Grim Expectations (Aisling Grimlock Book 5)

by Amanda M. Lee

  Griffin wiped the dripping water from the corner of my mouth and forced a wan smile. “You’re such a lady when it comes to manners.”

  I opened my mouth to argue and then snapped it shut. He was trying to help. Barking at him would do no good. Instead of picking a fight, I sat on his lap in the chair across from Dad’s desk and rested my head against his shoulder. Griffin kneaded my sore muscles as he kissed my forehead.

  “It’s going to be okay,” he whispered. “We’ll find her.”

  “You can’t promise me that.”

  “No, but I can have faith,” Griffin said. “I have faith in you. I have faith in your family. I have faith that Serena is strong and can hold on until we get to her. There’s not a lot about this situation I can control, but I can have faith.”

  “You’re stronger than I am,” I said. “I just want to punch someone.”

  “Braden is on the other side of the room.”

  I barked out a harsh laugh, surprised by his joke. Several sets of eyes drifted in our direction – and Dad scowled when he saw we were sharing a chair – but no one said anything. “You’re funny when you want to be.”

  “I do my best,” Griffin said. “I’m glad you laughed. I like the sound – and you haven’t done it for most of the day.”

  “Oh, that’s not true,” I said. “I laughed when I figured out what the seal opened before everyone else. I just did it in my head so nobody would think I was haughty.”

  Griffin arched an eyebrow. “Haughty?”

  “That’s a word.”

  “I know it’s a word,” he said. “I didn’t realize you knew it was a word.”

  “I tested off the charts for English comprehension when I was younger,” I explained.

  “Are you saying you’re a genius?” Griffin looked amused. “I think I might’ve already known that.”

  “I tested below the charts for math and science.”

  Griffin snickered. “So you’re half a genius.”

  “I think I’m just chatty,” I said, briefly pressing my eyes shut and snuggling closer. “We have to hurry.” My voice was barely a whisper, but Griffin heard me.

  “We’re hurrying.”

  “I’m worried.”

  “I’m worried, too.”

  “I’m … afraid.”

  Griffin tightened his arms around my waist. “We’re all afraid,” he said. “There’s no shame in being afraid.”

  “We really need to hurry.”

  Griffin sighed. “Cillian is doing the best that he can.”

  As if on cue, Cillian lifted his head. “I have it … and it’s freaking crazy.”

  I hopped off Griffin’s lap and hurried toward my brother. “What does it say?”

  “This is a page from a very old book,” Cillian said, shifting his laptop from the floor to Dad’s footstool. “We’ve seen this book before.”

  “We have?” Dad asked, knitting his eyebrows together. “Where?”

  “It’s a page from Genevieve Toth’s grimoire,” Cillian replied. “It’s the book we were obsessed with researching all those months ago. That’s why the symbols seemed familiar. They were all in that grimoire.”

  “That’s when this all began,” Dad said, rubbing his cheek. “Remind me what the grimoire was about.”

  “Resurrection,” Cillian replied simply. “Genevieve Toth wanted to live forever and she devised a way to do it. Living off the souls of others left her stretched, though. It was only a half-life.

  “She kept trying to find different ways to extend her life, and one of them was by utilizing the souls of others to reinforce a waning life,” he continued. “I can’t remember exactly what the grimoire said – and I don’t have time to go through it now because it’s locked in the safe and we’re on bit of a time crunch – but there was something in there about using reaper blood to return a wraith to its former self.”

  “But how is that possible?” I asked. “Wraiths aren’t really alive because they sacrifice bits of their souls to survive. Just because they eat other souls to subsist doesn’t mean they’re really living.”

  “No, but Genevieve posited that reaper souls were special,” Cillian explained. “We were born into this trade. We’re not exactly paranormal, but we’re different. It’s in our blood. I think that Genevieve snacked on reapers throughout the years, which is what made her different from other wraiths.”

  “And you’re saying that someone wants reaper blood to resurrect wraiths?” Dad asked.

