Badger to the Bone (Honey Badger Chronicles #3) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,58
pee themselves in panic, Vargas didn’t stop. He barely slowed down. And after a moment of confusion, he picked up speed. Why? Because he was a competitive cat. He just didn’t understand that yet.
The cheetahs slowed down a bit again, giving Vargas a chance to catch up and, honestly, because they had to. Because they could only run at sixty-five miles per hour for short bursts. But as soon as he caught up to them, they took off again. A move that clearly pissed him off.
And they did it again. And again. Slowing down until he caught up and then blasting off, leaving him behind.
The fourth time was when she saw it. Not rage. Not jealousy. Nothing full-human in his reaction. Just determination. Annoyance at himself for being left behind.
It started with his eyes. Those green beauties turning bright gold.
Then his shoulders hunched a bit. And his strides became longer, more fluid.
When the transition hit, it took less than a second. A flash. His human body abruptly covered in black fur, the spots so dark they were almost invisible, only exposed when he passed under certain lights. His shoulders hunched, his arms hanging down. Then his hands were paws, hitting the ground hard, followed by his feet.
In mid-run, he shook himself all over and his clothes flew off. When his front paws landed again, he was full jaguar and, as one, her team did what they always did when they saw a great play: they jumped up and cheered.
It took him a second. He was still running, unaware that he’d shifted on his own. But when he did finally realize it, when he fully understood he was no longer human, he slowed down and then stopped.
Max watched as he lifted one paw after another, his now gold gaze studying each in turn.
The two cheetahs shifted and playfully attacked him, knocking him down, leaping over him. Zé rolled to his back, stretched his legs and studied them. Fascinated by his new form. Fascinated with his new power.
He scrambled back to his feet and faced the cheering players. Then he was charging toward them at full power. Max smiled, but unlike the dogs on her team, she didn’t duck. None of the badgers did.
Zé sailed over her with ease, dashing up the seats to the highest row.
That’s when Max and her teammates began the chant.
“Zé! Zé! Zé! Zé! Zé!”
And even in his cat form, she could tell he was taking a bow.
chapter TEN
The trunk opened and, for the first time in hours, Devon Martin could see something other than utter darkness.
“Come on, Dev,” that familiar voice said, although more than one set of strong hands grabbed him and hauled him out.
He was mercilessly tossed to the ground. Then there was a series of brutal kicks to his gut, legs, chest, and back. Almost everywhere but his head.
When he was sure he couldn’t take any more, he heard that voice again.
“All right. That’s enough.”
The kicking stopped and Dev was able to pull himself up onto his hands and knees. He lifted his head.
“Hi, Dev.”
She sat on the trunk of the car with another Asian woman, both of them eating carrots.
Holding up the vegetable, Renny Yang said, “You know, I really thought that when I got out of prison, I would be dying for a burger and fries. And that was the first thing I ate. But you know what else they don’t have in a Bulgarian prison? Vegetables. And fruit. Something this omnivore has missed greatly.”
“I want my shit, woman.”
Renny smiled and Dev remembered how he used to love that smile. Now he just wanted to shoot it off.
“You and that idiot double-crossed me,” he reminded her. “What did you expect me to do?”
“Not mess with my daughter.”
Dev gazed at her. “Your daughter . . . or our daughter?”
Renny frowned and eventually looked at the woman next to her. Then they burst into laughter. They were joined by the other Asian females who came out of the darkness and surrounded the car.
“You think I would have had a child with you? Some”—her mouth curled in disgust—“ full-human with absolutely nothing to offer my bloodline? Oh, puhleeze!”
“I don’t know which is worse,” the woman beside Renny said to him. “That you think she’d have a child with . . . you. Or that you think Max might be your child and yet you attempted to kill her several times.”
“I never tried to kill her. She just . . . just . . .”