Everything was gone.
All that Jinx had found, all that he thought he was going to have now that he had met his Innehavre. Now that he had someone in his life that he could reveal all of himself to, Lexi was gone.
The poison had left only a bit of dust on the floor of Wound's healing room. They had not saved Lexi. Jinx had failed.
The scream that ripped from his throat was full of the Orangelo's rage and pain, the raw misery of losing that very intimate connection that existed only between Innehavre. Jinx screamed over and over, draining everything out of his body. When he was finally empty, Jinx found himself curled on the floor. His paw was dyed purple from the wetness of his tears hitting the dust that used to be Lexi. Jinx hoped that it never came out. He would bear that mark of shame for the rest of his life, never forgetting the bond that he let slip away.
"Hey, Orangelo!" It was an exclamation despite it coming from the fading glamoured body of a to
"Well, tell him, is it? Can he? He's so amazing. I bet you are going to tell him he can." Lexi was hovering over Wound, watching Jinx heal the injuries he had created.The demon still didn't understand everything but he knew enough to know he had been wrong about the healer. Lexi had been rash and not thought things through. He knew how toms and no-furs shared their auric power. But all he could see was someone hurting his Jinx and he had to stop him in any way possible.Now he could see things differently. He'd almost murdered Wound. If Jinx hadn't been so full of untapped power, Wound would have been lost. Lexi,being a stronger ranked demon,had created fatal holes in the healer. He should have died. That would have been horrible for many reasons but the number one was the tom Lexi could hear humming to himself down the hall.Lexi had almost destroyed a soul-bond, the kind he had with Jinx. He was so ashamed and furious with himself. Worse, he had n
King was raging inside. That damned fool Hades had really outdone himself. Stealing power from him at the least opportune time ever. How had the love-struckmoron of a tom done it? There shouldn't even be a connection between them without King opening it.Well, whatever he’d done, Hades had really fucked up royally. Because not only had Hades interrupted the Black Devil's spectacular rescue of the idiot's very own belovedno-furbut the tom had taken so much power King was now a prisoner of whoever was running the whole operation.King hissed and his black fur stood on end. He was in a slightly modified no-fur cage. And while that might have given a regular-sized tom a bit of room - and though he was no longer in his Topside massive Grey-fur glamour due to an absolute loss of magick - ol' Blackie's broad shoulders and strong legs left him unable to even turn around. Temporarily drained of his God aura, his claws were that of an average tom and good
"Skin-sheath." Agent muttered the word as if tasting it on his tongue. He'd been called every variant of that particular slur in his life. None of them were sexy, kind, or even remotely flattering. Even the ones that toms seemed to think were affectionate. The no-fur flexed his toes again as he thought. They were new. Less than twenty-four hours ago, his feet were that of a no-fur. His feet still hurt from the procedure that removed his bones from his knees down and replaced them with the bones of a tom. Once the bones were grafted in, Agent's skin had been wrapped around them. He had wanted the proper tom knees to be put on at the same time as the lower legs and paws, but the tom who he had harvested the lower legs and feet from did not have viable knees. "Yes, old tom, I find that term offensive." Agent finally nodded. "At a genetic level, there is less than one-tenth of one percent of a difference between a no-fur and a tom. A few different protein pairings and a quarter of the s
Guru had collected his unconscious no-fur in his arms and was leaning against a tree. His whole body screamed that he needed rest as well but he would stay awake as long as Spitfire couldn't protect himself. Recent events suggested his troublesome ginger-haired no-fur could more than take care of himself when fully conscious, but the Blonde tom wasn't going to take any chances with him.Thank the gods the candy trick worked. They had gotten lucky with that. Well, more than lucky. Their bond was so strong Spitfire had seen through Guru's attempt to make the medicine he needed and done it himself. Guru hoped there was something wrong with him that made his heart skip a beat. The no-fur had a psychotic break and had beaten the Blonde tom to the point of tears. He wrecked his body.And Guru still loved him.Guru didn't blame Spitfire for what happened. He couldn't. He knew the other side of Spitfire, the one who walked straight into the demon's den for the sole purp
Jinx sat quietly, absorbing what Guru was saying. He finally nodded. "Okay. I said that you could have whatever you needed. I meant that."The tom looked over at Spitfire. The no-fur hadn't moved since he had been laid in the window seat. "Gran, can you get something to help wake Spitfire?"Pushing himself up from the floor, Jinx tried to keep the swelling of hope in his chest under control. It was going to be a tough undertaking and there were no guarantees. But he couldn't help himself. He needed to believe that there was hope. He couldn't let himself think that he had lost Lexi. Not now, not when he'd only just found him."First thing’s first. I'm gonna keep you busy. I need a good auric circle with a homemade sigil to focus on. If we are going to use the card,then it should be something that draws from it. But the best chance of success to capture and contain an auric soul is to use water. How do you feel about finding a jar or something about ya
Waking up was the worst idea he had yet.Spitfire groaned as his eyes cracked open. His entire body was stiff and sore. He was cold in some places and hot in others. Breathing was like running sandpaper over his throat. The only thing in the entire universe that didn't suck right now was the comforting presence of his tom. Guru was sitting next to where Spitfire lay and the no-fur could hear his soft, deep voice. He couldn't understand a word the tom was saying, but the vibrations of him speaking was comforting nonetheless.After what felt like ages, Spitfire groaned again and attempted to speak."My everything hurts.""I'll bet it does. So what I'm about to ask may not be the best timing." Guru was kissing, almost grooming Spitfire's red-honey hair. "We need to work some magick. I can be gentle."Spitfire stretched and made a whining noise as his muscles all protested the movement. "No. I can't."He curled in on himself, half-heartedly push
The last thing Jinx wanted to do was hang out in the much too small room while Spitfire and Guru were having sex. They would be practically in his lap and that was way too close for anyone's comfort. He entered the kitchen, surprised to find that the table was repaired.Gran was sitting at the kitchen table, humming while he worked yarn over a pair of knitting needles. Jinx made a beeline for the pitcher of melting snow on the counter. It had lemon slices in it and the water that was filling the bottom half looked clear and cold. Jinx's paw was nearly to the handle when he was smacked by one of Gran's knitting needles."That is not for you. Those others will need this when they are done." The lean tom smiled and steered Jinx towards the table. A large pitcher of what looked like iced tea waited with three glasses full of ice. "You can have some of this."Jinx didn't feel like arguing. He just nodded and let himself be led to the table. He stared out the kitchen
Doll was feeling better than he had in a while. The toms who took care of the small Gods gave him and some of his fellow no-furs a great feast this morning. Then it was a few hours of reeducation, which the no-fur didn't mind so much anymore. He was getting the hang of the tricky affirmations they had to learn about how generous their gift to the toms was and how it was all they lived for.But how could he not be pleased? He'd gone right to the front of the line. While he would have gladly served the toms coming to enjoy the garden party, he was whisked away after being told he was going to give his essence to one of the great rituals that helped heal the toms and their world. What an amazing opportunity to serve!As he made his way down the steps to the Room of Awakening, Doll noticed the robe the toms had given him was so soft that it felt like fur against his skin. There was something oddly comforting about that. Maybe he was remembering what it felt like to sleep a