“She’s moving in with her boyfriend,” Aidan supplied. “It’s a big deal for my sister.”
“Oh, you’re getting married?” Edna looked excited at the prospect.
“We’re just moving in together,” I replied.
“For now,” Aidan clarified. “We both know you’re going to get married eventually. Griffin will propose one day. You haven’t been dating long enough for that.”
Edna’s mouth dropped open and the sight of the half-sucked butterscotch candy in her mouth caused my stomach to flop. “You’re moving in with a man and not marrying him? Aidan, how can you let your sister do that?”
“If you give the milk away, no one will buy the cow,” Dorothy intoned.
I narrowed my eyes. “Are you calling me a cow? I hate it when you do that. That’s a stupid saying, by the way. It’s overused and annoying.”
Dorothy wasn’t bothered by my tone. “If the hoof fits.”
“You really should have a talk with your sister, Aidan,” Dolores said, patting his hand. “She should have more respect for herself than to have sex with some guy who isn’t willing to put a ring on her finger.”
“You realize I’m sitting right here, don’t you?”
Dolores ignored me. “No proper man will marry a woman if she’s not … pure.”
I rolled my eyes. “That shipped sailed when I was in high school,” I said. “The world doesn’t work the way it did when you were my age, ladies.”
“What did she just say?” Edna was aghast – and often hard of hearing.
“That you’re an old prude,” Dorothy supplied. “I happen to agree with her.”
This had to be a trap. Dorothy never agreed with anyone.
“You’re still a slut,” Dorothy said, glancing at me. “You’re an honest slut, though.”
“Thank you ever so much for the compliment,” I deadpanned, causing Aidan to snicker. He was enjoying himself. “I’m not the only one moving.”
“Aisling.” Aidan’s tone was no nonsense. His Geritol fan club knew he was gay and liked him anyway. They judged the sin, not the sinner. It bugged me.
“Oh, who else is moving?” Edna asked.
“Aidan is moving into my old place,” I offered, wrinkling my nose when Aidan shot me a death glare. “My roommate is his boyfriend. They’re moving in together, too.”
If I expected a lesson from the Bible – or at least a funny retort aimed at Aidan’s manhood – I was sadly mistaken.
“That’s probably very smart for real estate purposes,” Dolores said.
“Yes, you’ll save money that way,” Edna added.
Aidan puffed out his chest and stuck out his tongue in my direction. There was no way I was going to take this lying down.
“Why am I a slut giving my milk away for free – yes, I know how that sounds but it’s too late to take it back – and he’s smart for playing the real estate market like a pro?” I challenged.
“He’s a poof,” Dorothy supplied. “Poofs have a different set of rules.”
I frowned. “Don’t call him that.” Aidan and his fan club irked me, but I didn’t like anyone calling him names. That was my job.
“But he is a poof,” Edna said, her expression serious as she lowered her voice. “He has sex with men.”
“Well, you’re not wrong,” I said, shaking my head as I locked gazes with Aidan. “I have no idea how you snowed these women, but I’m impressed.”
“It’s a gift,” Aidan said, laughing. “What about you? Did you and Griffin celebrate your new living arrangements?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no,” I answered. “We were running late for work and we both needed refueling after last night so we went to breakfast instead.”
“Well, everything is settled, though,” Aidan said. “I can’t tell you how relieved I am. I thought for sure you were going to put up a fight.”
“I’m excited about it,” I said. “My only concern when Griffin first broached the subject was telling Jerry.”
Aidan’s face fell. “Yeah. I’m not looking forward to it either.”
“Oh, I told Griffin he had to do it as penance for not telling me he bought a house for us,” I said. “He has to do it.”
“Oh, yay!” Aidan clapped his hands.
“We’ll still get drawn into it,” I reminded him. “Jerry doesn’t take change well.”
“Neither do you,” Aidan pointed out. “I knew you would be happy with the move eventually. I thought it was going to be World War III until you got there, though.”
