Page 43 of The Voices are Back

Because if I could help it, I wouldn’t be bringing her back here until she could watch over herself. If I could convince her to stay with me permanently, even better.

“Make sure you lock the door well,” I said.

She shot me a “I know what I’m doing look” that always set my blood on fire, even when I was younger and dumber, and locked the door.

She then tested the door lock.

“That kid that was here trying to steal your television,” I said. “Who was that?”

“That was my neighbor.” She paused. “My fifteen-year-old neighbor.”

“Well, your fifteen-year-old neighbor’s mother is about to hear from me when I don’t have some unknown task to take care of,” I grumbled. “I think my bike should be here by now.”

At least, I thought KD was following behind with my bike. I wasn’t quite sure. Nor was I sure if it’d even be in the parking lot now that I knew where Morrigan lived.

“She already knows her son is an asshole,” she whispered.

I gritted my teeth and took the stairs, this time stopping on the second step and holding my hands out for the woman behind me. “Come on,” I said when she didn’t come at first. “This’ll save you the time and the worry. I won’t drop you.”

“You dropping me isn’t what I’m worried about,” she said as she placed her hand on my shoulder.

I felt a wave of contentment wrap around me when she placed both hands on my shoulder and leaned forward. Catching her behind her back leg, right under her ass, I pulled her onto my back, and got clocked in the face with her bag.

“Sorry,” she murmured quietly, right into my ear.

“Then what are you worried about?” I asked as I took the stairs, her bag bumping against the front of my chest now where it’d slid to her wrist.

“Nothing,” she whispered.

And, for once, she actually sounded completely honest. As if there really was nothing wrong.

Though, we both knew that one for a lie.

There was definitely something wrong.

It just wasn’t something I’d caused.

Yet.

CHAPTER 10

You’re as smooth as titties and whiskey.

-Likely not a Chris Stapleton song

MORRIGAN

I wasn’t sure how I got here.

One second, I was feeling the lowest of low—I mean, getting the life choked out of you would do that to you—and the next, I was in Aodhan’s arms.

Though, I knew that I hadn’t started there.

Once I’d passed out, I knew that I had hit the ground. I also knew that Aodhan’s friend, KD, had helped me. And by help, I mean pulled me into his arms.

As if that wasn’t scary enough—and thank God that KD was one of the good ones—Aodhan had gone after the man that had tried to kill me.

Though, I knew none of this firsthand. Everything that I was hearing was by either Aodhan or KD—whom I’d met briefly in the alley beside the gas station.

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