Henry hit the ground hard enough to crack the soft dirt beneath his shoes, the impact sending a dull shock up through his legs.
Bela bounced slightly over his shoulder from the landing and immediately grabbed onto his coat tighter. "Oh my God," she snapped, "warn people before you throw them out of buildings!"
Henry ignored that completely.
What he did notice was that carrying her like a sack while running at full speed was a terrible idea waiting to happen.
So without slowing much, he shifted Bela off his shoulder and into a proper hold against his chest instead.
A princess carry.
Bela blinked once at the sudden change before her lips curved slightly despite the situation.
"Well," she said while wrapping one arm around his neck for balance, "this is significantly more civilized."
"Don't enjoy this too much," Henry muttered while sprinting across the estate gardens.
Behind them, mansion security guards were pouring out through the back entrance while two massive guard dogs charged after them barking wildly.
Inside the parked Impala farther down the road, Dean and Sam were still waiting impatiently.
Sam glanced toward the mansion after hearing distant alarms. "Please tell me that's not them."
Dean looked out the windshield just in time to see Henry sprinting across the road carrying Bela while security chased behind him.
"…Huh," Dean muttered. "That somehow looks worse than I expected."
"Dean," Sam said sharply.
"I see it!"
Henry reached the car first and yanked the rear door open.
"Dean," he said immediately, slightly out of breath now, "start the damn engine!"
Dean didn't need to be told twice.
The Impala roared to life just as Henry shoved Bela into the backseat and jumped in after her while barking dogs and shouting guards closed in behind them.
The Impala's tires screeched against the road as Dean slammed his foot down on the gas.
Behind them, security guards were still shouting while the dogs chased the car for another few seconds before finally falling behind.
Dean laughed once under his breath while taking a sharp turn out onto the main road. "Man, I leave you two alone for one hour and suddenly you're fleeing rich people with stolen body parts."
"That's called efficiency," Bela replied smoothly from the backseat while fixing her slightly ruined hair.
Sam turned around immediately. "Did you get it?"
Henry leaned back against the seat, breathing a little heavier from the sprint before slowly raising the dried blackened hand still wrapped in cloth.
"Yeah," he said. "So now we just burn this creepy thing and we're done with the ghost."
Dean glanced at the hand through the mirror and grimaced. "Seriously, that thing looks disgusting."
"It's literally a dead hand," Sam replied.
"Yeah, but this one feels extra dead."
Bela crossed one leg over the other despite the chaos from moments earlier. "Well," she said, "congratulations. You boys officially committed grand theft antiquities."
***
Afterward they drove out near the coast and burned the Hand of Glory properly.
Salt was poured around it first before Dean lit the thing on fire. The dried hand burned slowly at first, dark flames crawling across the blackened skin before the whole thing finally collapsed into ash.
The ghost ship problem was officially over.
Dean dusted his hands together lightly. "Well," he said, "that's one less angry dead sailor trying to drown people."
Sam looked relieved the case was finally done before glancing toward Bela. "You know," he admitted, "compared to last time, you actually cooperated this case." A faint smile appeared on his face. "You seemed almost… human."
Bela immediately looked disgusted by the compliment.
"Please don't ruin the evening with all that sentimental nonsense," she said. Then she casually nudged Henry's arm beside her. "Besides, he promised he'd do something for me afterward, so technically this was still business."
Dean's head snapped toward Henry immediately.
The interest on his face appeared so fast it was almost impressive.
"Oh?" Dean asked slowly. "What kinda favor are we talking about here?"
Henry looked at him with immediate annoyance. "Dean," he said flatly, "can you think about literally anything else for once?"
Dean crossed his arms defensively. "Hey, you two have been acting weird for like two days."
Henry looked at him with complete disbelief. "Oh, we're weird?" he asked. "Dean, compared to half the stuff you do with random diner waitresses, this is nothing."
Dean immediately looked proud instead of embarrassed. "I'm always open to appreciation," he replied smoothly. "Can I help it if people are naturally drawn to this face?"
Sam sighed the second he heard that. "Henry, you should give up," he said tiredly. "Dean's narcissistic to the core."
"Yeah," Henry muttered while glancing at Dean, "I noticed that already."
Dean pointed at Sam. "See? Jealousy. That's what this is."
Sam looked horrified. "Nobody is jealous of you."
Meanwhile Bela had gone strangely quiet beside them.
Henry noticed immediately and looked toward her. "Well?" he asked calmly. "Proceed like I said."
*****
🔥 For Advanced Chapters Join My Patreon 🔥
👉 patreon.com/DeathNote4455
🚀 Get early access to 24 Advanced chapters.