* * *
Jasmine scanned the lobby on the look out for Alexzandra. She wasn’t ready to set her plan in motion yet. She felt exposed sitting on top of the concierge’s desk. It might be tucked into a nook and surrounded by a jungle of potted plants, but there was a clear view of the front desk. Behind her, Hilda was talking to Jason, the concierge. Jasmine flicked an ear back, tracking the conversation.
“So, I was hoping someone had reported her missing,” Hilda concluded.
“Sorry, Hilda. No one is looking for a cat. Are you sure she doesn’t belong to an employee?”
“Who would dare?”
Whatever Jason was going to say was cut off by the appearance of Alexandra. She sailed through the lobby and headed for the front desk.
Hilda watched the color drain from Jason’s face. Glancing over her shoulder, she watched Alexzandra’s progress while reaching across Jason’s desk and pushing Jasmine to the floor.
With an undignified squeak, Jasmine landed sprawled on her stomach. She’d seen Alexzandra before Jason had and she’d been expecting the undignified removal for almost a full minute before it happened. She had not expected Hilda to push her. She crouched under the desk and listened to the clicking that indicated how close Alexzandra was to her hiding place.
Jasmine peeked under the edge of the concierge’s desk and saw a pair of bright pink stilettos stop outside of swiping range. Jasmine grinned and decided to get a little revenge. A thing, am I?
She turned into a fuzzy streak, making sure she rubbed against Alexzandra’s legs on the way to the front desk. Her grin stretched further when the shrieks filled the air.
“Who let that thing in here?”
People came pouring out of every available nook and cranny, trying to see what the fuss was about. Laughing softly, Jasmine slunk out from beneath the front desk and belly crawled to the hallway she’d first tried. The ugly carpet and the whitewashed wall hadn’t changed in the last hour. She raced to the end and confronted the rather short and dingy looking double doors hogging the bottom half wall.
Hanging above the doors, taking up the rest of the room, was a picture of a huge tree. Jasmine stopped and stared. A dark and dismal world, filled with faded red, yellow and orange pinpricks lay nestled among the roots. A world of fluffy white clouds and rainbow arches floated among the branches. Next to the trunk was an idealized world made of green fields and purple mountains.
Jasmine gaped at the painting. She’d never seen anything like it. She was so engrossed in the painting she missed the door opening.
“Like what you see?”
Jasmine pulled her gaze down from the painting and stared wide eyed at the man leaning against the door frame. She snapped her mouth shut and glared at Aaron. “What is it?”
Before Aaron could answer, screeching filled the hallway.
“That thing came down here. Aaron? Aaron, if I find out that that thing belongs to you, I’m going to put you out on your ear. Aaron?”
Aaron stood up straight, like he’d been kicked. He looked at the hallway before dropping his gaze to the cat grinning at him. “Get in here, you fool. You don’t want to know what she’ll do if she catches you.”
The muffled footfalls came closer and Aaron panicked. Jasmine was about halfway through the door when he shoved her with his foot. She squawked and nosedived into the ratty rug covering the entryway. The door click softly shut behind her, but she knew it was no barrier to Alexzandra.
Seconds later, her nose and feet left the ratty rug and she was carried into the back room. Spotting the bed tucked into the corner of the tiny closet that was the bedroom, Jasmine began to flail. She did not want to be shoved under that. She dug her claws into Aaron’s shirt and hung on. She’d have laughed to see him fighting with a cat if she hadn’t been that cat. He pushed his hands out, still wrapped around her belly and his shirt followed the movements.
With a loud ripping sound, Jasmine’s claws came free and Aaron shoved her under the bed with the forest of dust bunnies and mountains of dirty magazines. I guess he’s not as pure as I thought, she thought, giggling inanely.
The door banging against the wall silenced Jasmine’s giggles. She wiggled to the edge of the shadows and peered up from under the bed skirt. Alexzandra marched into room. Her lip curled at the sight of Aaron with his torn shirt in hand standing by the built-in dresser in the back wall.
“Where is that thing?”
“What thing would that be?” Aaron pulled a new shirt out of the middle drawer and drew it over his head as he shut the drawer with his hip.
“The four legged freak, the fuzzy abomination, the twitching terror. Call it whatever you want, but I know it’s in here.” She pulled the door toward her so she could see behind it only to slam it back against the wall when she saw the empty space. She stalked across the small floor and pushed Aaron out of the way so she could search the dresser.
Jasmine guessed that Alexzandra would head for the bed next at about the same time the woman straightened up. Scrambling in a panic, the Fury raced for the head of the bed, hoping against hope the mad woman wouldn’t be able to see in the dark. She backed into the corner and let out a soundless meow when her tail bumped into the corner. She was out of options and the bed skirt was starting to move.
In desperation, she glanced up and noticed a dark hole above her head. She leaped for it as light swept into her hiding place. She climbed, sinking her claws into the headboard. Eventually, she reached the top and lay there trying to hold her breath but the wheezes escaping between her clenched teeth sounded to her like a hurricane over her pounding heart.
Jasmine glanced down and watched the beam of light sweep beneath her. Damn! It’s only a matter of time before she notices that the light is bouncing through the headboard. When she finds the hole, I’m sure she’ll see me.
Alexzandra turned as she straightened up until she was facing Aaron. “I know that beast is in here and when I find her, you’re out.”
