Grim Tempest

by Amanda M. Lee

  “You didn’t know that for sure before you did it.”

  “We had a feeling.”

  Griffin narrowed his eyes. “Are you arguing just to argue? You know I hate that.”

  “I’m not arguing just to argue. I don’t do that.” I averted my eyes because even I didn’t believe the lie. “I’m simply stating a fact.”

  “Whatever.” Griffin played with his empty straw wrapper as he stared into nothing.

  As if sensing a brewing argument, Redmond smoothly stepped in to defuse the tension. “It was a spur-of-the-moment thing,” he offered. “You have to understand, Carol was always a robust woman. She’s dropped sixty pounds and looks as if she’s one step from the grave. It was shocking to both of us.

  “Aisling didn’t jump out to help Angelina,” he continued. “She jumped out to help an older woman who was clearly in duress. We knew her from when we were kids – even though she was a mean wench even then – so we couldn’t very well just leave them there like that.”

  Griffin tapped his fingers on top of the table as he glanced between us. “Your poor father must’ve had his hands full with you guys when you decided to take up for one another as kids. I mean, it’s one thing when the kids are tattling on each other. It’s quite another when they’re holding together as a united front.”

  “That’s not what we’re doing,” Redmond argued.

  “That’s totally what you’re doing.” Griffin cracked a smile. “You can’t stop yourself from trying to protect your sister. It’s cute sometimes … although it’s totally annoying a lot of the time, too.”

  I marginally relaxed. “I didn’t even realize I was doing it as it happened,” I admitted. “I just couldn’t ignore them. Even though I hate them, the idea of leaving them in the storm like that was too much. What would’ve happened if Angelina turned on her mother?”

  “I don’t know.” Griffin grabbed my fingers and gave them a squeeze under the table. “We had another round of violent altercations during the storm this afternoon. Thankfully that storm lasted only about twenty minutes or things could’ve been a heckuva lot worse.”

  “You didn’t go out in it, did you?”

  Griffin cast me a derisive look. “I don’t think you’re in the position to give me crap for what I did or did not do given how your day ended.”

  He had a point, but still … . “It’s different. I’m a reaper.”

  “I don’t want to state the obvious because we’ve already been down this road, but you didn’t know that,” Griffin argued. “You didn’t know anything of the sort, in fact, so I wouldn’t push me too far on this one.”

  I could tell from the tone of his voice that he meant business. “Fine. I’m sorry.” I held up my hands in defeat. “I don’t want to argue.”

  “That’s good, because I don’t want to either.” Griffin studied me for a long moment before leaning forward and giving me a quick kiss on the cheek. “Don’t pout. I think it was very magnanimous of me to let you off without yelling at you.”

  “Oh, whatever.” I rolled my eyes. “Tell me about the rest of your day.”

  Griffin’s grin was impish. He enjoyed messing with me as much as my brothers did at times. “There’s not much to tell. Other than the storm, very little happened. The doctor has confirmed an extra burst of epinephrine to Peter’s brain, but he has to see a specialist to determine why, so that case is at a standstill.”

  “If the cause is rooted in magic, I doubt very much they’ll ever get the answers they want,” Redmond pointed out. “It’s not as if a doctor will blame a storm.”

  “No,” Griffin agreed. “They seem to be moving past it, though. Lani is better than Peter. She’s fine with the explanation, which makes me a bit nervous.”

  “Why does that make you nervous?” I asked.

  “Because I’ve always been taught that women shouldn’t forgive men who smack them around,” Griffin replied. “My mother was always firm on that. She was very clear when I was growing up that wrestling with Maya was okay. Occasionally smacking and pinching her when I was little was okay, too.

  “All right, it wasn’t okay, but it wasn’t grounds for the firing squad,” he continued. “I knew better than to hit Maya when I got older. And, as rough and tumble as you guys are, I’ve yet to see one of your brothers strike you, Aisling.”

  I tilted my head to the side, considering. “We smacked each other around quite a bit when we were younger.”

