Grim Offerings (Aisling Grimlock Book 2) (2 page)

“This place is cute,” I said, settling in a small booth and fixing Aidan with a rueful smile as he sat across from me. “Have you eaten here before?”

“I know what you’re doing,” Aidan said, grabbing a menu and opening it.

“What am I doing?”

“You’re trying to have light lunch conversation so I won’t point out that you’re making this job harder than it has to be.”

Ugh. He knows me too well. “I am not.”

“You’re also never going to admit it,” Aidan said. “It’s not in your nature.”

“Hey, I admitted you were right at the house,” I argued. “In this particular case, you were right.”

“And you were wrong.”

“Oh, whatever,” I muttered, snatching the menu he was holding. “You just get off on being right.” Unfortunately, that was another family trait.

“You’re the one who can never be wrong,” Aidan shot back. “Do you remember when we had family game night as kids?”

I scowled.

“Whenever you missed a question in Trivial Pursuit you had a fit and insisted the card was wrong.”

“That’s a total lie.”

“It is not.”

“It is, too.”

“It is not.”

“See? You’re just trying to be right again,” I said. “You just can’t stand it when you’re wrong.”

“I’m always right.”

“You sound just like Dad.” I knew exactly how to get to him. Most siblings know what buttons to push. I was no exception. “You don’t just look like him, but you act like him, too.”

Aidan frowned. “You take that back.”

“No.”

Aidan reached over and pinched my forearm. “Take it back.”

“Ow.” I ripped my arm out of his grip. “That hurt.”

“Oh, you’re such a baby,” Aidan said, grabbing another menu. “If you would just admit that you’re wrong, this whole argument would be over.”

“I already told you I was wrong,” I snapped. “You just want me to say it again so I can pump up your ego.”

“Honey, I don’t need my ego pumped up by … you.”

“You’re about to go to a dirty place,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “I told you when you started dating Jerry that I was okay with it as long as you didn’t give me the details. Don’t you dare start giving me the details now.”

Jerry had been my best friend since elementary school. Even at such a young age, I’d known there was something different about him. He was much more interested in clothes and shoes than the rest of the boys, but he was also more sensitive and easy to talk with. When it came down to it, he’d never really given me a choice. He announced we were best friends, and we’d been inseparable ever since.

Jerry came out when we were in middle school, confirming what everyone thought they already knew. He was never ambiguous, and he was never worried about what other people thought. His mother had joined every gay parenting group she could find, and she was proud of her son and the man he’d become. The decision to embrace who he was had been harder for Aidan.

I’d always suspected Aidan was gay, but I never pushed him on it. When you have three older brothers all trying to “out-macho” one another, it’s hard to be the one who is different. Aidan was only a few minutes older, but he acted as though he had years of maturity to lord over me. Our brothers had always been protective of both of us, but I got the brunt of it.

When Aidan finally came out, the whole family embraced him. My mother knew. I saw it on her face. She didn’t care, and she made sure that Aidan never felt like an outcast. It was harder for my father, but he sucked up any ill feelings he had about the announcement and hugged Aidan close.

In the years since, Dad not only embraced having a gay son, he also did the one thing Aidan needed above all else: He treated him exactly as he did his other sons.

I was a different story. There were specific rules when you were a girl. After my mother died while trying to collect a soul in a fire, my upbringing had been … unique.

I was a teenager when I lost my mother, and dating in a house filled with men and boys was uncomfortable. Those who were brave enough to try were hounded until they fled. It takes a strong man to put up with the Grimlock family. I thought I’d found him, but now I wasn’t so sure.

“Where is your mind?” Aidan asked.

When I glanced up, I found him studying me. “Nothing,” I said, turning back to the menu. “I was just thinking about how different you and Jerry were back in the day. It’s weird to think of the two of you being together.”

“I thought you were okay with it?”

“I am.”

“That’s not what you were thinking about,” Aidan said after a moment. “Well, it might have started out that way. That’s not where it ended, though.”

He knows me so well it’s frightening sometimes. “I was just thinking about … Graham. Do you think he’ll be happy in the Void?”

“You weren’t thinking about Graham,” Aidan said. “You were thinking about Griffin.”

