Prey

Chapter 76

Doe's POV:

The additions of the cages this time made for a lot of unused space in this room.

And you'd think that if they were gonna use cages at all, they'd at least get some that we could stand-in. Or made from a material that didn't feel like ice.

I guess I'd forgotten that everything during this entire process was done with nothing the bare minimum in mind.

The 'dinner' they provided us proved it further when all we got was a paper bowl with a dainty scoop of apple sauce in it.

Not even spoons.

I probably shouldn't complain too much, knowing how truly lucky I was with my life as a pet.

It undoubtedly had its ups and very deep downs, but not once was I ever left to be hungry like I'm sure some of these girls have.

My finger tapped against the opposing forearm.

I used my arms to keep my knees tight to my body, conserving as much heat as I could.

It was better now that we were indoors, but my body heat hadn't returned to me fully yet.

I wanted to be at least partially comfortable before the lights went out so I could attempt to get some sleep in this place.

Which had to be soon, I knew it was late.

My mind decided to wander to that down-feather blanket of Xander's bed without my permission.

The thought of just rolling myself up in it and warming up in no time.

I squeezed my eyes shut, kicking the thought out where it belonged.

There was no use in dwelling on what I couldn't have at this moment.

My shoulders dropped with that realization, knowing that I was going to do it anyway despite what I tried to tell myself.

Now would be about the time that I went to Xander for some type of distraction but that wasn't tangible either.

My eyes lifted to the girl sitting criss-crossed in front of me, idly fidgeting with the sleeves of her hoodie that fell way past her hands.

Right as I looked up at her, she turned her head, following the vampire that was trudging past our cage.

My eyes narrowed as a thick strand of hair fell away from her shoulder, that with the way her head was turned exposing the discoloration on the skin of her neck that I hadn't noticed prior to this.

Now, my knowledge of certain things was limited, but I knew a hickey when I saw one.

It was something they brought up back in my training days since vampires were very fond of receiving them, and even more so in giving them.

Though this was the first time I'd seen anything of the sort on one of Nico's pets.

Nico, what the heck?

That made for a couple of things I've noticed today that stood her out from the rest.

Including the fact that she was supposedly very well dressed at the ball.

Intriguing.

And, well, there was no better time to try to dig for some more info than here and now.

I spoke as soon as she began to turn her head back.

"What's it like," I asked, leaning my head forward to set my chin on my knees, "Being Nico's pet?"