Read Online Grim Offerings (Aisling Grimlock Book 2) by Amanda M. Lee - Free Book Online Page B

youngest,” Maya said, trying to be helpful. “I can see how her brothers would be overprotective.”
    “They’re militant,” Griffin said.
    “Oh, are they being mean to you?” Maya pinched Griffin’s cheek, mocking him. It was the first time I’d seen hints of closeness between them. It was kind of cute.
    “They’re not mean to me.”
    Maya looked to me for confirmation.
    “They’re mean to him,” I said. “They don’t really mean to be. We’re kind of all mean to each other. It just comes naturally to us.”
    “Oh, do you fight a lot?”
    “We … spar.”
    “Their dad has a dungeon he threatens to put them in when they mouth off,” Griffin said. “I just found that out tonight. I want to see that dungeon, by the way.”
    “You’re not missing much,” I said. “It’s just a locked room in the basement. Redmond lobbied to move down there when he was a teenager, but I think it was because he wanted to smoke pot and bring girls home without getting caught.”
    “I’m sorry, how do you have a dungeon in a house?” Maya asked.
    “It’s not a house,” Griffin said. “It’s a castle.”
    “Castle?”
    “It’s one of those big mansions on Lakeshore Drive,” he explained. “It looks like a castle.”
    “That’s so cool,” Maya said. “Did you pretend to be a princess when you were little?”
    “No, I was always the knight,” I said. “My friend Jerry was the princess.”
    Griffin snickered. “Please tell me he wore a tiara.”
    “My mother had one left over from her beauty queen days.”
    Griffin stilled, focusing on me for a second. “Your mother was a beauty queen?”
    “She was.” I was never going to live this down.
    “Oh, did she put you in pageants when you were in high school?” Maya asked.
    “Um … .”
    “Ow! What did you do that for?” Maya rubbed her shin under the table. “Why did you kick me?”
    “It was an accident,” Griffin said.
    “No, it wasn’t.”
    “He didn’t want you to mention my mother,” I supplied.
    “Oh, I’m sorry,” Maya said. “I didn’t realize it was a sore subject.”
    “It’s not,” I said. “My mother died when I was in high school. We just don’t … talk about it a lot.”
    “That’s horrible,” Maya said. “I didn’t know.”
    “It’s okay,” I said. “It’s not a big deal. And, no, she didn’t put me in pageants before she died. I think she knew that wasn’t my thing.”
    “How did she die?”
    “Maya,” Griffin warned.
    “It’s okay,” I said, waving off his concerns. “She died in a fire.”
    “That must have been so hard for you,” Maya said. “I mean, you were clearly outnumbered by all of the boys in your family, and then to lose your mother … .”
    “I consider myself lucky to have known her for as long as I did,” I replied truthfully. “And it’s not like I was alone after she died. I’m very close with my father and brothers, and … well … I’m a firm believer that things work out how they’re meant to.”
    “That’s a healthy way to look at things,” Maya said. “Griffin didn’t do you justice when he described you, by the way. He said you were pretty, but you’re really … exquisite.”
    My cheeks started to burn. “I don’t think that’s the right word.”
    “It is,” Maya said. “Your hair is gorgeous, and I like the white streaks. They really make you stand out. Your eyes, though, they’re just amazing.”
    “Those run in the family,” I said.
    “Oh, does everyone in your family have them?”
    I nodded.
    “They all look alike,” Griffin said. “It’s freaky.”
    “Well, I hope to meet them some day,” Maya said. “I have to say, you’re nothing like Angelina described.”
    I froze, my glass of water pressed to my lips. “Angelina?”
    “Angelina Davenport,” Maya said. “We take a yoga class together once a week. When Griffin mentioned your name, I happened to mention it to her and she said the two of you graduated together.”
    “We did,”