How to Elude a Vampire (VRC Vampire Related Crimes #2) - Alice Winters Page 0,12
get a cat later.”
“Is your dog good with other dogs?” the lady asks.
“Sadly, he loves all dogs,” Marcus says. He’s so funny.
“We could let them meet,” she says.
Marcus sighs, but goes back to the car and fetches Artemus. He snaps his leash on and pulls him out and I realize that Artie would crush the dog if he laid on her, or stepped on her, or even set his head on her.
“Try to eat her so we don’t have to take her home,” I hear Marcus whisper to Artie.
Artie walks up like a little gentleman as his long tail wags back and forth. The woman holds the small dog back in case things go south, but Artie is just interested in meeting her. The small dog, who should be terrified meeting a creature the size of a house, is thrashing and wiggling in excitement to reach Artie. After a bit, the woman lets the two dogs meet and the little one jumps at Artie and begins playfully gnawing on his ear every time he lowers his head.
Artie just looks at the creature in wonder.
I look up at Marcus who shrugs. “Fine.”
A grin explodes over my face. “You like her, don’t you? Here, hold her.”
“I don’t want to hold her. If I want to hold a dog, I can hold Artemus,” he says as he picks the hundred-and-sixty-some-pound dog up. “See? Lap dog. It’s not my fault you can’t hold him.”
I raise an eyebrow. “Really? I’m positive most people couldn’t carry that dog around and pretend like it’s normal to be able to pick him up.”
“Are you sure? Or are you jealous?” he asks as he sets him down. I reach over and pick up Artie’s front end.
“Ooh, who’s special now? Look, I can pick him up too,” I say.
He snorts. “Fine. Go fill out the application and see if you’re even worthy.”
“I know I’m worthy,” I say, too excited to care about his harassment.
I play with her a little longer, but I don’t even know why I bother because our hearts are attached. And nothing is coming between them.
The woman takes us inside and gets us an application, which I force Marcus to fill out since he has vet records and stuff on Artie and will more likely be approved than me. I think he assumes that if he gets the “menacing” look out while filling the application, they’ll fail it. He even snaps the pen in half at one point, but I just merrily grab him another.
Since he put Artie back in the car, it’s just us and the tiny dog that’s trying her hardest to get Marcus’s attention. She’s dancing at his feet and pawing at his shins as he just stares at her like he’s trying to figure out what it is. The menacing look doesn’t work on her; she already loves him.
“Make it stop looking at me like that,” he grumbles.
“Like what? Like it loves you?” I ask.
She lets out a pitiful whine that draws everyone’s attention to us. Marcus bends over and picks her up before trying to shove her into my arms.
“I can’t hold her right now, I’m going to hand this in,” I say as the young dog wiggles and licks Marcus’s hand.
He stares at her, now that she’s in his hands, like he doesn’t know what to do with her. Then he tucks her under his arm like a football, but she doesn’t care. He’s holding her and that’s all she wanted.
“Are you sure you want something this small? What if we squish it?”
“Why would we squish her?”
“Ah, I forgot. It probably looks really big to you, doesn’t it?”
I glare at him. “I’m not that small.”
He holds her in front of my face, her huge bat ears perked. “Look at it.”
“I am. She’s adorable.”
He sighs and turns her around so he can look her in the eyes. “Its brain is probably the size of a pea.”
“You’re saying my brain’s not very big because I’m small too?” I ask.
He glances over at me. “You’re the smartest person I know… besides myself.”
I snort. “It started off nice.”
“It’s still nice! I’ve had hundreds of years to learn more than you! And I know that this thing is not a dog, it’s a rat, right?”
“Sure, she can be whatever you want as long as I get to take her home with me.”
I sign the application and pass it off.
The shelter worker smiles at us. “Perfect. We’ll give you a call after your application is processed.”