There was a rapid knock on the door, which made him jump. It wasn’t crate day, he didn’t think. There hadn’t been nearly as many people moving around this morning for it to be, which meant it had to be Gertrude.

Another knock sounded, and he picked Mara up. She’d been pecking at some rolled oats he’d put in a bowl. Such a messy eater. There were oats everywhere.

He sighed but tucked her against his chest and went to check the door. He opened it a tiny crack, only to see Gertrude looking in the opposite direction. When she focused on him, her eyes were the color of her tiger.

He took a quick step back. What was going on? Then he moved fast and pushed the door shut right in her face.

“Namir! What the hell?”

He turned the lock. It wouldn’t stop her if she wanted in, but since she’d knocked instead of entering, she might want to talk things through. What was going on? “Why are you here?”

Was there someone at the gate? Had his former owners come for him?

“To drop off groceries. Come on, I don’t have time for neurotics today.”

He didn’t answer.

“Namir. Come on, honey. I didn’t mean that. I’m sorry. I have food, okay?”

He didn’t move.

“Namir?”

“Yeah.”

“Open the door, please.”

He hesitated.

“Or I can leave the bags here. I have to go to Wanford, and I’m late. We can talk later, yeah?”

It could be a ploy. She might have sold him to the highest bidder. The community needed money, and he wasn’t contributing, not on any level.

“Honey?”

Would she honey him if she meant to sell him? He unlocked the door and opened it, but didn’t move out of the doorway. “Why do you have to go to Wanford?” He had no idea where Wanford was.

“It’s where the butchery is.” She looked him up and down, her gaze stilling at Mara.

“Where we get the meat from.” They all got meat once a week. He hadn’t realized how seldom Gertrude had bought him meat until the weekly meat packages had started coming. He hadn’t paid attention before, but now he did. Shifters needed meat. Beans and lentils worked, but meat made all the difference, and he hadn’t noticed he’d gone without.

They hadn’t been fed well while in slavery, so he’d been glad to have food, whatever food it was.

“Why are you hugging a chicken?”

He couldn’t decipher the expression. Surprise, for sure, but maybe exasperation too. “She was freezing to death.”

Gertrude widened her eyes. “Chickens don’t freeze to death.”

Namir scoffed. “Of course they do. There were ice crystals on her feathers.”

She shook her head but it looked like she was fighting a smile. “Is it Ty’s chicken?”

“No.”

The silence grew louder with each second ticking by.

“How did you get hold of a chicken? Only Ty has chickens, and I don’t think you went outside the walls.”

He didn’t answer. Mara was his. She’d walked into his garden, and she’d made no attempts to get away from him. “She’s almost housebroken, she only needs a little more training.”

Gertrude’s laugh was way too loud. “Chickens don’t get housebroken, sweetie.”

“Mine will.” He ran a hand over Mara’s feathers which had her looking at him.

“I wish I could stay and chat. It’s been one of the more interesting conversations I’ve had in a while.” She bit her lip, and her eyes were sparkling. “But I have to run. Someone blew up a truck, and I’m bringing Oscar with me to have him look at the connection between us and the owner of the butchery.”

Namir didn’t know people by sight, but Gertrude always told him what was going on within the walls. Oscar worked for the local police and was dating Jasper, one of the vampires Rue and Chaton hung out with. Jasper built things, like shelves for Chaton, and chicken coops for Ty and Jagger.

He glanced at Mara. Maybe she needed a coop.

“Will the meat deliveries stop?”

“I don’t know. Not right away, I don’t think. There are still four drivable trucks, and it would take Jinx some time to move to a different butchery.” She grimaced. “I didn’t go into this believing it would last forever, but I hoped we’d keep it up until the garden started producing again. January and February were no fun last year.”

No, they hadn’t been. Namir had eaten the same navy beans and rice every day of the week.

“I need beans, lentils, unshelled sunflower seeds, barley, alfalfa seeds, and eh… other seeds. Do they have wheat berries in the grocery store?”

A crease formed between Gertrude’s brows. “What are you gonna do with wheat berries?”

“Mara needs to eat.”

“Mara?”

Namir lifted Mara a fraction and nuzzled her neck. She ducked away as best she could.

“You know chickens need friends, right?”

“I’m her friend.”

Gertrude groaned dramatically. “I meant, she needs a chicken friend, most likely two.”

“I can’t have three chickens in my kitchen. It would be a mess.”

Gertrude laughed again. “I’m sure it would.” She tilted her head. “Maybe you should hand her back to Ty. She must’ve escaped.”

“Exactly. Escaped. I’m not gonna turn her over to someone she wants to escape from.”

He didn’t know what to make of the slow nod. “I need to go, but I’ll talk to him, let him know—”

“No! She’s mine.”