I stilled. Griffin Taylor was a Detroit police detective I’d crossed paths with several weeks before. I’d been initially attracted to him, his dark hair and eyes calling to me. Of course, when you’re in a supernatural line of work like I am, it’s hard to forge a lasting relationship. Griffin eventually stumbled over the truth. We’d fallen into bed, and then he’d fallen into his own void as he took a step back to think. After almost dying together, he’d decided he didn’t care what I did for a living and that he wanted to be with me.

We’d spent one blissful week together, and then he’d been called away on an undercover assignment. I hadn’t seen him in two weeks, although we did share sporadic texts. He couldn’t give me the details of his case, and I didn’t feel comfortable texting the details of my day. We were at a crossroads.

“I was not thinking about Griffin,” I lied.

“Is he still undercover?”

I scowled. “Yes.”

“Has he called you?”

“He’s texted a few times.” I averted my gaze and scanned the restaurant. “Where do you think the waitress is?”

“He’s got a job to do, Aisling,” Aidan said. “I’m sure he doesn’t like being away anymore than you like him being away.”

“Since when are you on his side?” I asked. “You were still calling him Detective Dinglefritz three weeks ago.”

“I don’t like anyone who defiles my sister,” he replied.

“Defiles?”

“You know what I mean,” Aidan said. “The walls in that townhouse are thin. I’ve heard the … defiling.”

“You know that means I hear you and Jerry, too, right?”

Aidan smirked. “Yes, but that’s a lot more fun for me.”

I rubbed my cheek. “I’m a little worried,” I admitted.

“What are you worried about?”

“He hasn’t called in two weeks.”

“He might not be able to,” Aidan said. “Didn’t you say the case popped up out of nowhere and that it was serious?”

I nodded.

“Well, he might be in real danger if he does try to call you,” Aidan said. “Have you ever thought about that?”

Only every night while trying to fall asleep. “Why do you think I haven’t been pitching a fit?” I was known for being able to freak out with the best of them.

“So, instead of pitching a fit and getting it out of your system, you’ve decided to be pouty and morose?”

“I’m not pouty.”

“Oh, you’re so pouty it’s not even funny,” Aidan said. “I’ve put up with it because I know you’re depressed, but it’s time to snap out of it. You’ve only been dating the guy a few weeks – and you haven’t even seen him two of those weeks.”

“Wow, way to make me feel better,” I grumbled.

“No one needs the sarcasm,” Aidan chided. “I’m trying to help.”

“Well, you’re doing a really crappy job of it,” I said. “You don’t even like Griffin.”

“I don’t dislike him,” Aidan corrected. “I just want to make sure he’s good enough for my baby sister.”

“I’m not your baby sister,” I pointed out. “We’re the same age.”

“I’m older, and wiser.”

“You’re like three minutes older than me.”

“I’m a lot wiser, though.” Aidan’s grin was charming, and hard to argue with.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Griffin has gone out of his way to understand my job. I owe him the same, don’t I?”

“You do,” Aidan agreed. “That doesn’t mean you can’t feel sorry for yourself.”

“I don’t feel sorry for myself.”

“Then what do you feel?” Aidan asked. “Sometimes it’s like I know you better than I know myself. Other times, like now, I’m not sure what’s going through your head. You’re hard to read. I think it’s because you spent so much time hiding what you were doing from a bunch of prying eyes and ears when you were growing up.”

“I’m not really feeling anything.”

“Well, when you want to talk, I’m here,” he said. “I do wish that waitress would show up, though. I’m starving.”

Sensing that the conversational crisis was over, I fixed my gaze on the spot where Aidan’s was suddenly locked. I expected to see a waitress, one Aidan would flirt with shamelessly. Instead, the figure sitting across the restaurant was a familiar one.

His hair was a little longer, but his handsome face and strong jaw was the same. He was dressed down in simple jeans and a button-down shirt, but his smile was warm and amiable as he chatted up the woman sitting next to him at the table.

She was beautiful. Her hair was long and brown, her face angular and pleasing. She seemed enraptured by whatever story Griffin was telling, and when he placed his hand over hers she gripped it warmly.

My heart flopped, and my face started to burn as I took in the scene. I swallowed hard.

“Well, I guess his job isn’t all that was keeping him away,” Aidan said, his tone grim. “I’m going to kill him. Check the list. See if his name is on it.”

I couldn’t find words, and my heart was hammering so hard all I could hear was blood rushing through my ears. I stumbled to my feet, trying to find focus. I had to get out of here.

