The room smelled like hell, and not the metaphorical kind.

Lila scrunched her nose; burned flesh and thunder and apples, of all things. One'd think she'd gotten used to it by now, but no, the romance was still fresh. It was the apples, she decided. The apples were always a surprise.

The house was empty. The kids had gone away with their mother, though the woman had put up a fight at first, demanding she be present for the exorcism. This was a nice neighborhood, and while Lila'd come highly recommended, she'd also come with scars and yellow eyes. The client was in her rights to worry about her property. She'd packed her bags readily enough once Lila'd casually flashed her fifty-thousand dollar Rolex, so it had all worked out in the end.

Lila scanned the room. The bed was unmade, the dresser left with drawers half-open, the carpet littered with plastic superheroes and toy cars and Lego landmines. Only the closet was shut tight, not a stitch of anything peeking out.

"The closet?" she said.

The sword strapped to her back hummed gently, possibly in agreement.

Lila made her way over the miniature battlefield, careful not to step on any of the combatants. Her mom would've had her head if she'd been that messy as a child. The stink got sweeter the closer she got. A low, whining growl came from the closet, the sound like ground glass. Lila grasped the sword by the hilt.

"Ready?" she asked. The growling had stopped. The room was silent, in the way all very bad things were.

Lila drew. The door fell apart with a shudder that she felt in her body, and then the creature was upon her, bowling her to the ground. Teeth like knives snapped at her face. She thrust the sword between them, arm straining, and reached for the silver gun strapped at her waist.

The sword turned to smoke in Lila's hands. The monster lunged for her, no longer held at bay by the demonic blade. Lila had the gun but was certain to lose a good chunk of her face before she could fire. She braced for pain.

The monster disappeared. Lila blinked the ceiling into focus, then scrambled to get up, fearing the worst. But the creature was still in the room. It was a giant, dog-like beast with a shaggy coat and goat horns. Its tail beat at the air near Lila's face hard enough to generate its own wind current.

"Who is a good doggie?" the woman petting the hellhound cooed, "You! You are a good doggie!"

Lila sat on the bed with a heavy sigh. "Lilith, don't touch that thing, you don't know where it's been."

Lilith ignored her, making kissy-noises at the beast. "I had one when I was young. Such sweet creatures. And you were going to cut it down!"

"Was I?" Lila asked, voice dripping acid.

Lilith looked at her at last. The demoness crossed her arms - all four of them - over her ample bosom, pretty gold eyes slitting in disdain. "You were in no danger."

"That is not for you to decide," Lila said. She drew the gun. Lilith stepped in front of the hellhound, lips bunched in a pout.

"Move," Lila snapped.

"Bastet is not dangerous," Lilith scoffed.

"You named it?" Lila said, then added, "After a cat goddess?"

"It's ironic," Lilith said. She got on her knees and smushed the hellhound's cheeks between her delicate, clawed fingers. "Look at this face! Isn't it the most adorable thing you have ever laid eyes on?"

The hellhound panted, black drool dribbling from its jowls. The beast's fangs were easily the length of Lila's fingers, all three rows of them. "Very cute," Lila said, and shook the gun, "Move, my finger might slip."

Lilith rose. Her dress rippled over her body like water, hugging every supple curve. "Sit," she said. The hellhound sat on its haunches, watching the demoness with naked adoration.

The bed dipped. Lilith could weigh nothing at all when she wished it so, but she wished otherwise now, and her head on Lila's shoulder was heavy and real. Her long, black hair smelled of apples.

"I would never let anything hurt you," Lilith whispered, voice a song in Lila's ears, "I promised to keep you safe, did I not?"

"In exchange for my soul," Lila muttered. Getting forced into signing a contract with a demon to save her life from another still stung, a year later.

Lilith laughed, low and guttural. "Nothing in this world comes for free, my little bird."

Lilith had managed to snake her arms around her waist without Lila's notice. Lila shook the demoness off with a grumble. The hellhound watched Lila now, its coal eyes wide and wet. Lila sighed, and marched out of the room.

There was a phone in the kitchen. Lila dialed the number her client had provided, and was then forced to spend several long minutes listening to the woman babble frantically on the other side. "It's done," she told her once she was able to get a word in edgeways.

The woman hiccuped. "Was there really a, a," she stammered. Demons weren't all that uncommon anymore, what with the Second Coming looming and all that jazz, but people who'd actually seen one and lived to tell the tale were still pretty rare.

"There was," Lila said. "Did your son ever ask you for a dog?"

"He used to beg for one. He hasn't mentioned anything about it for some time," the woman said.

Some two months, Lila bet. The mother had been hearing strange sounds and late-night clattering for about that long. "You can come back anytime," Lila told her, and ended the call. Dealing with people was always a pain.

The staircase creaked loudly, announcing the hellhound and its new mistress.

"Did they summon the demon, or did it come on its own?" Lila asked.

"I feel no disturbance in the fabric of reality in this dwelling," Lilith said, which meant that the hellhound had snuck in, likely with the young boy's help.

Said beast was at present chewing at a rather large bone of unknown origins. Lila shot Lilith a suspicious look.

"I want a pet," Lilith said, in a tone that had all the makings of a hellish tantrum.

Lila looked at the pouting demon, then at Bastet, who was happily slobbering all over their client's floor. "Can it be trained?" she wondered aloud.

Lilith squealed and threw her arms around Lila, all four of them, and rubbed their cheeks together. Lila stared at the ceiling morosely. "Turn back into the sword already," she grumbled.

Lilith did, after a few more happy nuzzles. Bastet turned to smoke, and Lila gained a new bracelet around her wrist. It even had a tiny dog bone dangling from it. Lila sheathed the demonic blade with a tired smile, and tried to remember what her life had been like before Lilith. More sensible, she bet. As ordinary as a demon hunter's life ever got.

The house was dark and cold, and felt sort of lonely. Lila was glad to leave. Outside, the sun was high in the sky, almost as warm as Lilith's kisses.