Grim Offerings (Aisling Grimlock Book 2) (17 page)

“See, he’s thinking,” Dad said.

I pursed my lips. This wasn’t over. Dad just didn’t need to know that.

I expected Griffin to sneak into my room once he was sure everyone was asleep. Once midnight rolled around, however, I realized he was too much of a coward to challenge my father’s wrath. Luckily, I didn’t have that problem. If he started to yell, I wasn’t above crying to get my way. He hates it when I cry, and I’ve taught myself to do it on cue. I just think about E.T. dying and I’m golden.

I climbed out of my bed and into my slippers. It was one of those huge sleigh beds, and it was too big to sleep in alone. My mother had insisted on buying it as soon as she saw it, the strong lines of the bed calling to her for some reason. When we were kids, Jerry and I used to pretend we were on the high seas and surrounded by sharks, using the boat as home base while we treaded water in dangerous seas. My father had even bought a whole cadre of stuffed sharks for us to play with, enjoying the game enough to mimic Quint from
Jaws
on rare occasions.

While my father was immovable on his bed assignments, he had relented and put Maya and Griffin in the same wing of the house where my old room was located. That was going to make my stealthy sex bid all the easier.

When I opened my door, someone was already standing on the other side. For a second, I thought it was Griffin. One look at Jerry’s
My Pretty Pony
pajamas told me otherwise.

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m mad at you,” Jerry said, placing his hands on his hips as he glared at me. “I’m really mad at you.”

“What did I do?”

“You threw me under the bus when your father refused to let you fornicate with Griffin under his roof,” Jerry sniffed. “Now I can’t sleep. My room is too big, and I feel lonely.”

“So?”

“So, you’re going to have to sleep with me,” Jerry said. “I’ll have nightmares if you don’t.”

“Just sneak into Aidan’s room,” I said. “He’s probably already naked and greased up.”

“You’re a sick, sick woman.”

“Jerry, it doesn’t matter,” I said. “Just go in there.”

“What if Cormack finds out?”

“Then cry,” I said. “That’s what I plan to do.”

“You’re going to cry?”

“He can’t keep yelling when I cry,” I said. “He always buckles under the pressure.”

“He doesn’t like it when I cry,” Jerry pointed out. “He thinks it’s pathetic.”

“So?”

“I don’t want your father to think I’m pathetic,” Jerry said. “I want him to respect me.”

“He does respect you,” I said, pushing Jerry out of the archway and shutting the bedroom door. “He thinks it’s great you started your own business. He loves you like you’re his own son.”

“That’s really sweet.”

“So … suck it up,” I said, slapping his arm. “You’re getting in the way of my fun.”

“Where are you going?” Jerry asked.

“Where do you think?”

“Griffin’s funeral? That’s what’s going to happen if you climb into his bed and seduce him,” Jerry said.

“Do you have to say it like that? I’m not seducing him. We’re just going to … cuddle.”

“Oh, whatever,” Jerry scoffed. “You’re going to rub yourself all over him until he can’t stop himself from engaging in the act that shall not be named.”

“Have you been watching Mexican soap operas again?”

“They’re very good.”

“They make you act crazy,” I said.

“I think we should just go in your room and sleep,” Jerry said. “You can survive one night without Detective Delicious.”

I snorted. “Is that what you’re calling him now?”

“Until he screws up again. Then he’s right back to Detective Dinglefritz.”

“Well, I don’t want to survive without him,” I said. “You don’t want to sleep with me any more than I want to sleep with you.”

“We don’t have to sleep,” Jerry offered.

I narrowed my eyes. “What did you have in mind?”

“HURRY
up and swim to the boat,” Jerry ordered. He was standing in the middle of my bed and pointing. “The tiger shark looks hungry.”

I had no idea where he’d found my old stuffed sharks (I’d long since thought them packed away or discarded), but he’d been prepared for our
Jaws
reenactment. “That shark is like a mile away,” I said, focusing my attention on the floor. “It would have to swim really fast to get to me.”

