While she’s not technically a normal animal since she’s a familiar, eating an entire vending machine of snacks really can’t be the best thing for her, but she’s evidently quite determined at this point.
I awkwardly make my way down the hallway feeling rather unsteady and uncertain, but until I get Kit back from the claws of the machine, there’s little I can do.
When I reach the vending machine, it occurs to me that just because I’ve now made it to her doesn’t mean I have any damn idea how to get her out.
“What the hell,Kit?” I chide.
She makes her “happy to see me” noise, which is heightened by my newly borrowed werewolf hearing.
“You are a menace! Why’d you run off? Why’d you climb into the vending machine? Why?”
Kit has no answers for me as I hear her tear into another candy bar, and I am given a view of myself looking rather exasperated on the other side of the glass while she eats her weight in chocolate. She’s clearly quite remorseful.
I pat my way down the vending machine to the flap at the bottom and push it up. “If you got your ass in there, you can get it out,” I snap.
I can feel her paw waving about when she tries to squeeze through, but no matter what she does, she can’t seem to get free.
“Dammit, Kit,” I say, using her eyes to see if there really is a better way to get her out.
“Looks like you’re in a bit of a pickle there,” Ms. Percy observes as she puts in two bills, types her code, and watches a candy bar hit Kit on the head on the way down. She picks up the candy bar and turns to head on her way without a single care in the world.
“Can youhelp?”
“Nope. Your friend left me unsatisfied, and I’m on the prowl… unless you’re offering.”
“Still not into women,” I say.
She tsks and walks away, leaving me in peril with no shits given.
“Can’t you call whoever owns these things?” I beg.
“Wish I could, but she won’t answer my calls after I gave her the best night of her life,” Ms. Percy replies as she wanders off.
“Must not have been the best if she refuses to answer your calls,” I grumble, but she’s long gone and doesn’t get to hear my comeback.
Suddenly the ground rumbles, making me freeze. It feels like what I have to assume an earthquake would feel like, but we definitely don’t get earthquakes in these parts. Kit stops her struggle to eat all the candy in the machine and looks around anxiously as I realize she needs out of this damn vending machinenow.
“Dammit, Kit, why?” I growl while I try shoving the vending machine flap up as hard as I can a second before Torin slides onto the scene.
“I think a Door is opening up here,” he announces, which might be the last thing I ever want to hear.
Chapter Nine
Riley
I freeze as I look over at him through Kit’s eyes. “What the fuck do you mean a Door is opening up?”
“Why is your familiar inside this strange box? Better question… are there pancakes or pizza inside this box?” he asks, pausing long enough to study it.
“I think we should be focused on the Door thing! Are you sure?”
The lights flicker, and Kit looks around nervously. I decide to use my newfound werewolf power and kick the glass since I don’t see any other way to get her out. One single kick leaves me hopping on one foot and cussing up a storm. “Why the hell did that hurt so much? What the hell is this werewolf power for if it doesn’t do shit?” I whine.
Torin simply taps the glass and it shatters.
“I loosened it up for you,” I inform him while carefully trying to reach in to pull her out without cutting either of us, but my perception is shit when I’m looking at myself through her eyes.
Thankfully, Torin reaches in and retrieves her as the ground rumbles. He drops Kit on my shoulder just in time to see the floor split right down the middle of the hallway.
