I alone am the honoured

i think we have a spy

Ignoring Asmodeus' boiling frustration from my refusal, I settled down on the tattered, leather chair and ignited the engine to life with the wires located beneath the steering wheel. It took a solid five minutes with the engine sputtering out smoke and failing on me, but after a good final attempt, we got there.

Now, stupid motel, here I come.

———

Regret simmered below my breast.

Gripping the steering wheel tight I breathed in deeply. All of my concentration was set on not dying on the road.

I ignored the honks that blared behind me, my attention unwavering. I may have been driving ten miles under the speed limit but I was still driving.

Soon, cars started to overtake me, despite the law saying otherwise on the cracked cement and all I could feel is Asmodeus shivering with laughter.

After hearing It continuously whine under my skin, It had enough of my stubbornness and took control. My vision blurred but shapes and colours were discernible. Wind smacked at my face from the tremendous speed forced through the open window.

Soon, the journey that was supposed to take an hour evolved into thirty minutes. I parked the car into an isolated road, knowing the motel is deep into the borders. Going in unnoticed is top priority; my slow-healing wounds also in agreement.

I need a good disguise. I usually go for victims that aren't in the same Kingdom I live in as it keeps the local forces busy with border legislations if they ever did catch a clue of my whereabouts. By the time they arrived in the current Kingdom, I would've moved across the nation.

I have seen my victims printed in every newspaper, in every town and in every city. The headlines ranging from pure lies to encouraging my actions, a response I did, unsurprisingly, expect. Not a lot of people know why I do the things I do unless they listen to the right news anchors with the right sources, nor do I care to explain it to the ones who don't.

I shovelled through my jogger pockets and found my scent blockers. I placed the skin-coloured patches that meshed into the surface of my neck glands and soothed it out, sorting out my hair so it hid the patches better.

I jumped from a multitude of trashed alleyways to the next. After twenty minutes of sneaking and hiding and pretending to smoke when witnesses passed by, I reached my destination.

Black, muscled vehicles bombarded the small, shabby motel off the side of the road. Various species clad in police uniform roamed the square of cars blocking the view from the public.

Uncertainty built within my lungs like air was a rare jewel and everyone was fighting for it.

On each car stood a sticker, an emblem with a serpent hugging a dark-blue shield.

"What the hell is the Akraton Kingdom doing here?!" I murmured. Fat, mouldy food permeated from the green dumpster in front me, my body threatening to convulse from the stench and blow my cover. Asmodeus grumbled an unintelligible response - as he always does.

Akraton Kingdom. A nation worth my time and efforts to avoid. Rumours pass and go at the same rate a train enters and leaves a station.