Perfect Pet

Ch. 42: Doing Fine

Sliding into the cafe, I scanned the sea of patrons for a familiar head of brown hair. When I didn't see her, I let my shoulders relax slightly and headed for the counter to order a drink.

I had told Malik I wanted to get out of the house for a while. At first, he had wanted to come with me but I'd insisted he didn't have to. He had some work to do and all I wanted was to grab a cup of coffee and people watch for a little bit. It didn't hurt that this particular cafe was right down the street, so still close enough that our bond wouldn't be aggravated.

It was finally starting to settle down slightly, enough that I felt like my own person again. Malik's feedings were getting less insistent which I think helped a lot. When he fed from me, it was like we became one person for a time, our minds melding until I didn't know where I started and he ended. That constant deep connection also fed into the bond, making the tether between us much shorter than normal.

I suppose it made sense in a way, a Master wanting their Pet close when they weren't at full strength.

As I waited at the counter for my name to be called, I took the chance to better observe the people around me. I noticed two other young women with the distinctive marks of Pets, one having an animated conversation with her Master as they snuggled close on one of the overstuffed couches, and the other sitting across from hers at a two-seater table, looking bored as he played on his phone.

I still wasn't used to seeing other Pets out and about so openly. Despite living in a vampire city now, it was rare to come across another one since Pets, in general, were so uncommon. If Malik were here, he would have probably encouraged me to go say hi and introduce myself. Try and make some new friends that were in a similar position. As much as I would love to, I didn't want to interrupt cozy time for the two on the couch and the bored one's Master was, for lack of a better word, terrifying.

And that was coming from someone that had willingly bonded to Malik.

When the barista called my name, I grabbed my drink with a grateful smile and found a spot in a corner, away from most of the other people. I didn't want the conversation I was planning on having to be overheard. If Claire ever freaking got there.

Frowning, I pulled my cell out of my pocket and checked to see if she had sent an email. I hadn't given her my number because I knew Malik would be able to check my phone history if he wanted, not that I thought he would. He respected my space and privacy for the most part but all that would fly out the window if he had any suspicion I was doing something stupid.

Silly, possessive vampire.

Rolling my eyes with a fond smile, it was quickly wiped away when nothing came up but a news report talking about another Pet attack near the Canadian border. As much as I wanted to, my eyes wouldn't stop scanning the story, absorbing every horrible detail. Three Pets, their Masters from the vampire part of New York, had been found with their throats slit, the area where their marks should have been torn out altogether.

They had been missing for three days before their bodies had been found discarded on the side of a road like trash. How could the bond have allowed that? If I ever got too far away from Malik, not only did my mark start burning, a slow agonizing pain that made it damn near impossible to move, but I knew he got an undeniable urge to hunt me down, the invisible string between us pulling us together again.

His demon would go wild at the sensation, claiming control and losing himself to his instincts until I was back where I belonged. It would be a blood bath.

There was a news conference included in the article. Glancing around, I muted the volume and hit play, turning on the captions so I wouldn't bother anyone. It wasn't exactly an appropriate topic considering my surroundings.