“By that he means Aidan pulled a candy bar out of his pocket, distracted Braden with chocolate, and then bolted out the side door,” Cillian said dryly. “To be fair, Aidan wasn’t all that slippery this go around.”
“But … why would he do this?” Frustration threatened to overwhelm me. “He’s only making matters worse.”
“Aisling is his sister. He wanted to find her.”
“She’s my sister, too.”
“It’s different for them,” Cillian supplied. “You know that. He couldn’t stop himself from worrying. They’re twins, for crying out loud. They shared the same womb.”
“Ugh.” I raised my hand to silence my brother. “Can we not talk about wombs? You know that makes me uncomfortable.”
“Of course.” Cillian shrugged. “That doesn’t change the fact that Aisling and Aidan are on the loose in this place. I guess it doesn’t change the fact that you still haven’t collected your soul yet either.”
I bristled. “How do you know that?”
“Because you haven’t been gone long enough to do it and flirt with your new girlfriend.” Cillian inclined his head in Courtney’s direction. “I know you. The girlfriend took precedence.”
“She is not my girlfriend.”
“I certainly hope not,” Braden interjected. “She looks as if she’s got a few miles on her. Although … why does she look familiar?”
“That’s Courtney Dempsey. She went to school with us.”
“Oh, right.” Braden turned thoughtful. “Didn’t she drop out or something?”
“Yes. Apparently she’s been spending her time here rather than earning her GED.”
Cillian looked horrified. “Why?”
“You’ll have to ask her.” As much as I wanted to help Courtney, I had problems of my own … and they seemed to be multiplying at a fantastic rate. “Okay, we have to find Aisling and Aidan. We also have to find Peter Langstrom. Courtney says he hangs out on the fifth floor.”
“Is that a euphemism for something?” Braden asked dryly. “I mean … what are they doing on the fifth floor that he’s so interested in?”
I didn’t want to admit it, but that was a very good question. “I don’t know, but I suggest we head in that direction. If we find Aisling and Aidan along the way, great. We’ll collect the soul and then search for the twins on our way out. Once we hit the parking lot, I want to make sure that we don’t have to head back inside.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Cillian said. “Let’s head to the fifth floor.”
“Great.” I strolled toward the stairs, making a mental note at the way two guys in the hallway eyed Jerry. I didn’t like the expressions on their faces – like wolves about to circle a wounded hare – and I slowed my pace and focused on Braden. “Keep Jerry between you and Cillian.”
Surprised, Braden cocked an eyebrow. “Why?”
“Just … do it.”
Braden followed my gaze, realization dawning. “Oh.”
“This place is full of predators.” I kept my voice low. “Jerry stands out because of his outfit.”
“Jerry stands out no matter what he wears … or wherever we go.”
“Yes, well, I don’t care about that.” It was true. Jerry did some weird and disastrous things at times – he was unbelievably flamboyant – but I was used to his antics. If he were to be isolated in a place like this, I couldn’t imagine it going well. “Keep him close. If he gets separated … .”
“I get it.” Braden nodded in agreement. “We won’t let him wander away. I promise.”
“Yes, well, I didn’t think you’d let Aidan wander away either.”
“He tricked me.”
“With a candy bar?”
Braden shrugged. “It was a Snickers. You know how I feel about Snickers.”
“I do, but don’t take candy from anyone in here. It might be laced with something.”
“I’m not an idiot.”
There were times I wasn’t sure that was true, but hounding him now could only be counterproductive. “Let’s head to the fifth floor.”
“Definitely.”
We stopped on the fourth floor long enough to give it a cursory look. It wasn’t overly populated, which made a search easy, but the individuals holding court were of the big and burly variety.
“They look like bikers,” Jerry whispered.
Unfortunately for us, Jerry’s indoor voice is the same decibel level as most people’s outdoor “calling for the dog” voices.
“Shh.” I pressed my finger to my lips and forced a smile for the nearest leather-clad man’s benefit. “Good evening. Fine night, huh?”
