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“Just a hot tea. Thanks.” I’d never been much of a tea drinker, but I’d recently become very anti-PSL. Too much of a good thing and all that. It was easier to pretend I didn’t want coffee than to hurt Kelley’s feelings. Because if I refused to accept her offer of a free drink, she’d just go ahead and serve me up whatever new concoction she was testing for the masses. Ergo, my request for hot tea despite the hot weather.

“How’s today been?” I asked when she slid a mug of nearly boiling water to me over the counter. I casually plucked a bag of hibiscus tea from the display and dunked it into my cup.

“Busy as usual,” she answered with a bright smile.

“Hey, have you heard anything from Drake?” Real smooth, Gracie! It was no small wonder I’d managed to survive all my recent scrapes, given how poor my people skills could be at times. Then again, I was mostly dealing with cats and other supernatural types lately.

Kelley shook her head.“Not since this morning when we texted hello. Why? Is something up?”

“Oh, yeah. I mean, no. Everything’s fine!” I hurried to reassure her as I poured a couple packets of sugar into my mug and grabbed a stir stick. I kept my mouth pressed in a firm line as I finished preparing my drink. Why hadn’t I at least attempted to come up with a plan on my way over here?

After mentally scolding myself once more for good measure, I raised my eyes to meet Kelley’s and asked, “He’s just been acting a little weird lately. Don’t you think?”

“Weird how?” she said distractedly as she got to work making an iced drink for a customer.

“It’s hard to describe,” I ventured, not wanting to give away any of Drake’s or my secrets. “Just, you know, weird.”

Kelley tilted her head to the side as she thought, all while effortlessly engaging the blender.“Well, Drake’s always been different. That’s why I like him so much.”

“You’re right,” I said, disparaged at how quickly I’d reached a dead end. “We shouldn’t be surprised by anything he does.”

“Yeah, like how he bought that Segway for no rhyme or reason,” she said with a giggle.

“And the motorcycle,” I added with a laugh.

Kelley shot me a silly look.“Yeah, guess which one of those two I like better.” She shuddered, then poured the blended drink into a tall glass. “Segways really aren’t meant for two people, but that didn’t stop him from picking me up for our date using that thing last week.”

I joined her in laughter, and it felt great to occupy my mind with something so frivolous for a change. We chatted about other things for a few minutes, but I knew I shouldn’t stay too long and disrupt her work, especially given the fact that Harold’s was always busy and needed all hands on deck.

“Well, I should probably—“

“Hold that thought!” Kelley interrupted, fishing her phone out of her apron. I hadn’t heard it chime, but that wasn’t exactly surprising since she tended to keep it on silent mode.

“Oh, hey, it’s Drake!” she announced with a giddy grin, but as she read on her face rearranged itself into a frown. “He says he’s going to be out of town for a few days and wanted to know if I could find someone to cover his shifts.”

Kelley lowered the phone but continued to stare blankly where it had been.“We’re supposed to go on a date tonight, but apparently he’s already left. He didn’t even say why.”

“Maybe he’s planning a surprise for you,” I said, forcing a fresh wave of enthusiasm. Of course, I knew the truth about Drake’s sudden disappearance. If I saw him before she did, I’d have to tell him to do something special for Kelley or to risk losing her as his girlfriend. Then again, if he was truly a vampire, maybe she was better off without him.

“Or he’s cheating,” Kelley said with a groan.

“No! He would never!” I reached over the counter and squeezed my friend’s arm reassuringly.

“You did say he was acting weird lately. Do you know something I don’t?” She raised an eyebrow my way.

“No, no, no. No way! I didn’t mean that at all. Drake is crazy about you. Don’t doubt that for a second. Anyway, I got to go.”

And I rushed out of there as fast as I could without actually breaking into a run. Definitely not my finest moment.

12

After leaving the coffee shop, I drove around town for about an hour trying to gather my thoughts. During the relatively peaceful past few weeks, I’d begun to fantasize about getting back to a normal life. I’d actually thought that dangerwouldn’t be waiting around every corner, that Iwouldn’t have to strain so hard to keep my cat’s magical world a secret.

Oh, how very wrong I’d been.

The more I thought, the more I despaired the current state of my life. I mean, what was the point in even finishing my master’s degree at this point? It’s not like I’d ever be able to get a normal job, not so long as I had my responsibilities as a familiar.