facing Freddy MacKilligan, whose gaze moved up and up as Berg rose and rose.
Finally, when he was at his full height, Berg easily leaned over until he was eye to eye with Freddy.
The grizzly panted. Great puffs of air hit the older badger right in the face. Then he gave several short warning growls, and still Freddy was too hardheaded to simply walk away and find another seat.
That’s when Berg’s grizzly hump suddenly grew under his jacket, and he released a roar so loud that the church’s stained glass vibrated.
“All right now. That’s it!” the Irish priest snapped from the front of the church. “We’ll have none of that grizzly shit in this holy house of my Lord. And you, badger, find a seat somewhere else.” When Freddy didn’t move, the tiger priest warned, “Don’t make me tear that puny head from your shoulders, my good lad. Because we both know I will, now don’t we?”
“Ungrateful,” Freddy snapped at his daughters. “Goddamn ungrateful!”
Charlie decided in that moment that it was in everyone’s best interest if she just killed her father here and now. Sure. She’d go to prison for a few decades, but wouldn’t having Freddy MacKilligan out of all their lives for good be worth that sacrifice?
Charlie thought so, which was why she unleashed her claws. But before she could gut the bastard in front of God and the MacKilligans, another badger rammed into Freddy from the side, wrapping big arms around his chest. Well . . . he was more part of the badger family than an actual badger. Because he was a wolverine.
“Freddy!” Dutch crowed. “I’m so happy to see you!”
Dutch lifted Freddy off the ground and while their father loudly protested, Dutch carried the idiot to the front pew with Aunt Bernice and her family.
“Well, we don’t want him!” Bernice snapped.
“Aw, come on. Isn’t it wonderful to see your brother? I’m sure you guys have missed him so much!”
Dutch dropped Freddy and pushed him into a spot that opened up when one of Bernice’s daughters moved out of the way.
When Freddy started to stand up again, Dutch pushed him back down and warned, “Try and move from this spot, and I’ll tear your arms off and eat them.”
Dutch leaned forward and snapped his jaw shut, his strong wolverine teeth clacking together. Freddy’s head jerked back to avoid contact.
But Freddy kept his seat after that, so Dutch nodded at the priest and said, “Sorry, Father,” before returning to the sisters’ pew and wiggling his way in by forcing Charlie to move over.
The priest continued with the service and Dutch whispered to Charlie, “Aren’t you glad I’m here to bring joy into your life?”
Max barely caught Charlie’s arm before she could ram her still-unleashed claws into Dutch’s belly, completely ending his presence in her life too.
Again, decades in prison might be totally worth all of it.
* * *
When Berg suddenly roared, Stevie grabbed Shen’s hand and held on tight. He looked at her and saw that she was panting hard, staring at the hymn books tucked into the back of the pew in front of them.
Without really thinking about it, he released her hand and lifted her up, sliding over and placing her between himself and Kyle so she had a little distance from Berg.
“Just breathe,” he said. “Everything’s fine. Just breathe.”
She nodded but she had her hands clasped together, twisting them hard.
It wasn’t just Berg and his grizzly ways that were freaking Stevie out, though. It was everything. Her father. Her Uncle Will. Her cousin Mairi. Even the bruises that were still on her sister’s neck had Stevie tense and panic prone. Knowing she wouldn’t leave the church without her sisters, Shen instead grabbed her left hand and held it between both of his.
“You’re doing great,” he told her.
“What does that mean?”
“I have no idea.”
That made her laugh a little and he immediately felt less concern. When Stevie was truly freaking out, she never laughed.
“Do you need me to do anything?” he asked.
“Eat something.”
“Huh?”
“The noises from your stomach are starting to freak out my family . . . and honey badgers do not freak out, Shen. Eat something.”
Shen looked around but didn’t see what Stevie was talking about until his stomach grumbled again and the badgers in the two pews in front of them turned around to glare.
Shen reached into his inside jacket pocket and pulled out a pack. To a full-human it would look like a pack of cigarettes. But Shen didn’t smoke.
He released Stevie’s hand