The Moon's Light

Chapter Eight

"Hey Max!"

I dropped my book down onto my chest and frowned at my door. I sat up and placed a marker in the book to set it aside and go see what Katty wanted. I stepped into the kitchen to find her placing a piece of cake on a plate.

She turned and offered it to me. I stared at it suspiciously until she made a disappointed face. It made me feel bad so I took the plate. I didn't touch it though. Just watched her slice out another piece for herself and grab a fork.

I stared as Katty took a bite of cake, savoring it on her tongue. My gaze fell down to the piece she had handed me, trying to figure out why I was being rewarded. What had I done to deserve this sweet? Sophia had lavished her pets with gifts when they did something she liked. I and my friends rarely, if ever, saw that same attention.

Katty shrugged, mumbling that the cake could be better. I took a bite. It was delicious. I couldn't figure out how Katty intended to make this better. It was perfect in my opinion. Even with the sharp taste in it. I blinked when Katty got down a glass and poured a little of the brandy she had used in the cake into it. She placed it next to me in clear indication that it was for me.

Now I was really confused. I knew I hadn't done anything good enough to warrant two gifts. I carefully picked up the glass, expecting her to... I wasn't sure. Perhaps she was looking to punish me for being too accepting? I took a sip.

She watched me with amusement when I lowered the glass. The alcohol bit at my throat and warmed in my belly. It wasn't awful though. I actually rather liked it. Katty smiled when she saw it on my face. I ducked my head and scooped up another bite of cake. Mercifully, she stopped staring and continued to eat her own. I glanced at her when she started purring.

Evidently, she just wanted to watch me react to different things. Some curiosity or game or something was compelling her to expose me to this or that and watch me. I swallowed my bite of cake with a silent prayer that she wouldn't feel the need to expose me to unpleasantness. I belonged to her now after all. What safety I had been afforded as she kept me in good condition for Sophia was now gone. Which reminded me of something I had been mulling over since the reality that we were never going back to Sophia's had finally sunk in.

"How would we start getting our lives back?"

Katty licked chocolate off her lips and thought for a moment. "We'd have to start with paperwork. Proof that you exist. I'd also have to work out how to get you permanent residency here. I suppose we could just make you fake documents, but I think that would eventually lead to problems." She shrugged and glanced up at me. "Real ones will be better, even if they will take longer to pull together."

I frowned. "How long?"

She shook her head. "No idea. But no hurry. We still have to make sure you're not addicted again. And start teaching you about social norms and a whole slew of other things before you'll be ready to be a normal American citizen."

I darkened. It all sounded like excuses to me. Low hanging fruit that would be jerked out of reach time and time again until I was just as stuck here as I had been in Sophia's house. I noticed Katty studying me when the purring stopped.

"Right." I set my half eaten cake on the counter and nodded to her once. "Thanks for the cake." Then I was walking stiffly back to my room. I'd have to talk to Tucker and the rest of them. We may have to plan an escape after all. Unfortunately, I didn't think Jake would be coming with us until Emilio did something to remind my young friend of the monster hiding underneath his lover's skin. But I couldn't let that stop me from getting the other three out.