“So?”
“I’m worried that you’re maturing, Aisling,” Aidan said, his eyes sparkling. “I’m considering hosting an intervention.”
“You suck,” I muttered, shifting my eyes toward the hallway where Patsy would soon expire. “I have to be somewhere in a few minutes. What about you?”
“I’ve already been somewhere,” Aidan replied, playing a card. “I knew you would be here so I hung around. I didn’t believe Griffin when he said you handled things well.”
“And now?”
“And now I have to say that I’m proud of you,” Aidan said, taking me by surprise. “You’re still a pain the ass, but Griffin is helping you grow in leaps and bounds. I didn’t like him when you first started dating him, but he makes you happy. That makes me happy for both of you.”
Something about his expression tugged at my heartstrings. “I’m happy for you, too,” I said. “You know it’s probably going to be a few weeks before we move into the new place, right? We need furniture … and dishes … and to get it painted … and all of that other house stuff I relied on Jerry for.”
Aidan snickered. “That’s okay,” he said. “You and Jerry need the time to wrap your heads around this. It’s all going to work out.”
His words had a double meaning. I knew that he was really saying that everything – including Mom’s return – was going to turn out fine. I didn’t share his faith in that matter. "It’s going to be fun,” I said. “We should make a drinking game out of how many Three’s Company references Jerry makes once he finds out I’m moving out.”
“Oh, I’m definitely up for that,” Aidan said. “In fact, I’m about to get out of here. I’ll stop at that deli and get steaks and shrimp for everyone. I’ll pick up a case of that imported beer Jerry likes, too. If we have a nice dinner, maybe we’ll be able to figure out a way to tell Jerry what’s going to happen without making him freak out.”
Crazier things had happened. “I’ll see you at home tonight,” I said, pushing myself up from the table. “Ladies, as always, it has been a pleasure.”
“Sometimes I think your brother got all of the brains when you were sharing your mother’s uterus,” Dorothy said, shaking her head. “Maybe that’s why you give all your milk away for free.”
“And on that note … .”
PATSY STEVENS didn’t give me a lick of trouble when I went to collect her soul. In fact, she appeared to be waiting for me. She was anxious to see her husband and son, both of whom she’d outlived, and was in no mood to dillydally.
“Do your job, girl,” Patsy ordered. “I don’t want to waste my afterlife talking to you.”
I managed a smooth escape after completing the job and made my way out of the facility through the front door, briefly considering swinging around to see whether Aidan was still eating cookies before discarding the idea. I had no interest in seeing his gaggle of gigglers again.
I was lost in thought, visions of Griffin’s face when he saw my new purchase flitting through my head, when someone bumped into me from behind and slammed me into the car.
“What the … ?”
I felt a hand digging into the pocket I kept the scepter in and I instinctively lashed out, slamming my elbow into whoever pinned me against the car and earning a groan when I made contact with someone’s face. Growing up with four brothers taught me to give no quarter in a fight, so I took advantage of my assailant’s momentary distraction and swiveled
to drive my knee into his groin and then dig my fingers into his wrist, pinching as hard as I could until he released the scepter.
I hopped to the side, gasping for breath, and let my gaze fall on my new friend. My heart hopped at the sight of the rogue reaper I’d seen hanging around my mother months earlier. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
For his part, the reaper bent at the waist, cradling his bruised … um … ego. “You, bitch!”
“You’re the one trying to cop a feel … and steal a soul … in the middle of a parking lot in broad daylight,” I shot back, incensed. “Patsy Stevens wants to see her husband and son. I’m going to make sure she does just that.”
I dropped the scepter down my shirt front. Immature? Absolutely. It’s how I always kept my brothers from finding certain contraband items as a teenager. Old habits die hard.
“Do you think that’s going to stop me?” the reaper rasped. “I’ll reach in there and yank your lungs out when I get that soul! Hand it over.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not giving you squat, asshat. What are you doing here? Did my mother send you?”