In my efforts to escape, I stumbled into a waitress as she attempted to deliver food at the table next to us. I mumbled an apology, and the waitress managed to hold onto the tray – but barely. “Excuse me!”

I felt Aidan’s hand on my arm, but I jerked away. “I have to get out of here.”

“I’ll go with you,” Aidan said. “Just hold on a second. I want to have a talk with Detective Dinglefritz.”

“I have to go.” I moved away from Aidan, glancing up momentarily to make sure I didn’t inadvertently run into anyone else. When I did, my eyes met Griffin’s across the restaurant expanse. His face drained of color when he saw me.

Griffin jumped to his feet and pointed his muscular body in my direction while I struggled to keep my head from flying off my shoulders. Aidan must have read the look on my face, because he stepped between us and cut off Griffin’s angle of approach.

“Go outside,” Aidan ordered.

“Aisling.” Griffin’s face was unreadable.

“Go,” Aidan prodded.

“I was going to call you,” Griffin said. “I just wrapped my case this morning.”

“Don’t bother, detective,” Aidan snapped. “Don’t bother ever calling her again.”

Griffin’s face registered confusion until he glanced over his shoulder. The woman he’d been dining with appeared concerned, but she wisely remained silent. I’d hate to have to rip her hair out in such a public setting.

“It’s not what you think,” he said.

Aidan pushed me. “Go outside,” he repeated. “I’ll handle this.”

“Aisling, don’t go,” Griffin said.

Aidan grabbed his shirt roughly, stopping him in his tracks as he tried to follow me. “Stay away from my sister,” he warned. “You just … stay away from her.”

“Oh, come on, Bug. Don’t hide in there all night.”

Aidan had dropped me at home after our disastrous aborted lunch, promising to finish the final two names on the list himself. In my head, I knew I should suck it up and finish the list with him. It was my responsibility, too. In my heart, I just didn’t have the energy.

Because it was the middle of the afternoon, the townhouse was empty. I handled my disappointment the best way I knew how: I crawled into bed and slept the afternoon away. Several hours later, I heard the front door open. I knew Jerry was home, but I couldn’t face him, so I remained hidden.

I don’t know when, but sometime during the afternoon Jerry had been made aware of what happened. He’d been periodically stopping at my bedroom door ever since to check on me. It was starting to get annoying. “I don’t want to come out.”

“If you don’t come out, I’m going to come in,” Jerry warned.

“I locked the door.”

“I’ll kick it in.”

I snorted. Jerry was fit. He worked out every day, and now that he was dating Aidan he wasn’t doing it just to cruise guys on the weight benches. But he still couldn’t kick in a door. Even if he could, the mess would drive him crazy. “You will not.”

“I’ll have Aidan do it when he gets here,” Jerry said.

“Are you going to make him pick up the mess when he’s done?”

“Of course.”

I sighed. “I’m really not in the mood, Jerry.”

“Come on, Bug,” he prodded. “I need to see you. I keep picturing you doing horrible things in there.”

“I would never hurt myself,” I scoffed.

“That’s not what I’m talking about,” Jerry said. “I can’t find the scissors, though. You’re not cutting your hair, are you? Your face isn’t the right shape for short hair.”

I groaned and buried my face in a pillow. “Go away.”

“No.”

“Jerry, I don’t want to talk,” I said. “I just want to go to sleep and pretend this day never happened.”

“You’ve been sleeping all day, Bug.” He’d given me the nickname when we were kids, a fierce fight I’d had with my brothers over the fate of ants on a sidewalk giving him the inspiration. It had stuck even though I couldn’t stand it. “Come on. I have a whole stack of
The
Golden Girls
Blu-rays waiting for you.”

Jerry abhors clichés, for the most part. He still insists
The
Golden Girls
is the best show ever made – and he’s not averse to paisley. Go figure. I couldn’t argue with him on this front, though.
The Golden Girls
was downright hilarious. “I’m not in the mood.”

“Aidan is bringing pizza.”

My stomach growled at the mention of food. I hadn’t eaten since Jerry had shoved a muffin in my hand on my way out the door this morning. He owns a bakery in downtown Royal Oak, and he’s always experimenting at home. This morning’s pomegranate-nut blend had been good – but it wasn’t enough to sustain me for the whole day. “Where did you order it from?”

“Your favorite,” Jerry cajoled. “Papa John’s.”