  “Maybe it’s not wraiths,” Cillian suggested. “Maybe it’s someone else … someone like Genevieve. She wasn’t a wraith. She was something else. She also saved someone else and made that individual like her.”

  “Mom.” The single word was out of my mouth before my emotions had a chance to catch up with my head. My stomach hurt at the realization.

  “What? No!” Braden was beside himself. “We don’t know it’s her.”

  “We don’t,” Dad agreed. “We have no proof that it’s her, yet the clues seem to fit. She was very interested in finding Serena. Four Grimleys were taken. That’s an entire reaper family. What if whoever took them needs Serena to finish whatever they’re planning … whether it be a spell or a blood rite?”

  “But we saw the blood on the floor,” Redmond argued. “You saw it as well as I did. The Grimleys have to be dead.”

  “That blood looked old,” Griffin pointed out. “It was not fresh. For all we know it could’ve been there for years. The room might’ve been locked for centuries. Perhaps it was obscured by the old mausoleum and was only found because they decided to erect a new one.”

  “I guess that’s possible,” Redmond conceded. “I still don’t see how the Grimleys could be alive.”

  “Unless whoever has them needs to keep them alive so they can die together,” Cillian said. “Think about it: If this is a blood rite the blood will have to be fresh. They can’t risk killing the Grimleys until they have everyone from the family. Five members would make sense. There are five points to a pentagram – which just happened to be one of the symbols on the seal.”

  My heart twisted. “That means they have all five Grimleys now.”

  “I’m still not sure I understand this,” Dad said. “Serena said her father was dead. She saw him.”

  “She saw him with his eyes open and staring as he was carried out of the house,” Griffin clarified. “He might not have been dead. He could’ve been in shock … or drugged. The truth is, we don’t have any idea what happened in that house. Serena didn’t see it because she was hiding outside. She only heard it, and her mind could’ve been playing tricks on her because she was so frightened.”

  “But I thought the Grimleys were attacked because they had the seal,” Braden argued. “Wouldn’t that indicate a different sort of crime?”

  “Unless someone took advantage of finding the seal with a reaper family,” Dad said, slowly pushing himself to his feet. “It seems to fit. Someone is trying to restore full life to … someone.”

  “We don’t know it’s Mom,” Braden said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes.”

  “I’m not asking you to believe it,” Dad said. “I’m not sure I believe it either. I’m asking you to stand with us if it comes to that. We still need a location, Cillian. If the basement isn’t where the Grimleys were being kept … .”

  “Yeah, well I have something on that, too,” Cillian hedged, his eyes landing on me. “When we were leaving the mausoleum I caught sight of the one plaque inside the building. It belonged to John Anderson.”

  “We already told you about that,” I said. “You were going to run the name.”

  “I did run the name and then forgot about the search,” Cillian said. He looked guilty as he pursed his lips.

  “Don’t keep us in suspense, Cillian,” Dad prodded. “What did you find?”

  “John Anderson was a Grosse Pointe resident,” Cillian said. “He lived about four blocks from here, i
n fact. I tracked him down with the date of death to be sure because it was a common name.”

  “Okay,” Dad said. “Why is he important?”

  “Because he has a son from this neighborhood,” Cillian answered. “The son went by his mother and stepfather’s name, though. He went to school with us.”

  “Who?”

  Something clicked into place in my head and I instinctively knew the answer before Cillian said it. “Nathan Waldorf. That’s why he’s looking at me. I saw him days ago. He’s the one we’ve been looking for this entire time.”

  Cillian flashed a rueful smile. “Bingo, kid. Nathan Waldorf somehow has ties to the Olivet mausoleum and is apparently living in his biological father’s house a few blocks from here. I’m willing to bet anything he knows where Serena is. Whether he’s tied into this with Mom, though, is still up in the air. We have no proof she’s connected to him.”

  “And I’m willing to bet anything that I’m going to crush his smug head in my hands when I see him,” I said, kicking Dad’s footstool to push it out of the way. “Let’s go! Serena isn’t very far away.”

