Page 70 of Virgin Skin

He looks relieved, giving us a big smile as we approach.

“Thank you, guys, so much. I didn’t expect so many people to drop what they were doing and come help, but I really appreciate it.”

“Course everyone came to help,” Porter’s husband, Steele, says gruffly, pausing briefly to kiss his cheek as he passes with a trembling, filthy poodle in his arms. Porter blushes and grins a little wider, then turns his attention to us.

“Brace yourselves because it’s not pretty in there. Right now we’re in evacuation mode. A lot of animals were in cages, but we already cleared them out of the house and got them over to the clinic to be checked out by my partner, Dr. Robbie. Now we’re on the harder step of rounding up the loose critters. They’re mostly friendly, but be careful and go slowly, we already had one bite wound.”

“I told you, I’m fine,” Stone says.

Porter narrows his eyes and looks pointedly at the t-shirt wrapped around one of Stone’s hands in a makeshift bandage. “And I toldyouto go to the damn urgent care before you get an infection and lose your hand.”

He shrugs. “That’s why god gave me two.” He holds up his uninjured hand and gives a peppy little jazz hand wave.

“I’ll take him to urgent care as soon as we’re finished here,” his husband, Dare, promises, coming out of the house with two wriggling puppies in his arms. Stone’s eyes get big and watery, and he clutches his chest dramatically. “No,” Dare huffs.

“But their faces.”

Dare sighs and carries the puppies over to one of the trucks to put them in an empty kennel. Something tells me that “no” isn’t going to stick, so at least that’s two furry friends fewer tolose sleep over. But there’s still a house full of more that need our help.

MILO

The stench inside the house is overwhelming, but I pull my t-shirt up over my nose and try not to think about it. Porter said to make sure we check under furniture, so as we all enter and fan out, I drop to my knees to peek under a large, antique china cabinet. A single yellow eye blinks back at me from the dark crevice underneath, and I gasp with delight. Obviously, this situation is fucked up, but it’s also a little exciting.

“Hi, friend,” I coo, sliding my hand forward into the small gap. Thefriendis not impressed. It hisses and then settles into a continuous low growl.

“You found one?” Piston asks.

I nod and stretch out on my belly, flat on the floor, keeping my hands a safe distance away while I continue to stare into the void with just one yellow eye. I really hope it’s a cat under there and not some terrifying cyclops demon beast.

“I don’t think she’s a big fan of all the commotion going on out here though.” I reach back into my pocket to pull out my phone and turn on the flashlight. I shine the light into the small gap and gasp. “Oh man, of course she doesn’t like it, she’s got two little babies she’s trying to protect.”

Piston makes a concerned sound in his throat. “First rule of dealing with animals, don’t mess with a mama trying to protect her babies. Maybe leave her for now.”

I chew on my bottom lip and turn off the flashlight so I don’t upset her more. “She’s scared though. I bet the kittens are too.” I tilt my head back to look at the cabinet itself. It’s full of breakable shit and it looks heavy as fuck. I’m sure with enough muscle it could be moved, but I shudder at the thought of Mom or the kittens getting squished in the process.

“I think I’m going to see if I can coax her out with a little patience.”

Piston’s quiet for a second, and then I hear him let out a resigned huff. “Alright, just be careful and don’t stick your hand under there while she’s growling.”

I roll my eyes even though I don’t think he can see it from this angle. “Yes, Dad.”

He grunts and I can hear the words hewantsto say all wrapped up in that single sound. I suppress a chuckle and wave him away. There are plenty of other animals he can go rescue; these babies are mine.

“Hey, Cy, I know it’s crazy out here right now, but I promise no one wants to hurt your kittens or take them away,” I say gently. “If you let me get you out, I can take you somewhere warm and quiet where you’ll be safe and loved. I bet you like tuna, don’t you? What if I promise to always share my tuna sandwiches with you? Then would you be my friend?”

I keep up a stream of coaxing promises until she stops growling. Once she does, I stretch my hand out just an inch. The growling starts back up, but I’m patient. I start talking again until she relaxes, then move my hand another inch. Over and over, one inch at a time I work on gaining her trust.

When she finally lets me get my hands on her, I want to scream with glee, but I manage to resist so I don’t scare her. I tug her out carefully then reach back in for each of the babies.

“Hey, way to go,” Hero says, coming around the corner just as I’m cradling my new friends in my arms.

“I’m the cat whisperer,” I gloat. “I should call Animal Planet and get my own show. Wait, is Animal Planet even still a thing? Discovery Plus, maybe? Oh, or I could start a YouTube channel where I go around helping animals in need.”

He chuckles and ruffles my hair fondly.

“I think those were the last of them. We’ve checked the rest of the house top to bottom and haven’t found any more in the last half hour,” he says.

“Cool.” I awkwardly get myself to my feet with my arms full, careful not to hold on too tight and squish the babies or upset Cy. In the light I can see she’s a little skinny and does in fact only have one eye, but otherwise she looks alright. She’s a pretty orange-and-black calico, and one of the babies matches her while the other is all black. “I need to come up with names for the kittens. Oh, I could put up a suggestion box at Ink Slingers and let customers vote on it.”

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