Badger to the Bone (Honey Badger Chronicles #3) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,64
about what you are, you’re not just risking yourself, you’re risking all of us. Even the cubs you occasionally like to eat,” she added with a wink.
“She’s right,” the driver suddenly added, his gaze watching them in the rearview mirror. “Most of them will never understand.”
Zé pointed at the driver’s seat and mouthed, Him?
“No,” Max said aloud. “He’s full-human, but he reeks of dog.”
“My wife’s a jackal,” the driver happily offered.
Max gave him a thumbs-up but Zé asked, “Can you go back to being quiet now?”
“Cat?” the driver asked Max.
And Max’s response was just to throw her arms up in faux exasperation, her hand nearly hitting his nose.
He pushed her hand away. “Do you mind?”
“Are you mad about something?”
Zé thought a moment, finally admitted, “No. The food, as you promised, was amazing. The drink . . . delicious. Your teammates were not nearly as annoying as Nelle’s friends. And Nelle’s friends went out of their way to avoid me.”
“That’s because you don’t look like you have money.”
“Good. Anyway, all in all, it was a pretty great night.”
“Then why are you so cranky?”
“This isn’t cranky. At least not my cranky.”
“Dear God, what is your cranky?”
“Me,” he answered, “but more.”
“What’s terrifying is, I kind of get what you mean.”
They fell silent again and Zé wondered if he should apologize for making her think he was mad at her. He wasn’t. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he kind of enjoyed hanging around Max. Or maybe it was simply the way people sometimes feel toward doctors or nurses who save their lives. She had saved his life, literally, and had shown him his true self. So maybe he was simply giving her more leeway than he would normally give any cute girl who kind of irritated him, but was so cute he didn’t care.
Eh, he thought, dismissing the idea of apologizing. He wasn’t going to suck up to her. So, instead, he relaxed back into the seat and thought about the kind of phone he was going to get tomorrow so he could call his team leader and let her know he was not dead.
As he stared out the window, he felt Max’s head rest against his arm.
Assuming she’d fallen asleep, he glanced down at her. But she was wide awake.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“Resting on your arm.”
“Why?”
“Because I want to.”
“I don’t get a say?”
“Sure. Does my lightweight head on your massively built bicep bother your sensitive cat nerves?”
“Or you could have just asked, ‘Can I put my head here?’ And I would have just said, ‘Yes.’”
“Could have done that,” she said, snuggling close, “but, ya know . . . didn’t.”
chapter ELEVEN
The driver refused to go any closer than three blocks away from Max’s street. When she asked why, she was told, “Bears.”
It really was the only answer she needed.
Together, Max and Zé walked down the street. They had to stop a few times when one of her neighbors trotted by in bear form or fell out of a tree right in front of them.
“This is so weird,” Zé finally admitted. “I feel like I’m in one of those towns in Alaska where they have a polar bear season.”
“I know it seems scary but it’s not.”
“Really?”
“Well, none of these bears have spent months on shrinking ice floes with very little food to eat. They’re not starving or willing to get shot just to eat some tasty Alaskan wandering by. Because if there’s one thing I know about New York bears . . . they always eat. A lot. Several times a day. But the last thing they want to do is tussle with a cat if they don’t have to. So, you know . . . you’re safe.”
When they were half a block from the house, Zé stopped; it took Max a few seconds to realize it. She looked back at him. “What?”
“How am I going to learn all this stuff? About what bears do and lions and dogs.”
She shrugged. “Watch Animal Planet and Nat Geo.”
“Pardon?”
“While most full-human toddlers are being left alone to watch cartoons on TV, we were being left alone with Nat Geo. Or PBS. Anything with nature documentaries. My adopted grandfather even had tapes of old programs. That Omaha show.”
Zé smiled. “You mean, Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom?”
“Yes! That’s it!”
“My grandfather used to talk about that show. But he just liked documentaries. Especially anything military related.”
She walked back to Zé and stood in front of him. “You’ll be okay. This stuff is easy to learn.