Grim Tempest

by Amanda M. Lee

“Apparently so, and if I had to guess I’d say that the ex-wife was closer to the sister than Harry was.”

  Hmm. “Maybe he was more of a jerk than we realized,” I suggested after a beat. “Maybe no one liked him and they all wanted him dead. Maybe whoever is conjuring the storms killed him and managed to hide it. Maybe … .”

  Dad held up his hand to silence me. “Let’s not go off the rails, Aisling. Your imagination is a dangerous thing when unrestrained. Let’s focus on what we know. What did you find out, Cillian?”

  “Well, there was no easy way around it, so I kind of mentioned that I’d heard Harry had ties to a witch from a friend – and I was vague about the ‘friend’ part – and flat out asked them,” Cillian replied. “I pretended to be a paranormal enthusiast. They actually bought it.”

  “It’s the hair,” Jerry said sagely. “Everyone knows that paranormal enthusiasts have long hair.”

  Cillian grinned. “Good to know. Anyway, Miranda – that’s the sister – said their mother fancied herself a witch, but the only thing she could do was dose people’s drinks and pretend it was magic.”

  “Huh.” I shifted on my seat and rested my head against Griffin’s shoulder. He glanced down at me and smiled, slipping his arm around me and tugging me close as we listened. It wasn’t just that I was feeling sappy. I wanted him to be comfortable touching me again. In truth, I missed even the simple touches – like when he ran his hands up and down my arms or simply poked my side – and I wasn’t a fan of how unsure he seemed. I wanted to help him bounce back as soon as possible.

  “The mother wanted to be a witch. She joined several covens,” Cillian continued. “Apparently she always left disappointed because none of the covens had real power.”

  “So the witch rumors were an exaggeration,” Griffin mused.

  Cillian shook his head. “That’s what I thought, too, until the ex-wife let a minor detail slip. I don’t know if they were trying to hide it or Miranda simply forgot, but when they mentioned it I realized they clearly didn’t understand that Annemarie Turner was in deep with at least one real witch.”

  “Oh, well, don’t leave us in suspense,” Redmond said dryly.

  “Yeah, you’re starting to remind me of Aisling when she tells a story,” Braden complained. “She goes on and on and never gets to the point. I hate that.”

  I shot him a glare. “I’m going to make you cry later, Braden,” I warned. “When you’re least expecting it, I’m totally going to smack the crap out of you.”

  “Somehow I think I’ll survive until you head home,” Braden said dryly.

  Griffin cleared his throat. “Actually, until the storms are done and the problem is solved, we’re staying here.”

  “You are?” Dad pursed his lips. “I’m fine with it, for the record, but may I ask why?”

  “Because I want Aisling safe and I know you guys will protect her from whatever is doing this,” Griffin replied without hesitation. “I also know that you’ll kill me to save her if it ever comes to it. I don’t think she’s capable of doing it, so … you guys will have to do it for her.”

  I glared at him as he averted his gaze. “No one is killing anyone.”

  “I know.” Griffin patted my knee. “That’s the plan. But if something should happen, I need to know you’ll be safe.”

  “She’ll be safe.” Dad was calm. “You’ll both be safe. I’ll make sure of that.”

  Griffin smiled. “Thank you.”

  Cillian let loose an exasperated sigh. “Do you guys want to hear the end of my story or not? I mean … geez. I’ve started this story three or four times now and never get to finish it. Am I that boring?”

  “That’s what I was trying to tell you,” Braden replied, grinning when Cillian scowled. “Oh, I’m just kidding. Tell us the rest of your story.”

  “Now I don’t know if I want to,” Cillian sniffed.

  “You obviously want to,” I argued. “You’re so excited that you’re squirming around. Just tell us and get it over with.”

  “I’m going to tell you despite that remark.” Cillian’s handsome features flushed with color as he leaned forward. “Apparently Turner’s mother had one friend who hung around longer than the others and she believed this woman was a real witch. She told everyone in the family who would listen, although I got the distinct impression they didn’t believe her.

