organs. She’ll be groggy for a few days, and I’d keep her away from other cats.” He strokes her head, and I notice several rows of claw marks across his hand. “She’s much more accommodating than my usual patients.”
Considering Dr. Galen is usually digging bullets out of crooks or repairing nasty wounds for cage fighters, I take his word for it.
I take Queen Boudica from him. She stares up at me with wide, pain-soaked eyes, her claws digging into my shirt. I’m never, ever letting her out of my sight again.
Dr. Galen washes his hands in the sink and exits with a nod to Antony. My cousin leans against the cabinets and fixes me with that look of his, the one that says he’ll follow me into the fires of hell to fuck shit up with me, and he’ll laugh the whole way. “What are we dealing with here?”
“Alec LeMarque,” I growl. My fingers curl into claws. “He’s been gunning for revenge over his precious nose. That prick Eli must’ve told him how to get into the house – I found out from the diary that I used to sneak him in through there. Eli’s the only person who could possibly know about the maintenance shed – the paps haven’t been anywhere near that side of the house. He’s the only one I saw on the CCTV, but I don’t know what he’s seen or how much he knows.”
“Shit.” Antony cracks his knuckles. “Just say the word, Claws, and I’ll make sure he never speaks again.”
If he’d offered a month ago, I would have shut him down. I needed to deal with my own shit. Antony’s solutions tended to be more… permanent. But that’s before they invaded my space and fucked with my precious Queen Boudica.
This is war.
“I want them all to pay.” A slow grin spreads across my lips as I savor the anticipation of vengeance. “And Alec LeMarque gets a personal visit.”
28
Mackenzie
It feels like old times, Antony and I hanging out together. At least, it feels like the old times should’ve been, because after the coffin I really couldn’t be sure of anything. After a few hours, Queen Boudica is back to her usual self, and I show Antony how she loves to chase bottle caps and fuzzy mice toys around the ballroom. He laughs as he watches her skitter across the floor, skidding on the shiny surface as she pounces on her prey.
I call the school and feign a stomach bug, tell them I won’t be in for the rest of the week. I’m told I’ll have to produce a doctor’s note if I’m out for more than a day, but after everything I’ve done, forging a signature from some doctor isn’t going to weigh on my conscience.
I miss cheerleading trials. I can’t bring myself to care.
Both Gabriel and Eli text me several times, but I delete their messages unread. Every time I think about them, the memory of Queen Boudica lying on the blood-stained tiles makes me burn with anger so bright it blinds me.
“Don’t you have to go back to the club? What about the fight?” I ask on the second day, holding Queen Boudica while Antony stands over the stove, cooking his famous chicken stew. My mouth waters at the delicious smells wafting through the house.
“Tiberius will manage it for me.” Tiberius is Antony’s top fighter – and he’s terrifying. He has this feral look in his eyes like he’ll snap at any moment, and I am totally on board with that. “I’m here as long as you need me, Claws.”
I slide into a seat and dump a can of meat into a bowl for Queen Boudica. She eats with two paws on the table, from her own chair, like a member of the fucking family. Because she is. “Do we have to wait until next week for revenge? I don’t want to take your best guys out of the running.”
“After tonight, my guys are yours.” Antony flips pancakes into a stack and sets it down in front of me. I slather it with butter and maple syrup and dive in. “Write me a list. We’ll hit them all at once, so they’re in no doubt who’s behind it.”
I raise an eyebrow. “You got enough people for that?”
“For you, Claws, I’m calling in my troops.”
Queen Boudica’s body rumbles with happy purrs as she licks her plate clean. I pull up the Notepad app on my phone and start typing names. Alec, for invading my