Perfect Pet

Ch. 28: Sour Note

Malik's P. O. V

"When you were gone, did you have any weird dreams?"

I frowned, puzzled by the question as Eden poked at her eggs instead of eating them. "What do you mean?"

She shrugged. "I dunno. When you were away, I just had this dream that we were together at your house? The details are a little fuzzy but it felt so real."

It sounded strange because I had never mentioned the home I owned. It had been a gift several years ago for when I needed more space or for when I finally found the one. A ridiculous notion at the time but now I couldn't be more grateful. Just the thought of them knowing what I planned on doing to Eden had me wincing. My boundaries had always been loose but things were different with her. In a good way. Her comfort was just as important as my own.

As close as I was with my parents and as much as I loved them, there were some lines you didn't cross.

"I passed through high areas of magic so that might have caused it. Or maybe my demon so desperate to see you that he somehow found a way to do it." Magic did indeed work in strange ways and even the masters of manipulating it, witches, couldn't tell you exactly why it did certain things or reacted the way it did. My best guess was there were different strains, like natural earth magic that could be tapped into using nature and crystals and then the type they borrowed from the gods, created more from faith and belief. When I stopped, I saw her staring at me curiously. "What?"

"You believe me then?"

It took an incredible amount of effort not to roll my eyes. I knew it wasn't her being insecure and I wished she would tell me what was bothering her so we could work past it. The constant doubt was beginning to get on my last nerve. "Are we going to be doing this every time I agree with you?"

She at least had the decency to appear chagrined. "Sorry. I'm just starting to feel a little crazy with all the weird things that have been going on." She paused, a strange look crossing her face. "Or weirder than normal, I mean."

"I'm a vampire. Weird is your new normal."

"No shit, Sherlock," She dryly replied before sobering up and getting back to the topic at hand. Cocking her head, she asked, "So is dream sharing a common thing?"

"It isn't unheard of for bonded pairs to share dreams on occasion. We think it is a side effect to some degree. Souls being drawn closer together. I've never heard of an unmarked Pet having one though and I don't remember anything weird happening on my end." Except for the witches and spells but I can't tell you about that. Not yet, anyway.

It said a lot that she hadn't asked what I had been doing once I left. She'd just been grateful I was back and moved on as nothing had ever happened. Part of me felt relieved that she was easygoing enough not to doubt me even as another part, the one my demon had control over, wanted to be fully honest and share all the things I had seen and learned. Show off like a preening peacock. She had a quick mind and would be fascinated by the idea of witches and the fact that gods did exist to some extent.

"It felt so real," Eden murmured, giving her eggs an extra hard stab. "Do you own even own a house?"

"Yeah, in my parent's territory, but I rarely use it. That'll change now that I have you." While I had appreciated the gesture then, the big house my parents had tailor-made for me hadn't felt like home. It was an empty husk lacking the soul the one I had grown up in had. The warmth of love and family. An integral piece of me knew things would be different now that I had someone to share it with.

A faint blush worked its way across her cheeks at the implications of my words. "All I saw was the bedroom but it looked stunning. You have great taste."