The reaper’s face creased with pain and he appeared to have trouble focusing on my voice, so I kicked his knee to direct his attention.
“Ow!”
“Listen, pus boil, I’m not playing around with you,” I warned. “I’m not handing over my soul and you’re not leaving until you tell me who sent you here. It was my mother, wasn’t it? She’s looking for someone to snack on. Well, it won’t be Patsy Stevens. I can promise you that.”
Despite the fact that I was almost mugged in the middle of a parking lot, I felt pretty good about myself. I’d disabled my attacker without breaking a sweat and I didn’t have any bruises, so Griffin wouldn’t lose his mind when I told him about the altercation. Today was a good day and it had the potential to get better when I returned home.
“I’m not telling you anything, girl,” the reaper hissed.
“Oh, you’ll tell me what I want to know,” I countered. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m in charge. You’re holding your order of chicken nuggets – I’m sure it’s a small, mind you – and I will kick you again if you don’t tell me what I want to know.”
“I might be terrified if I was alone,” the reaper shot back. “I’m not, though. The only thing you’re in charge of is dying.”
I realized too late that a shadowy figure was moving in behind me. I swiveled quickly, instinctively knowing the thing that crept closer wasn’t human. I got a look at its billowing cloak and red claw-like nails before the wraith grabbed my arm.
“Aisling Grimlock,” it hissed.
Wraiths have the ability to suck your soul, literally draining you of life, if they can touch you. It was too late to pull away, and as my strength fled the last conscious thought I had was of how disappointed I was to never be able to play the plumber game with Griffin.
“Aisling!”
I recognized Aidan’s voice, but I was too far gone to respond, sinking into unconsciousness as I fell toward the pavement below.
10
Ten
“Are you okay?”
When I came to, Aidan’s face was inches from mine and I almost hopped out of my skin. “Don’t do that,” I said, pushing his face back. I was weak. In fact, I felt as if I hadn’t eaten in days and was getting over a terrible bout of almost dying. What? That’s a thing.
“You scared the crap out of me,” Aidan said, shaking his head as he helped me to a sitting position. “Are you sure you’re okay? I’m positive we could come up with a passable lie if you need to go to the hospital.”
“I’m fine,” I said, rubbing my sore shoulder. It absorbed the bulk of the impact when I fell and I knew I was going to be in pain when I woke tomorrow morning. “They didn’t get Pasty’s soul, did they?”
I reached for my breasts and sighed when I felt the scepter shift against my skin.
“You know that only worked with us because we didn’t want to touch your boobs, right?” Aidan challenged. “That doesn’t work with strange men because they’re always going to want to touch your boobs.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Well, it wasn’t meant as one,” Aidan said, running his hand over my cheek. “You’re going to have a bruise here in about two hours.”
Crap! “Griffin won’t like that,” I said, struggling to my knees so I could get a gander at my reflection in the car’s side mirror. I found an angry red mark running across my cheekbone. “This bites.”
“At least you’re alive,” Aidan said. “What happened?”
“What happened with you first?” I asked, turning to him. “Did you beat them up?”
“I was going to,” Aidan said. “I made so much noise screaming your name, though, that I think I scared them off. The wraith let go and he and that … whatever he was … took off into the woods over there.” Aidan pointed at a grouping of trees. “I didn’t chase them because I was worried about you.”
“That was very sweet of you,” I said. “Ugh. I feel like I haven’t eaten in days. Do you remember when I went on that juice fast in high school because Angelina said my hips were wide? This is worse than that.”
Aidan made a face that would’ve been comical under different circumstances. “Does that mean you’re going to declare yourself queen for the day when you get dinner in you?”
I shrugged. “I always want to be queen for the day.”
“Well, you’ve earned it today,” Aidan said, grabbing my hand and pulling me to my feet. “How shaky are you?”
“Just give me a second.”
“We could go inside and you could chow down on more cookies,” Aidan offered. “That would get some sugar into you.”
