Tania frowned. She'd stayed at her father's for over three months now, and from her experience, seeing other cars parked in the driveaway was never a good thing. She pondered her option. She could head over to a restaurant, maybe. Go to a movie? 

But she needed a shower, to get changed and relax, and Princess needed her food. She sighed as she got out of the car, resolved to just say hello politely before locking herself in her bedroom. 

When she walked in, the house stunk of cigarettes, weed, and alcohol. 

As she arrived in front of the living room, Nigel accosted her. "Here she is! My pride and joy. Smart, that girl. Always been smart." 

She forced a smile. "Hi, Dad." 

Nigel Martin's state ranged from hungover to passed out. Right now, he was plastered, but not quite bad enough to collapse in his own vomit yet. There were three other guys around him, all drunk, big, middle-aged men with receding hairlines. 

"Come here, come here." 

She hesitated. The last thing she wanted to do was to get closer to these guys and their roaming hands. 

"I have to feed my cat." 

Lame excuse if there ever was one. 

"Come! Trevor is saying stupid things. I want you to tell him it's not true." 

Trevor was the one in a white wife-beater and a pair of jeans he wore low on his hips. Ew. That just wasn't necessary. 

She took one step forward. "What's your question, Trevor?" 

The man slurred. "Heard you all at the fur clinic were serving shifters. Heard one of them cat people came." 

His grin was nasty. 

Tania knew better than to give a straight answer to that. 

"We don't treat shifters, only regular animals." 

"But at the pub, they're saying they're coming to you to treat their dog." 

"That can't be true, right, Tania?" her father insisted. 

She had a hard time preventing herself from rolling her eyes. 

"We don't request our clients disclose their nature—after all, we do treat animals, not shifters, as I said. But if a shifter came with an animal that needs help, it would be illegal to turn him away because of his nature, so it's possible." 

The blow came swiftly, right on her left cheek. Tania wasn't sure why she was surprised. It was the first time that her father had hit her, but she'd seen him raise a hand to her mother throughout her entire childhood, until Laura got out. 

Nigel was shouting. "No daughter of mine is going to service fucking shifters, you hear me? They're damned, the lot of them. You're going to go to hell—" 

She was halfway up the stairs already, and she tuned out the rest, making a beeline for her bedroom. 

Princess was lying down on a bed. Tania closed her door, locked it, and rummaged through her closet to pull out the cat carrier. "Ready for a trip?"

She didn't bother packing any of her belongings, just grabbed her purse, containing her cards and ID, and the carrier with Princess inside. Tania all but ran to her car, ignoring the voices and footsteps following her. Her father was rushing to her, but in his state, rushing didn't mean much, given the fact that he couldn't manage two steps without tumbling.

She unlocked her beetle, and got in, putting Princess on the passenger seat and locking the door just as Nigel reached her. He tried her door, and then punched the window. Tania started the car and reversed out of this hell.

What the fuck was she doing here? Why had she believed that she'd be safe at her father's? Shit.

She drove aimlessly for a while. North, toward Valley Vets, she realized. Tania guessed that if Nigel was drunk enough to try to follow her, he'd go in that direction, so she drove past the practice, ignoring every motel on the way. Two miles up, she turned left, seeing a motel's sign. She bit her lip, hoping they accepted pets.