The strongest scent was BBQ and spice but hiding underneath was gasoline. Hades fought to kick himself out of the crumpled car. He was starting to believe the Persian's blessing had some weight to it as he dragged himself from the wreckage. He was almost completely unharmed. Considering the state of the minivan, he should be dead. He rushed to the passenger side. Doll was thankfully alive but out of it and possibly injured.
All of that had really happened but then the dream turned on Hades. It became a nightmare with a foundation in reality. He wasn't able to get Doll out of the car before a fire started and, desperate to get his lover free and safe, he pulled as hard as he could and came away with just an arm. Before he could fully freak out about that, the van exploded.
He stumbled back, screaming at the carnage. Alternating between irrational anger at the no-fur and grief, Hades was still holding Doll's arm when it cau
Jinx loved his friend Hades. He really did. That love had been tested many times over the years. Today the Orangelo was standing outside of a luxury hotel about to break in and summon a demon. He’d onlydo thisfor Hades and even the Black-furred disaster would owe him one hell of a favor. But the hopeless bastard was in love, not that Jinx was surprised.He had read it in the cards six months ago. Part of why he kept giving Hades a hard time about the possibility of him running off with the no-fur was their latest conversation over the cards. Jinx didn't really use them for anyone but himself but every once in a while they told him to offer a reading. The deck was handed down from his sire's sideof his very prestigious family. And it was sort of cursed. Whenever Jinx read for someone he got far too much of their future for any one feline to handle. And he always got involved. Which went against every rule in existence about the art of divi
Lexi listened to another crazy idea of Jinx's as he slurped thevanilla milkshake he'd finally gotten the tom to stop for.It had only taken twenty straight minutes of badgering him. He hadn’t expected Jinx to break down that easily."You truly rely on your special ability to get you out of everything." The Demon disguised as a tom took a louder slurp. "Not gonna work forever.""Says you. And I think you grossly underestimate what Hades, a Black-fur,and myself, an Orangelo,can get up to."Lexi felt his fur rise at Jinx's smug response.Holding back a much more guttural growl the demon asked, "Were you two an item?""Hades and me?" Jinx took his time answering which didn't make Lexi any happier. Laughing, he shook his head."Nah, I'm not the glutton for punishment you have to be to fall for ol' emerald eyes. No offense.""Good.I'm not saying it would be enough of a reason to rip out your insides but that a
The night felt never-ending but Jinx couldn’t help but think thatHades would find thatpreferable to his reality. If the night went on forever,he would not be standing here now flanked by his best friend who had nothing to say and his ex whose look of pity was an aggravating reminder of what he had to accept. Doll was gone. "How?" Hades finally managed to speak. "The plan was perfect." Jinx put a paw on his old friend's shoulder. "There is nothing we could have done. We didn't know enough going in and we could only work with what we had." Hades spun around,refusing to look at the bodyof the no-furthey'd gone to retrieve at the landfill. He shoved Jinx to the ground. "And whose fault is that? If you had just pulled a full reading, you would have seen it!Youcould have known,you just chose not to!" Hades's paws began to glow as his rage summoned the hidden power of his Black-fur
"That's a celebrity, Lexi." Hades couldn't believe he was staying as calm as he was. He crawled out of the van and made a shooing motion at the overambitious demon. "I know we haven't had a chance to discuss how we are infiltrating and it wastechnicallyyour idea but part of sneaking in somewhere is keeping it less of a spectacle." As Lexi removed his claws from the surprised blonde tom and shifted to his illusory cat form,Hades grabbed Guru's arms and tried to assess the damage to his jacket. The face that was plastered on billboards and known world wide as the tom who created the Don't Strive For Purr-fectionexercise craze watched the Black-fur’smovementswith cautious eyes. "If you don't mind me asking,why are you trying to sneak into such a high profile party?" Hades was done dealing with fools and had no time to argue with an entitled asshole. He drew his paw back to punch the taller tomrigh
Doll watched the no-fur scientist fiddle with his various implements. He couldn't do much else. Doll was wrapped in golden energy wire rather than being locked in a traditional pen. Apparently, the no-fur who seemedto bein charge had a certain aesthetic and only used pens when necessary.At least, Doll was fairly certain that was one of the things the no-fur had said to him as he fiddled around with various things in the lab. He watched as the scientist tapped a needle full of gods knew what, feeling a sense of dread creeping up his spine. "The Black-fur called you Doll, yes?I assume you prefer that over your ID code?” The no-fur made a vague gesture to the bar code and corresponding number sequence tattooed high on Doll’s left side. The marking was put on all officially registered no-furs as a way of tracking their bloodlines and proper ownership. As it was common for litters to be separated with the little toms staying w
Lexi watched as Guru turned in his coins and gems for a little bracelet that looked like rope made of precious metal. His many coins and gems. Lexi was no longer concerned Guru didn't have enough to outbid every other tom assembled for First Rights. Cloaked away and unnoticeable to anyone but Guru,he could comment freely. "Whatever you do, it must be profitable." Guru nodded his head and answered while they walked down the narrow hall to the viewing platform. "Very. But that's not why I do it. Still,like most toms, I like shiny things and most shiny things aren't cheap." Lexi watched the good-looking tom glance around to make sure they were alone. "But this is not my scene. My manager swears I have to get one to be taken seriously or my star will fade. Makes no sense to me. And when your friend explained what went on here, I still can't believe it.I always thought the no-furs at a Rodeo were there by choice, a part of somethin
Hoping changing the plan avoided whatevercatastropheJinxsaw in his cards, Hades moved up the stairwell as fast as could. He checked the main floor first, taking justa minuteto make sure the deliveries they sent were brought inside. Several bouquets had come for Pawson, a worker they found in a simple coded employee file that Hades and Jinx cracked together. The tomwas on vacation and wouldn't be around to accept or deny them. Hades had sent some live plants and guessed what flower auras different blooms possessed. He had no idea besides the few Doll had talked about but that's why he sent so many kinds. They were all there. Flanking both walls of the lobby. If it came to a fight, once he had Doll, they'dbe able to use their bond to draw from the auras. Security wouldn't know what hit them. He found it hard to shake off the sadness,wishing he had more time to talk to Doll and learn about the flower auras. The no-fur was so passi
Jinx had his paws full and hoped whatever Hades had to say,he would get back to him. Or had found a way to get himself out of trouble if that's what it had been about. ButJinx had his own problemsto deal with right now. The Orangelo was face-to-face with something not borne of nature and therefore not ruled by fate. "Why are there creepy fucking life-sized dolls?" Jinx swore at said fate. He still hadn't found a single living feline but he had found a preparation room. "How am I supposed to deal with those?I'll tell you how,I'm just gonna back away and close the door." Which he moved to do only to back up into more of the spooky tom facsimiles. Jinx was pushed forward in the room. The three other automatom dolls noticed him now. They started to say "Welcome" over and over again. As they came into the light,Jinx noticed they each had one realistic eye and one empty socket. Their movements were clunky as one gestured to