“Which means someone was trying to keep you captive or perhaps magically drained you to a point a human doctor couldn’t recognize,” Cillian mused, flipping open the book. “Well, let’s see if I can find something that fits our bill in the psychic section. How does that sound?”
“Boring, but anything is better than doing nothing.” I rolled to my side and rested my cheek against Cillian’s shoulder. “Griffin said he’s going to propose to me eventually.”
Cillian slid his lavender eyes in my direction. “Does that surprise you?”
I balked. “Doesn’t it surprise you?”
“No. I think everyone who looks at the guy knows he’s going to ask you to marry him, and that includes Dad.”
“He says he has to ask Dad’s permission first.”
“That makes sense.”
“Only in your world.”
Cillian snorted. “Aisling, what did you think was going to happen when he asked you to move in with him?”
I shrugged, noncommittal. “I thought he would eventually get bored and throw me out.”
“You’re a trip.” Cillian tapped the end of my nose. “Ais, everyone knows you and Griffin are in it for the long haul. Apparently you’re the only one who didn’t know that … which is dumbfounding.”
“He didn’t say when he’s going to propose,” I pointed out. “He simply said he was going to do it. That could mean it’s years away, right?”
Cillian shook his head. “I’m going to guess not, but if you need to think that you should probably go ahead and do it.”
I scowled. “I feel sick to my stomach now that he’s told me. I think he did it on purpose.”
Cillian chuckled, amused. “You’re going to make a lovely bride.”
“Don’t make me pinch you.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Cillian took me by surprise and kissed my forehead. The Grimlocks are close in a pinch, but we don’t show a lot of affection. “Let’s conduct some research, huh?”
“I haven’t been offered anything else even mildly interesting today, so let’s do it. Huh, that’s a little sad, isn’t it?”
“Only in your world, Ais.”
19
Nineteen
“What about that one?”
Cillian and I flipped through the book for more than two hours. He was the most patient of my brothers, the one who loved books even if he was learning things that weren’t immediately important. Despite that, he arched a dubious eyebrow and slid me a sidelong look.
“Did the monster who hopped through the mirror have two heads?”
“Well, no,” I hedged. “Most people don’t have two heads either. Some twins are born conjoined, though, and I thought that was a possibility with mirror monsters, too.”
“Ah, well, I guess that’s true.” Cillian read the description under the drawing. “Did the creature try to eat your nuts?”
“I don’t have any nuts.”
“Don’t let anyone kid you, Ais, you’ve got monster nuts,” Cillian teased. “This is some ball eater that people claimed lived in the 1600s. I doubt very much it’s our culprit.”
I stilled, running the information through my brain. “Ball eater? Did they really used to have monsters that ate only balls? I’m thinking that has to be something some wicked witch made up to scare guys so they’d keep it in their pants.”
Cillian snorted, genuinely amused. “Good point. I would say half of the monsters in here were never real. That could become a problem as we narrow the field.”
“I thought you didn’t have any ideas at all,” Griffin challenged from the doorway, causing Cillian and me to jerk our heads in his direction. “Isn’t the big problem that you’ve never heard a story remotely like this?”
Cillian nodded, regaining his composure much faster than me. “Yeah. No one we’ve been in contact with has heard about a creature being able to crawl through a mirror.”
Griffin made his way to my side of the bed and nudged me over with his knee so he could see the book. “Have you guys ever heard of monsters being in mirrors and not being able to travel through them?”
I shook my head. “No. We used to play Bloody Mary when we were kids – although Dad made me stop because he said Jerry screamed louder than ten terrified girls – and Dad swore up and down that nothing could live in a mirror.”
“No offense, Ais, but did you ever consider the fact that he only told you that because he didn’t want you having nightmares?” Cillian challenged.
I tilted my head to the side, my hair brushing across the book page. “Are you serious?” That was a horrifying thought. “Do you know how many different fake monsters I taunted in the mirror after he told me that?”
