Chapter 9

An agitated Orion paced the sidewalk in his ill-fitting clothes, snagged on his way over. He'd seen a guy about to enter a boxing gym and tore his fitness bag out of his hands. He'd changed in an alley before making his way to Adeline's place.

Ambrose joined him, huffing, "What happened?"

"The military. That's what fucking happened," Orion grumbled, clenching his fists. "I detained the guy accosting Adeline, and was about to march him up the street to the truck to ask some questions, when they came busting in."

"Hold on. Did you say the military?" Ambrose blinked in surprise.

"Or some kind of similar type group. They wore black fatigues, helmets with blacked-out visors, and came armed to the teeth. They screamed at everyone to hit the floor. Seeing as how I wasn't about to get caught in a sweep, I shifted and bolted through the kitchen and out the back door. However, I did stick around long enough to see them shoving the guy into a van and questioning the people inside before swinging an amulet in their faces."

"Why would the military be making arrests?" Ambrose asked, rubbing his chin.

"I don't know. Given they sent some of their guys looking for me, I didn't stick around to find out."

"It's got to be related to the reason why Hekate wants us here," Ambrose mused aloud. "Did you get a good sniff of the guy accosting Adeline? Sense anything off?"

"Do you mean was he dead like the wererat?" Orion shrugged. "No clue if he was missing his soul, but there was something off about him."

"Off how?"

"The way his eyes didn't fully focus, and he kept saying ‘I need it back. I feel so empty.'"

"Adeline claims she's never seen him before."

"Did—"

A loud yowl drew their attention.

"Fuck!" Orion didn't stop to think, he reacted, leaping from the sidewalk into the stairwell before slamming into the apartment. He abruptly froze in place, mostly because he tried to grasp what he saw.

Tentacles, as it turned out. Many tentacles, wrapped around the oversized cats, and Adeline! For the second time in less than an hour, he shifted, bursting out of his clothes and throwing himself, teeth first, to clamp onto the nearest appendage.

It had a rubbery, slimy texture to it, and when he bit down hard, he severed flesh. It didn't have much effect, other than the stump spewed a nasty-smelling ichor. It also didn't stop other tentacles from reaching for him. Did this thing not feel pain?

It hit him in that moment that, despite the impossibility, he beheld a kraken. Completely unheard of but it explained the gaping maw. It couldn't breathe without water, and yet it remained determined to attack.

Adeline yelled, "Taser. Floor." A directive not aimed at Orion the hound, but Ambrose, who bent down and snagged it. However, his friend hesitated to use the weapon, and Orion immediately grasped why. If he zapped the kraken, he'd also be zapping Adeline since it had her in its grip.

Orion uttered a snarl and dove at the arm wrapped around her lower half, gnawing through the rubbery flesh. The odor and taste reminded him why he didn't care for sushi.

"Zap it," screamed Adeline. "It's crushing my kitties!"

"Get her loose. I'll help the cats," Ambrose hollered. He pulled a small knife from his pocket that extended into a foot-long dagger when he shook it, the faint pink glow of magic fading immediately. As Ambrose slashed at the arms holding the cats, Orion tore into the tentacle trying to drag Adeline to the wide-open mouth of the beast.

Not today, sushi. Despite the bad taste in his mouth, Orion chomped the rubbery tentacle, crunching partway through before another appendage slapped him off. He scrabbled onto his four paws and headed back for Adeline, only Ambrose got there first and freed her with a slash of his dagger.

Adeline stumbled free and yelled, "Kill it!"

Ambrose extended the taser but frowned when it didn't go off, leading Adeline to grab it from his hand and fire it.

The kraken uttered a keening sound and shivered. Its whole body jiggled and wobbled before exploding into chunks. Pieces of gore and flesh slapped them in the face.

"Ew. Gross. Darn it." Adeline wiped her gory face with her equally dirty shirt.

Orion yipped while mentally saying, " Did it come alone?"

Ambrose stuck his head in the bathroom. "No sign of any other critters. Looks like it squeezed through the tub drain."

"Explains why Smudge and Fudge were watching so intently," Adeline's wooden response to the claim as shock set in.

Despite the grossness, Orion sniffed the remains. They smelled off. Slightly rancid. Or should he say, dead?

"What am I going to do?" Adeline wailed as she surveilled the destruction. "My landlord is going to freak."

The landlord wouldn't be the only one. The neighbors would likely cause a stink, too, because Orion doubted the ruckus went unnoticed.

In the midst of the chaos, the cats shrank back down to kitty-size and began to lick themselves clean. No way would Orion be tonguing his fur.

The monster's shredded remains were gag-worthy, and the mess epic in size, but neither was the reason why Ambrose stated, "We have to get out of here."

His advice came about because of the blinking device buried in the flesh.

A tracking device. Someone had sent that kraken to find her.