In a Badger Way (Honey Badger Chronicles #2) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,43
steak sandwich. But he didn’t have nightlong dreams about sitting in a field of bamboo that went on as far as the eye could see and eating steak sandwiches.
And if there was one thing he would not let Stevie do, it was interrupt his bamboo-infused breakfast.
Thankfully, their staring contest didn’t go on for too long because Charlie walked in through the back door. As soon as the door opened, Stevie’s gaze moved to the far wall and she crossed her arms over her chest. Then she didn’t move.
Charlie stopped behind Stevie, opened her mouth to say something . . . but nothing came out. She tried again, but still nothing.
Jaw locked in frustration, Charlie walked away; the front door slammed closed a minute or two later.
Just as that door closed, the back door opened again and a naked, filthy, and bloody Max walked in.
“No, don’t mind me,” she said to the back of Stevie’s head. “I’m fine. Just great!”
“No one asked,” Stevie shot back, still not turning around. “And we’re leaving in five minutes!” she yelled after her sister had stomped out of the kitchen.
“More like fifteen,” Shen tossed in before spooning more cereal and bamboo into his mouth. “What?” he asked when Stevie sneered at him. “I need to shower.”
“Then could you pick up the speed? I’m not used to waiting for staff.”
Head dipping lower over his now overly buttered toast, Kyle muttered, “Damn, Stevie.”
Shen swallowed, looked Stevie in the eyes. “I’m merely staff now?” he asked. “I thought I was cute.”
“You’re getting less cute as the day goes on.”
“Hey, don’t take it out on me because your sisters have no faith in you and think you sound like a feral cat from their backyard.”
Stevie slammed her hands on the table and Kyle suddenly bolted out of his chair and moved to the open window.
But all Stevie did was get up and storm out; Kyle let out a breath when she was gone.
“Are you trying to get us killed?” he asked in an almost hysterical whisper. “If she shifts, she could pop us in her mouth like an Altoid!”
“If she shifts, she’ll crush us anyway, so stop your whining.”
“You have no concept of how important I am to the universe, do you? Well, let me tell you—”
Stevie walked back into the kitchen and stood there for a moment. Shen waited for her to start yelling or something, but instead she asked them, “Did you see that? Was that awesome, or what?”
“Your insults?”
“No! I was really angry. Like livid. But look!” She spun around. “I have complete control of my anger. I was able to be angry without turning into a ball of rage that would tear this house down! Dudes! That’s so huge!” She clapped her hands together. “Okay. Let’s all be ready to go in fifteen minutes.”
She turned toward the door but it swung open and Oriana walked in wearing the same clothes she’d had on the day before.
Stevie, startled, screamed and spun away and then . . . up. She latched onto the ceiling and gazed down at them.
“Holy shit,” Oriana muttered. “That’s amazing.”
“Oh.” Stevie let out a breath. “It’s you.”
Stevie dropped back down to the floor, retracted her claws, and smoothed down the front of her tank top.
“Sorry about that,” she said to Oriana. “You startled me.”
“No problem.”
“What are you doing here?” Kyle asked his sister.
“I fell asleep on the couch watching TV and no one woke me so . . . here I am.”
Kyle’s eyes narrowed. “That’s such bullshit.”
“Excuse me?”
“What are you really doing here?”
“I just told you.”
“Oriana, I’ve known you my entire life, unfortunately, and I’ve not known a day since I was born—and yes, I do remember that far back—when you didn’t go to dance class first thing in the morning. I literally do not know a day. You always found time for, at the very least, a class. If not rehearsals for some production. So what are you really doing here?”
She briefly closed her eyes. “The director suggested I take a little . . . time for myself.”
Kyle’s head tipped to the side. “Because . . . ?”
“Because I may have attempted to dig Svetlana’s eyes out of her fucking head. That’s why.”
Shen, not really caring about this conversation, was shoveling another spoonful of cereal into his mouth when both Stevie and Kyle began clapping. Applauding, actually. They were applauding.
“My sister popped her cherry!” Kyle announced and Shen nearly spit his cereal out on the table. “I’m so fucking proud!”