Griffin chuckled as he rubbed his hand over my back. At first I thought it was to soothe me, but ultimately I realized it was to calm himself. He constantly wanted to touch me, as if to remind himself that I was walking and talking rather than languishing away in a hospital bed. “How many of those types of monsters exist?”
“None that I know of,” Cillian replied. “Monsters in mirrors aren’t a thing, at least as far as I know.”
“Whew.” I mocked wiping my forehead and slapped his arm. “Why did you have to frighten me like that?”
“Just because monsters don’t live in mirrors, that doesn’t mean ghosts don’t.”
I rubbed my cheek, confused. My cheeks felt rounder these days thanks to my knock on the head. Griffin said I was imagining things but I was fairly certain he was merely trying to make me feel better. The lack of physical exertion and nonstop treats were going to make me chunk out if I wasn’t careful. “Ghosts aren’t real.” I said the words and yet I knew they weren’t exactly true.
“No, ghosts are spirits that were never collected,” Cillian clarified. “You know what happens if a spirit runs and we don’t catch it or if it’s left to wander too long. They go crazy. Those are the things people recount when they tell tales of a haunting.”
“And you’re saying spirits can get locked in mirrors?” Griffin asked, clearly intrigued.
Cillian nodded. “People can curse souls into mirrors, but they have to be powerful to do it,” he answered. “If a soul is trapped in a mirror, it usually can’t get out. People can see it – that’s another basis for hauntings – but it’s trapped there, so it’s not really a physical danger.”
“Just a mental one,” I muttered, shaking my head. “If I saw a man staring back at me in the mirror all of the time – even if he couldn’t get out – I would totally lose it.”
“You act as if you haven’t already lost it,” Griffin teased, resting his head on my shoulder as his fingers trailed up and down my bare arm. “Could whatever attacked Aisling be a variation on the more ordinary trapped spirit?”
“I guess in theory.” Cillian rubbed his jaw, his eyes clouded with possibilities. “I mean, if a spirit became strong enough, perhaps it could traverse the planes of existence and escape from the mirror. That’s something to research, that’s for sure.”
“If the faceless man can climb out of the mirror, why does he ever go back in?” I challenged. “Why not find a faceless chick and settle down in the country where no one notices he doesn’t have a face? Heck, why not get a face transplant? That’s a thing now.”
“I can’t answer that until we know more,” Cillian replied, flicking his eyes to the clock on the wall. “It’s almost three, kid. I need to head to the game room. We’re having a pool tournament – Redmond and me versus Aidan and Braden – and we’ve got time off on the line.”
I knit my eyebrows, annoyed. “That’s not fair. I want to play.”
“You have unlimited time off right now,” Cillian argued.
“I don’t care about that,” I snapped. “I’d almost welcome work to get a break from Captain Killjoy here.” I jerked my thumb in Griffin’s direction. “He’s being a despot, without any of the fun sex games I imagine most despots like to play. By the way, we’re totally having sex tonight whethe
r you like it or not. I will find a way to make it happen.”
“Oh, man!” Cillian slapped my arm as he rolled from the bed, openly glaring when he hit the other side. “What is the matter with you? You’re my sister. I don’t like to think about things like that. Come on!”
Griffin chuckled as I gave him my best wide-eyed stare. “Whatever you’re about to try to manipulate me to do, it’s not going to happen, Aisling. I’m impervious to all of your … tricks.”
“Oh, those are fighting words.” Cillian moved toward the door. “I’ll see what I can find out about spirits and get back to you.”
I waved him off with disinterest, focusing on Griffin. “I like a challenge.”
“Keep it up and I’ll lock you in here alone.”
“We both know that’s an empty threat given the fact that I have a mirror monster on my tail and it might find a different way into the house,” I shot back.
“I … .” Griffin worked his jaw. I had him. We both knew it. “Fine. You’re still resting instead of playing.”
I ran my tongue over my teeth, determined to get him to yield, if only a little. “What if we compromise?”
