Hades was fast asleep, curled around Doll when his phone started vibrating. It stopped for a bit but then off it went again. He rolled over, ignoring it until the phone went off a few more times. On the last one, the whole damn building shook.
"Holy fuck, who the hell is calling me that can make the building shake?" Hades grumbled, answering the phone without looking. He expected it to be either Jinx or Spitfire. Most likely Spitfire. He was rather uncomfortable with the fact that he now had two entities in his life that could shake his entire building if he didn't answer the phone. A month ago, he had exactly zero of those.
"Hello?" Hades answered and the first sounds that came through the phone were static and something that might have been a distant explosion. "Hello?"
"Wanted to give you a heads up." It was Liam shouting over the noise. "We have a situation here. The Martelli estate is under attack from Hares and those fucking machines." The sound of Li
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
Hades leaned against a tree catching his breathwhile the no-fur laid in his lap,making little happy noises as he stroked his curly blue-green hair. They were mostly sheltered from the rain by a large canopy of leaves Hades had easily summoned with his connection to the no-fur.He was in trouble. With one hasty decision, he had over-complicated his life.Hadeshad no clue what he was going to do now. The thought of taking the pretty furless creature to be caged and mounted at the omega farm had gone from a questionable choice toabsolutelyunacceptable.He groaned. His body ached all over. Probably less than the no-fur'sdid, but he wanted to do itall again.He could think of lots of other things he wanted to do as well. The no-fur set him on fire. Hades found his paw curling into a possessive fist in the no-fur’s hair. He'd heard of bonds that were accidentally set off by becoming a no-fur'stemporary E
The no-fur wasted no time heading for the shower once Hades left. Until he saw the amazing Jacuzzitub in the bathroom. He did a quick clean-up in the admittedly sexy shower but didn't spend a lot of time in it. He was all about the tub. He poured some rosemary and orange blossom bath salts in the deliciously hot water and sank inside it. The water was steaming,nothing like the pathetic showerand tub combohe shared with the other no-fursin the Martelli stable.The invigoratingscents made his toes tingle. He leaned back and closed his eyes and immediately starting thinking about Hades. Hades biting him. Snarling the dirtiest things. Calling him 'pretty baby'. He sighed and ran his hands along his chest and started toying with one of his nipples,handling it roughly. Just like Hades would.It hadn't been his intention to play with himself in the tub. But now the no-fur was lost in the fantasy. The hot water assaulting h