  “I think that’s normal kid stuff,” Griffin noted. “At a certain point, that changes.”

  I flicked my eyes to Redmond. “In truth, I don’t really remember you ever smacking me around. Aidan and Braden did quite a bit, but you and Cillian didn’t.”

  “I was older than you,” Redmond reminded me. “You were much smaller than me for a long time. When you were old enough to hold your own it simply wasn’t right. I could’ve done real damage to you.”

  “You pulled my hair and dumped water on me plenty of times.”

  “Yes, but you weren’t hurt by that.”

  It was an interesting paradigm. I couldn’t help being intrigued. “So you’re upset that Lani is willing to forgive Peter even though you know the storm made him do what he did,” I mused. “That’s kind of weird, huh?”

  Griffin shrugged. “I don’t know that I’m upset that Lani is willing to forgive him so easily,” he clarified. “It’s more that if I had a daughter – and because I’m marrying you, Aisling, I’m pretty sure I’ll get the mouthiest daughter in the world someday – I wouldn’t be okay with her ever forgiving a guy who knocked her around.”

  “I get that.” I did. “I mean, I don’t get the part where you think our daughter would be mouthy or anything, but I get the rest of it. For the record, our daughter will be an angel, just like me.

  “As for the violence, I don’t know what to tell you,” I continued. “It’s not as if Peter was violent before. Sure, they don’t know about the storms, but I think Lani can search her heart and know that Peter would never purposely hurt her. It’s easy to grasp those things when you’re a woman.”

  Griffin smiled. “You’re very cute.”

  “Because I have faith?”

  “Because you’ve convinced yourself that any child of ours will be an angel,” Griffin replied, shifting when I playfully smacked his arm. “As for everything else, I don’t think dwelling on it is a good idea. We need to look forward. We can’t change the past.”

  “Good point.” I sipped my iced tea. “With that in mind, we got a bit of a runaround this afternoon. Madame Maxine sent us to a shaman, and the shaman played word games.”

  “He was a total tool,” Redmond agreed. “He did suggest we’re dealing with a woman, though. He also said that this woman might’ve had something to do with the things that we’ve been dealing with the past year.”

  Griffin rubbed his forehead. “I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

  “I’m not sure it’s important,” I said. “I think we need to focus on the obvious right now. That means we need to start with the symbol. I mean … why would a police chief have that specific symbol in his home?”

  “I might have an answer for you there.” Griffin slid his arm around my shoulders. “I asked around about Turner at work today. I did it under the guise of expressing my surprise at his death and then saying I’d heard mostly good things about him over the years. It turns out there are a few rumors about the guy I’ve never heard.”

  “Really?” Redmond leaned forward, intrigued. “What kind of rumors? Did he wear women’s underwear and strip at a transvestite club on the weekends?”

  Griffin’s mouth dropped open. “Why would you even ask that?”

  “He asks that all the time,” I answered, shooting my brother a dirty look. “He just likes getting a rise out of people.”

  “One of these days I’m going to nail that and everyone will be amazed,” Redmond countered.

  “Whatever. What did you learn about Harry?”


  “Well, depending on who you believe, apparently he had a witch for a mother.” Griffin was clearly enjoying himself, because he didn’t bother to disguise his smile when Redmond and I openly stared at him. “Apparently his mother – one Annemarie Turner – used to threaten to cast spells on people and actually participated in outdoor Wicca festivals in the city.”

  I had no idea what to make of that. “Wicca is a peaceful religion,” I said after a beat. “I can’t think of any Wicca enthusiasts who would create a storm of fury and unleash it on everyone. The basic tenet of Wicca is essentially whatever you do to others will come back on you threefold.”

  “That’s what you chose to focus on?” Redmond looked disappointed. “I want to know what kind of spells she supposedly cast on people.”

  “I had no idea any of this was actually a thing until it came up this afternoon, so take these stories with a grain of salt,” Griffin warned. “Everyone talked about them for a good hour during our downtime. I was amazed by the entire thing.”

