Halfway through the meal, Stevie returned from her lab with Shen and Zé. The look on her face made it clear that Max’s kid sister hadn’t made a breakthrough on whatever toxin had been used on Tock. But Stevie wouldn’t stop until she’d figured out what was going on. In fact, she could be obsessive over that sort of thing. As it was, she only sat down to eat because Charlie and Max forced her. Well, Charlie got her a plate and filled it with pasta and sauce and some salad, while Max physically forced Stevie into a chair as they fought like two cats in a bag. But the scuffle led to Stevie actually eating, which was all any of them wanted. Whether she was honey badger or tiger, she was still way too thin to be either. Picking her up was like picking up a bag of chips.
If it weren’t for her shifted form, Tock would have been much more worried about Stevie’s daily safety. They didn’t discuss her shifted form, though. It was better for Charlie to believe that “Max’s friends” didn’t know what Stevie actually turned into when she became animal. They did know, of course, and it was horrifying; but not in a scary movie way, just in the size of what she became. Like a mini-Godzilla. While Charlie couldn’t shift at all.
Maybe Charlie was right. Her father did have fucked-up genes that had affected his offspring.
Once Stevie was eating her spaghetti while still managing to continue arguing with Max, everything seemed to calm down. Tock and Mads relaxed, too, and took a few minutes to just eat the remainder of their meal in silence. Mistake, because when Charlie suddenly put her arms around their shoulders and leaned in, she startled them. Both females let out loud snarls.
“Whoa.” Charlie leaned back a bit. “You guys okay?”
“Uh-huh,” Tock and Mads replied, trying not to sound as panicked as she always made them feel. It wasn’t her fault, really. Other than that she was naturally terrifying, and over the years they’d seen her do some really horrifying things.
Charlie leaned back in, her arms around their shoulders again. Tock had to fight hard not to spin away and back up, hissing in warning. A reaction appropriate for a pride of hungry lions, but not for a friendly Charlie MacKilligan.
“Do me a favor,” Charlie said. “Before you guys head out for the night, grab the others and meet me at Mads’s house for a quick chat. Okay?”
“It was Max,” Mads abruptly announced. “She did it.”
Charlie shook her head at the sudden statement. “What are you talking about?”
Mads scratched her forehead, eyes downcast. “Nothing. I’m not talking about anything.”
“Okay.” Charlie frowned a little, confused. “Anyway, give me a heads-up when you guys decide to go and we’ll meet at Mads’s.”
When Charlie had gone back inside the house, Tock turned to Mads and hissed, “You rat.”
“I know!” Mads whispered back, briefly covering her face with her hands. “But I just panicked! She’s my same height, size. But she terrifies me.”
“Some Viking you are.”
“Oh, shut up! You panicked, too.”
“Yeah,” Tock said with a wink and a smile, “but my people hide it better.”
*
Shay packed up the duffel bag with Dani’s wet swimsuit and towel, which he would toss in the washer when he got home. His daughter handled the puppies, looking them over before she’d put them back into the SUV along with their mother.
“Daddy . . . we’re missing a pup.”
“We are?”
“I counted and we’re—”
“Here you go.” Charlie’s bear, Berg, placed the puppy into the crate with the others. He nodded at Dani. “Sorry about that. The woman I love has a hoarding problem.”
“I am not a hoarder!” Charlie yelled from the kitchen.
The bear looked at Shay. “Do me a favor, cat. Don’t bring any more dogs here. I have enough trouble keeping her away from Mads’s damn coyote.”
“That coyote comes to me!” came the kitchen retort. “I was the one who sent him back to Mads’s house!”
The bear rolled his eyes. “I’m going home. Do not take another puppy!” he barked toward the house before lumbering off the porch. A few seconds later, the house shook a bit as the other two triplets followed their brother. Even the female lumbered, but she was way cuter than the males, smiling and waving goodbye to Dani before going down the steps and heading to their house across the street.
Keane passed the bears without saying a word, despite having spent nearly a whole day with them. He came onto the porch and said to Shay, “The SUV is packed up. You two ready to go?”
“Will be in thirty seconds.”
“Okay. Wait with Finn. I need to go talk to Charlie before we leave.”
Shay immediately stood up straight and gazed at his brother. “Talk to her about what?”
When Keane didn’t answer, Dani charged across the porch and slid to a stop in front of her uncle.
“Don’t be mean,” she ordered him.
“Excuse me?”
“I was clear.”
Shay briefly glanced away so that he didn’t laugh out right. It would only piss off both of them.
“I am not mean,” Keane told Dani.
“I call you Uncle Mean for a reason.”
“I thought it was just a play on words.”
“It’s not.”
“This, little miss, is none of your business.” He reached down and picked Dani up by her arms, carefully placing her by Shay and out of the way. “Now if you’ll excuse me—”
Dani ran back over and grabbed her uncle’s leg, holding on tight.
Keane sighed. “What are you doing?”
“I like her. I like Charlie. And if you’re mean to her, we can’t come back here. It’ll be Popeye’s Chicken all over again.”
“We’re only barred from the Popeye’s Chicken in Amityville. Now release me, tiny child.”
Frowning deeply, Dani let her uncle go and watched as he walked into the house.
“I’ll never be able to swim here again, will I, Daddy?”
“Knowing your Uncle Keane . . . ? Probably not.”
*
“So, how’s it going with my sister?” Keane asked Charlie MacKilligan as she moved across her kitchen with several bottles of spices in her hand.
“Except for her meth addiction and whoring herself for extra cash, she’s doing great. Why?”
Keane was about to tear the house apart with his rage when he was distracted by Charlie’s opening one of the cabinet doors.
“Why is Stevie hiding in there?” he asked.
“She’s not hiding. She’s taking a nap. She was up all night working.”
“Fascinating, but that doesn’t really answer my main question. Why is she in the cabinet?”
“Shen and Zé went to get ice cream.”
Keane expected more to the reply but he didn’t get it. He wasn’t sure if he should follow up . . . but he had to know!
“Why is she in the cabinet?”
“She’s napping.”
“In a cabinet!”
“She feels safe in there. There are man-eating tigers around.”
“She’s a man-eating tiger!”
“Only half of her. And that’s only because our father has fucked-up genes. If he didn’t, she’d be all honey badger and she’d still be in the cabinet. Would you rather she medicate her anxiety so she’s nothing but a useless zombie until you and your brothers leave?”
“Why is that the only option?”
“It’s not the only option.” She gestured toward the cabinet. “See? It all works out.”
Deciding this was too stupid a conversation to continue, Keane went back to the subject of his baby sister. “Nat. How is she doing?”
“You saw her, she’s fine.”
“I can’t believe my mother agreed to let her stay with all of you.”
“Why not? She’s family.”
“You don’t know her like we do.”
“We’re learning.”
He decided to be honest. “Look, Nat is a seventeen-year-old She-cat—”
“Honey badger.”