Page 5 of Highballs & Hexes

“Just in case you were after knowing,” he countered.

“Well, I’m not.After knowing, that is.”

“Your eyes were.”

“Shut your big gob! They weren’t!”

He chuckled in the face of her indignation.

She hastened her already brisk pace, but he possessed a long stride and easily kept time with her.

“Do you think you’ll be able to find Tadhg?” she asked, reminding him why he was there.

“I’ll not lie and tell you yes, but I’m after doing my best.”

She nodded, but her disappointment showed. Although he suspected, like any Irish person, she was a stone-cold realist, no one cared for bad news.

At the rate Loman’s ex-victims were vanishing, it didn’t bode well for Tadhg. But he kept that tidbit to himself.

“Do you think his disappearance is connected to the others? To Loman’s island, somehow?” Fionola asked, as if she’d read his mind.

His heart resounded loudly in his chest, kicking up its pace until the thrumming in his ears was all he could hear. How had she learned about the other victims? He was doing a piss-poor job of keeping things under wraps if all ofÉireknew what was happening. Grey spots danced in front of his eyes, and a wave of dizziness nearly knocked him down.

“Mr. O’Malley! Patrick!”

When her chilly hands cradled his face and her devastatingly blue eyes locked with his, Patrick came back to himself. Warm buzzing started within his cells, as if they were amping up for a teleport, yet his feet never left the ground.

“Aye. I’m grand, love. No need to fuss.”

Fionola released Patrick faster than scalding chips straight from the oil, and nothing short of horror filled her face as she repeatedly shook her head.

Filled with dread, Patrick ventured a glance around, but nothing seemed strange.

Her voice was hoarse when she asked, “What was that? What did I see?”

CHAPTER 3

“You’ll have to explain it to me, love, because I’ve not seen anything out of the ordinary.”

Fi stared at Patrick with horrified wonder. Was she going mad? How had he missed the scenery change? One second, the village was before them, but in the next, what appeared to be a glass-and-cinder-block cell had taken its place. She’d scarcely had time to register the change before the room disappeared. What the hell had she witnessed, and where had it gone?

“It was like a telly flickering from one station to another and back again,” she explained as she tried to wrap her brain around the phenomenon she’d witnessed. “The village was gone.Completelygone.”

His concerned expression sent the back of her wrist to her forehead to check for fever. Slightly warm, not overly so, and no reason to worry on that front. A broken mind was another matter entirely.

His wary look disturbed Fi, making her distrust what she’d seen. Checking the time, she sighed heavily. There was nothing for it. Work beckoned. As it was, she’d be late clocking in, and she’d be subjected to Noah’s sour puss for the shift. Her boss didnothing to hide his anger when riled. Of course, he was carrying a grudge the size ofÉiresince their breakup, though he was the bleeding reason for it. Goddess forbid she even smiled at another man. The wanker would double her workload. She’d be damned lucky if he didn’t fire her for being late again this week, and if she was any worse at her job, he would.

Jaysus, what she’d give to find Tadhg and get the hell out of this place! To go back to London and forget small-town life. Everybody was up in everyone else’s business twenty-four-seven, and she was done with it.

“Where have ya been?” Noah ground out the instant she stepped across the threshold, cementing her latest opinion that he was a horse's behind.

After wiping his hands on the stark white towel across his deliciously rounded shoulder, he gestured with his stubborn chin toward the far side of the pub. He ran his fingers through his coal-black hair, mussing the thick strands, thereby waking her ovaries from a deep slumber for the second time today. One prodded the other, and together they dropped eggs in anticipation of an epic shagging, like in days gone by.

Fi pressed her palm low on her abdomen and sent them a silent signal to cease their foolishness. Noah Riley wasn’t for the likes of her, despite how often his midnight eyes heated when they saw her. Or, like now, when they filled with ire as he noticed her handsome companion.

“Your da’s pissed. Take him home, then get your arse back here, yeah?” With a frustrated glance at her father, Noah reached for another pint glass to fill.

“Don’t talk to her in that tone, or you’ll be facing my wrath,” Patrick snarled.

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