“It’s a shark,” Jerry said. “That’s what they do.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Oh, look, the shark is about to eat that guy in the lagoon,” Jerry said, pointing toward the television on the dresser. “I’ve never understood why he ate the older guy and left the kids alone. You’d think they’d be more tender and taste better.”

“That’s assuming the shark knows the difference between a child and an adult,” I said. “You know very well most sharks only attack people because they mistake them for seals or turtles.”

Jerry straightened. “
Shark Week
?”

“You know it.”

“Come on,” Jerry prodded. “Swim.”

I started moving toward the bed, but the sound of my bedroom door swinging open stopped me mid-stroke. I slammed my arms down to my sides as I focused on Aidan and Griffin. “What’s up?”

“What are you two doing?” Griffin asked, scanning my bedroom curiously.

I noticed another face poking around Griffin’s shoulder, and waved to Maya. “Hey. Are you feeling okay?”

Maya smiled. “I am.”

“What are you two doing?” Griffin repeated.

“They’re playing shark,” Aidan said, moving into the room and jumping onto the bed. He understood the rules of the game. He’d played it a time or two with us. “You have to get out of the ocean or you’ll be eaten.”

Griffin studied my blue carpet. “We’re in the ocean?”

“The Atlantic.”

Griffin reached down and snagged one of the sharks. “These look old.”

“Dad bought them for me when I was in elementary school,” I said.

“So you guys could play shark?”

“It’s more difficult than it looks,” Jerry said, fixing Griffin with a harsh look. “Only the fittest survive.”

Maya giggled as she pushed her way into the room. “Wow. This is a great bed.” She climbed up on it.

“I never liked it,” I admitted. “It was too big. It gave me nightmares.”

“So you turned it into a boat so you could survive a shark attack?” Griffin obviously was missing the appeal of the game.

“It’s not just a boat,” I said. “It’s a fishing boat.”

“Yeah,” Jerry said. “We don’t just run from sharks. You have to do a hard day’s work fishing first.”

“Oh, well, now it all makes sense,” Griffin said.

I studied him for a moment. I should be embarrassed, but his eyes were actually glittering with amusement. “Just so you know, I was on my way to your room when Jerry distracted me.”

“Your father said he wouldn’t put up with any funny business.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” I said, tapping his chin. “If he catches us, I’ll just cry.”

“Does that really work?”

“Oh, yeah,” Jerry, Aidan and I answered in unison.

Aidan studied the assembled sharks. “Where’s the hammerhead? That was always my favorite.”

I pointed to the other side of the bed.

“Awesome,” Aidan said.

Maya shifted her attention to the television. “Wait. Are you watching
Jaws
while playing shark attack? Isn’t that a little too on the nose?”

“We wanted to use the Wii fishing game, but it’s in Aidan’s room,” I said.

Aidan brightened. “I’ll get it.”

“YOU
have to yank harder,” I instructed, slapping Griffin’s arm for emphasis. “You can’t just flick your wrist. The sensor knows when you’re not trying.”

“I’m sorry. I’ve never fake fished before,” a scowling Griffin said, focusing on the television as the game ramped up.

“Aidan is totally kicking your ass,” I said. “He’s already caught three fish. You haven’t even reeled in one.”

“You’re very … competitive,” Griffin said.

“You’re only saying that because I want to win.”

We’d divided into teams: Jerry and Aidan on one side, and Griffin and I on the other. Maya was happy to serve as judge. My bed was big enough for all of us to settle in – and comfortably.

“I don’t like this side of you,” Griffin said, mime casting with the Wii game controller again. “You’re ugly when it comes to games.”

“He just doesn’t understand us,” Aidan said, crowing as he hooked another fish. “I am awesome.”

Jerry and I inadvertently broke into
The Lego Movie
theme song in unison.

Griffin jolted when he heard it. “What was that?”

“It’s a great movie,” I said. “Come on. Work harder. If you don’t, I’m taking that controller away from you.”

“Just … back off,” Griffin said. “I don’t like backseat fisherwomen.”