“I’m going to hate this. I can already tell.”
I ignored his newly found dramatic flair. “What if we go to the game room and sit together on the couch?”
“How will that be fun for you?”
“Well, I’m getting over being injured,” I explained. “If I ask one of my brothers to beat up another one he’ll totally do it. I might not be able to play, but I’ll still have the power.”
Griffin brushed my bangs from my face so he could gaze into my eyes. “Do you promise to sit on the couch with me and behave?”
“Only if you agree to make out between games.”
Griffin pursed his lips, his strength clearly waning. “I don’t know.”
“Please.”
“That’s not being quiet.”
“Puh-leez!” I batted my eyelashes with gross exaggeration and clutched the front of his shirt. “I’ll die if you don’t let me have a little fun.”
Griffin blew out a sigh, defeated. “Fine. If I feel you’re getting too rowdy, though, I reserve the right to throw you over my shoulder and drag you back to bed.”
“Deal.” I grabbed his hand. “I’ve got plans for you and the bed later anyway.”
“That is not going to happen.”
“Watch and learn.”
“CHEATER.”
“You’re a cheater.”
“You’re the biggest cheat that ever lived.”
“I think we need a do-over.”
Redmond, Cillian at his side, puffed out his chest as he stared down Braden and Aidan. He enjoyed winning – and being in charge – but he lost the opening game and he wasn’t taking it well.
“This is the best two out of three,” Redmond reminded a beaming Braden. “I wouldn’t get cocky if I were you.”
“Yeah, don’t get cocky,” I intoned, munching on some wasabi ranch Harvest Snaps as I sat with my feet on Griffin’s lap. He didn’t so much as make a noise when I told him to massage them. “Lower.”
Griffin rolled his eyes but shifted his thumbs lower on my arches. “How can your feet hurt? You’ve been in bed for days.”
“Strangely, I’m more sore now than I was right after I was hurt.”
Griffin cocked an eyebrow, dubious. “How is that possible?”
“I think it’s from not moving,” I replied, holding up two bottles of nail polish so Griffin could see them clearly. “Purple or blue?”
“Is that a trick question?”
“Nope.”
“Purple. It matches your eyes.” Griffin dug his thumb into my tender foot and watched as I handed the nail polish to Jerry. “Why do you think you’re so sore?”
“I honestly think it’s from lying on my fat butt and not doing anything,” I replied. “My muscles are strained from inaction.”
“That’s not a thing,” Braden called out, lining up the cue ball so he could break the pyramid Redmond set up at the other end of the pool table. “She’s making that up.”
“I am not, you big booger,” I shot back, earning an amused snort from Redmond. “My shoulders, lower back, thighs, calves and feet hurt.”
“Well, I’m going to make your feet feel fantabulous,” Jerry offered, hitting Griffin with his knee to get him to stop rubbing me. “Move. I’m taking over feet duty.”
“What am I supposed to do?” Griffin asked blankly.
“Rub my shoulders,” I answered, sliding forward to make room for him between my back and the couch arm. “I’m not exaggerating about my back hurting.”
“Fine. I can’t really complain about you demanding to be waited on when I’ve told you that you don’t have a choice but to let me dote on you, can I?” Griffin sat down behind me and gently fluttered his fingers over my shoulders. “Are you still bruised?”
“No.”
“You were extremely bruised after the attack,” Griffin reminded me. “I can’t risk massaging you if your shoulders are still bruised.”
“They’re not,” I said, smiling as Jerry inserted toe spacers and flicked the bottle of nail polish to mix it up. He was a whiz with a nailbrush. “Look for yourself.”
“Just don’t do it in a kinky way,” Cillian called out. “I’m still traumatized from Aisling’s announcement that she’s going to make you have sex later.”
“Oh, gross.” Redmond and Braden made twin sounds of disapproval as Aidan snickered and Griffin risked looking down the back of my shirt.
“Are you satisfied?” I asked.
