Grim Tempest

by Amanda M. Lee

  “Not unless you consider WWE wrestling a game,” Aidan replied. “I’m watching the news, Aisling. There’s more going on in this world than your nonstop need to talk. Can you give me a few minutes?”

  His tone was biting and caused Griffin and me to offer twin looks of surprise.

  “Sure. No problem.”

  Griffin put his hand to my elbow and prodded me toward the small dining room at the back of the townhouse. It offered us a spot where we could talk privately – as long as we lowered our voices – and watch Aidan and Jerry at the same time.

  “I think you were right about them fighting,” Griffin started.

  “When are you going to realize that I’m always right?”

  Griffin ignored the jab. “Maybe we should head out to breakfast, just the two of us? I’m not really keen on sitting through the world’s most uncomfortable meal to start my day.”

  It was a fair point. Still, Aidan was my brother and Jerry was my best friend. I felt the urge to help. “I don’t know.”

  “We can stay.” Griffin immediately adjusted his stance. “I’m just saying that we’re not a part of this argument. Maybe we’d both be better off leaving them to work things out on their own.”

  What fun would that be? “I think they need me to act as referee.”

  Griffin made a tsking sound with his tongue. “You just want to get the dirt about why they’re fighting. You’re a gossipy little thing.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

  “I’m warning you that this could blow up in your face.” Griffin adopted a practical tone. “You don’t like it when you’re fighting with Jerry. Out of all your brothers, you like it least when you’re fighting with Aidan. I think it might be that twin thing, but I’m not sure.

  “Just be prepared if they both explode all over you,” he continued. “They’re clearly on edge. And as much as I love you – and I do – you’re not known for being the sort of person who can magically smooth over arguments.”

  I was pretty sure he meant that as an insult. “It will be fine.”

  “Okay.” Griffin held up his hands in defeat. “When this backfires on you, I don’t want to hear a word about it. I’m not going to be sympathetic when you come crying to me ten hours from now and want me to make things better.”

  That was a pointed warning … and dig. “It will be fine.” I decided to change the subject. “How is Peter?”

  “Oh, he’s definitely better, but mired in guilt.” Griffin brightened considerably, which made me feel better for him even though I remained worried about Jerry and Aidan’s relationship. “The doctors found an overabundance of epinephrine in his bloodstream.”

  Hmm. “I don’t know what that means.”

  “Apparently it’s a chemical reaction when people fight, although I haven’t gotten all the specifics yet and I’m pretty far from a scientist,” Griffin explained. “The doctor can’t say for certain this is what made Peter act the way he did, but he thinks it’s a likely culprit.”

  “So that leads to the next question,” I mused. “How did Peter get so much epinephrine in his brain?”

  “They’re searching for answers. Lani hasn’t left his side. She keeps insisting he would never hurt her – he’s never so much as laid a finger on her during a disagreement – and she refuses to press charges.”

  “So what will you guys do?”

  Griffin shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. Right now we’re waiting to let the doctor do his magic. If it’s a medical condition, Peter can’t be blamed.”

  “Which is what we’re all hoping for, oddly enough.” I rubbed my hand over my chin and focused on the back of Aidan’s head. He seemed ridiculously tense. “I have an idea.”

  Griffin screwed up his face into a sour expression. “Oh, I hate it when you say things like that.”

  I ignored his tone. “I want you to talk to Jerry and feel him out. I’m going to do the same with Aidan.”

  Griffin immediately started shaking his head. “That’s a terrible idea.”

  “And I think it needs to be done, so it’s going to be done.” I refused to back down. “I don’t like it when those around me are fighting.”

  “Baby, you love it when your brothers are fighting and you started it. I don’t know who you’re trying to fool, but it’s not going to work on me.”

  “This is different.” I meant it. “They’re really upset.”

  Griffin heaved out a sigh. “Fine. I’ll talk to Jerry. But if he tells me to mind my own business, I won’t push him. I’m only willing to go so far with this.”

