Born to Be Badger (Honey Badger Chronicles #5)(40)

Tock blinked. “Uh-huh.”

“I know. Bad form and all. But I was angry and really annoyed about the Stevie thing. I blamed her, but Keane and Finn stopped me before I could do anything stupid.” She looked away from her phone again. “Did you know shifters have their own legal system?”

“They do?”

“Yeah, apparently.”

“Badgers usually just deal with full-human law enforcement. You seem less angry at my grandmother now,” Tock pointed out, hoping she was right.

“I am. While I was baking, I realized she was not the problem. Speaking of which . . . should we invite the guys to dinner?”

“The guys?”

“Yeah. The Malone brothers.”

“Why do you want to bring them over here?”

“They’re involved in this, too, now. And you know how Keane is. He’s a vengeful motherfucker. We’re better off watching what he does than finding out after the damage is done. I know this from personal experience of being Max’s sister.” She chuckled and continued creating her order.

“You sure you’ll have enough food? They are big cats. They eat a lot.”

Charlie glanced off and Tock thought she was out of the woods. She couldn’t explain why she didn’t want to see Shay at this moment. Maybe it was because she kind of did want to see Shay, which was weird, and a feeling she was not enjoying. Maybe she just needed a break from the cat. She was sure she’d be back to normal in a couple of days.

Until then, if she could just focus on anything but Shay, that would be—

“We’ll need more garlic bread if we invite the Malones.” Charlie went back to her phone. “Lots of garlic bread. Ooooh. Here we go. Garlic bread already made. Just need to bake for ten minutes in an oven. Perfect.”

Tock could just never get a break, could she?

*

They stopped at White Castle on their way home, ordering forty burgers each. Much to the annoyance of the staff. Not that anyone was about to say anything as long as they paid, but you could see the annoyance in their eyes. But was there anything about the Malones that said, “We’ll only need ten burgers each, please”? As it was, this was just a treat to tide them over until they figured out what they’d do for a real meal. They sat at an outside table and ate in silence as the Malone brothers tended to do. They weren’t big on conversation when food was involved. They could talk before or after, but during was not okay. Past girlfriends had learned that the hard way and never appreciated it much.

Driving down their street in their rental SUV, though, Shay realized he was already hungry again. And that meant his brothers were, too. Maybe before they had to return the vehicle, they could order something—

“Is that Dani?” Finn asked from the front seat.

Shay immediately leaned forward to look through the windshield. And sure enough, his baby girl was sitting on the front stoop with her panda backpack and a tiara on her head. Like most cats, his baby liked things that sparkled.

“What the hell?” He could tell she hadn’t been inside the house. His mother was still away with her sisters, and his youngest brother was spending a few days with a few of his full-human buddies, one of whom had a pool in their backyard. So who knew how long the poor kid had been sitting outside waiting for someone to let her in?

“Why is my niece sitting outside the house?” Keane demanded, slowly turning into the driveway. “Did her mother just drop her off again? Without warning?”

“Let it go,” Shay told Keane.

“But—”

“I mean it. Shut it in front of the kid!”

“All I’m saying is—”

With the car stopped in front of the garage and the brake on, Shay felt comfortable grabbing his brother by the hair and yanking his head back. “Say one bad word about my kid’s mother and I’ll shave your balls again. Understand?”

“Fine,” Keane spat out between clenched teeth.

“Good. Now let’s go.”

Shay got out of the SUV, and before he could walk three feet, his daughter was leaping into his outstretched arms.

“Baby! What’s wrong?”

Burying her head in his neck, he heard her say, “Your neighbor said I was abandoned and he was calling Child Services!”

“Finn!” Shay barked.

“I’m on it.”

Finn headed off to deal with their next-door neighbor, who had been an ass since the day the Malones had moved into the house. He didn’t like the big dogs Shay had, he didn’t like Keane’s glares, and he especially didn’t like that their mother took no shit from the man. He was always trying to tell them how to cut their lawn or how to put out their trashcans or when they should prune their trees. He had lived in the neighborhood for decades and thought he ran it, which he sort of did . . . until the Malones moved in. Ever since, he’d been trying to bend Shay’s family to his will, but they were big cats. They didn’t bend for anyone.

“He said I was going into a home!”

Shay kissed his daughter’s forehead and told her, “Worry lines. Worry lines. Your forehead is going to look like your Uncle Keane’s if you keep it up. Is that what you want? To look like a worried kitty?”

“Yes,” she defiantly replied while trying not to laugh.