“Fast, Marlowe.”
Mom isn’t home, but they clearly arranged this, because bags are sitting near the foyer in the apartment. Pepper’s in his covered travel cage. Fiona’s in her carrier, and all around the bags, carriers, and cases slithers Lola, who hisses at Pepper’s cage.
“Murder! Fucking Murder! Help!” Pepper caws each time Lola hisses.
“Well, fuck me,” mutters the driver.
“Fucking brilliant! Fuck me!” Pepper says.
They start carrying things to the elevator and loading it, using Pepper’s cage to hold it open. And I go after Lola.
It takes a bit to nab him, and he grows about twelve extra arms and legs and meows his broken low meow like he’s being murdered as I put him inside.
“Hold on,” Declan mutters behind me. Then he disappears. I use the time to pack a few things from my room, and it’s like being stabbed in the heart.
I don’t want to be here, but Mom’s eagerness to be rid of me is damn unpleasant.
When I’m done, I wheel it all out. Declan has a bag and Monarch’s dog bed under an arm. “You can’t?—”
“I can,” he says. “Can’t leave her alone.”
The trip to Declan’s place isn’t quiet, but Pepper runs the litany of his phrases as Declan pets the dogs and talks back to the bird.
My head spins the entire way. When we arrive, it’s in the middle of a sea of animals, who rush up to meet Declan in a tangle of wheels, fur, and slobbery doggy licks.
“Later, guys.” Declan says with a grin. “You got new friends.”
“Fucking friends!Help!” Pepper says.
My world tilts as we climb the stairs and he puts me in a room that’s big, pretty, and decorated in white. All the pets end up in there, too. Mine, his, my mother’s.
Lola’s crate is old, and somehow as I put it down, he busts out. His fur rises as he goes stiff legged, tail up in the air. He yowls and growls and swipes claws at everyone and everything.
The black cat swipes back, and before Declan can do a thing, they take off. I run after them and Declan does, too, but in their big foyer, Lola zooms through the driver’s legs as he sets down the last bag, the door still open.
“Lola!” I cry, even as Declan launches through the air and slams the door shut, moments before the cat can race into the night.
Lola stops a whisker short of hitting the door. He growls and turns, lifting a paw to lick it, then he becomes a million legs of cat power and launches himself up the stairs past everyone.
Fiona yips, and Pepper squawks out the profoundly odd phrase, “You didn’t see a thing, right?”
“Goddamn it, Dec, what the fuck’s going on? Did you bring home a fucking zoo?” A voice thunders from somewhere in the house, making my cheeks burn.
“Only half, Tor.”
The apartment I grew up in is big; this is on a different level.
I stare at Declan, trying to find words as the driver edges out of the house, leaving us alone with the cats and dogs.
He steps up to me, slipping a finger along my lip and my entire body throbs. Is this the moment when we…?
Slowly, Declan lowers his head, lips close to mine, and I lick them, aching for his kiss. Aching for him…
“I need to walk the dogs,” he says. “Go to bed.”
I drag in a shaky breath. “Declan, I…”
“Goodnight, Molly.”