  “Well, don’t leave us in suspense,” Aidan prodded. “Who is it?”

  I knew the answer before Cillian could supply it. “Genevieve Toth,” I said, shaking my head. The name escaped on a hiss. “It has to be her.”

  Cillian picked up one of Dad’s architectural magazines from the coffee table and lobbed it at me. My reflexes were slow, so it smacked me in the head and bounced off.

  “You just stepped on my story, Ais,” Cillian groused.

  “I didn’t mean to.” I rubbed the side of my head. “That hurt.”

  “Let me see.” Griffin’s fingers were gentle as he probed my scalp. “It didn’t break the skin or anything.” He kissed the sore spot and gave me a hug. “You’re okay.”

  I leaned into the hug and smiled. After almost a full minute, I realized the rest of my family were staring at us with overt distaste.

  “What?” I was immediately on the defensive. “We’re not doing anything.”

  “You’re being gross and schmaltzy,” Redmond said. “No one wants to see that. You’re usually sneakier when you do it. Go back to acting like that.”

  “They’re fine,” Dad argued. “Actually, they’re fine for tonight,” he clarified. “They’ve had a rough day and can do whatever they want. Tomorrow I want to go back to the sneaky stuff. This is … playing with all my father buttons. It’s not a nice feeling.”

  I chuckled. “Whatever.” I focused on Cillian. “So Harry Turner’s mother hung around with Genevieve Toth.”

  Cillian nodded. “That means all the rumors about Harry’s mother being a witch could very well be true.”

  “So where do we go from here?” Griffin asked, his voice strong. “We need a direction.”

  “We do,” Dad agreed. I didn’t miss the way his eyes landed on Mom for an extended turn before they continued bouncing around the room. “I’m not sure where we go from here, but at least we have a name to focus on.”

  Unfortunately it was a name that kept popping up. I thought about what the shaman said about one person being behind everything. Was it possible Genevieve Toth wasn’t really dead? It would explain so much, and yet I couldn’t come up with a feasible scenario in which she’d somehow survived.

  I had no idea what to make of any of it.

  19

  Nineteen

  We slept hard, Griffin especially. I woke to find him wrapped around me from behind and I took a moment to enjoy the feeling.

  “I know you’re awake.” Griffin’s voice was low and warm against my ear. “Did you sleep okay?”

  I nodded as I rolled to face him. “How about you?” He looked better in the morning light filtering through the window. The worry remained at the edges of his eyes, but his smile was quick. “Did you sleep?”

  “I did. I feel better.”

  “Did you have nightmares?”

  “No. I … .” He paused and changed course. “I had a disturbing dream or two. They weren’t as bad as I thought they’d be.”

  “Do you want to tell me about them?”

  He shook his head. “No. You can probably imagine what they were like.”

  I could indeed. I gave him a quick kiss. “It’s okay. We’ll figure it out. We always do.”

  “I know.” He gave me a long hug before releasing me. “Why don’t you get in the shower first? If I remember correctly, your father mentioned something about having an omelet bar this morning. That’s your favorite.”

  That was a personal favorite. Still, I was leery about leaving Griffin alone. I didn’t want to turn myself into a mother hen, but I wasn’t keen on being away from him. “We could shower together.” />
  Griffin chuckled. “If we do that we’ll be late for breakfast. I might be okay with that, but your father won’t be.”

  I found I didn’t care about Dad being upset. “Leave him to me. He’s putty in my hands.”

  “So am I, but I need to call my boss, and you’re too much of a distraction if I do it with you in the room.”

  “Why are you calling work?”

  “I’m not going in today.”

  “You’re not?” I couldn’t help being surprised. “Why?”

  “You know why.”

  “We can take precautions against the storms. You can carry an umbrella.”

  “And what happens if there’s an incident where I have to drop the umbrella to save someone? I’ll tell you what happens in a situation like that, someone will get hurt. I want to make sure that doesn’t happen.”

  “But … .”