Cillian appeared in the open doorway. “What are you guys doing?”

I noticed that Maya sat up a little straighter when he entered.

“We’re fishing,” I said.

Cillian glanced around at the floor, his face conflicted until realization dawned. “Oh, you guys are playing shark attack. You have to catch the fish before you run from the sharks.”

“I’m not playing shark attack,” Griffin said. “I’m just trying to catch fish. I’m an adult.”

I ignored him. “Do you want to play? If you join, we can have even teams.”

Cillian considered the offer. “Fine,” he said. “I don’t want to be on Aidan’s team, though.”

“Maya will have to be,” I said. “We need you anyway. Griffin can’t fish.”

“If you think it’s so easy, you try it,” Griffin said, handing the controller over to me.

I took it wordlessly and flicked my wrist. After a few seconds, the controller buzzed. “I’ve got one.”

“What?” Griffin was bubbling with disbelief.

I started reeling it in. “It’s a big one. It’s three times the size of anything Aidan has caught.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that size doesn’t matter?” Aidan asked.

“Only men say that,” I said. “And we’re on the board,” I crowed when I finished reeling in the fish.

Cillian climbed on the bed behind me. “Give me that. I want to try.”

“I just got it.”

“I almost died,” Cillian shot back.

“Fine,” I grumbled. “You only get five chances, though. We’re behind because Griffin is afraid to bait the hook.”

Griffin scowled. “I am not afraid to bait the hook,” he said. “I just didn’t realize you had to do it in a pretend game.”

“It’s not a pretend game,” I explained, relinquishing the controller to Cillian. “It’s a game based on real-life events. Can you catch a fish in the real world without bait?”

Griffin leaned forward and knocked me off the bed.

“What the hell?”

“I’m throwing you off the boat,” he said. “You’re going to have to fight off the sharks if you want me to pull you back in this boat.”

Well, at least he was finally playing right.

“What the hell?”

I lifted my head from Griffin’s chest, confused, and focused on my father. He stood in the doorway of my bedroom, and for a moment I thought I was back in high school. I glanced around the bed and frowned. I had no idea how all six of us had managed to fit – and fall asleep – but we had. Sometime around dawn we’d wrapped up shark attack and everyone had conked out.

“Good morning.”

“There are no words,” Dad said, stepping into the room. He glanced down at the floor. “Where did the sharks come from?”

“They were in that storage room at the end of the hall,” Jerry said, shifting on his side as he wiped the drool from his face. “I found them around Christmas when I was looking for ornaments.”

Dad’s face was unreadable. “I need someone to explain what is going on here.”

“Well, I was sneaking out of my room because I wanted to go to Griffin’s when I ran into Jerry,” I said.

Griffin stiffened beside me. “Really?”

I ignored him. “Jerry was angry because I ruined his night with Aidan, and he was too afraid to stay alone.”

“I wanted to play shark attack,” Jerry said.

“So, we put
Jaws
in and started to play,” I said. “We were making so much noise we woke Griffin, Maya and Aidan. They wanted to play, too.”

Griffin raised his hand. “Just for the record, I did not want to play. They forced me.”

Dad scowled.

“To make it really authentic, Aidan got the Wii so we could get our fishing in before running from the sharks,” I said. “Then we divided into teams.”

“When did Cillian decide to join the game?” Dad asked.

“I have no idea,” I said. “I think he was just checking up on Maya. It’s a good thing he came here, though. We didn’t have even teams without him.”

“I see,” Dad said, rubbing his chin. “Who won?”

“We did,” Cillian said, running his hand through his hair. “It came down to the wire, but Aisling and I cannot be denied.”

We high-fived.

“You cheated,” Aidan grumbled.

“I still don’t understand how you all ended up sleeping together,” Dad pressed.

“We were tired,” I replied.

“I thought I said you couldn’t sleep together if you weren’t married,” Dad said.

I immediately worked up some tears. “I didn’t think it would be a problem if we were all together,” I said, sniffling. “Are you going to yell at me?”