  “Oh, I’m practically salivating here,” Redmond groused. “What spells did she cast?”

  “Okay, but I don’t like to gossip. Try to remember that.” Griffin looked as if the opposite was true as he clearly warmed to his subject. “According to Timothy Dalton, Annemarie hated Harry’s first wife despite the fact that everyone thought she was sweet and an absolute delight to be around.

  “Apparently Annemarie was jealous because her son spent more time with his wife than her, so she cast a spell and made her constantly sick,” he continued. “If Annemarie started feeling better and spent time with Harry, then she would get sick. If they stayed apart, she would get better. This went on for months.”

  “Did Annemarie own up to it?” I asked.

  Griffin nodded. “That’s how they knew to look for the pattern. She told them what she did. They didn’t believe her and went against her wishes. Until the pattern kept repeating … and repeating … and repeating.

  “It got bad enough both of them started to believe, and when that happened, well, the marriage essentially imploded,” he continued. “They broke up, and the wife was never sick again after the divorce.”

  It was an intriguing story, but it wasn’t exactly proof. “That could’ve been a coincidence.”

  “It could have,” Griffin agreed. “There’s more. Apparently she cursed a neighbor and he died in his sleep. She cursed some kid on her street and he came down with measles so bad he almost died … even though he’d been vaccinated. Some of the guys swear that others told them bats swirled around her house at night.”

  “That all seems a bit ridiculous,” Redmond sneered. “I mean … that’s like an urban legend that took on a life of its own.”

  “I don’t disagree with you. I’m simply telling you what I heard.”

  I looked to Redmond to gauge his opinion. He looked as conflicted as I felt. “Well, it sounds a bit crazy to me, but I guess we can do some research.”

  “I don’t know what else to do,” Redmond said. “We’ve already dealt with a seer and a shaman today. We’re fighting magical storms. Why not add a witch to the mix?”

  Griffin beamed. “This is why I love hanging out with you guys. You’re open for anything.”

  I RODE WITH Redmond to Royal Oak, so Griffin offered to take custody of me after lunch. He didn’t have to return to work because he took half a personal day, offering to help me research the witch angle for the rest of the afternoon.

  “We can do it in bed,” Griffin suggested, wiggling his eyebrows.

  “I really hate you sometimes,” Redmond grumbled.

  Griffin’s truck was behind the police station, so we had to walk three blocks to retrieve it. That gave us plenty of time to talk.

  “That’s a plan,” I said. “My car is still at Grimlock Manor. Do you want to pick it up or leave it until tomorrow?”

  “Leave it,” Griffin answered automatically. “I have plans for you this afternoon.”

  “I will thump you,” Redmond warned. “That’s my baby sister.”

  “She’s going to be my wife in a few months.”

  “I don’t care. She was my sister first.”

  “I think wife trumps sister.”

  “I think you’re on crack,” Redmond muttered, shaking his head while I giggled. “Don’t encourage him, Ais. It gives me indigestion.”

  “I think you have indigestion because you ate enough for three people,” I shot back, stepping into the crosswalk. “I enjoy it when he’s perverted, and it’s only partially because I know it bothers you.”

  “You’re a sick woman.” Redmond tugged on the ends of my hair. “I can still wrestle you down and put your face in my armpit like I did when we were kids. You know that, right?”

  “Oh, I’m shaking in my shoes. In fact … .” The words died on my lips, the jocularity evaporating in an instant as the sky opened up to a deluge of rain. There was no warning. There was no darkening of the clouds. There was only a huge zap of lightning, which appeared to strike in a tiny park across the way, and a rumble of thunder that caused the earth under my feet to shake.

  “Holy crap!” I exhaled heavily, the hair on my arms standing on end. “That was close.”

  “Yeah.” Redmond stared at the sky, wrinkling his nose. “These storms are freaking wonky. There’s no rhyme or reason to them. I can’t understand why they keep showing up.”

  “At least we’re the only ones out right now,” I noted. “We’ll be okay. We’re immune.” The words were out of my mouth before I understood what I was saying.