Cillian slid me a sidelong look. He was clearly thinking the same thing I was … that I was an idiot. I had no idea why I greeted the man the way I did, but it was too late to take it back.
“It is a good evening,” the man replied, showing off two rows of teeth that seemed to gleam despite the limited light. “In fact, I think it’s an absolute pip of an evening.”
The man’s sense of humor caught me off guard. “Oh, well, um … .”
“We’re looking for a girl,” Braden announced, his tone bold. “She’s young. She has black hair, purple eyes and a forked tongue.”
The man, who wore a sleeveless denim vest with a name emblazoned on it, arched an eyebrow. I had to crane my neck to read the name, but when I did, I couldn’t help wondering what it was supposed to mean. Doc. What kind of weird biker dude hanging around a rave was named after one of the seven dwarves?
“You’re looking for a girl with a forked tongue?” Doc looked amused. “I think we’d all like a girl with a forked tongue. Hey, Grinder, these guys are looking for a girl with a forked tongue.”
A second man materialized out of the darkness to our right. He looked to be coming from a room that I hadn’t seen on first scan. He was bald, wore shredded jeans, and looked amused when he found his buddy hanging with our rather colorful group.
“There’s a girl here with a forked tongue?” Grinder looked pleased at the prospect. “Point me in her direction. I bet that tongue can do some absolutely marvelous things.”
The two men were much larger than me – like a good fifty to sixty pounds per man larger. I was disgusted by the things they said. “We’re looking for my sister,” I corrected, fury rolling into a ball in the pit of my stomach. “She doesn’t really have a forked tongue. Braden just says that because they always argue.”
Instead of agreeing with me, Braden immediately started shaking his head. “No, she has a forked tongue. I think there’s a good possibility she’s the devil in human form.”
I cuffed the back of Braden’s head, furious. “Knock that off!”
Doc chuckled at our antics. “I didn’t really think she had a forked tongue. That’s rare, even in circles like this. Still … why is your sister here?”
“Yeah.” Grinder looked us over one at a time. “You guys look a little young to be hanging with this crowd.”
I squared my shoulders. “I’m eighteen.”
“A man, are you?” Amusement lit Grinder’s dark eyes. “You still look like a boy to me.”
Getting offended wasn’t going to help anything, but I wasn’t the type to back down when pushed into a corner. My father taught us at an early age that some things were worth fighting for. In this particular instance, fighting to be acknowledged as an adult wasn’t worth coming to blows. Finding Aisling was.
“I don’t think it matters how young I look,” I said. “I need to find my sister. She’s definitely too young to be hanging around this place.”
“How old is she?”
“Fourteen.” I saw no reason to lie. “She’s a little kid, and I need to get her out of here.”
“She’s definitely too young for this place,” Doc agreed, sobering. “I don’t suppose you know where she’s hanging out?”
“Well, no,” I said. “She’s been in here twenty minutes or so now. She could be anywhere.”
“Which means s
he could be in trouble.” Doc shook his head. “Just out of curiosity, is there a reason you brought your sister to a rave?”
“I didn’t bring my sister to a rave.”
Doc, clearly unconvinced, folded his arms over his burly chest and waited.
“I didn’t bring my sister to a rave so she could party,” I clarified, hating the fact that the man reminded me of my father. There was something around the eyes. Of course, if my father knew my sister was running around a rave unprotected he’d scream bloody murder rather than just stare at me. I was thankful that Doc seemed less prone to histrionics. “I had to come here for business and Aisling took off. Now she’s wandering around somewhere in this … place.”
“You had business here?” Grinder asked, leaning his shoulder against the wall as he took an exaggeratedly long look at my outfit. “Son, I think you’re leaving something out of the story.”
“I am not leaving anything out of the story.”
