“How did we get to organs?” Shay asked. “Why would they want our organs?”
“It’s big business. And we have super organs. Imagine all the full-humans who’d love to get our organs when theirs fail. I’m sure all of them would be willing to pay top dollar for a tiger liver.”
“So you think our family came here to steal our livers and sell them to full-humans?”
“It’s possible, Finn. And stop looking at me like that. I’m not insane.”
“Of course not! This is a completely rational reaction to a visit from our cousins.”
“We could just talk to them,” Shay suggested.
“All right,” Keane said. “But they can’t have my kidneys.”
Shay nodded at his brother. “That’s completely reasonable.”
*
Tock wasn’t sure she would ever want to travel commercial again because traveling in one of Nelle’s family jets was the best. Fresh food, impeccable service, and tons of legroom. Plus, no one ever took a swing at her or tried to open the emergency doors because they were having visions.
But when they arrived back at the house Charlie had rented on a bear-only street and Tock had put her travel bag down on the floor, she immediately felt disappointed. Which was weird, because simply returning to the States alive and with all four limbs still attached had seemed like a win. Yet at this moment, just standing alone in the middle of the MacKilligan sisters’ living room, she didn’t feel that way. She felt as if she was missing something.
That’s when it hit her: she wanted to see Shay. The fact that she wanted to see anyone after a long flight—yes, even on a private jet—simply because she wanted to spend more time with them was shocking. Usually, Tock just found an empty bed and dropped face-first into it or curled up in a cabinet. Maybe she’d take a nap or have some food delivered. She didn’t need to be greeted at an airport terminal with hugs and kisses by family and friends when she returned from far away. Yet, it would have been nice to see Shay at the terminal waiting for her.
Tock pulled out her phone, about to text Shay to see if she could stop by his house later, when a tug on her T-shirt had her turning around and smiling.
“Hi.”
“Hi!” Dani grinned up at her and waved, even though they were just standing in the middle of that long, not very wide living room.
“What are you doing here?” Tock asked.
“Daddy wanted to pick you up and bring you to our house.”
“Oh, did he?”
“So he texted Mads because he was afraid if he asked you, you’d say no.”
“What made him think that?”
She shrugged in reply. “But Mads told him she would drop you off later because she wanted to get in a practice today.”
Tock began to rub the back of her neck. That’s where all her tension went. “We just got off a long flight. We are not practicing today.”
“That’s what Daddy said you’d say. So he decided to ignore Mads and drive over here with Uncle Finn and me.”
“And I’m glad he did.”
“Did you have fun on your trip?” Dani asked, eyes so innocent.
“Fun?” Innocent eyes. Innocent eyes. “Oh. Yeah. Lots of fun. Fun, fun, fun.” Tock grabbed her travel bag and pulled a box out of it, handing it to Dani. “This is for you.”
“For me?” She untied the pink ribbon wrapped around the box and lifted the top. Dani’s eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open. Tock was expecting the kid to say something or jump up and down. You know . . . kid stuff. What she didn’t expect, though, was the high-pitched squeal that rammed into Tock’s sensitive ears like an ice pick.
“What the hell?” Charlie screeched from the kitchen. And not even a second later, Shay and Finn ran into the house.
“What?” Shay hysterically demanded. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
“Look, Daddy!” Dani held the open box high so her father could see. “Look what Tock got me!”
Realizing his daughter was safe, Shay immediately released a breath. He bent over at the waist, resting his hands on his knees. “I thought something . . .”
“Train your child,” Finn ordered his brother before going in search of Mads.
“Look, Daddy!” Dani said again, completely ignoring her uncle. “Look! Look! Look!”
“Yes,” Shay said, now panting from the spike of adrenaline. “That’s gorgeous, baby.”
“Put it on me! Put it on me!” Dani ordered Tock.
Tock took the watch out from its packaging. It was pink and sparkled like the sun from all the pink Swarovski crystals she’d added because she knew what the kid liked. She put it on Dani’s wrist, tightening it almost to the last lug hole on the band. She wanted the kid to be able to grow into it over time.
“There,” Tock said when she was finished. “What do you think?”
There went that high-pitched squeal again. Tock reared away from the kid, worried her ears might start bleeding.
Dani took off running, maybe to show Nat.
“Tell me you didn’t pay two hundred and fifty thousa—”
“I didn’t. She’s too young to appreciate a watch of this caliber,” Tock said while gesturing to her own pride and joy with her other hand. “I just pulled a watch from the case and had my watchmaker bling it up a little.”
“Your watchmaker? The expensive one?”
“Yeah, but Dani’s watch wasn’t expensive. Besides, a watch is an investment.”
“No, it’s not.”
“It is to me, and it is to your daughter.”
“How do you know that?”
The high-pitched squeal started again and Dani, now outside, ran by the living room windows, her arms above her head, waving them wildly.
“Let’s just say”—the kid ran by again going the opposite direction. And, yes, still squealing—“it’s a good guess.”
*
Shay reached over and took Tock’s hand into his. “I missed you,” he admitted.
Okay. Finn was probably right, and he was moving too fast, but Shay didn’t want to hold back or lie about his feelings just to keep from freaking Tock out. If she really liked him, was comfortable with him, telling her how he felt shouldn’t freak her out. And he had no doubt that if she wanted him to back off, she’d tell him that in no uncertain terms.
“I was gone three days,” she pointed out.
“I know. But I still missed you.”
“I—”
Dani jumped in front of one of the living room windows, still screeching about her new watch. They gazed at his daughter until she ran off into the yard and then looked back at each other.
Tock cleared her throat and finally said, “I missed you, too.” She gave a small smile. “I also missed the kid. I have five new notebooks filled with equations for her to work on.”
“That’s great because she already went through the ones you left for her. She tried to work with Stevie, but Stevie was really busy and when she did try to help Dani, she overwhelmed her, I think.”
“Overwhelmed her how?”
“Something about time and space and the probability of asteroids crashing into the planet and wiping out all of life as we know it.
“Oh, my God.” Tock closed her eyes. “Yeah. I’ll . . . uh . . . I’ll work with Dani.”
“Thank you.”