Page 39 of Scotch on the Rocks

“What’s wrong with her?”

“She’s possessed by a demon, Father Robertson is performing an exorcism in the morning.” I left to spit, returning to the main room in time to watch him draw closer to her.

“What scares me, harpy, is that I can’t tell if you’re joking.”

“It’s more fun that way, wouldn’t you say?”

He snorted. “Does she need anything?”

I eyed her hunched form on top of the fridge and said, “A lobotomy perhaps.”

“As warm and comforting as always,” he muttered, holding out a hand to her. I bit my lip, stifling my warning as he paused a short distance away, offering up his scent without startling her. Shakespeare took the bait, or maybehedid, because she slunk forward a step, sniffing his hand then pressing her furry cheek into it. “Hey, beautiful.” He stroked her softly. “There’s a good girl.” When she licked his finger, he threw me a triumphant grin over his shoulder. “See, she’s a little prickly but all she needs is a tender –ah, fuck!”

Callum snapped his hand back, a single drop of blood beading on his index finger. Shakespeare hissed, showingall of her gleaming teeth. And I laughed, I couldn’t help it. The stunned expression on his pretty face almost too pure for this world.

“She’s a wicked little thing,” he noted with dry amusement, running the cut under the tap.

“That’s her MO, draw you in before she goes for the kill.”

“Like someone else I know.” He crossed to me, eyes roving over me again. I didn’t understand what he was searching for until he hissed, “Fuck, Juniper.” Spotting a particularly bad scratch on my inner arm, he extended a hand, as though to run a finger along the tender surface. Then dropped it limply to his side at the last moment. “Why would you bring home a vicious cat?”

“You can blame Kelly for that.”

“Kelly? My nurse, Kelly?”

I nodded. “I occasionally foster cats from the shelter she volunteers at, just a night here or there, until she offered me a ‘really sweet girl’ struggling to find a permanent home. She played me.”

He laughed with surprise. “Fuck, I didn’t know Kelly had it in her. Wait … how did I not know about this?”

I froze, thinking through my options before admitting, “We use a … different vet.”

His eyes flashed and he barked, “Who? Don’t tell me it’s Dennis Foster?” I curled my lips, saying nothing. “Please tell me you’re joking. Foster’s barely qualified, the kid got his degree from the University of Aberdeen for crying out loud.”

“He handles Shakespeare well enough.” Not exactly true. She’d made him cry the first time he checked her teeth.

“Bullshit. Next time bring her to me.”

I rolled my eyes. “Are you done being high-handed? It’s extremely boring.”

“If you promise to let me examine her.”

Jesus, I almost missed Community Ken. “I promise to think about it. Good enough?”

“Not even close.”

Screw these Macabe men.Squaring my shoulders, I turned for the bathroom.

“Why did you keep her? If she’s such a menace?”

I paused with my back to him. “Kelly blackmailed me, said no other family would take her.”

“Careful, I might mistake you for a softie, harpy.”

“That would be your mistake,Macabe.”

“You’re a real fucking snoop, you know that?” Fully dressed in a thick cardigan and jeans, I found Callum dragging a finger over my alphabetised game collection.

He paused, pulling theSilent Hillbox from the shelf and eyeing it with interest. “Can you blame me? This feels like getting a peek behind the curtain.”

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