Badger to the Bone (Honey Badger Chronicles #3) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,103
discuss this without anyone getting—”
Before Max could get out “upset,” her sister’s roar of rage exploded all around them.
* * *
The males of Imani’s Pride had just pushed the cubs out of the kitchen chairs so they could eat the children’s eggs and toast. Imani was about to yell at them—again—and order them not to do that anymore, when the entire house shook.
The males bolted from the table, one of them roaring, “Earthquake! Run for your lives!” before they all ran outside into the streets.
One of her young granddaughters turned to Imani and asked, “Why do the males get to eat first again?”
Imani crouched in front of her and answered to the best of her ability: “Because the gods have a terrible sense of humor.”
* * *
Keane Malone knew he was angry. He was proud of his anger. He kept it close to him; tended to it like a lover. But even he had to admit, his anger was nothing compared to Charlie MacKilligan’s rage.
For the last ten minutes—while he’d pressed an ice pack to his abused balls—they’d all stood there while she ranted and screamed and threatened death to the man she still called “Dad.” At first, he’d thought it was a performance. Something to get him off her old man’s back, but as it continued and her face got redder and her muscles pulsed and he was sure her increasing blood pressure was going to make her heart explode, he realized, nope. This was not a performance.
This was hatred. He knew hatred and this was definitely hatred.
Keane’s hatred and anger were directed at those who had killed his father all those years ago, when he and his brothers were still young. But Charlie MacKilligan’s hatred and anger were directed right at her father. And, if Keane were Freddy MacKilligan, he’d be hiding right now.
But he couldn’t let himself be distracted. He wanted his sister back and he wasn’t going to stop until he got her.
“Look—” he began but the younger badger shook her head at him and her eyes were really big and she looked about ready to panic, which was strange. Honey badgers weren’t prone to panic.
Once Keane stopped talking, the little badger crouched in front of her now seated sister.
“Hey,” she said softly, “why don’t you go bake something, sweetie? It’ll help you think.”
Bake? She wanted her sister to bake? His baby sister was out there somewhere with an idiot and these heifers wanted to bake?
Again, Keane opened his mouth to speak and again the badger gave him that crazy look.
“Yeah,” Charlie MacKilligan said. “Yeah. I’ll bake. Baking’s good. Bears love when I bake.”
And like that, she got up and walked out of the room.
Pressing her hand against her upper chest, the small badger let out a very shaky breath and stood. She was cute but she reminded Keane of a Muppet. Maybe it was the size and the purple hair.
“Okay, now that I’ve got that managed—”
“My sister,” Keane pushed.
“Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Look, I don’t know what to tell ya. We always knew our father was an asshole but we didn’t know he was this much of an asshole. But the one thing I can tell you is that he would never tell us about your sister. Not in this world or the next.”
Charlie walked back into the room. She was already mixing batter, a stainless steel bowl tucked into the crook of her arm; the other hand stirred its contents with a wooden spoon.
“You know,” she ranted, “it’s like he goes out of his way to fuck with our lives. Like it’s his goal to make me crazy. Why does he want to make me crazy, Max? Because he’s making me crazy!”
Abruptly, she spun around and stalked back to her kitchen.
The Muppet went back to their conversation as if her sister hadn’t interrupted. “However, our father is being hunted by most of our family. Chances are very high he may be caught soon and quickly killed.”
“What about our sister? That just puts her in more danger.”
“If one of our family catches up with Freddy, you won’t have to worry. They’re not going to kill a pup.”
“Cub.”
“Whatever. They’ll probably just leave her there. With the body.”
“What the hell does—”
“And you know what else?” Charlie MacKilligan demanded as she stalked back into the room with a muffin pan, each cup filled with batter. He’d never seen anyone make batter that fast before. His mother baked muffins but she took way longer.