Page 32 of Red Dragon’s Heart

Mrs. Tannenbaum said, “I’ll leave you to work all that out between the two of you. All I know is I can’t take them on the regular.” She looked at Maddie. “You know my Peter is allergic.”

“It’s fine,” Maddie said. “I don’t expect you to take them. Like I said, they’re coming with me.”

Mrs. Tannenbaum looked from one to the other of them, snorted, and left.

Zak turned to Maddie. “Our deal did not include furry-tailed rats.”

She felt her innate stubbornness welling up. “It does now.”

No way was she leaving her kitties behind. She’d found them abandoned in a cardboard box at the edge of the trailer park, and nursed them back to health. Grayson was still delicate.

Zak protested, “But rats need… things. Food, and milk, and—and where are they going to go to the bathroom?”

She just gave him a look. “You’ve heard of Highlander, but not kitty litter?”

“No cats.”

“Do you want your antidote or not?” Maddie tried to sound tough, but she knew she didn’t have the power to insist on anything. She needed Zak to help her get her life back—and to protect her from Eric and the cops. He was the one who had all the power. And he had a very stubborn look on his face.

But she could be stubborn too. He needed her.

Maddie said fiercely, “I had to leave everything behind, because of Eric—including my family.” She took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She would not cry. “I saved these kittens. I raised them. You’re not going to make me leave them behind too.”

She paused, then added, “Besides, Princess Diana is still attached to your shoulder, and I don’t think you’re going to get her to let go any time soon.”

“You named your kitten after Prince Harry’s mother?”

“No. I named her after Wonder Woman.”

Zak clearly didn’t know whether to believe her or not, but he said, “Fine,” and stomped outside to get the boxes out of the truck, Diana still clinging to his shoulder.

By the time he got back, Maddie already had half her belongings piled up on her bed. She didn’t have much—she’d refused to accumulate things. It had seemed like that would be giving up, an admission that she’d never go back to her normal life.

Zak tossed a couple of boxes through the doorway—there wasn’t really room for both of them in the bedroom. She said, “You can start packing up the kitchen stuff, since you’re in such a hurry.”

“I have kitchen things.”

She just snorted. “I drink my whiskey out of a glass, thanks anyway. And a paper towel is not a plate.”

“Whatever.”

He disappeared, and she could hear him banging open cupboard doors. She hoped her plates and glasses survived the trip.

After a bit the banging and crashing stopped, and she heard him clumping outside, presumably taking the boxes to the truck.

She stacked the two boxes with her clothes and toilet articles near the door, and did a last pass of the tiny trailer.

Zak came back in and stood by the boxes. “Are you done?”

She was still piling things in a small box. Her phone speaker, her charger, her journals. She said, “Just this. And I have to fix a box for the kitties.”

Zakerek grunted disapprovingly, but he didn’t say no, so she found a sturdy box and made a little nest with kitchen towels, coaxing Grayson into it. “I hope you packed the cat food with the kitchen things,” she said to Zak. He didn’t answer, so she checked the cupboard. The food had disappeared along with everything else.

“Great. So if you just grab the litter box from the bathroom—”

He stepped into the bathroom doorway and stared down, his nose wrinkling. “It has cat poop in it.”

“Duh, yes. That’s what it’s for.”