Ryan Reilly, celebrity dog trainer, absolutely did not expect to be magically kidnapped to the underworld today. But that underworld god needs his help.
Aidon, the brand-new Hades, has never had a dog, much less a giant hellhound puppy. And Ryan’s supposed to be the best. And the whole kidnapping-to-the-underworld is only temporary. Really.
But an underworld visit and a mischievous hellhound puppy just might be the perfect fluffy meet-cute, and a chance at a mythical happily ever after.
“I sort of inherited him,” says the underworld god, not quite meeting Ryan’s gaze. He turns, puts a hand up: scratching a fluffy white canine shoulder. The puppy leans into the touch, and then flops over, causing minor earthquakes across mystical geography. The lord of the realm grins and dives in to scratch his tummy. “When I ... took this job. I think he’s a puppy because he’s still growing a lot and he eats a ton --”
“I bet he does.”
“-- and he’s got all this energy, he’s a great dog, aren’t you, Cerberus, yes you are.” When the god looks up this time he looks at Ryan, and the hood of the coat or cloak has fallen back, baring his face, and he’s smiling. “I’ve never had a dog before.”
And Ryan’s heart’s doing flip-flops, somersaults, treasonous acrobatics in his chest. Because the god of the underworld, the person who’d shown up as Ryan was leaving the set of A Dog’s Life with Ryan Reilly and had grabbed his arm and said desperately, “Humans say you’re the best, right, I need you, come with me, it’s the puppy --” and pulled him into thin air --
This person’s purely blindingly gorgeous.
It’s not just the cheekbones and the dimpled chin and the cool winter-silk eyes. It’s not just the cloud of black hair, shoulder-length and billowing in waves, tumbled loose with the fall of the cloak’s hood. It’s not just the smile, though that opens up wide and turns the grey-sky underworld to sunshine, unfurling banners. It’s not just that he’s more human suddenly, a young man who rescued and loves his dog.
It’s not just any one of those things, but it is all of them.
It’s kind of a lot to process. Ryan says, “Um.”
“I need your help,” the god says, a bit forlorn. The puppy wriggles and thumps his tail, causing shudders across gauzy mist-wrapped hills.
