"Whoever invented boats should be drug out in the street and shot," Jinx declared before he once again leaned over the side of the boat to vomit.The Orangelo was absolutely miserable. Between the non-stop rocking of the boat and the Chaos god energy sloshing around inside of him, he felt like he was going to vomit until he died. That would all be bad enough, but on top of trying to not get spew on the deck or any of his traveling companions, Jinx was trying to maintain the stability of the healing bubble he'd created for Hades and Doll.Even with the help of his Orangelo tarot deck, the bubble threatened to come undone with every round of sickness that washed over him.Most of the others tried to ignore him, especially after Jinx had snarled at anyone who came near him. Bless sweet Lexi, the Demon was trying his best to help Jinx. He was on hand with fresh water tinged with sweet mint to rinse his mouth after the foul business was done. And he kept trying to get Jinx to nibble on som
Everyone who mattered to him was gone. Spitfire was alone.It wasn't that he didn't like Lexi and Jinx, but they weren't his mates. They were barely more than strangers. And the other two - Priest and Ink - that was complicated. Ink had been kind to him and Doll while they were on the ship. But his mate Priest had tried to drain their magick and sell them to Hares as breeding stock. Though Priest was Guru's brother and that made him uncle to some of the kits Spitfire carried, he wasn't sure if he wanted anything to do with him.Sitting by himself, watching the water pass by,was making him crazy. Especially as he had no idea where Guru was and their other mates Hades and Doll were trapped in a healing bubble. All three of them were out of his reach. He could only feel the impression of them on the fringes of his mind but touching their auras, feeling their presence was not possible.Looking around the boat, Spitfire saw that Lexi was asleep in a hammock and
Shadwell Sebastian Woolsey stomped aimlessly through the rain. He had a destination but he was in no hurry to get there.His shoes needed replacing, he noted as water crept in from a puddle he had not managed to avoid. He hated getting wet. Some might say he was a walking stereotype but he had never met another tom who hated it as much as he did. Hell, a fair amount of them used water as their first introduction to the Elemental arts.Not Shadwell, though. As a Black-fur, he couldn’t create an affinity for such a healing Element to use in his magick. His gifts - if you could call them that - were of a much more complicated and forbidden nature. He could scratch the surface of his potential and did fine for himself with what he could do. However, Black-furs could only access their core magick by using a no-fur conduit.Which was something Shadwell was never going to be able to do. Collaring a no-fur was a luxury for the most elite of Elementalists, somethin
And there it was.Where had so many felines gotten the idea Hades had no morals?Hades reminded himself to never ask that question anywhere Jinx could hear him."Sir, with due respect I'm not called Hades because I actually am aneight-headed Death demon who breathes fire and sends toms to the Underworld.""No, no, my good tom.It's purely a business transaction. I need him brought upstate to a breeding house. I'm heartbroken,I truly am. But it's the only way to get any good money out of him now. There are… things that point to the absolutely unbelievable idea that he might have killed the tom in question. I don't believe it,of course,but toms talk."The fat feline gave a broad laugh,very out of place with the tale he was telling.Hades was reading between the lines and it didn't sit well with him. He turned his sharp green gaze to the kneeling creature. "Did you kill the feline, no-fur?""Go on,
The no-fur that,up until this morning,had belonged to the Martelli family took his time as he meandered through the estate garden. Because of his innate magical ability and his skill with floral design, he had lived a fairly pleasant life for an uncollared no-fur. The family had at least twentyno-furs in the stableat any timeand he only had to service the disgusting Gran once or twice a month because the free-loader was very fickle about which no-furs he requested from his cousin’s stable.Gran'scousinand the man behind thepowerfulmobfamily, Liam Martelli, wasn't interested in the no-fur past what he could do to set up a banquet room for an event. Liamwas happily married to one of the sexiest chefs in the world, a sleek Gray-furred delight called Cook. He had no use for any of the many no-furs his family ownedfor any of their common uses. Liamhad a strong distaste for the whole no-fur trade an
Hades knew exactly what was about to transpirebetween the no-fur and his hideous master. Not only had he seen the glint of Gran's knife, he'd read the tom’s aura. Despite already having a plan to rid himself of the aqua-haired no-fur, the fat tom was both angry and afraid of him.There was a lot of dirty litter going on here and Hades knew he might be best served to return the money and walk away.But he wasn't going to be able to leave the no-furto this monster. Never mind that he was driving him upstate to hand him over to a different kind of monster. That was a detail Hades chose to ignore right now. But this was still the Martelli family,even if it was an offshoot that claimed no connections. Not that Hades believed that story for a second. Gran's last name was no joke.Before Gran had formed a response that no doubt would involve callinghim rude at the very least,Hades stomped past him, grabbingthe no-fur
Having driven about 40 minutes outside of the city, Hades felt they’dgone far enough. He had watched for anyone tailing him but he was fairly certain Gran was more concerned about the no-furdisappearing than if Hades was driving away from his agreed destination.Not that he expected the no-furcould hear him but he spoke his planout loud."Going to pull off at this next rest stop. Says it's closed but I have a professional investigator's badge on my car,so no one will care if we park for a bit."It was just a few miles up. Hades jumped as his cell phone went off. He tapped it and looked quickly at the screen just to see who it was. When it blinked unknown he didn't give it a second thought. Wrong number or someone wanting money. Either way,not important.Putting his blinker on,he barely missed being clipped by an asshole who sped up as soon as he changed lanes. Thank the gods he was able to slide into the exit
Feeling Hades'shot breath on his neck as the coarse,lust-filled words reached his ears told the no-fur that he made the right decision. The likelihood he would be in the breeding home before this time tomorrow wasn't changing. But that wasn't what this was about.The no-fur had no illusions about where his life was heading. It would be the ultimate actof stupidity for Hades to try to save him. There was acting out of concern, albeit a counter-cultural concern, like what the strong sexy tom did with that horrible cage. Then there was destroying your life for a dime-a-dozen no-fur. The omega doubted he would have the strength of character to make that kind of choicehimself. And for a complete stranger? No one was willing to risk that much for so little.The no-fur knew how little value he had in the scheme of things. His ability to be seeded would make Gran and Hades rich.He would be a part of birthing the next generation of toms and no-furs