  “Just let me handle work.” Griffin’s tone turned icy and serious. “I don’t want to argue with you, but I need to take the day off. I know you don’t understand, but that’s the way it has to be.”

  I didn’t understand. Griffin was a good cop precisely because he was so dedicated. It wasn’t like him to hide or run away. Still, if he wanted to stay here where I knew he would be safe, that didn’t sound like the worst idea I’d ever heard. “Okay.” I gave him another kiss. “I’m going to hop in the shower. You’re going to regret not joining me.”

  “I already am.” Griffin’s smile was back and it made me feel warm all over.

  I TOOK A LONG shower on the off chance Griffin would change his mind and join me. When he didn’t, I tried not to obsess about it. I shrugged into a robe and was about to return to the bedroom when I heard voices on the other side of the door.

  Because I’m me and the world’s biggest busybody, I decided to eavesdrop instead of making my presence known. It took only a few seconds to realize Dad and Griffin were talking.

  “You look better this morning.” Dad’s voice was easy and calm. “I’m glad. I was worried about you.”

  “There’s no need to worry about me. Worry about Aisling. I wasn’t joking last night. I expect you guys to protect her in case … well, in case it happens again. I would rather die than hurt her.”

  “Oh, geez.” I couldn’t see Dad’s face but I could picture the expression. I learned my patented eye roll from him, after all. “I don’t know if you’ve always been this dramatic or if Aisling has brought it out, but you need to chill out.”

  “I don’t find threatening to hurt my girlfriend funny.”

  “It’s not funny,” Dad said. Your reaction is a little funny right now, but I still get it. Griffin, look at me.” I wanted to open the door so I could see them, but I knew that would prematurely end the conversation. “You didn’t hurt Aisling. She’s fine. What’s hurting her now is the fear, and almost all of that fear revolves around you.”

  “Don’t you think I see that?” Griffin challenged. “I see it on her face. I don’t want to, but it’s always there, right under the surface. I can’t shake it. What would’ve happened if I’d got my hands on her?”

  “I trained my boys to know there was a difference between smacking each other around and beating up Aisling,” Dad said, changing course. “They still smacked her around, mind you. Children can’t help themselves. She can hold her own in a fight if it comes to it.”

  “I’m a grown man. I could hurt her much worse than her brothers ever did.”

  “Maybe, but Aisling can take care of herself. She’s always been that way. She would’ve handled the situation even if it had only been you and her. I have faith in that.”

  “And what then?” Griffin challenged. “What would’ve happened if I put my hands on her and she managed to fight me off? Do you think we ever would’ve been the same? Do you think we would’ve survived that?”

  “It’s not your fault, son. You didn’t do it on purpose. You were taken over.”

  “That doesn’t change the fact that I remember every moment of it. I remember the fury … and I remember the look on her face. It almost crushed her.”

  “It didn’t, though,” Dad persisted, his voice demanding. “Griffin, I’m not one for wallowing. I understand that you were upset yesterday and I don’t blame you, but one of the reasons I’ve grown to accept you as part of this family – and even become rather fond of you, although I’ll deny it if you ever tell anyone – is because you’re strong.

  “You’re strong enough to put up with Aisling’s temperament, which isn’t easy,” he continued. “Not only do you put up with her, you don’t let her run roughshod over you. You’re strong when you need to be and a big marshmallow when she needs you to be.”

  Griffin chuckled. “Is that how you see me? Aisling’s strong marshmallow.”

  “Son, you’re exactly what I wanted for her.” Dad sounded serious and his words caused tears to prick at the back of my eyes. “You have no idea how afraid I was that I turned her into a bit of a monster with all the spoiling. You see her for who she is, accept her, and don’t put up with any of her crap. You’re a freaking godsend, as far as I’m concerned.”

  “I think that might be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”

  “I mean it. You have to snap out of this.” I heard an odd noise that sounded roughly like a cuff to the back of the head. “You’ve been through a lot. What happened yesterday rattled you. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t be rattled.

