Page 21 of Whiskers on Kittens

“That’s precisely what I’m telling you.”

I yowled my fury, grabbed the pillow off the bed, and flung it in the general direction of the window. I grabbed the second one, tossed it as well, and stomped over to retrieve them before placing them on the bed. “I’m getting overtime for Christmas! I’m going to have to take on the CPD, and I’m going to be laughed right out of court when all the cops that have busted me for criminal mischief over the years realize I’m going to have to be some damned goody-goody and get them better rights, working conditions, and pay. And then they’re going to laugh at me when they bust me in the future for my criminal mischief. Watch the bastards try to get me out of my earned community service time, too.”

“I’m sure your community service time will be safe.” Easton flopped down on the room’s sole armchair and stretched out. “I’m guessing overtime limits your chances for criminal mischief?”

“It absolutely does. And during the entirety of the case, I can’t afford any criminal mischief. I’m going to be all work and no play for months. It’s going to be the worst. Absolutely awful. I’m going to be going to my friends’ homes to move stuff around on them just to get a hit of mischief.”

He dared to laugh at me. “Did you know there are legalized ways to indulge in your type of mischief?”

I rolled my eyes. “If such a perfect job existed, I would have found it by now.”

“Security specialists and security testers are real, and their job is to try to bypass and break through security systems. Museums and banks hire them, as do other high-security complexes. The government has their own specialists on staff. Sometimes, the force is asked to assist with these scenarios. If the alarm system is tripped by the specialist, we’re to respond as normal, although we’re told it’s a scenario run. I never get to participate in those scenarios, but I’ve seen them being run before.”

“You just keep getting the short end of the stick, don’t you?”

“I’m lucky I was able to be in the force at all. When I joined, the hybrid form was required, and they had very strict rules on the hybrid form. The bigger, the better—because we’re only there to be brute force.”

I thought about flinging the pillows again, but instead, I picked up the room service menu, hissed, and headed for the room’s phone. “I am going to order us a feast, and your job is to eat every scrap you can. If you eat everything and you’re still hungry, I will order more until you’re no longer hungry. I suspect I’m just a tool to finish cleaning up the CPD. The case with that shapeshifter started the show, but I expect you’re going to be the finale. But in order to process the case, there needs to be a case on file where you’re clearly a quality officer and caliber to be a detective. Busting a child trafficking ring and safely recovering the kittens would be the ultimate slap to the face. That shapeshifter’s case was related to trafficking, too. That’ll put the CPD in a bad position.”

“It’s not going to count for much. They’ll just say you’re doing most of the work.”

“Me? With a criminal mischief record ten miles long? They’re going to view me as an obvious obstruction, Easton. My record will tell them all the lies we need for the case. They’ll probably view me as in league with the rings, thus making you shine even more. I won’t tell them I’m doing any of the thinking. I mean, I’ll dress up and look really nice. They’ll see my chest and forget I have a brain.”

Easton grimaced. “I hate how true that is.”

“You’re seeing me dressed down, too. I clean up pretty, Mr. Goody-Goody. And I will ruthlessly use my looks to win. I’m beauty, I’m brains, and I’m a swift kick to the balls of any idiot too stupid to stop staring at my chest.”

“Noted.”

“You’re safe, Mr. Goody-Goody. At least as long as you stare when my breasts are put on offer for your enjoyment.” To appease my rowdy virus, I leered at him. “As long as you look up when I clear my throat, you’re probably good. If I have to start growling because you can’t seem to remember my eyes are located a little higher, then we might have a problem. But generally, if you steal peeks because I decided to wear a shirt that shows off my feline perfection, all is well. Just don’t be a bastard about it.”

“Generally, I do try to look women in the eyes.”

“Smart and bold choice, Mr. Goody-Goody. I’m sure with a little training, we can get you sneaking the appropriate number of peeks.”

“You are such a cat,” the wolf growled.

I shot him my best grin and replied. “I know. Isn’t it wonderful?”

“No.”

Laughing, I picked up the phone and went about the important business of ordering us a hearty lunch.

EIGHT

“I’m not accepting judgment for my poor choices at this time.”

Easton devoured every bite of food to enter the hotel room, licked the dishes clean, and passed out so hard I would need to put my lycanthrope strength to good use if I wanted a spot on the bed. His behavior worried me, and I dug out my phone, thumbed through my contacts, and decided I would bother Gabriel about my concerns.

“Humans are delightful creatures, unable to follow even the most basic of instructions.”

I hissed at the archangel. “And angels are assholes. We all know this to be a universal truth. It may as well be a law because I’ve never met an angel without assholish tendencies. Now that we’ve gotten those pleasantries out of the way, what’s wrong with my wolf?”

The archangel’s laughter tinkled. “Your wolf was insufficiently eating due to his income and position within the CPD. You are already working on resolving the issue. Why are you alarmed?”

“He ate almost a thousand dollars in room service, we’re at a fairly cheap place for room service, and he would have kept eating if I had more to feed him. He licked the plates clean. I couldn’t even laugh at him. Once I realized how starved he was, I only took a quarter of what I normally would.”

“Calm your nerves, Kelsie. Your wolf will be fine. This is why you were advised to stay the night. He will sleep calmly until morning outside of a groggy trip to the bathroom. Order yourself a proper meal, do the work you do best, and let him rest. He will be more active tomorrow, and while he will eat the same for dinner, he will only need a normal ration for breakfast and lunch. He will pass out again after dinner, and his virus will be fully recovered and ready to rumble the next morning.”