different story.

The boy didn't know how to follow orders, he was impulsive and jumped into the arms of danger every time they left the headquarters. Noah still couldn't believe he was related to Lorcan, even in his early days in the Protectors the older brother never brought trouble to his superiors.

"You can take a break if you want. My friend Bertie and I can take care of the rest," said Miles, putting his arm around Noah's shoulder.

"Put your arm down unless you want to lose it," the redhead replied. "No fucking way, don't even think about getting out of my sight for a second."

"Aww, you're going to miss me if I go away." Miles took his arm off Noah's shoulder and patted him on the back. "Don't worry, you two are my new best friends, I will never leave you."

Bertram, who was ahead of them, stopped walking and looked at Miles with his mouth slightly open. He scratched the back of his neck before speaking. "You really have no survival instinct."

"Our village is swarming with demons, everything is dangerous, what difference does it make to be careful?"

Noah squeezed Miles's shoulder hard. "Listen to me, kiddo, I know that oxygen is barely reaching your head, but you have to understand that each of your disastrous ideas brings negative consequences for the entire group. You wanted to be part of the Protectors, now it's time for you to assume your responsibility."

The young man shook his shoulder, trying to break free of the intense grip. All it did was increase the strength of the hand.

"Was I clear?" Noah insisted. "I don't want any more games."

"Easy man, I take the mission seriously, I also want to find the children." Miles looked over at Bertram as if asking for help.

"Noah, It's almost time and we still have a few more blocks to go."

"I'm letting you go just for now. Stay in line, I don't have enough patience tonight to deal with your bullshit"

The look on Noah's face was enough to signal the end of the discussion. His lips lifted, forming a small smile after the silence was maintained for a couple of minutes.

He began to walk down the sidewalk, but not before directing his gaze to the sky. The constellations shone as if they were calling his name. There was nothing he wanted more than to respond to the invitation, to spend the rest of the night in the company of his new telescope, but the problems seemed to never end.

At least the streets fell into a quiet sleep, giving them the chance to dwell on the details without falling into the usual bustle.

"Looks like a ghost town," Miles muttered, kicking a rock that got in his way.

"People are afraid," Bertram commented as they crossed the street. "The boarded windows are enough of a sign. My neighbors put a barricade around their house."

"A barricade? Seems a bit over the top to me," said Miles, putting his hands inside his pants pockets.

Noah turned to see the two companions who were walking behind him. He stood under the light pole, the lighting almost swallowing his body. "At least five people die every night, there are hellhounds stealing children from their homes, and now even the inhabitants attack each other to win the sympathy of the demons. A barricade doesn't seem like a crazy idea to me."

"I'd say we're almost on the brink of paranoia." Bertram walked past Noah and stopped in front of the house at the corner of the block. He raised his hand and pointed to the cameras that were installed on the door and windows. "My dad told me that the firefighters and the police receive lots of calls every night, in most cases they are people who think they see strange movement in front of their houses and it turns out to be an animal or a shadow that was catched by the camera."

"Do you think that they'll report us to the police too? I mean, we're three weird guys walking in the middle of the night," asked Miles.

"I'm sure they will if you keep making so much noise," Noah commented, then took a look at his surroundings. "This place is good enough, if we hide where the light from the poles can't reach us we'll have a good view of the houses."

"It looks fine for me," Bertram agreed. "If the reports are correct, we're already at the time when the hellhounds usually appear."

"Straight to duty, as always," Miles muttered before following the others.

The trio hid in the shadows, camouflaging themselves next to the large tree by the roundabout. They waited for any movement that would break the tranquility of the night. A single sign of life among so much stillness would be enough.

The village was beginning to look like a setting worthy of a doomsday play. Noah gave it credit for lasting longer than he had predicted, it was even admirable that there were a couple of houses that still didn't have their windows boarded up. The people living inside those houses must have been brave or stupid.

A deep growl filled the streets like an alarm warning parents that it was time to hide their children.

The sound of footsteps drew the eyes of the young men to the approaching beast. Lured by the danger, Miles stuck one foot out of the shadows, only to be stopped by a hand on his chest. He looked to the side in the search for the culprit and met Noah's menacing gaze.

"Don't," the redhead mouthed.

An inexplicable heat took over Noah's body, it reminded him of that time when he almost died in a fire. It was the kind of heat that made him want to run away like a coward. Slowly, he brought his gaze to the street to his left.

There it was, the hellhound, sniffing the air. The flames that covered its body danced with the wind and its red eyes gleamed at the promise of a new hunt. A path of fire emerged marking the animal's steps, the line was still straight, the moment it curved it would mean that the objective was already decided. That was the signal Noah was waiting for to take action.

The hellhound moved its front legs to the right.

Noah took his first step out of the shadows.

In a matter of seconds the young man caught up with the beast. His movements, quick and precise, allowed him to plunge a knife into the animal's rear flank before it reacted.

He straightened his body, holding the knife steady within his hand. The next minute seemed to freeze for Noah, his eyes searching for any reaction from his opponent, as the sound of the hellhound's howl and the heavy breathing of his companions reached him.

There were two possible outcomes, the beast could react in anger and attack him or it could try to escape. Noah needed him to choose the second option, he needed him to guide him to his lair.

The hellhound turned its head towards its three attackers and bared its teeth at them as a deep growl left its throat.

One more step from the Protectors. Another growl sounded like a warning. And the beast began to run.

"Bertam, can you follow him with your portals?" Noah asked.

Instead of answering with words, the young man opened a portal behind the hellhound.

"And you, hold your breath," the redhead continued.

"What—"

Before Miles could finish his sentence Noah picked him up with his right arm, threw him over his shoulder and started running.

Using his power with additional weight forced him to slow down if he didn't want to exhaust himself after the first five meters. Still, what is slow for Noah is more than fast for the others, so he was able to keep up with Bertram.

They crossed the village and entered the forest before their prey reached its destination, entering a cave.

"Should we get inside?" Asked Bertram once the other two stopped next to him.

"We should at least take a look." Noah put Miles down.

He expected the young man to vomit as everyone who experienced his power for the first time did, but it never happened.

"That was awesome! Dude, you're fucking strong. What's your gym routine? I want to have muscles like yours," Miles screamed

"Shut up," Bertram and Noah scolded him at the same time.

"Ops, sorry, I forgot about the secret mission thing," Miles whispered, raising his hand in surrender.

"Don't lose your focus, we don't know what's inside the cave," Noah took the lead and walked through the entrance.

At first, he found an ordinary cave with its stone walls extending beyond the light. He reached for the small flashlight he carried in his pocket to light the rest of the way.

Then, Noah found another different world. The path ended in a giant circular area, in the middle of it was an endless pit. Two new narrow paths encircled the shaft and continued beyond the room.

The lack of walls called the attention of the young man, in its place was a line of cells with stone bars. Between one of the bars a small hand appeared. Noah motioned for his companions to follow him before walking towards the first cell.

He was so close that he could hear the sound of crying. The figure of a small body was already clear, and for an instant he focused on it, not paying attention to his surroundings

Noah felt a grip on his shoulder that made him move his head to the side.

Six hellhounds approached him slowly, they bent their bodies, ready to pounce on their victim.

"We can't fight all of them."

Bertram's voice sounded behind him before his body was pushed into the portal that appeared to him.