“Not even remotely,” Griffin replied. “You still have some bruising, although it’s light. Are you sure this won’t hurt you?”
“The only thing that hurts is the fact that you won’t touch me,” I answered, adopting a faux weepy tone. “That hurts my heart.”
“Oh, well, bravo,” Braden said, offering me a solemn golf clap as I smirked.
“Fine, but only lightly.” Griffin gave in and kneaded his fingers into my back. I practically purred when I felt him work the tight muscles.
“Oh, if I didn’t love you before … .”
“You love me best, though, right?” Jerry winked as he moved from the first foot to the second. “You’ve always loved me best.”
“I will always love you, Jerry.” I leaned back, pressing my eyes shut as Griffin kneaded my shoulders and Jerry painted my toenails. “This is the life,” I murmured, earning a chuckle from Griffin as he kissed my cheek.
“Just relax and enjoy it,” Griffin ordered. “In another week I won’t be doting on you like this and all I’ll hear are complaints.”
“I can’t wait for Aisling to be better,” Braden said.
“That’s sweet of you,” Aidan noted. “I didn’t know you cared that much.”
“I want Aisling to be better so we can get the work schedule ironed out and I can be mean to her again,” Braden shot back. “I don’t like being forced to be nice to her. It’s … frustrating.”
“You’re frustrating,” Redmond barked. “You should be happy to be nice to her. She’s your sister, after all.”
“You tell him, Redmond.” I was happily floating along, enjoying the entire pampered experience, when something poked at the back of my brain. I snapped open my eyes and stared at Jerry first. He seemed totally normal, humming to himself as he worked on my toenails.
Behind me, Griffin was in his own little world, diligently working the kinks out of my shoulders and occasionally brushing his lips against my cheek. Whatever was about to go wrong – and I had no doubt something was about to hit the fan – it wasn’t near us.
I shifted my eyes to my brothers by the pool table. Cillian was taking aim at the cue ball and Redmond was reenacting some scene from the bar the previous week, holding his hands in front of his chest to indicate how stacked his conquest of the night appeared to be through his beer goggles. They looked fine, and yet … .
“Move.” The word was barely a whisper.
“Did you say something?” Griffin asked quietly.
I sat up straighter, gaining strength. “Move.”
“Who are you talking to?” Jerry asked, glancing around, confused.
The reflection in the mirrored light above the table was almost upon Cillian. I was the only one who saw it.
“Move!” I shrieked, causing Cillian to jerk back as Redmond and Braden snapped their heads in my direction. At the exact moment Cillian moved a hand dropped out of the light and grabbed his hair.
“Holy hell,” Griffin muttered, leaping to his feet.
“It’s the mirror monster thing!” Jerry was beside himself.
“What do we do?” Braden asked, terrified.
“It’s got my hair,” Cillian shouted. “Get its hand out of my hair!”
“That’s what happens when you have hair like a girl,” Redmond muttered, trying to shove away the pale green fingers. “I … I don’t want to touch them. They’re cold and creepy.”
“You’re cold and creepy,” Cillian barked. “Do something!”
“I’ve got nail scissors,” Jerry announced, holding up the pink item in question. “You can cut his hair loose.”
“That’s a good idea,” Aidan said, reaching for the scissors.
“That’s a terrible idea,” Cillian barked, attempting to yank his hair away from the hand. “Don’t cut my hair.”
All of the men in my life – sans my father, of course, because he would’ve been much more calm and collected – proceeded to ignore my presence as they panicked. That allowed me the opportunity to stride to the side of the room, grab one of my father’s silver decorative swords from the wall mount, and move back toward the billiards table with a purpose.
I squared my shoulders, gripped the sword with both hands and swung as hard as I could, severing the hand with one blow. It dropped to the table with a sickening clunk. The creature in the light screamed, the sound loud at first, but then growing dimmer as it apparently ran from the pain.
Grim Holiday (Aisling Grimlock Book 6) Page 18