  I swiveled quickly when reality set in, to find Griffin standing in the middle of the crosswalk staring at his fingers. He looked … lost. I could think of no other word. He seemed to have stopped listening to us and instead focused on something only he could see and hear.

  I took a tentative step toward him, my heart twisting. “Griffin?”

  He snapped his head up, snarling when he caught my gaze.

  “Oh, crap.” I felt sick to my stomach. “Oh, crap. Oh, crap.”

  “That’s not helping,” Redmond snapped, grabbing my arm and tugging me away from Griffin. “You have to get out of here.”

  “I can’t leave him,” I protested. “I won’t do it.”

  Redmond gave me absolutely no wiggle room. “I don’t see where you have another choice. Run!”

  15

  Fifteen

  “Griffin?”

  I was about to be torn in two. Redmond’s hands on my arm would leave bruises because he struggled so hard to pull me away. My heart wouldn’t allow me to leave Griffin.

  “You have to fight it,” I said. “Just … whatever is going through your head, you have to know it’s wrong.”

  Griffin’s eyes were so dark when they locked with mine I thought I’d somehow crawled into a hole and had no way of escaping. Creatures from another world were surely locked in there, and escape was impossible.

  “Griffin … .”

  Griffin lifted his hands and squeezed his fingers together, giving the universal “shut up” gesture. “Stop talking.”

  “Griffin … .”

  “Stop talking!” His voice was like ice. “I am so sick to death of listening to you talk. Do you ever shut up? Do you ever just … shut your stupid mouth?”

  I swallowed hard and fought back tears, rain pelting the side of my face as the thunder continued to roll.

  “You need to calm down,” Redmond warned, extending a warning finger as he positioned himself so he was between Griffin and me. “I know your brain probably isn’t working and this isn’t your fault, but if you think I’m going to sit back and let you talk to her like that you’ve got another think coming.”

  Griffin snorted, the sound completely without mirth. “She’s not the only one with a big mouth. Everyone in your family has a big mouth. I’m pretty sure it’s genetic.”

  “Fine. We have big mouths.” Redmond tightened his grip on my arm. “We’re going home. When you’re feeling more yo
urself, you’re welcome to join us. I’d bring flowers, though.” He tugged me with everything he had. “We’re going, Aisling.”

  I slapped at his hand to get him to release me. “We can’t leave him!” I grunted as I tried to escape. “He could hurt someone else. He would never be able to live with himself if he hurt someone else.”

  “I don’t want to hurt anyone else.” Griffin’s eyes landed on me and his lips curved into an evil grin. “I only want to hurt you.”

  “Aisling, run!” Redmond used all his strength to propel me in the opposite direction, and then positioned himself so Griffin would have no choice but to go through him to get to me.

  Griffin didn’t seem to care that my brother was tall, strong and built like a running back. He tried to barrel over Redmond, but my brother was ready for him. Redmond had wrestled with Braden, Cillian and Aidan enough as a teenager to read through body language how an attack would come. He swayed to the left slightly as Griffin closed the distance and then slammed his fist into Griffin’s jaw, knocking him for a loop with a sucker punch and grabbing him around the waist before his unconscious body crumpled to the ground.

  “Help me, Ais,” Redmond ordered, groaning as he swung Griffin’s body so he could throw him over his shoulder. “We need to get out of here before the cops question us.”

  I remained rooted to my spot. “Is he okay?”

  Redmond took pity on me as he moved toward the sidewalk. “He’ll be okay. We need to get him out of the storm. You’re going to drive his vehicle and he’s going to ride with me in mine.”

  Tears slid down my cheeks as I struggled to keep up with his long strides. “But … he’ll go back to the way he was, right?”

  “I’m sure he will. Jerry did.”

  “Yeah, but … .”

  “Aisling, I don’t have any answers for you.” Redmond did his best to keep from exploding, but his agitation was obvious. “We need to get him to Grimlock Manor. After that, we’ll decide what to do. For now, that’s the only thing we can focus on. Do you understand me?”