  “I love it when you get bossy,” Griffin said, affectionately patting my rear end as he followed me toward the hallway. “It’s quite the turn-on.”

  “Watch your hands, Griffin!” Dad barked as he followed us. “I’m excited to find Serena,but I’m not blind and deaf.”

  “I THINK you should let me approach the house alone.”

  I knew the suggestion would be as popular as a Kardashian in a class contest, but nothing could’ve prepared me for the twin looks of fury on Dad and Griffin’s faces as we stood behind a hedge about a block from Nathan’s house.

  I shrank back, inadvertently running into Braden in my haste to get away.

  “Sheesh, you guys,” Braden said, resting his arm around my shoulders to give me support. “Let’s hear her out before you handcuff her to Redmond’s Mercedes.”

  I wasn’t used to Braden taking my side so I was instantly suspicious of my own reasoning. “Thanks … I think.”

  “Don’t mention it,” Braden said. “I always love a chance to watch you put your foot in your mouth.”

  “Ha, ha.”

  Griffin pressed the palms of his hands together and stared at me. I think it was an attempt to keep his fingers busy so they wouldn’t wrap around my neck. “Why would you even suggest that?” His tone was even, but I could hear the menace bubbling beneath the thin veneer of rationality.

  “Because Nathan knows me and I might be able to confuse him with my presence,” I replied. “He said he wanted to keep in touch when we saw him at the restaurant that night.”

  “Yes, and I didn’t like him then, and that was before I knew he was a potential murderer and kidnapper,” Griffin said. “Now we know he was inviting you to hang out because he wants to eat you. Er, wait. That came out a lot filthier than I intended.”

  “I’m pretending I didn’t hear it,” Dad said. “Aisling, once Nathan sees you it’s over. He’ll know we’re coming.”

  “Not if I distract him and say I’m going door to door looking for a missing teenager,” I said. “He’ll be confused at first. He won’t know what’s happening. He’ll watch me for a few minutes to see if I’m telling the truth. That will give you guys the opportunity to get over the back wall. I won’t be in any danger.”

  “It’s not a bad plan,” Redmond said. “It might work.”

  “Well, we’re not going to find out,” Griffin said. “He could snap her neck if he figures out she’s lying to him.”

  “I was raised with four brothers,” I reminded him. “I know how to take care of myself. Nathan was always a wuss.”

  “That doesn’t make me feel better.” Griffin crossed his arms over his chest. “No.”

  Dad pressed the heel of his hand to his forehead as he regarded me. “I would feel better if you didn’t go in alone, Aisling,” he said. “Take one of the boys with you.”

  “That won’t work,” I argued. “He’ll definitely be suspicious of that.”

  “He’ll be suspicious regardless,” Griffin said. “I’ll go with you.”

  “That will make him uncomfortable,” I said. “I’m sure he’s done his research and knows you’re a police officer. If you show up, he’s liable to panic.” What I didn’t add was that if Mom was inside with Nathan she might take the opportunity to kill Griffin before backup could arrive. I couldn’t take that chance.

  “She has a point,” Braden said. “I think it should be one of us.”

  “I think that’s a bad idea. I can’t really fake flirt with one of my brothers watching me,” I countered.

  “Oh, you’re not flirting at all,” Griffin said. “I just … someone kill me now.”

  “I’ll do it.” Braden raised his hand and then easily sidestepped Griffin’s elbow before continuing. “I get what she’s saying. She wants to distract him for five minutes so we can get in position. She’s not asking to do anything funky. She’s only giving us a chance to move on Nathan from multiple directions.”

  “I still don’t want her going in there alone,” Dad said. “Why can’t you flirt in front of your brothers?”

  “Because it’s icky.”

  “You’ve got that right,” Redmond groused. “None of us want to see her flirt.”

  “I’ve already seen her flirt,” Aidan said. “I’ve seen her do more than that because I shared a roof with her and Griffin for months. Why don’t I go with her? We’re twins. I’m gay. I wouldn’t be immediate cause for concern with Nathan. We were in the same class together, after all.”

