Doll saw his life flash in the flame all around him.  "Lexi, no! I love him." At least he was going to die knowing Hades cared. Except the flames went out right before they got to his body. There was a shell similar to a casting circle around him. Was it the flowers? No, those sweet little blooms weren't that powerful. Was it Hades's love? It was impossible to tell. Doll couldn't hear or see anything except Lexi's terrifying fire while in the protective sphere. There was no reason for Hades to say it. Even if he was trying to stop the demon, based on what little Doll understood, that confession was probably not the way to do it. So, did he mean it? How could he? You couldn't decide in one night, could you? And that brought up how he felt. If the sudden, overwhelming rage was any indication, Doll had to admit he had strong feelings for the tom. And he had been dreaming

"So we have to think." Hades felt better after driving them about fifteen minutes up the highway away from the hotel and even farther from the big city. "We need a plan better than just drive and drive. But don't worry, I have a friend who knows some interesting characters. We can come up with a plan." "Hades? We need something a little more desperately than a plan right now." Doll pointed to the dashboard. "I know it's your area of expertise and all… but, um… I think we are about to run out of gas." "What? No, that's ridiculous." Hades turned to see Doll one step away from panicking. He stared at the fuel gauge. "Fuck, we need to pull off for gas right now. It's fine, Doll. You caught it in time." Hades didn't want to lose the time to find a town to gas up in, but walking by the side of the road wasn’t on his agenda either. He tried to think of something to talk about that would sooth the no-fur’s nerves as he pulled into the exit lane so they

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

Lexi listened to another crazy idea of Jinx's as he slurped the vanilla 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

"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 was technically your 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-fection exercise craze watched the Black-fur’s movements with 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 tom righ