  “Fair enough.”

  I COULD HEAR Griffin and Jerry talking when I sat next to Aidan on the couch. This time I was quieter when I addressed him. I was also more aware of his mood, so I kept my voice even as I asked the obvious question.

  “What happened?”

  Aidan opened his mouth to snap out what I’m sure was an insult, but instead he changed course mid-retort and held his hands palms up as he shrugged. “I don’t know what happened. Things completely fell apart last night.”

  “I don’t know what that means.”

  “Jerry turned … hostile … out of nowhere. I mean, he didn’t just turn mean and angry with his words. He tried to hit me. He actually tried to punch me.”

  I was dumbfounded. “Jerry tried to hit you? Why? He doesn’t believe in punching people. He thinks that’s a testosterone-run-amok thing.”

  “I know. That’s why it took me by surprise the way it did.”

  “Huh.” I ran my fingers through my hair as I tried to process Aidan’s admission. “Tell me more. When did this happen?”

  “We were fine during dinner last night,” Aidan replied. “We went to that vegan place he loves and he got that salad he’s convinced cleans him out so he will live forever.”

  “Yes, I’ve heard about the salad. He even made me eat it once. It tastes like ass.”

  “It does,” Aidan agreed. “I was fine with it because he seemed to be in such a good mood. It was storming when we hit home. We tried to wait it out in the parking lot, but the storm seemed to go forever.”

  “I know.” I thought back to the frequent lightning and never-ending downpour, something occurring to me. “How was he in the car before you got out?”

  “He seemed fine. He didn’t turn angry until we were running toward the townhouse. Then, out of nowhere, he started yelling at me. And when I told him he was being ridiculous he threw a punch. Luckily for us he’s never thrown a punch before and missed my face, but … I don’t know what to make of it. He was absolutely furious. I’ve never seen him that way.”

  My stomach did an uncomfortable roll. “What happened when you were back inside?”

  “He stormed into the bedroom and took a shower. I could hear him muttering about what a jerk I was before he slammed the door. Then, suddenly, when he got out of the shower he wanted to make up. He pretended he had no idea what had gotten into him and apologized, but I wasn’t in the mood to make up.”

  “So you slept on the couch,” I mused.

  “Yeah. I’m angry with him. I can’t just forget what he did. That’s not the sort of relationship I want.”

  I didn’t blame him. The story was eerily similar to that of Griffin’s co-worker, and I couldn’t shake the niggling worry that they were related. “What if it wasn’t his fault?”

  “What do you mean?”

  I shrugged, noncommittal. “What if something made him act that way?”

  “Like what?”

  I didn’t know how to answer, but the storm seemed the easiest scapegoat. I kept the notion to myself, and merely offered a wan smile. “I don’t know. That’s not the way Jerry is, though. We both know that. Something must’ve happened in his head to make him act that way.”

  “I agree, but that doesn’t mean I should put up with being punched for no reason.”

  “No, but … it’s not as if this is a regular occurrence with Jerry.”

  “I’m
not going to argue that point, but I’m still angry. I don’t know what to make about any of it. I need some time to think. He’s been pouting in the kitchen all morning, which isn’t helping matters.”

  “He probably feels guilty.”

  “Well, he should.”

  I ran my thumb over my bottom lip. “A lot of people fought during the storms yesterday. Griffin and I talked about it. They had a lot of arrests, and almost all of them were due to fighting.”

  “So you think the storms made people fight?” Aidan didn’t look convinced. “How could that possibly be true?”

  I had no idea, but I was determined to find out.

  5

  Five

  Griffin walked me to my car after our tense breakfast. He linked his fingers with mine, as if it were a normal day, but gave them an extra squeeze before releasing in front of my vehicle.

  “Did Jerry say anything useful?” I asked.

  “He just said they fought and he threw a punch and he feels guilty.”

  “That’s basically what Aidan told me, too. Aidan is extremely upset, and I’m worried.”

