In a Badger Way (Honey Badger Chronicles #2) - Shelly Laurenston Page 0,91
rid of it before either of her sisters knew. Stevie was bad enough with her panic over all things that, according to her, “skittered.” But Charlie was even worse. She hated, hated, hated vermin. And that’s what she called them all. Whether rat, raccoon, squirrel, or possum, they were all vermin to her, and if she found any in her house, she flipped out. Calling a mere exterminator would not be good enough for the eldest MacKilligan sister. After the exterminator came the professional cleaners. The specialists that handle toxic cleanups. And, of course, getting rid of all the furniture because Charlie would worry that one of the “vermin” had left their “disgusting offspring” somewhere.
Max wasn’t about to go through all that if she could help it. So she’d track the little fucker down and get it out of the house without either of her sisters knowing.
Quietly heading up the stairs, Max occasionally paused to listen for more sounds. She inched closer and closer until she neared Stevie’s room. That’s when she began to worry it wasn’t rodent vermin that was scratching away in the walls. But something worse.
Dad vermin.
Growling softly, she made her way down the hall until she reached her sister’s room. The door was partially open and she eased inside without touching it.
“Dad?” she called out softly. “Dad, are you in here?”
She sniffed the air, trying to locate his scent. Hoping this time he hadn’t doused himself in cheap cologne like the last time she’d found him lurking in her baby sister’s bedroom, trying to steal what wasn’t his.
“If I have to track you down, you motherfucker, I will—”
The leather strap wrapped around her throat, tightening before she could even react.
She reached back but her head was slammed hard into the solid metal bedpost, twice, and she was dragged to the ground.
That’s when legs came over her shoulders, trapping her arms just as the leather strap was pulled tighter.
Smooth skin against her cheek and a soft voice with a lilting Scottish accent hissed out, “Hello, cousin. Our aunties send their best.”
* * *
The gunfight on the TV was going strong when suddenly there was a moment of silence. The hero had just gone over the balcony and hit the floor, and around the same time Stevie heard a thud from upstairs. She looked over to where Max had been sitting earlier. She’d gone upstairs but she hadn’t come back.
There was another thud and Stevie moved her gaze to Charlie. Their eyes locked for a split second. Then the dogs ran through and Charlie jumped up, following them. Stevie was right behind her.
“Hey!” she could hear the bears calling out behind them. “What’s going on?”
But they didn’t wait. They just ran. When Charlie hit the landing on the second floor, they heard growls and barks as the dogs tried to scratch their way past the bedroom door.
“Move!” Charlie ordered and the dogs ran back behind Stevie.
Charlie kicked the door in and Stevie stood on the other side of her sister.
Max was by the window seat, a leather strap around her throat. Their cousin Mairi was behind her, her muscular legs over Max’s shoulders. She was leaning back, putting more pressure on the strap around Max’s throat, while keeping Max’s arms pinned.
“Hello, cousins!” Mairi called when she saw them.
Charlie’s hands curled into fists and, growling from deep in her throat, she barked, “Stevie!”
Stevie charged past Charlie and into the bedroom. She launched herself from the dressing table, her feet hitting the wall and sending her over to the tall dresser. She bounced off that and up, attaching herself to the ceiling with her claws and running over to where her sister and Mairi were.
As she moved, so did Charlie, storming across the room with her own claws and fangs unleashed, slamming into the attacking honey badger and pinning her to the base of the window seat. Her claws fastened on either side of Mairi, her fangs snapping at her face.
Distracted, Mairi didn’t realize Stevie had dropped down and slashed her claws against the leather straps.
Coughing and gasping, Max fell forward and into Stevie’s arms. Stevie dragged her sister away as the dogs viciously attacked their cousin, going at her as hard as Charlie was.
Once Stevie had Max a safe distance away, she started back toward the fight, but she’d barely gotten a few feet when arms went around her and pulled her to the ground just as she heard Britta scream from the doorway, “Gun!”