Dang. I did like that butter sauce they give you for crust dunking. I tossed the covers off and climbed out of bed, resignedly opening the door and finding Jerry’s concerned face waiting for me.

“Oh, you poor thing.” Jerry pulled me in for a tight hug, his tall body swallowing my more diminutive one as he tried to smother the sadness out of me. “I hope he gets a horrible disease and his thing falls off.”

I hoped that, too. “It’s fine, Jerry,” I said, patting his back. “It’s not like we were dating all that long.”

Jerry pulled away, brushing my flyaway hair out of my face so he could study me. “It’s not fine. He’s a very bad man.”

“It’s not like we’d ever promised to be monogamous,” I pointed out, pushing past him and padding into the living room. I’d changed into my favorite fuzzy pajama pants and oversized T-shirt when I got home. Since it was just going to be the three of us tonight, I saw no sense in cleaning myself up. “He has a right to see whoever he wants.”

“Oh, you poor thing,” Jerry clucked again. “You’re too sad to be mad.” He held his hand to my forehead. “You’re not sick, are you?”

I jerked my head away. “I’m not sick.”

“Hey, when Troy Dancy cheated on you in high school you didn’t shed one tear,” Jerry said. “Instead you vandalized his car and set his letterman’s jacket on fire.”

“He shouldn’t have left it in an unlocked car,” I said. “And I haven’t been crying.”

Jerry ran his finger over my cheek. “Your eyes are red and puffy.”

“Maybe I was smoking pot?”

“If you had pot we’d be doing that right now instead of this,” Jerry said. He gestured to the couch. “Come and sit with me, Bug. We’ll do some mud masks tonight. You’ll feel better in no time.”

I pursed my lips. Jerry had his own recipe for masks, and my face felt like satin when he was done. “I’d rather eat the pizza.”

“You can’t get fat now,” Jerry said. “You need to look hot so you can snag another man. I’ll put a nice deep conditioner on your hair, too.”

“You’re going to fix my problems with deep conditioner?”

Jerry smiled. “Yes. I’m going to wash that man right out of your hair.”

I couldn’t help but smile. There was a reason he was my best friend. We settled on the couch, Jerry pulling me tight as he started in on some second-season episodes. “I think you should start taking on Blanche’s approach to life,” he said after a few minutes.

“You want me to sleep with everyone who pays me a compliment?”

“Yes,” Jerry said. “I’ll buy some extra condoms tomorrow.”

I snorted. “I think I’m done with men.”

Jerry snuggled closer. “You can’t be done with men. You’re too sarcastic to be a lesbian. None of them would ever put up with you.”

Thankfully, the sound of the front door opening grabbed our attention before I could come back with what I’m sure would have been a biting retort. Aidan dropped his keys on the kitchen table as he spread out the pizza boxes. He looked concerned when he finally braved a look in my direction. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” I said, quickly averting my gaze. “We’re watching
The Golden Girls
. What could possibly be wrong?”

“Ais … .”

“She’s fine,” Jerry said, cutting him off. “We’re going to eat, and then I’m going to make a special mask to pull the puffiness from her face. Then I’m going to deep condition her hair.”

“Yeah, that will makes things better,” Aidan grumbled. “Wait … are you saying you’re going to wash that man right out of her hair?”

Jerry’s face brightened. “That’s exactly what I said.”

“You two are freaky,” I muttered.

Aidan brought one of the pizza boxes to the couch and sat down on the other side of me. “Eat something,” he ordered. “You look dead on your feet.”

“Have you checked your list? I might be on it.”

Aidan’s face was grave. “That’s not funny.”

“Well, I’ll put on my clown wig and do a little dance later,” I said. “That will be funny.”

Aidan ran his hand down the back of my head. “I’m still willing to kill him. You know that, right? I’m sure we can find a way to hide his body.”

I waved him off. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Well, don’t dismiss the idea outright,” Aidan said. “If the mask and conditioner don’t make you feel better, I’m sure property destruction or murder will.”

“I’ll think about it,” I said, grabbing a slice of pizza from the box.

Aidan was just about to grab his own slice when there was a knock on the door. “Are you expecting anyone?”

Jerry shook his head. Aidan disappeared. I heard him vigorously swear once he opened the door. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Is she here?”

I froze when I heard the voice. Griffin.

“No, she’s not,” Aidan said. “I told you at the restaurant that I didn’t want to ever see you again. You need to stay away from my sister.”

“Is she in there?”