  “I wouldn’t worry too much. I’m sure they’ll get over it. Guys throw punches all the time and it doesn’t turn into a big deal. In fact, throwing a punch could be a good thing when it comes to men. It gets out latent aggression and things return to normal quickly after that.”

  Something about his cavalier attitude rubbed me the wrong way. “You didn’t say that yesterday when your buddy coldcocked his girlfriend.”

  Griffin shifted from one foot to the other, uncomfortable. “Because that wasn’t the same thing at all.”

  “Really?” I arched a challenging eyebrow. “Why is that? Because Lani is a woman and Aidan is a man?”

  “Well … um … .” Griffin didn’t answer. Most likely because he knew there was no answer that would appease me.

  “It was the same thing,” I pressed. “Just because Aidan is a man and can defend himself, that doesn’t mean what Jerry did was right.”

  “Of course it doesn’t,” Griffin said hurriedly. “I’m not saying it was right. Jerry is beating himself up over it, too. He doesn’t understand why he did what he did. He described it as something inside of him snapping.”

  “Just like what happened with Peter.” I irritably rubbed the back of my neck as I leaned my hip against the car. “It happened during the storm last night.”

  Griffin pursed his lips.

  “I can tell what you’re thinking,” I muttered. “You think I’m making something out of nothing.”

  “I didn’t say that,” Griffin shot back. “I’ve learned that your instincts are generally spot on, but this is different than anything we’ve dealt with before. Evil people, even wraiths, were at the heart of everything else we’ve ever faced. I have trouble understanding the concept of evil storms.”

  He wasn’t the only one. That didn’t mean my wariness wasn’t warranted. “I don’t know why it’s happening, but it certainly seems to be a thing,” I argued. “The exact same thing happened to your co-worker and my best friend. That can’t be a coincidence.”

  “It can’t?” Griffin obviously didn’t believe that. “Jerry has always been wound a little tight, Aisling. Quite frankly, given all he puts up with and how fussy he is, I’m surprised this didn’t happen sooner. I’m sure things will work themselves out.”

  It was obvious I wasn’t going to be able to sway Griffin to my way of thinking so I merely shrugged and forced a smile. “You’re probably right.”

  Griffin scanned my face for a long time, his gaze probing and uncomfortable. “You don’t think I’m right, do you?”

  Lying would’ve been the obvious way to go, but I had no intention of doing that. “No. I think you’re wrong and I’m right.”

  “Baby, you always think you’re right. I’ve never once heard you admit to being wrong.”

  “That’s because it’s never happened. I keep waiting for it to occur, but I think I’m probably doomed to disappointment.”

  Griffin ran his tongue over his teeth. I could practically see the war raging in his head. Finally he merely held up his hands and nodded. “You’re right. You’re always right. I should’ve realized that months ago. I think it would’ve saved us a lot of arguing.”

  Oh, now he was just placating me. “You don’t think I’m right.”

  “I don’t,” Griffin agreed. “But we’re at a stalemate here. I think you’ve got what happened with Peter caught in your head and you’re looking for a paranormal reason for what Jerry did because it seems so out of the ordinary.

  “People snap, Aisling,” he continued. “People have bad days.”

  “Punching the person you love isn’t a bad day.”

  “I agree. Still, sometimes things happen. I think Jerry got worked up and lashed out and he regrets it. I think he regrets it so much you’ll never have to worry about a repeat performance.”

  I thought about the look on Aidan’s face, the depression weighing down his shoulders, and shook my head. “It’s more than that.”

  “Well, we’ll have to agree to disagree. I’m sorry, but I don’t think it’s more than that, and I’m not going to lie just to make you happy.”

  “I don’t want you to lie.” That was true. Mostly. “It’s just … I don’t like emotional upheaval in my life. I want everyone to get along.”

  Instead of reacting with sympathy, as I expected, Griffin barked out a laugh. “Baby, you like it when people are worked up, and you know it. This is a little bit different from the discontent you generally like to sow, but in general you like a good old family brawl.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he continued. “I promise. Things will work out.”

