112 Missing (7)

The myriad thoughts in Kyro's mind left him wishing for an easier way out. It was impossible for a human to turn into a fox, yet no matter how much he wanted to call himself delusional, there were plenty of facts before his eyes. And Gale agreed with them as well.

"Do you want one?" the man asked, returning from the kitchen with two cans of cold beer in hand.

"It's midday, and didn't you say you were busy?" Kyro asked, a bit surprised to see Gale still around.

"That was before I started to legitimately consider shape-shifting. Now, I need to get drunk, and if the video stays the same after I sober up, I'll believe in it."

"What kind of messed up logic is that?"

Still, Kyro picked up the beer and opened up the can. He wasn't certain if he wanted to drink, but it did sound like something this mad would be easier to believe if he was drunk. 'At least I probably wouldn't think I'm crazy at that time.'

After all, now that he thought about it, the fox had always been much more intelligent than it had any right to be. He'd attributed it to his imagination before, but he could have sworn that the fennec could understand him. Its nods and shakes of the head were always fitting to the question asked, the little thing had always come to peek at his computer password, and followed any command said that would serve it well.

At first, he thought someone had taught it tricks before, but the fennec was just a baby one, so how could it have been taught so much. And Kyro had never used any treats to continue the training, or even had any clue about the name of each command or the hand signs that came with it.

There was that time with the TV as well. He'd found it pretty amusing at the time, but it was obvious that the girl had simply wanted to watch her movie, and so she kept clicking on the right channel.

"She must have had great fun making a fool out of me," he said through gritted teeth, and took a large swallow from the can. "It must have been amusing to see me acting like an idiot and doing everything for her."

"Don't kill her when you see her," Gale suggested, his gaze unreadable. "Murder would not be good for our publicity. Maiming as well."

From his emotionless tone, it was hard to say whether he was joking or not, and Kyro didn't care to investigate. There was a fury building inside of him, and all of it was aimed at that creature who had come into his house to make fun of him. If he saw her again…

'Be so foolish and come back, just do it.'

"You said before that the gang had gotten a good price for the fennec. Could it be she was hiding from someone?"

"What?" Kyro wasn't following Gale's track of thought. What was he spouting now?

Gale rolled his eyes at him. "It's you who told me that, you said they were almost finished cleaning out by the time you arrived. The girl must have known she was being hunted, and that's why she escaped when she got a chance."

It wasn't impossible, but Kyro wasn't in a generous mood. "Or she had gotten caught on purpose to see what I would do."

"Maybe. But if she was just after your reaction, there wouldn't have been a need for Lucy and Queen to be caught, too. This check-you-reaction play has also been tested before. Didn't you lose her in the park for a day?"

When Kyro remembered that day, his desperation and guilt at the time, his hands formed into fists. She must have been watching him and laughing, enjoying his anguish when she had tricked him so easily. It must have been a great show for her.

"Stop feeding your anger," Gale interrupted, finishing his beer. "Shouldn't you be more worried about what's going to happen to Lucy instead of your wounded pride? Or you think your cat has been hiding his human form as well?"

"Don't talk nonsense."

There was no way Lucy was anything but Lucy, and he really should care about that more. He would deal with the girl if she showed up again when the time came, but now he needed to find his cat. It was good that Lucy hadn't been transferred somewhere else, but it created the problem of him being anywhere in the city.

"We need to find that woman," he told Gale.

Once they caught hold of her, they would find Lucy and receive answers to all of their questions.