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“Let me see her,” Kevin heard Paris say to Ian.
He was lying on the floor mattress with Obsidian, who was back in her costume. He had part of his costume on as well, his black pants, mostly because it was a little warm in the bed and the fabric of the shirt had been making him sweat.
“We have to hear what they’re saying,” he whispered to Turquoise, who sat in the corner of the room performing some religious ritual he’d seen her do a few times now. Now that he was around them all the time, he’d noticed both of them performing these rituals, chanting in a strange tongue he’d never heard before.
Turquoise finished her mantra and stood, her tail perking up. She nodded Kevin over, and the heavy man got off the bed as quietly as he could. He snuck over to the door and placed his back against the wall, trying his best to careen his head around without bringing attention to himself.
He was breathing a bit too heavily to hear Ian and Paris’s discussion, so he held his breath for a moment, listening as she spoke.
“...I haven’t decided if we keep him as an asset or not, to be honest,” she told Ian. “He helped you get your paperwork done, but there’s just something off about it all. I don’t know how reliable he is, or if he will jeopardize what we’re trying to do here.”
“And Kevin?”
Paris paused for a moment. “He clearly has a terrible relationship with his brother, which could prove to our advantage. But he is expendable, as are the girls if it comes down to it.”
Kevin’s fists tightened; he was about to prove to her just how expendable he was. No longer able to hold his breath, he let out a short squeak of air, which caused Paris and Ian to stop speaking.
A bead of sweat appeared on his temple.
He felt Turquoise wrap her hand around his, her nails protruding ever so slightly as she pressed them into his knuckles, releasing her neurotoxin.
He was growing more and more familiar with the way it felt when the high came over him. It felt good, calming him almost instantly. He let his heart settle as Paris and Ian continued speaking in the hallway.
“We can deal with them later. Nadine as well. We’re supposed to be meeting him soon, and I want things to be set up.”
“So you want me visible or not?”
“Not. Which is why I’ve asked him to meet me in another warehouse, not far from here. Plenty of places for you to hang in the dark, just in case I need some muscle. Then again, maybe our conversation will go well, and I won’t be needing your services.”
“Fine by me,” said Ian. “Are we going now?”
“Yes. Meet me downstairs; I need to speak to Turquoise and let her know we’re leaving.”
Kevin wasn’t a fast man, but the time it took him to get back to his bed was impressive to say the least, especially when considering his girth and how far away the mattress was from the door. He had just bounced onto it, waking Obsidian (who screeched loudly and clawed him), when Paris entered the room.
“I see you two are keeping Kevin entertained,” she told Turquoise, who still stood by the door.
“Yes, Obsidian is very entertaining,” she purred.
Picking up on what was going on, Obsidian began to lightly claw at Kevin and giggle. “Kev, Kev, Kev...”
“We’re leaving now,” Paris said, cringing. “And you’re in charge of our hostage—both our hostages. It won’t be long before we return.”
With that, the slender woman turned away, disgust evident on her face at seeing Kevin shirtless.
“If we’re going to do this, we need to do it now,” Kevin said. They’d heard Paris and Ian Turlock leave about five minutes ago. It was now or never.
“Where will we take her?” asked Obsidian.
“To a hotel or something. I don’t know.” Kevin drummed his fingers on his chin. “She’s not staying with us, that’s for sure. We’ve got to get just about as far away from here as we can if we do this.”
Turquoise’s head bobbed left and right as she considered this. “Okay, you can carry her.”
“Definitely.”
“Good, then I know a teleporter who will help us.” She grinned up at Kevin, her tail lightly flitting against his arm.
Kevin put his shirt on, stretching it over his fat body and adjusting his pants.
They checked the hallway once more, and after they confirmed it was clear, the three moved into the room where Paris was keeping Nadine.
Kevin was nervous, his palms sweating, but he was also feeling bold. And besides, Paris and Ian were gone, so he was able to combat his nervousness using logic.
“Nadine!” Kevin rushed over to the woman and lightly slapped her cheek. “Remember me? It’s Kevin, from the office. Remember?”
Nadine’s eyes were glazed over, her expression indicating she was pretty much dead to the world. A glint on her finger caught Kevin’s attention, and as he stared down at the woman, he began admiring her ring.
“Get her,” said Turquoise, approaching from his left.
“Sure. I’m taking her ring, too, as a souvenir,” he said as he lifted Nadine’s hand.
“Your first rescue,” Obsidian hissed. “A good day to remember.”
Kevin slipped the ring off her finger and shoved it onto his pinky.
It was a tight fit, and there was a strange notch on the bottom part of the ring, which he started to explore almost immediately. Kevin’s thumb naturally pressed into the notch on the bottom of the stolen ring—just as Turquoise’s teleporter appeared.
The female teleporter stumbled forward, nearly colliding with a wall.
“What’s going on?” she asked, her hand now on her stomach.
Kevin turned to see both cat girls also bending over, their eyes bulging. His thumb found the bottom of his ring and he pressed it again.
The three exemplars returned to normal.
Kevin’s bushy eyebrows lifted as he put two and two together. Before the cat girls and the teleporter could respond, Kevin pressed the ring again, noticing the three of them start to react.
He turned the ring off, realizing he now had some leverage.
“What’s going on?” Turquoise asked.
“I felt it, too,” Kevin lied, his thumb still fingering the bottom of the ring. “Maybe Paris put a trap in here or something. We should go, now.”
“A trap? How is that possible?”
The teleporter, a gray-haired woman in an orange leotard, looked to Turquoise and Obsidian. “Are we safe to leave? This place is giving me the creeps.”
“We are now,” Kevin said as he hoisted Nadine over his shoulder. “First, take us somewhere far from here, then take her somewhere equally far.”
“After this, we’re even,” the teleporter reminded Turquoise.
One of her ears folded forward a bit. “Definitely,” she finally said.
Kevin joined the three, Nadine slung over one shoulder. As he got into position, his thumb flitted against the bottom of the ring again. He had an idea of how he would make this work, but for now, he just needed to get to safety.
He could execute his power play later.