  I wanted to believe him. I wanted to press him on the issue until he agreed with me. I wanted things back the way they should be so I didn’t have to dwell on them all day. I knew none of those things were going to happen, so instead I offered up a smile.

  “Everything will work out,” I agreed, leaning forward so I could give him a quick kiss. “Everything is going to be absolutely fine. I have faith.”

  “Good. That makes two of us.”

  THINGS WERE SO NOT going to work out. I should’ve realized I was in for a crap factory sort of day the moment I tripped over Jerry’s stupid fence. Instead it took running into my nemesis – yes, I have one and she’s awful – at my favorite coffee shop to make me realize things were about to worsen.

  “Hello, Angelina.”

  Angelina Davenport, her usually bouncy brown hair tied back in a subdued ponytail, swiveled slowly when she heard my voice. She was ahead of me in line, a woman with a big purse and chipmunk cheeks sandwiched between us, and she didn’t look any happier to see me than I was to see her.

  “Oh, well, Aisling,” Angelina drawled. “Did the herpes convention let out early? I thought they were keeping you guys for three days so they could conduct experiments.”

  Darn it. That was a pretty good opening shot. The fact that she didn’t even need a moment to think was frustrating. She was on top of her game. “They sent me out to find a speaker,” I supplied. “The one they had died and you were the next on our list. I was just heading out to find you. Luckily for me you turned out to be easy to find. I didn’t even have to head to the nearest street corner to ask your pimp if you could take some time off. You know how I hate hanging with your pimp.”

  The woman between us widened her eyes to comical proportions when she realized things were about to get loud. “Oh, dear.” Angelina and I both ignored the way she fanned her face and looked around for help.

  “I’m surprised you’d risk running into my pimp because he wouldn’t hire you,” Angelina shot back. “He said you were too easy to be a prostitute. I mean … that’s weird, right? Who is too easy to be a prostitute?”

  Angelina looked victorious, but I knew I had her beat.

  “That doesn’t even make sense,” I complained. “Prostitutes are paid for sex. Sluts give it a
way for free. You can’t be too easy to be a prostitute because that’s part of the gig.”

  Angelina balked. “That’s why it was funny.”

  “It’s not even remotely funny,” I countered. “It would’ve been funny if you said that I was fired for doing too many free promotions. The way you worded it made no sense.”

  Angelina made a face. “It made perfect sense, you whore!”

  “Oh, whatever. By the way, I heard you got ass crabs and you’ve been spreading them around. You might want to get a tonic or something.”

  “I can’t believe this,” the woman between us muttered, her eyes landing on someone behind me in line. She looked almost happy to see whoever it was, but there was no way I would fall for that and allow her to smack me over the head with her huge purse when I wasn’t looking. Believe it or not, that’s happened multiple times, and I refuse to fall prey to bad acting from the elderly squad ever again. “Thank goodness the police are here,” she said. “I’m not going to be killed in a coffee shop after all.”

  When she mentioned police I couldn’t stop myself from glancing over my shoulder. I almost expected to find Griffin standing there. Perhaps he thought better of thinking me an alarmist over the storms. Instead I found someone else entirely. Unfortunately, I recognized the face, and the detective wasn’t a member of my fan club.

  “Detective Green,” I said mildly, forcing a smile. “It’s wonderful to see you again. I can’t tell you how much this moment brightens my day.”

  Instead of reacting to the sarcasm with a sneer, which was his way, Mark Green merely rolled his eyes. “Yes. You look thrilled to see me.”

  “You’re a police officer,” the woman said, pointing toward the badge affixed to Green’s belt. “Did you hear what these women were saying? You need to arrest them for public indecency.”

  In one of our rare shows of unity, Angelina and I snorted at the exact same moment.

  “We’re not being indecent,” Angelina argued. “We’re being rude and mean, but there’s nothing indecent going on.”