Tarsi was the youngest of the Three Toms. This did not mean he was new to his role as a Fate, just the newest. But even in his centuries of service, the tom had never seen anything like the yarn monster he and Purl had just barely managed to defeat.
The alarms - different ones than before - that were going off now were much louder and shriller. The emergency was not contained. The yarn creature was a mere warning, then. A harbinger.
Without Frog, they had to run to the next logical place of concern. There was an ages-old rule that made no sense to Tarsi, especially now. Only when the Three are One can they wield their true power.
Which meant they couldn't portal around like they did in the mortal realm unless they were all together.
So Tarsi's portly form was having to climb the celestial stairs to the Meeting Room and he was starting to wonder if Fates could die of heart attacks.
"Is that sound really what I think it is? We've only ever done one s
Lexi moved quickly, heading right for Jinx just like Spitfire had told him to do. Which under regular circumstances would be fine, but this was something else. It was a feeling Lexi was far from unfamiliar with and one he wasn't fond of.No Demon was.In his many centuries of life, Lexi had been both contracted to toms and reprimanded by the Black Devil. The latter happened as recently as his ill-fated tryst with Hades. Ol' Blackie had made him pay for that. Especially when he interfered in the Underworld master's short battle with the Elementalist.Demons could lose their will and be aware of it the whole time. They had to do whatever the holder of their contract or the Black Devil commanded without rebellion. And if they fought against it, even a little, the pain was unspeakable. If they kept fighting through that, they risked losing the entire personality they had when not under the influential command. They became empty husks and very good little so
"Fuck."All of the pieces were starting to fall into place for Jinx. Spitfire's control of the Black Sand, a distinctly Underworld sort of magick. The Hell Portal opening around the no-fur when he'd confronted the circus Hare. The Underworld aura circling the pirate ships where Spitfire had been held hostage. Demons just galloping off back through the Hell Portal at a simple command from Spitfire.And now his ability to control Lexi so completely.Spitfire was either possessed by the Black Devil or... Even worse, the no-fur was becoming the God of the Underworld the same way Jinx was becoming the God of Chaos."But how did that happen? When did he have time to overthrow the Black Devil?" Jinx asked out loud, trying to pinpoint when it was Spitfire had changed.He couldn't nail down a moment where it happened. For all he knew, the no-fur had been the Black Devil from minute one. He hadn't spent as much time with him as the others had in the few shor
Doll dreamt of the past. It was part memory, part fantasy, though it was now hard to tell one from the other. He dreamt of that first, almost forgotten, time with Hades. The pain of his magick awakening was now a different kind of pain. The young Hades's brutality and yet gentle awareness of him was being rewritten in his mind and heart as the coming together of future Innehavres.He dreamt of times yet to come as his kits and Spitfire's played together as he and his three mates looked on, cuddling. Proud and so very much in love. And safe. The no-fur dreamed of a time when the danger had passed.It was lovely until a profound sadness seeped in the cracks taking him out of both places. He felt the nothingness all around him. The little lives sleeping within him slipping out of his reach. Fading away.The no-fur awoke with a start. His hands instinctively reached for his growing darlings. What was the stuff of nightmares passed as he found the opposite to be true. His belly was fat wit
Agent frowned into the cave, regarding Doll with narrowed eyes."What do you mean you don't have that anymore? That doesn't make sense. The injections should have bonded with your blood and body." Agent tilted his head with curiosity. He could feel his tom ears flicking with irritation.Doll didn't seem inclined to come out of the shadows. His distrust was in every word. "I'm not sure I should tell you. I don't know a lot of what's going on because I did go straight from being rescued from you and your crazy to healing Priest to winding up here with very little explanation.""That's fair." Agent settled down to consider what Doll was telling him. "I don't know what happened with thehealing you did. I was busy fighting that Orangelo menace. But from what I've seen since I arrived, you took in an aura that your system wasn't equipped to handle. Probably has something to do with Hades trying to control the Underworld aura. He's a Black-fur but he's not made f
The Throne of the Black Devil was prepared. Had been for some time.As soon as it had completely discarded the idea of Hades trying to challenge it, there was no blocking where the power was flowing, toward the arrogant and surprisingly strong no-fur the Black-fur now called his mate. One of two no-furs that carried Hades's kits. Apparently, its troubles would continue to be Hades-adjacent.The Throne wasn't worried, not in the least. This Spitfire would either accept his new role and bow to its power or burn up in the flames that created the Underworld itself. And if that were the case, he would be a delicious distraction to obliterate slowly.There was only one place to begin a formal challenge and Spitfire would know where it was by instinct. The Throne's room, its seat of power. Spitfire had been disrespectfully bold the last time he stepped foot in here. He would pay for that if the Throne could crack the code to his guilty conscience.But that was what the Throne was made for. N
Growling, Spitfire tried to find a way around the Throne's idiotic rules. There was no way he was going to submit to giving souls what they think they deserved. Where was the logic or use in that? He'd met plenty of asshole toms who would swear they'd done nothing wrong and deserved no punishment. But this one...This tom had meant no harm. He was in love with the no-fur. Absolutely besotted. They were the first who'd come of age after the no-furs had appeared. This no-fur... He was special somehow but Spitfire was being held back from seeing everything. He couldn't pin down whythis particular no-fur drew the attention of the celestial beings. He could feel powerful auras around him but because of the Throne's binding on his magick, Spitfire couldn't sort out who they were or why they were interested."Can't you feel it?" Spitfire screamed at the useless fucking Throne. "He didn't kill the no-fur. He freaked out, sure, but the connections... They're wron
How had his entire life been turned upside down in a matter of weeks?Hades had asked himself that over and over again since thefateful day he agreed to take a no-fur upstate. In that time, he'd found his Innehavre - something he had never really believed existed - before discovering he was falling in love with another Innehavre pairing.Adding Guru and Spitfire to his life wasn't even the weirdest thing that Hades had happen to him. The number of families that were made up of a pair of mated toms and their no-furs was so high that it was practically the norm. It made raising the sometimes large litters of kits easier when there were multiple parents.Which lead Hades to the biggest change in his life plans. Kits.Both Doll and Spitfire were pregnant with kits that could potentially be his. Some of them were likely Guru's but until they were born, there was no means to know who had whose kits growing in them. The complication of a no-fur be
On the other side of the portal was a thick forest. Jinx stumbled over roots as he tried to get clear to let the others through. He'd been the first through, not wanting to hang around where Spitfire was any longer than necessary.That was probably because of the clash of their godly powers. Somehow Hades's second no-fur mate had become the adversary of the God of Chaos by assuming the mantle of the God of the Underworld. Jinx wasn't ready for the story about how that happened right now. He was too focused on the missions at hand - to protect Doll until he was ready to come out of the healing bubble and to rescue Guru. Everything else could wait until they were back at the Mousetrap with large drinks in their paws."You okay, Lexi?" Jinx reached out a paw for his own mate, hoping that his adorable green Demon was okay. Lexi had been rather shaken by Spitfire."He's not the same." Lexi's words did nothing to make Jinx less worried about his Innehavre. "He's a new thing. I don't know w