  “Actually, that’s not true,” he corrected. “A bad man wouldn’t have been rattled. Someone who doesn’t deserve my daughter wouldn’t have been rattled. You deserve her, and more than anything she wants you not to be afraid to spend time with her.”

  “I don’t want to hurt her,” Griffin pressed. “I’ll never forgive myself if I do.”

  “I know that, but you can’t live in fear,” Dad pressed. “Aisling is fearless, much to her detriment sometimes. You’ll be left behind if you live in fear. You don’t want that.”

  “I don’t understand how you can be okay with me right now,” Griffin admitted. “Why don’t you want to kill me for threatening her?”

  “Because you weren’t in control and I’m aware that you would kill yourself rather than hurt her if you were in command of all your faculties,” Dad replied without hesitation. “You love Aisling. She loves you. You’re a part of the family. We help family.”

  “You make it sound so simple.”

  “It is for me. We’re going to figure this out. I have no doubt about that. But you can’t stop living your life while we’re searching for answers. That will distract Aisling, and she’s unbelievably hard to live with when she’s distracted.”

  I was pretty sure I should be insulted by the statement. Dad was being so good with Griffin that I decided to let it pass.

  “I’m still not going to work today,” Griffin said. “I told my boss I had a family emergency. I’m too shaky to go back until I settle a bit.”

  “You just need another day to heal.”

  “Yeah, because another day will fix everything,” Griffin deadpanned. “In another day I’ll forget the look on her face when I threatened her.”

  “You’ll probably never forget that.” Dad gentled his voice. “You will move past it, though. Some things are meant to last and you and Aisling are one of them.”

  “I never thought I would hear you say that.”

  “That makes two of us.”

  I couldn’t hear what was happening in the other room when they stopped talking. There was nothing but a wall of silence to contend with. I’d almost convinced myself they’d left – it was ridiculously quiet – when the bathroom door opened and allowed Dad to pin me with a dark look.

  “I was just coming out,” I said instinctively, tucking my robe tighter around my frame. “What are you doing here? This is a very pleasant surprise so early in the morning. Of course, I could’ve been naked when you opened the door, which would’ve scarred us both, but things worked out okay so I’m willing to
overlook the fact that you didn’t knock.”

  Dad rolled his eyes. “Save it. I know you were listening. I’m fine with it.”

  “Oh, well, good.” It was easier when I didn’t have to lie or pretend to be innocent when I’m almost never innocent. “That makes things easier. Is the omelet bar set up?”

  Dad smirked. “Yes. Get ready for breakfast. I have a job for you this morning.”

  “Really?” I couldn’t help being intrigued. “Is it just for me or do I have to take a brother along for the ride?”

  “What do you think?”

  I already knew the answer. “Just make sure it’s not a brother who irritates me.”

  “And exactly which one of them fits that bill?”

  “No Braden.”

  “I CAN’T BELIEVE WE got stuck with cemetery duty again,” Braden complained as he pocketed his keys in the parking lot of Eternal Sunshine Cemetery – a place that was almost like a second home because we visited so often – and headed toward the walkway that cut through the property. “I hate visiting the cemetery.”

  There were a lot of things I hated about this day and visiting the cemetery was only one of them. “It had to be done.” I was resigned to our task and I merely wanted to get through it. “Once talk of Genevieve Toth surfaced, it was only a matter of time before we had to visit her mausoleum again.”

  The mausoleum we were visiting wasn’t the original. I’d burned that down almost a year ago. At the time, I hoped that would be the end of Genevieve’s dark legacy. Apparently I’d been wrong. Very, very wrong.

  “I can’t believe they rebuilt this stupid thing,” I said once we were in front of the structure. It looked almost exactly like the old mausoleum, though this one had a few changes we discovered several months before when searching for a missing reaper girl. “I wish it would’ve stayed gone.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s here and we have to deal with it.” Braden glanced around to make sure we were alone. It was spring in Michigan – and a weekday – so the odds of a lot of people hanging around the cemetery during work hours were slim. Still, given our luck, it was always wise to look. “Let’s head inside and get this over with.”