Chapter Fifteen
Kory
Listening to the consistent snores of Rudy and his two buffoons, I know it's time to make my move. We checked into the hotel tonight with me in Jimmy's pocket. Trying to bring a caged rodent in wouldn't have gone over well. When we got to the room, they locked me in the bathroom. Amateurs.
They've let their guard down because the collar has a tracker, but they underestimate my desire to escape.
With as much shifter speed as I can muster, I start gnawing away at the wall.
It would be faster to squeeze under the door, but they've blocked the crack, and chewing that close to the beds might wake them up, so escape by drywall it is.
I'm grateful for my shifter abilities. If I were a regular mouse, this would be slow-going.
My enhanced speed makes this much less time consuming.
So focused on my mission, I almost give myself away when the light comes on.
But I manage to scurry into the opposite corner before Elmer notices me.
Unfortunately, I'll be scarred for life since I had to see his dick while he was using the bathroom.
I could have gone my whole life without that image in my brain.
Wasn't being mouse-napped enough? Now, I've got to be tortured?
"What are you looking at, pipsqueak?" Elmer mumbles, still half asleep.
Nothing I want to be, that's for sure. But in the interest of continuing my escape, I resist the urge to squeak at him, or bite him. The light finally goes back out and he shuts the door, blocking it again. He didn't even wash his hands. Gross!
Shaking off the disgust, I resume chomping the wall. Soon Elmer and his disgusting habits won't be my problem. I'll have to move, though. Now that they've found me, I won't be safe at the cabin anymore. I'll have to leave everything behind. Again. Including Hex.
I pause mid-chomp. It's only hitting me now that I may have to let go of my man if this doesn't work.
He felt like something special, too. Someone to hold onto.
Damn Rudy and his spawn. Channeling all the emotions I'm feeling into my work, I finish chewing through the wall.
Now, all I have to do is find my way through the maze of pipes and wires to some kind of exit.
Letting my mouse lead, I pull back into thinking mode. I don't want to leave my home. I don't want to leave Hex. But the only way I can keep my life is for Rudy and company to go away.
From what I've gathered listening to those idiots for days on end, someone else hired them to do this job.
They don't know what is in the amphora, and they don't care as long as they get paid.
Whoever hired them wouldn't like it if they didn't get what they want.
If I steal the amphora, I have leverage.
This is insanity. I know it is. But I'm not going to give up my life without trying to salvage it first. Not this time. I refuse to be their pawn and live the rest of my days in a cage, collared like a common pet.
My mouse brings us to a stop in front of some kind of vent cover.
I squeeze through the slats and find myself in the hotel kitchen.
Being late, it's quiet and safe for me to sneak around.
Luck is on my side when I find an external door to the alley open because someone is out on a smoke break.
I dart out the door, not looking back. The hotel is close-ish to the Manor I'm supposed to break into but still far enough away to claim plausible deniability if something goes wrong.
Without knowing how long it will be before my escape from the bathroom is discovered, I waste no time putting distance between me and the hotel. It feels like forever, especially since I made a few wrong turns, but I find the Manor and a way in.
The scent of demons hits me and I have instant regret about breaking in alone. You don't f around with demons. Everyone knows that. Whatever the buyers are paying isn't enough. But if I don't do this, I'll never get my life back free and clear.
Without warning, I'm floating through the air. No, something has me by the tail.
"My, my. Look what we have here," a voice says as my body turns from the momentum bringing me face-to-face with my captor. All I can focus on is the horrible, sharp-toothed smile that greets me.