  “I’m not thrilled with the plan, but I think it’s our best option,” Dad said, rubbing his chin. “You need to be careful when you’re in there, though. If you see a hint of movement … or if there’s a wraith … you need to scream. We’ll come running.

  “Redmond, I want you, Braden and Cillian to go to the back of the house and be prepared to go through the back door,” he continued. “Try picking the lock if you can. Kick it in if necessary.”

  “What about me?” Griffin asked, annoyed. “If you think I’m doing nothing while she walks into a crazy man’s house, you’re insane.”

  “You’ll be with me,” Dad said. “We’re going to hide by that tree in the front yard until Aidan and Aisling go inside. Then we’re going to the front door to listen. The second we hear anything, we’re going through that door. Did you bring your gun?”

  Griffin nodded.

  “Good. I prefer a sword fight, but if you have to shoot him, I’m fine with that.”

  “Oh, all of the macho men in my life are here to babysit me,” I said. “I feel so loved.”

  “You are loved,” Griffin said, grabbing the front of my shirt and planting a hard kiss on my mouth. “You be careful.”

  His serious expression hurt my heart. “I will be.”

  “Promise.”

  “I promise.”

  Griffin kissed me again, softer this time. “I’ll be close. If you see Serena … .”

  “I’ll kick Nathan in the nuts and yell for you,” I finished. “I want to find Serena. That doesn’t mean I’m a martyr or willing to sacrifice myself. Didn’t you hear anything I told her?”

  “I’m just glad you were listening to yourself,” Griffin said, resting his forehead against mine for a moment before pulling back. “Well, if we’re going to do this, let’s do it. I want to celebrate finding Serena with a long bath and ice cream … and I only want one of you present for the celebration.”

  “Oh, I’m touched,” Braden said, pressing his hand to the spot above his heart. “I love you, too.”

  “I’m totally going to kick your ass before the night is out,” Griffin said. “Wait for it, because it’s coming.”

  “Later,” Dad said, resting his hand on the nape of my neck. “Go get him, kid. Try not to kill him before we get in position.”

  I mustered a half smile that was more grimace than grin. “No promises. If he hurt her, I’ll
kill him.”

  “If he hurt her, we’ll all kill him,” Dad said. “Everyone move. It’s time to end this.”

  32

  Thirty-Two

  Nathan was surprised when he opened the door. No, surprised was too mild a word. He was astonished. I maintained my cool and plastered on a bright smile even as I forced my eyes to remain on his face instead of roaming the house.

  “Nathan?” I feigned shock. “I had no idea you were in the neighborhood.”

  Nathan recovered quickly. “Aisling, I … what a surprise,” he said, glancing at Aidan as he furrowed his brow. “Aidan?”

  “Hey, man,” Aidan said, extending his hand. “Aisling told me you were back in town. I didn’t expect to run into you here, though.”

  “I guess not,” Nathan said, pumping Aidan’s hand and returning his gaze to me. “What are you doing here?”

  “We’re looking for a girl who was staying with us,” I said, hoping my tone came off as worried rather than biting. “We were babysitting her, but she took off and now we can’t find her. We’re going door-to-door to see if anyone has seen her.”

  “A teenager?” Nathan raised his eyebrows, but his acting skills were lacking. “I didn’t realize you guys did a lot of babysitting. I thought you dealt in antiques.”

  “We’re watching her for a family friend,” Aidan explained. “Actually, my dad agreed to watch her for a co-worker, but she got upset when he punished her for being a pain and took off. I think we forgot how rough it was to be that age, because none of us predicted she’d run away.”

  “Yeah, being a teenager sucks,” Nathan said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I haven’t seen her, though. Sorry.”

  He reached for the door in an attempt to shut it, but I extended my hand to stop him. “Are you sure?” I pressed. “We haven’t even described her.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Nathan said. “I haven’t seen any teenagers, though. If I had, I would tell you.”

  “I didn’t even know you were in this area,” I said. “When I ran into you at the restaurant you said you’d moved back to Grosse Pointe. I had no idea it was so close to my father’s house.”