In a Badger Way (Honey Badger Chronicles #2) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,10
is not my problem,” Shen argued. “This is a MacKilligan problem.”
“Stevie is one of my best—”
“Only.”
The kid glared at him. “I have friends.”
Shen squinted at him. “Do you?”
“She is one of my best friends and I will do what is necessary to care for her.”
“Then call her sisters and let them deal with it.”
“I told you they’re out with Berg in the city. It’ll take them time to get back here. The house will be gone and Stevie will be underground by then. Burrowing her way through the neighborhood and destroying a lot of house foundations in the process. I’m assuming the bear neighbors won’t take that well.”
No. They wouldn’t. But still . . . “I will not accept responsibility for her. I barely want to do that for you.”
Lips pursed, the kid pulled open the cabinet door again, and now Shen could only see Stevie’s bare feet. They hung out the hole she’d dug, twisting and twirling as she continued to work her way through the inside of the building to get out.
“Dammit,” Shen muttered. The kid was right. At this rate, she’d dig a tunnel that went straight from the kitchen to the roof.
Sighing, Shen reached up and grabbed Stevie’s feet.
“You should be doing this,” he growled at the kid when Stevie screamed and started to kick at him to get away.
“I’m an artist. I can’t risk my hands. You know that.”
Smirking little prick. Honestly, the things Shen did for money.
Going up on his toes and taking a good grip on her ankles, Shen pulled down and out, yanking Stevie from the safety of her burrow and slamming her to the floor.
He cringed. He hadn’t meant to pull so hard, but that slam to the floor didn’t stop her either. Nope. Stevie just kept screaming, swinging giant claws, and kicking out her feet while letting everyone know, “You’ll never take me alive! You won’t eat me alive!”
Deciding that no female was pretty enough to deal with this level of bullshit, Shen flipped her over, grabbed her around the waist, and lifted her off the floor. He tucked her under his arm like a big sack of rice, making sure her arms and legs were pointing away from him, and started toward the front of the house.
“Get her something to wear,” he barked at the kid.
“Where are we taking her?” Kyle asked, grabbing what looked like a bright yellow dress off a chair in the dining room.
“I have no idea,” Shen admitted. “But we can’t keep her here.”
“You’re right.” Kyle raced toward the front of the house so he could open the door for him. “But I think I know exactly who can help us. She’s in town right now. So it’s perfect.”
“Who are you talking about?”
Kyle glanced at the still fighting Stevie. “Just trust me.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“We’re taking her to someone who can help. I promise.”
Shen hoped so. Because Stevie had abruptly gone from screaming and swinging to completely rigid and hissing. It reminded him of a stray cat his parents kept finding behind their house. It kept pissing back there and the smell reached into his mother’s kitchen. Every time their father tried to remove the cat, it acted just like this.
They reached the SUV parked in front of the house and Shen jerked his head toward his back. “Get the keys. Open the doors.”
Kyle pulled the keys from the back pocket of Shen’s jeans. He remotely unlocked the vehicle and reached around Shen to open the back door.
“Once we’re on the road,” Shen continued as he moved forward to place Stevie inside the vehicle, “we’ll call her sisters. Tell them to meet us at your family’s . . . family’s . . .”
Shen stopped to assess the situation.
Stevie had spread her legs and arms wide so that she could clamp her feet and hands against the SUV’s metal carriage, stopping Shen from pushing her inside.
Honestly, he had not expected that. Why would he expect that? Why would he expect a grown woman with tiger and honey badger DNA in her system to act like a common house cat?
Taking a breath, Shen again tried to push her inside, using his chest against her back. After the second failed attempt, he barked, “Seriously?”
That got him another hiss.
“You know what we need,” Kyle ruminated. “A cat carrier. We probably don’t even need a big one either. Stevie can make herself into a small ball without much effort.”