“I would rather not see your three girlfriends of doom again,” I said, moaning when I tried to roll my shoulder. “That’s going to hurt like crazy tomorrow.”
“You still haven’t told me what happened,” Aidan prodded. “Who was that guy?”
I ran my tongue over my teeth as I decided how to answer. Aidan wouldn’t want to hear what I had to say, but I couldn’t lie to him. Not this time, at least. “That was the reaper who approached me outside the sports bar a couple weeks ago,” I replied. “He’s also the reaper who has been hanging around with Mom.”
Aidan stilled. “You don’t think … .”
“I do think that,” I said, swallowing hard at the hurt expression as it washed over his face. “I have serious doubts Mom didn’t know about this little excursion.”
“But we don’t know that,” Aidan argued. “We can’t be sure.”
“We can’t,” I agreed, giving in and opening the door to hope for my brother. “We can’t pretend that the odds aren’t stacked against her, though.”
Aidan sighed as he brushed down my hair. “Can you drive home or do you want to go with me? I can still pick up the stuff from the deli and you can rest in the car.”
“It’s only a ten-minute ride home,” I said, handing him the scepter. “If you want to help me, drop that off at Grimlock Manor when you unload your charges. I don’t want to explain this to Dad.”
“You know he’s going to hear about it, right?”
“I do,” I confirmed. “I also know I don’t want to deal with him right now, and if he hears about it tonight it’s going to turn it into a whole big thing. We have other stuff to turn into a whole big thing, including our new living arrangements.”
“Yeah, I can’t decide whether hearing you got attacked again will be the final straw that pushes Dad over into heart attack territory or whether it’ll be finding out you’re moving in with Griffin.”
I knew he was going for levity so I offered him a hollow chuckle. “Have you ever considered it might be finding out you’re moving in with Jerry?”
“I don’t think he’s going to care about that at all,” Aidan replied truthfully. “You’re the only girl. You get special … treatment … where Dad is concerned.”
“You also got spoiled more than the rest of us, so it’s a tradeoff,” Aidan said. “Are you sure you’re okay to drive?”
I nodded. “I’m going to go home and get into a hot bath,” I said. “Once Griffin finds out about this, he’ll have a fit. I wouldn’t mind an hour to myself to wrap my head around things before I get inundated with questions.”
“Because you think Mom is behind it, right?” Aidan prodded.
“Because I want to think about it, Aidan,” I replied. “I know you don’t want to hear anything bad about her, but … it’s not looking good.”
“Text me when you get home,” Aidan said, resigned. “Otherwise I’ll worry.”
I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. “Get me a really big steak and extra shrimp.”
“Go ahead and milk it,” Aidan said, shaking his head. “I have a feeling you’re going to get your way tonight.”
I had a feeling he was right.
MY MIND was on my bath and red meat when I trudged up the walkway to the townhouse twenty minutes later, Victoria’s Secret bag in hand. I had big plans when I bought what the bag contained. I now worried I would be too sore to enjoy those plans.
I shouldn’t have been surprised when I glanced up and found Mom waiting on the front porch. Her expression was worried when she locked gazes with me. I couldn’t tell whether the look was feigned or real, and frankly I was too tired to care.
“What are you doing here?”
“Aisling, what happened to you?” Mom hurried down the steps in my direction, and when she reached out to touch my face I jerked away from her. I didn’t miss the hurt look as if flashed across her features. If she was acting, she was doing a good job. That didn’t soften my stance where she was concerned.
“I had a fight with a rogue reaper in the parking lot of a retirement community,” I answered, opting not to lie. I wanted to see her reaction. “It was your friend, in fact.”
Mom knit her eyebrows. “My friend? What friend?”
“Your friend who attacked me outside the bar all of those months ago,” I replied. “Your friend who was with you the night you showed up at Grimlock Manor.”
Grim Reunion (Aisling Grimlock Book 4) Page 8