Dad’s face softened. “Well … I guess no harm was done,” he said. “It’s not as though anyone is naked.” He turned to leave. “Breakfast is served in twenty minutes. If you’re late, you’re not getting fed.”

I snapped back to reality the second he was gone. “Okay, let’s split up and shower,” I said. “I’m betting we’re getting an omelet bar this morning, and I’m not missing that.”

Griffin studied me. “Did you just actually fake cry and snow your father?”

“He’s not snowed,” Cillian said, pushing past Griffin. “He knows he’s being manipulated. He still can’t take it when she cries.”

“How often have you done that to him?”

“As many times as I had to,” I said. “I was working at a disadvantage because I was a girl.”

Griffin smirked and leaned in to give me a kiss. “You are … a constant wonder.”

“THIS
is amazing,” Maya said, digging into her omelet enthusiastically. “I can’t believe the food you have here.”

“Despite your lack of sleep, you look better this morning,” Dad said. “How are you feeling?”

“Well … I feel surprisingly relaxed,” Maya said. “I thought I would feel weird waking up in your house, but a night of fishing and shark attacks was kind of fun.”

Dad smiled. “They used to do that all the time.”

“They told me,” Maya said. “Jerry said you used to play with them.”

Dad shifted his gaze in my direction. “They were very enthusiastic.”

“It’s great that you played with them,” Maya said. “It proves you’re a great father.”

“He was a great father even without the sharks,” I said. “They were just a bonus.”

Dad grinned. “You’re just a manipulation machine this morning, aren’t you?”

“The love is gone,” I said, forcing a big bite of tomato into my mouth.

“So, do you have any questions?” Dad asked, turning his attention back to Maya.

“Actually, Aisling and Cillian explained quite a bit while we were fishing last night,” Maya said. “I think they’ve got me all caught up.”

“Really?” Dad seemed surprised.

“Really,” Maya said.

“Why didn’t you wake us up?” Redmond asked. “I love that fishing game.”

“There wasn’t enough room in the boat for two more people,” I said. “You guys needed your beauty sleep.”

“You’re mean,” Redmond said. “If I was on your team, we would’ve crushed them.”

“We won without you,” I said. “That’s all that matters.”

“We’re having a tournament,” Redmond countered. “We’ll do it in the parlor.”

“The parlor has wood floors,” I pointed out.

“So?”

“Sharks can’t swim on wood,” Jerry supplied.

“We’re not playing shark attack,” Braden said. “We just want to fish.”

“That’s an entirely different game,” I said. “We were playing shark. The fishing was incidental.”

“You didn’t say that when we were losing,” Griffin said.

“That’s because you fish like a woman,” I said.

Griffin smirked. “You’re kind of cute when you’re competitive.”

“She’s always cute,” Jerry said.

Dad cleared his throat. “So, down to business,” he said. “We have a limited load today. I only need two of you to work. Volunteers?”

No one raised a hand.

“Cillian is out,” Dad said. “He needs time to rest. The rest of you are going to have to draw straws.”

I groaned. I was too tired to work. Sure, it was my own fault, but I would never admit that in front of my brothers. “I think Redmond and Braden should do it,” I said. “They got a good night’s sleep last night.”

“Whose fault is that?” Dad asked.

Yeah, that wasn’t going to work. I wondered briefly if I should start crying again, but then another thought entered my mind. “I fought off and killed a wraith last night. I think I should be exempt.”

Dad sighed. “Fine.”

“What?” Aidan was angry.

“She needs her rest, too,” Dad said. “That leaves the three of you.”

“I’m exhausted,” Aidan said. “I think it should be Braden and Redmond.”

“Playing shark attack is not an acceptable reason to get out of work,” Dad said.

“It was for Aisling.”

I stuck my tongue out. “I got out of work because I’m awesome and brave,” I said. “I fought off a wraith and saved the universe. You lost at shark attack. This should be your penance.”

“I agree,” Dad said. “It’s you and Braden.”