“He’s really not,” Cillian added, his eyes shrewd as they locked with Doc’s intense orbs. “He really did have business to conduct here. It was an emergency … and something that shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to complete. Aisling was supposed to stay in the van with us, but she’s the curious sort and took off. Sometimes she’s stronger than the rest of us put together.”
“She really is.” Jerry’s tone was almost pleading. “She just wanted to see if it was like Beverly Hills, 90210 in here. She wasn’t trying to cause trouble.”
Grinder made an incredulous face. “Beverly Hills, 90210, huh?”
Jerry nodded. “We watch it on Soapnet. We’re obsessed.”
“Well, who wouldn’t be?” To my absolute amazement Grinder offered Jerry a kind smile. There was nothing predatory about his reaction – which was a relief – and he seemed more amused than anything else. “What does your sister look like?”
“Well … .” I glanced between Cillian and Braden. “She basically looks exactly like us.”
“I see the family resemblance.” Grinder nodded. “Are you missing anyone else?”
The question caught me off guard. “As a matter of fact, we’re missing another brother. He came looking for Aisling.”
“I figured.” Grinder disappeared back inside the room he exited only a few moments before.
“Where is he going?” I asked finally, looking to Doc for answers. “Was that the end of the conversation? Did I somehow miss the clue that we were done speaking?”
“No. Hold on.” Doc held up his hand and craned his neck, grinning at the sound of scuffling feet. “I think we have something of yours.”
“Something of mine?” I was confused. “But … how?” I turned my full attention to the dark doorway, my heart leaping when I heard a familiar voice.
“I don’t understand,” Aidan argued. “Why am I being kicked out?”
“You’re not being kicked out, kid,” Grinder replied, chuckling. “I simply think you need to see who has come calling.”
“Someone came calling for me?” Aidan’s forehead was wrinkled as he stepped into the light. “Who would come calling for me? I … oh.” His expression darkened when he realized exactly who was waiting for him. “How did you even find me?”
Aidan looked disappointed by the turn of events, which caused my temper to flare. “Dumb luck,” I snapped, grabbing his shoulder and roughly tugging him toward me. “What were you thinking taking off the way you did?”
Aidan shrugged, unbothered by my tone. He might have been smaller than me, but he wasn’t afraid. “I was looking for Aisling.”
Hope swelled in my chest. “Please tell me she’s in there.”
Aidan solemnly shook his head. “She’s not. I hoped she was, but … she’s not.”
“So, what are you doing in there?”
“Oh.” Aidan turned sheepish. “They’re barbecuing. They have burgers and stuff. I was hungry.”
“They’re barbecuing?” I couldn’t make sense of the simple statement. “I don’t understand.”
“We keep an eye on the building,” Doc explained. “We try not to infringe on anyone’s fun or anything, but bad things can happen in situations like this. That’s why we set up shop here.”
I was flabbergasted. “But … you’re barbecuing? There’s not, like, crack in the hamburgers, is there?” I grabbed Aidan’s shoulders and stared hard into his eyes. “Who am I? Do you know where you are? Do you know when you are?”
Doc and Grinder snorted in unison.
“There’s no crack in the hamburgers,” Grinder shook his head. “We wouldn’t ruin premium beef that way.”
I wanted to believe them but the situation was so surreal I couldn’t help but press Aidan on the issue. “You don’t feel loopy, do you?”
Aidan shrugged out from under my hands and shook his head. “No loopier than usual. I’m not high. For the record, I asked the crack question before I took a hamburger.”
“He did,” Grinder confirmed. “He was very careful.”
“He still ate it,” I pointed out. “You guys could have been lying to him.”
“We could have,” Doc agreed. “But we didn’t. When we saw him looking around we knew he was too young to be here. That’s why we decided to keep an eye on him. He said his brothers would come looking for him. I guess that was true.”
“Yeah, well, he still shouldn’t have trusted you without something better than your word that the hamburgers weren’t laced.” I dragged a frustrated hand through my hair. “No offense to you guys because you seem swell, but … Aidan isn’t used to places like this.”
