115 Missing (10)

The cat's expression was a bloodthirsty one, and Iris felt her hair stand up on end. Was this really the same Lucifer she always saw lounging about the apartment? Maybe she had been too quick to diss Kyro for giving the cat a wrong name. Lucifer might be an angel, but he certainly wasn't the innocent, never-gonna-hurt-a-fly kind.

'When did you become so brutal?' she wondered as the cat came over to her and sniffed her body to make sure she was fine.

Once he was certain all was okay, he went to the two pieces of fresh bread that had been forgotten during the fight and started munching on one of them. Since Iris didn't hurry after him, he meowed at her to hurry up and claim her share of the spoils.

The bread was tasty, but dry, so Iris finished off half of the piece and left the rest for Lucifer. He was more than happy to take it from her, and then started to clean himself up.

Iris, in the meantime, looked around. They were alone in this corner for the moment—the injured dogs having made themselves scarce soon after their companions turned tail—but there was no way to tell if that would last. What if next time a larger gang of strays decided to get rid of them?

Her eyes moved to Lucifer, and she calmed down a bit. With him around, she could be sure that they weren't totally defenseless. But he was no good in getting back to Kyro. That was her task in this journey, even if she hadn't been out in this city once.

What to do then? Should they try to walk all the way back?

It was a daunting proposition. The distance they'd have to cover would be no joking matter, and there would be no food or drink on the way. Not unless they took out time to search for meals, and then they might take a whole year to get back.

There was always public transportation, but if they were caught…

'Lucifer, do you have a chip?' she asked him. It would be an easy way out if she could just bring Lucifer to an animal shelter and the people there would call Kyro, but what if the cat had never received a chip? After all, Kyro had never bothered to change her data online, so she still belonged to no one.

After a moment's hesitation, she decided not to risk it unless it became absolutely necessary. If there was a chance, it was better for them to just try and reach Kyro by themselves.

Once Lucifer finished cleaning up his coat and removing all traces of the fight, they set out again. Iris took one last glance at the map on the bus stop, then chose a direction and went forward.

As they walked, she wondered why Lucifer was following her in such a docile manner. He had not only not run away, but was actually allowing her to lead them. What could possibly be going through his head? For a time, she thought he treated her as a kitten, someone he needed to protect, but what was this?

On the way, she saw a dark shape sitting in a tree behind a fenced off wall, and a thought struck her. Did Lucifer think she was too stupid to be left alone? After all, she wasn't as agile as a cat, nor could squeeze through any opening that revealed itself. She was a fox, so judged by cat standards, she wouldn't be up to par.

A surreptitious glance backwards didn't prove nor disprove her theory. Lucifer was simply walking slowly behind her, looking around from time to time. He didn't seem concerned about anything.

'Whatever.' His view of her changed nothing. It was more important to focus on their road back home.

When sun rose and the streets began to fill up, they found an out of the way corner to hide in and curled up to sleep. The cat was a giant familiar presence, and to her own surprise, Iris swiftly fell asleep by its side.

…

"Kyro, Kyro! Are you busy? Please tell me you're not!"

"What is it?" Kyro asked while holding the phone to his ear. Mom seemed extremely excited, which was a great difference to how she'd been all throughout yesterday after the pets never showed back up.

"I just received a call from Animal Home! It's a pet shelter, and they say they've got Queen! Can you go? Can you? I thought to go myself, but you're closer so, I thought, I—"

"Send me the address and I'll go right away."

"We'll be waiting good news!"

Once they ended the call, Kyro looked down at his phone. 'Queen, huh?' He couldn't tell if he was more happy or disappointed.

It was great that his parents would get their peace of mind, regaining their lost princess, but his own problems weren't going to be solved just like this. He was certain that the girl would not bring Lucy to a pet shelter and make life easy for him.

But where would she go then? Could he expect to see Lucy again?

Yesterday, he had been pissed enough to break her in half if she showed up before him, but as the day waned, his anger cooled down as well. His pride didn't mean anything when compared to Lucy's safety.

His phone lit up with a message that held the shelter's address, and he stood up to go. 'Be safe,' he wished for Lucy and left the house to retrieve another innocent pet.