“But…” Aaron stuttered. He blinked in disbelief. Was she really going to kick him out if she found a stray in the hotel?
Narrow eyed and thin lipped, Alexzandra turned back to eyeball the bed. There was something about this bed, if only she could remember. “Something about the headboard, I think,” she mumbled to herself. “Of course! It’s hollow.” She leaned over the bed and studied the wooden frame propped against the wall.
Jasmine stilled. She puffed out her cheeks as she held her breath. Slowly she leaned forward until she could see out the small crack made by the slightly crooked sliding panel in the center of the front of the headboard. A green eye blinked back at her. Hissing in surprise, Jasmine leapt forward. She didn’t think about the flimsy wooden portal in her way. She jumped, claws outstretched, onto the equally surprised face of the nasty woman.
Digging her claws in, she squealed in delight when Alexzandra screamed. The woman started spinning, trying to dislodge the cat and Jasmine’s squealing turned into hacking as she fought a wave of motion-sickness.
“Gulp, stop. Getting sick,” Jasmine whined.
Not really registering, or believing, that a cat was talking, Alexzandra screamed louder. She grabbed for the hacking cat on her head and missed. Her hand landed on the slimy strands that had been an upswept hairdo.
Jasmine landed with barely a sound and staggered toward the exit. She leaned against the doorframe and heaved. What’s wrong with my stomach? Why can’t I stop? Another hairball lodged in her throat as Alexzandra stepped toward the door with short, stiff and angry strides.
A tendril of hair curved down over her eye and Alexzandra screamed again. Determined to get the slime out of her hair, Alexzandra retreated and decided to think about a new strategy.
Aaron plucked the cat off the carpet, swung the door closed behind Alexzandra and rubbed Jasmine’s back until she stopped hacking.
He’d almost reached the side of the bed when someone knocked on his door. “Now what?” he mumbled under his
breath. Sure this day was never going to end, Aaron swung the door open ready to growl at whomever was on the other side.
“Good evening, Aaron. If you don’t mind, I have something to discuss with fuzzy there.” Jeff grinned at the lounging cat.
Jasmine turned a smug grin on Jeff and started purring. Even though he’d been distracted, Aaron was still petting her. “This better be good, demon.”
“I have a signed contract here,” he said, flourishing the paper in his hand.
“Whose?”
“Alexzandra’s.”
Jasmine jaw nearly hit the ground. “What? How?” When Jeff snickered, the Fury growled low in her chest. She narrowed her eyes and laid her ears flat against her head. How dare he laugh! Curling her lip to show her teeth had a side benefit she hadn’t noticed before. It made her growl louder.
“She came barging into the shack demanding that I remove Aaron from the hotel.” He paused, letting the tension build in the room.
The Fury cracked first. “Well?”
“Well what?” Demons couldn’t look angelic, but Jeff sure tried.
Jasmine’s snarl reached a new volume. Her tail started thumping against Aaron’s side and her claws started flexing.
With a yelp of surprise, Aaron dropped the cat. He rubbed at his abused arm as he watched her stalk toward the demon. He was thinking that Jeff needed a stronger sense of self-preservation.
Jasmine sat in front of the retrieval demon and stared.
Jeff started squirming. Nothing can stare like a cat. She’s been stuck in a cat suit too much. It’s starting to rub off on her. When he was sure the Fury was envisioning pulling his liver out through his nose, Jeff relented and told her what had happened a few minutes ago.
“Alexzandra stormed through the front door of the shack, demanding that I eject Aaron, forcefully, from the hotel.” A shiver went down Jasmine’s spine when Jeff did a perfect imitation of Alexzandra’s voice. She was equally impressed that he seemed to have no trouble flipping between the two roles.
“But Ma’am, I can’t. Bouncing people from the premises was not included in my contract and you said I would be fired if I did anything on hotel property that was not included in my contract.
“Screw the contract. Get rid of that good-for-nothing, worthless-waste-of-space, or you’re fired.
“Now, now. You don’t need to resort to threats. I’d be happy to remove him from your sight. All I need is a new contract that gives me that right.
“Aargh. I’d have to go get one from my office. I want him gone now.
“Oh, I just happen to have some basic contracts here, for you know, insurance.
“Fine. Bring one here. Let’s see. Yes, it’s a basic one all right.” Jeff heaved a sigh. If only I had known how easy it was going to be. Why don’t they ever read the fine print?
“Then she signed it with a big flourish. I don’t think she even noticed the slight cut on her finger and I know she didn’t see the paper suck the blood up.” With a wave of his hand, Jeff laid the contract on the table before looking at Aaron. “All I need to do is throw you out of the building.” He turned back to the cat. “Go find Alexzandra. I’ll give you five minutes before the fireworks start. Once he’s outside, the contract is fulfilled and you can collect.” He shoved his hands deep in his pockets. His fingers encountered something smooth before he remembered the gem he’d found earlier.
Jasmine felt a grin stretch her face. That bit of work was almost genius. She headed for the door before Jeff stopped her. “I don’t know why this showed up, but I think you’re going to need it.” He reached down and pulled her citrine gem off before snapping his find in place and straightening up.
“What is it?”
“It’s a soul gem. I found it near where I found you.”
She nodded once to the demon and slipped out the door. The rumble of voices faded into the background as she started hunting for her prey.