“Oh, man,” Braden complained.

Aidan narrowed his eyes as he regarded me from across the table. “You’re going to get your ass kicked later.”

“Bring it on.”

BECAUSE
Griffin had to put in an appearance at his office, I was left to my own devices for the bulk of the afternoon. Jerry had an important wedding to start planning and Maya had a shift at the hospital. I was a lonely little orphan.

Therefore it made perfect sense to go to Eternal Sunshine Cemetery. I told myself I was going because I wanted to visit my mother’s grave. I even stopped to pick up a bouquet of lilies to place near her marker in the mausoleum.

I had other things on my mind, though.

My mother’s marker was in our family mausoleum, so that was my first stop. The fire that had taken my mother’s life had raged so ferociously we had only remnants of bone to inter. Of course, we found out later she’d survived thanks to Genevieve Toth – only to die later without her family – but I still considered this her final resting place. My father had been so ravaged in the wake of her death Redmond had to pick out her marker. It was simple, the only adornment a lily on the corner.

I placed the bouquet in the holder next to the marker after pulling a dead bouquet of flowers out and tossing it into the trash. I ran my hand over the lifted letters, tracing the name “Lily Grimlock” as I went. People say you can find solace talking to the dead. I found only sadness.

I sat on the bench in the middle of the mausoleum and studied the plaques around me. Grimlocks had been laid to rest here for almost a century. Some I knew, like my grandparents; others were merely names from family lore.

After a few moments, I got to my feet. “I’ll come back when I can, Mom.”

I never talked to her. I had no idea what to say. My mother had never appeared on our list when it was time. It was a neighboring family, one that worked out of Ann Arbor, who we assumed collected her. That’s the way it works in our business. The higher-ups always worried that reapers would try to save their own, so whenever possible, the soul-gathering task was handed off to others.

We’d never questioned her collection. Now, though, I had to wonder who collected her when she died that second time. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t really matter. She was gone either way.

I was still slightly bitter. The opportunity to say goodbye to my mother would have meant a lot. I felt robbed on that front, even though I understood why it was necessary. I kissed my fingertips and pressed them to her marker briefly. “I’ll talk more next time. I promise.”

It took me a few minutes to collect myself once I left the mausoleum. It wasn’t that I didn’t like to think about my mother. In fact, she was a headliner in some of my favorite memories. It was just too hard sometimes. It was easier to lock her away in a box, one that I opened only when I felt especially depressed – or had PMS. Speaking of PMS, I was about due to stock up on chocolate.

I turned my attention to the mausoleum two doors down. It belonged to the Olivets, descendants of Genevieve Toth. When the big wraith confrontation had occurred weeks ago, it was in that mausoleum. That was why I’d really come. I was curious about whether the wraiths were gathering here again. I just wanted to be sure.

I scanned the cemetery to make sure no one was watching me, and then made my way to the door. Most people don’t lock their mausoleums because the cemetery is closed at night. I wasn’t surprised to find the door unlocked. I pushed it open and readied myself in case I had to make a hasty retreat. Part of me expected danger. The other part knew I was readying myself for nothing.

The mausoleum was empty.

I blew out a sigh as I shuffled inside. I searched every corner, taking special care not to miss anything, and then turned back to the door. That’s when a hint of color caught my attention – a lone flower in one of the vases.

I stepped toward it, curious. It wasn’t fresh. It had been here several days, and had wilted, but it hadn’t been here during the big fight. That meant someone had been here.

That doesn’t mean it was a wraith, I chided myself. It’s not as if they can walk into flower shops and buy blooms. It must have been a family member. I moved up to study the four markers surrounding the flower. None of them offered hints. All of the occupants had been gone more than twenty years, and in two cases, they’d died more than fifty years before.

I exhaled heavily. There was nothing here. It wasn’t as though I was expecting easy answers. Some answers would have been welcome, though. With a final glance over my shoulder, I left the mausoleum and closed the door behind me.

If I wanted to solve this, I was going to have to broaden my horizons. I needed to think.