“We got this. Just hang tight for a few more days, Mordecai, and we’ll have medicine for you.” I chanced easing up the hold. He tipped forward, but caught himself.
“I don’t know why it’s getting worse. It’s only been a week since my last dose,” he said softly.
“Puberty.” I rubbed his back. “Your body is probably going through some big changes right now, bud. A growth spurt, maybe. I’ve heard that your dad was a big guy. And shifters feel puberty harder than humans.”
“We don’t have the money to support my habit—”
He barely got to finish the word.
A slap rang out and he fell back into me. Daisy kneeled in front of him with new tears streaking her face, her expression screwed up in anger. “Don’t you talk like that. We do have the money. It’s just a matter of finding it. You two are my family. I need you. Both of you. So, don’t you dare give up. We’ll get you that medicine. And fuck you for scaring me.”
Silence fell over us, gooey and thick with emotion. I should’ve berated her for slapping him. I should’ve yelled at her for swearing.
But as the chuckles bubbled up through my middle, all I could do was laugh and hold on to Mordecai for dear life.
“Fuck you, too,” he said, reaching out for her.
She was right—it was only the three of us. Our family was all we had in this world, and it was unthinkable for us to lose him. We couldn’t.
Somehow, I had to get that medicine.
10
Alexis
Eyes puffy and fatigue dragging at me, I lugged my tired butt into work the next morning. Mordecai hadn’t made any kind of recovery, but the syrup had eased his coughing enough to let him sleep soundly.
Neither Daisy nor I had gotten a wink. We’d sat on her bed, hugging each other, watching over him to make sure he was okay.
Stale air greeted me as the glass doors slid open. The cream floors shone in the bright fluorescent lights attached to the ceiling overhead. Racks of clothes spread out in front of me, and shelves of undergarments rose up behind them. Toiletries were to the right, and way in the back was my section—the bed and bath section.
In a national chain that had everything, why had I gone to that other store for a blanket? Because this particular store was owned by a bunch of magic-hating jerks, run by another jerk, and its products were designed by jerks to break or fall apart within a few months so customers would have to come back for more. Still, it was a job I sorely needed, so I dealt with it.
You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.
I sighed. I hated when my mother’s sayings randomly crowded into my head to sour my already bad mood.
After dipping my timecard into the time-stamp machine, I made my way to my section and stared for a moment at the utter destruction only a few hours had wrought. Bathroom mats lay trampled on the ground, towels were wadded up, the colors mixed, and a toothbrush holder littered the floor in pieces—people were slobs when it came to perusing the wares of a cheap store with no personality.
Or maybe they treated every place with this level of disrespect. I had no idea, but if Daisy and Mordecai treated our house like this, they’d get a thumping.
Thinking of Mordecai dashed my righteous annoyance. With a heavy heart, I went about my managerial duties in a “department” of one, working from one end of my area to the other, cleaning up after patrons. When that was finished, I started over, cleaning up the same amount of destruction I’d just set to rights. It was an endless loop.
A few hours into the mindless daze, my phone vibrated in my pocket. Hoping it was my alarm signaling lunch, I dug it out of my too-tight pocket and looked at the screen.
Fear blasted through my chest. It was home calling, and since Daisy and Mordecai knew I wasn’t allowed to look at my phone or take calls on the floor, it meant this was an emergency.
“Hello?” I said, hurrying toward the stockroom.
“It’s me.” Daisy’s voice was filled with fear and determination. “He’s at it again and I can’t get him to wake up. Alexis, he’s going to die if we don’t do something. He can’t last two more days. You know it as well as I do.”
Bands of steel squeezed my chest, but I swallowed my fear. It wouldn’t help this situation. “Get him sitting upright and use the steamer. Give him the cough medicine. I can ask for a cash advance. That’ll buy us time.”
“The fees