Doc barked out a laugh so loud and raucous it caused me to jolt. “Did you hear that, Grinder? We’re swell.”
“I love being swell,” Grinder replied. “It makes me feel all tingly inside.”
I held my hands up in capitulation. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”
“Kid, you didn’t offend us,” Doc said. “The thing is, you’re actually making sense. Your brother probably shouldn’t have taken a burger from us. But the meat isn’t laced, so he’s okay. No harm, no foul.”
It was a reasonable argument, and yet I was still agitated. “Have you seen Aisling at all? Have you heard whispers about her?”
“Have you heard mention of a forked tongue? Because that’s probably her,” Braden added.
“Dude, what is it with you and your sister?” Doc asked, smirking. “That forked tongue thing is going to interest the wrong sort of people in this place. I’d stop saying things like that.”
“She’s evil,” Braden shot back. “That’s what I meant.”
“I get that, but in here a forked tongue would be something coveted for … well … sexual reasons.” Doc shifted from one foot to the other, his cheeks coloring. “If you have a fourteen-year-old sister lost in this place, do you want people seeking her out for sexual gratification?”
Braden’s mouth dropped open. “Don’t ever say anything like that again,” he hissed, taking me by surprise. “She may be the devil, but she’s a little devil. A little one.”
“I’ve got that.” Doc was back to being amused. “As for your sister, I haven’t seen her. I would track her down as fast as possible if I were you. The longer she’s in this place, the more chance she has of stumbling across someone who won’t care how old she is.”
“Yeah.” I shifted my attention back to the job at hand. “Well, thank you for taking care of Aidan.” I extended my hand. “If you see a girl who looks exactly like us, could you please hold onto her until we work back this way? We’re heading up to the fifth floor now.”
“We’ll keep an eye out for her,” Doc promised. “You should avoid the fifth floor, though.”
“Why?” Cillian asked. “What’s on the fifth floor?”
“A whole lot of trouble.”
I was grim but determined as I took a step toward the stairs. “We don’t really have a choice. Thank you. You managed to remove one task from my to-do list by keeping Aidan safe.”
&n
bsp; “No problem.” Doc grinned at Aidan. “You be good, little man. Don’t run away from your brother again. You need to help him find your sister.”
“I know.” Aidan offered a happy wave to his new friends. “The burger was great, by the way. You were right about the Worcestershire sauce.”
“We know burgers.” Doc’s expression was serious as he locked gazes with me. “Do you want us to come with you? I mean … just until you find your sister.”
Part of me did. Having backup would be great. Explaining that I had to suck a soul to strangers, however, was more than I could handle. “We’ll be fine.” I was almost positive that was true. “Thanks for your help. If we think of it and have time, we’ll stop by on our way out.”
“You do that. I’d like to know you found the missing member of your party.”
“I would like that, too. Thanks.”
7
Seven
I paused on the stairs between floors long enough to collect my thoughts. When I considered the trouble Aidan could’ve found without anyone to watch him, my insides shriveled and made me sick to my stomach.
“What’s wrong?” Cillian asked, concerned. “Are you going to be sick?”
It was weird that he could read me so well. It was also annoying. “I’m fine.” I forced a smile. “I was just wishing we had more time so all of us could get burgers.”
“Really?” Cillian’s expression didn’t change. “I thought maybe you were thinking about what might’ve happened if those guys hadn’t been the decent sort. I know that’s what I was thinking.”
I swallowed hard. “Well, I wasn’t thinking that.”
“They were fine,” Aidan offered, looking none the worse for wear after his adventure. “I think they liked me.”
“Yeah?” I could see that. “I’m glad. I’m still going to beat the snot out of you when we get home.”
Aidan rolled his eyes. “I was looking for Aisling. I didn’t think it was smart to let her just wander around this place herself. She needs constant supervision. Dad says that. That’s why I thought I’d be saving you a headache if I found her.”
Grim & Bear It: A Grimlock Family Short Page 6
