Page 82 of Venomous as a Snake

“What thought?” Ali asks, tied to the chair on my right.

“Walker staying with Kody.”

They drop Walker into the chair on my left, tying his already restrained hands to the back.

My brother glares at Clay, though there’s a twinkle of something growing in his irises when he glances my way. He’s about to start his bullshit, and I’m going to follow suit.

A third minion strides through the doorway, Carol’s blue travel tote held at arm’s length. My stomach falls through my ass as my heart skips three beats.

They’ve got Kody.

But Walker’s cheek twitches like he’s fighting a smirk.

They don’t have Kody? What the fuck is happening?

“You put her in that?” Clay barks.

“We didn’t know what else to carry her in, sir,” the minion stammers. “She could bite us through a pillowcase.”

Clay rubs his forehead with his index finger. “Put her down. Gently. Open it.”

The minion pales but does as he’s asked. He clearly doesn’t deal with venomous snakes very often.

Walker’s nostrils flare as his jaw muscle flexes. I look to my left, leaning forward to see Ali, Collin, and Forrest in varying degrees of confusion-fueled anger.

The fucking swan smiles as he looks down. “Shift.”

She doesn’t.

He reaches into the plastic tub, grabbing her behind her head. And that’s when I smell it…

“I said shi—” Clay wrinkles his nose, then roars, “Fuck.”

The disgust on his face causes Walker to pop, his words blending in with his laughter. “He musked on you.”

“You said you got her!” Clay shouts, ignoring my brother. “This isn’t Kody!”

He gently places Carol back in his travel bin, though it takes every ounce of his self-control to not be rough with Kody’s pet rat snake.

Fucking Carol.

I’ve never been so happy to smell that rotten fucking snake.

And he fucking reeks.

The rancid aroma floats through the air, and one minion gags. That’s when I join my brother in his laughter.

“You’ve got a bunch of idiots working for you, Clay,” Walker tells him, grinning like a fool.

“Carol is like half the size of Kody’s cobra,” I point out. “Didn’t you show them pictures of who they were looking for?”

“Shut up,” the swan grumbles.

Collin’s phone rings on the table behind Clay. He takes a step backward, peering at the screen before a smile crawls across his face.

“Guess who’s coming to me?” he taunts.

“No one comes because of you,” I inform him. “Don’t be delusional.”