Page 17 of Panther's Magpie
A little too quickly.
She looks down and fiddles with the hem of her shirt.
I narrow my eyes and study them. She looks like she would rather be anywhere else, and Eagle looks pissed off that I interrupted their little chat.
Interesting.
“Is that true, Maggie?” I ask.
She takes a deep breath as she rolls her shoulders back. Something about the simple action pleases me. It’s a sign that she has some form of a backbone and won’t be trampled all over.
“I want to go back to the bar,” she says, catching me off guard.
“Excuse me?” I practically sputter.
I could not have heard her right. No one in their right mind would want to go back into danger. Especially not a pretty young thing like her.
“You heard me. I want to go back, see if Asher is working and if he’s willing to help.” Her confidence is wavering, but she’s holding strong.
“And I told her that it was a horrible idea,” Eagle cuts in from where he leans against the bar.
I roll the idea over in my mind. It has merit, and I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. In fact, it kind of pisses me off that she thought of it before I did. Is it a risk? Yes, but one I’m willing to take to get my sister back.
“Panther,” Eagle warns.
I look over at my friend and point at him. “Mind your business. This is between Maggie and me.” I turn back to the woman in question. “You think you can pull it off without chickening out?”
She huffs. “Of course I can, otherwise I wouldn’t have offered to do it. I would do anything for Aspen.”
“Surely you two aren’t stupid enough to be contemplating this,” Eagle says.
Maggie and I ignore him as we lock eyes.
Even from a distance, I can see the determination running through her. Her lips are pinched tight, and she has a little line between her brows.
I’ll be damned. She might not be as bad as I thought she was.
“Okay. I’ll allow it,” I tell her.
Her shoulders drop as she smiles. “Thank you.”
“Go get ready.”
She looks over at Eagle. “Thank you for the pizza.”
“Maggie, this is seriously a bad idea. Are you sure about this?” Eagle calls out to her.
My jaw clenches. It pisses me off that he’s trying to talk her out of it, but I bite my tongue even though I want to lash out at him.
Why is he showing loyalty to her and not me? He should be on my side when it comes to this.
“Aspen would do it for me,” is all she says.
Eagle and I watch her walk down the hall to the bunk room she’s claimed. He looks over at me and shakes his head.
“This is seriously fucked. Even for you,” he spits at me.
“Eagle.”