“No.”

“I think she is.”

“She’s not.”

“Just … let me see her.”

“Where’s your other girlfriend?” Aidan asked. “Why don’t you go and bother her? No one here wants to see you, Detective Dinglefritz.”

The sounds of scuffling assailed my ears, and Jerry straightened to try to peer around the wall that separated the living room from the entryway. “Do you think they’ll take their shirts off and wrestle?”

I rolled my eyes. After a few moments, Griffin pushed into the living room. His hair was disheveled, and he pulled up short when he saw me sitting on the couch. He scanned the room quickly, taking in my pajamas and bedhead, and then pasted an apologetic smile on his face. “Well, I’m glad to see you’re not doing anything destructive.”

Aidan appeared at Griffin’s back, his face murderous. “Don’t talk to her. You’ve done enough.”

“Mind your own business,” Griffin shot back. “Aisling, I want to talk to you.”

“We’re watching
The Golden Girls
,” I said, forcing my face to the television.

“And then we’re doing mud masks and deep conditioning,” Jerry added.

Griffin pursed his lips. I had the distinct impression he was trying to stop himself from laughing. I didn’t find the situation particularly funny.

“So, you didn’t stick around for lunch earlier,” he said. “I had someone I wanted you to meet.”

“Yeah, I’m not into threesomes,” I said.

“Well, that’s good,” Griffin said. “I don’t think my sister is either.”

I stiffened. “What?”

“Oh,” Jerry said, his face relaxing. “That was your sister. See, I knew he couldn’t really be a bad man.”

“Maya,” Griffin confirmed. “She’s a doctor at Presbyterian Hospital. That was a convenient place for us to meet for lunch. I haven’t had a chance to see her in a few weeks and when I texted her that I was done with my assignment, she wanted to have lunch.”

“Oh, he’s making that up,” Aidan protested.

“Why would I make it up?” Griffin asked.

“Because you got caught.” Aidan crossed his arms across his chest petulantly.

I was confused. Part of me wanted to believe him. The other part wanted to kick him in his special place.

“How come you didn’t tell Aisling you were done with your assignment?” Jerry asked.

That was a very good question. I tilted my chin and watched Griffin, curious about his answer.

“Because I was planning on surprising her with a bottle of wine and dinner tonight,” Griffin replied. “I didn’t expect to just run into you at a Middle Eastern restaurant in the middle of nowhere.”

Aidan bumped shoulders with Griffin as he pushed around him and sat back down on the couch. “Don’t believe him,” he said.

“You’re starting to piss me off,” Griffin said, extending his finger in Aidan’s direction. “This has nothing to do with you.”

“Oh, right, my sister getting her heart broken has nothing to do with me,” Aidan said.

“I didn’t have my heart broken,” I mumbled.

“You spent the whole afternoon in bed, and Jerry could only lure you out of your bedroom with
The Golden Girls
and pizza,” Aidan countered.

“Well, that explains the outfit,” Griffin said.

“And the hair,” Jerry said, running his hands over my head to smooth the snarls.

Griffin smiled. He could tell I was still leery, but he didn’t appear to be going anywhere. He shrugged out of his coat and dropped it on the chair by the table. “Is there enough pizza for me?”

“No,” Aidan said.

“Yes,” Jerry said. He prodded me with his hip. “Don’t you have something you want to say to him, Bug?”

“Like what?” Aidan was still incensed.

“Like she’s sorry for overreacting,” Jerry supplied. “And she’s sorry her brother is such a … tool.”

“Hey!”

I couldn’t help but smile. I was sorry. Kind of. I still blamed Griffin for keeping me in the dark.

Griffin strode over to the couch and nudged Aidan with his knee. “Move over.”

“No,” Aidan said. “I was here first.”

“And I haven’t seen my girl in two weeks,” Griffin said. “I want pizza, and I’m even willing to watch
The Golden Girls
. I am not willing, however, to put up with your crap.”

“You’re kicked out.”

“You can’t kick someone out,” Griffin said. “It’s not your place.”

“He’s right,” Jerry said. He patted the couch on the other side of him. “Come sit here with me. Let Griffin sit next to Aisling.”

Aidan was furious, but he did as he was told. After a few minutes of quiet munching and television watching, I could feel Griffin’s eyes on me. I finally found the courage to meet them.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“I’m not sure,” I said.

“Do you want to expand on that?”