Page 25 of To Kill a Badger (The Honey Badgers Chronicles #6)

There was only one who didn’t seem to care about any of that drama, though.

“You never answered Charlie’s question,” Keane said to Van Holtz.

It was said low, quiet. Yet they all heard him over the snarling of Rutowski. Because it was so dangerous, that low voice. That low, angry voice.

The gazes of many predators turned to the tiger, and Rutowski calmed down, but her friends still kept their tight grip on her arms and waist. They were all waiting to see what the male tiger would say next. What he would do next.

“What?” Van Holtz asked the cat, clearly not used to anyone speaking to him the way a Malone was speaking to him.

“Answer her question, old man. Why are you here? What do you want?”

Van Holtz’s eyes narrowed and went from dark brown to a bright yellow. Wolf eyes. But a smart wolf always knew when he was outnumbered, and with three Amur tigers in attendance, the canine was definitely outnumbered.

“You want to know what I’m doing here? Fine.” Van Holtz turned his gaze back to a waiting Charlie. “I’m here to tell you that you’re on your own. All of you are on your own.”

“What?” That flabbergasted question didn’t come from Charlie. She was completely unmoved by this announcement. Instead, it came from Rutowski. “What do you mean, they’re on their own? How can they be on their own? They’re kids.”

“They’re hardly kids. And it’s been discussed and agreed upon that since badgers all started this—”

“Actually, we didn’t.”

“—you can finish it. On your own.”

“It’s been ‘discussed and agreed upon’ by whom?” Yoon demanded to know.

“The Group. BPC. Katzenhaus. And The Board.”

“That is bullshit,” álvarez said with a harsh, bitter laugh. “Not only are de Medicis selling human beings, something none of us are supposed to be doing as per your rules. But they’ve already attacked Van Holtz territories. Our territories.”

“You’re telling us that the Pack is going to let them get away with that?” Yoon asked.

“They attacked your personal homes. Badger territory; not our territory. Each of these houses are personally owned by each of you, not my nephews.”

“My daughters were in the kitchen with me when they started shooting,” Rutowski growled out through clenched teeth, “and you’re not going to do anything ?”

“You are more than welcome to get assistance from other badgers, of course. Oh, that’s right. None of you work together unless it involves a heist of some kind or the destruction of an entire country.”

“Oh, my God, Van Holtz,” álvarez snapped. “You are such a baby.”

“Look, I’m sure more than one of my brothers will be happy to help. But when it comes to the organizations that protect us as a whole . . . all of you, as I said, are on your own.”

It was clear none of the older She-badgers could believe what they were hearing from this wolf. But Charlie, Max, and Stevie had no reaction, which seemed to confuse the wolf.

Van Holtz asked Charlie, “Do you understand what I’m telling you?”

Charlie nodded and stood. “Yep.”

His confusion grew worse, brow pulling low as he watched Charlie pick up her empty plate and coffee mug.

“And you grasp that there will be no help coming from any of our organizations going forward? You and your sisters and”—he dismissively gestured at Rutowski and her friends—“will be completely on your own in this fight? You understand that , right?”

“Okay.”

Charlie stepped back from the table and walked toward the house.

Watching her go, Van Holtz turned in his chair.

“Okay?” he repeated. “Is that all you have to say?”

Charlie stopped; faced him.

“What else is there to say, Edgar? I never expect anything from any of you anyway. When my mother was killed, none of you did anything. You, personally, attempted to take Stevie for your organization, but only to use her. And my father should have been put down a long time ago like a rabid circus monkey, and yet . . . you let him live. Much to my great annoyance. So excuse me if I don’t fall over in shock that the four organizations that let three little girls make their own way for the last twenty years aren’t coming through now. ”

With that, Charlie walked away. Max followed her sister, her silent but threatening gaze locked on Van Holtz.

Wiping the wetness off her cheeks with the back of her hand, Stevie also followed her sisters. But she did say to the wolf, “We do appreciate you coming here yourself to tell us this, Edgar. Thank you.”

She took a few more steps, but abruptly stopped when she found Max standing in front of her, glaring.

“What?” Stevie demanded.

“ ‘We do appreciate you coming here yourself, Edgar,’ ” Max mimicked back in a high-pitched, baby voice. “Really? Can you suck up to these people any more?”

“I will always hate you !” the tiny badger hybrid bellowed at her sister before pushing past her and storming back into the house.

“Are you going to cry again?” Max mockingly asked.

“I am not crying!” Stevie sobbingly replied.

“Great plan, Edgar,” Rutowski taunted, with a thumbs-up. “Excellent.”

“Don’t you have a nuclear reactor to sabotage?” the wolf asked dryly.

“I’ll say it one more time, Chernobyl was not our fault!”