AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“He always upsets me. I’m used to it by now.”
“It doesn’t matter if you’re used to it or not, he has no right treating you like that. I have half a mind to go over there and knock some sense into the blood-sucker. The kind of sense knocking that involves a stake.”
“He’ll get over what happened eventually,” I say, brushing off his anger.
“He fucking better,” says Finn, placing his hand soothingly on my thigh. My breathing becomes slightly laboured at this, so I push his hand away, embarrassed since Ira’s right there beside us.
“So, what are your plans for the day?” I ask.
Finn dabs at his mouth with a napkin. “Ah, I’ve to do some training with the recruits down at one of the compounds. It’s a bastard of a job, especially since I didn’t get much sleep last night. I won’t be finished until late this evening, so I’ll bring back dinner for everyone.”
“Sounds good,” I reply, inwardly sighing. With Finn being gone all day, I won’t have anything to distract me from worrying about Dad and Edwards.
As though sensing my thoughts, Finn gives me a comforting rub on the back. “Hey, I’m sure this demon fella knows what he’s doing. Rescue missions never go down the way you plan them; there are always complications. All we can do is hope that he gets back here in the end.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” I sigh.
“Why don’t you go out and do some shopping today? Women find that shit relaxing, don’t they?”
“I’m not really one of those women, but I might give it a try. I do need some new boots.” I lift my foot to show him my scuffed old Doc Martens.
“There you go. Bring Rita and Alvie with you and make a day of it,” he rummages in his pocket, lifting out his wallet. Opening it up, he pulls out a few notes and tries handing them to me.
I gape at him. “I’m not taking that. I’ve enough money of my own after Pamphrock paid me.”
“Just take it. I want to do something nice for you.”
I glance down at the cash. “No, put it back in your wallet and stop acting weird, Finn.”
God, why does he have to be so nice right now? We’re not even together properly, and him trying to give me money like this makes me feel so awkward.
We stare each other down for a moment or two. Finally, he sighs and puts the money back in his wallet. There’s a small grin on his lips though. “You really aren’t one of those women,” he says with amusement. Then he leans in close and whispers in my ear, “You’re going to make me work for it, aren’t you?”
I glance at Ira again, but he’s in his own little world as per usual, not paying us any attention. I mouth the words “shut up” at Finn and he laughs.
“It’s a good thing I enjoy a challenge,” he says warmly, before stacking our empty plates and picking them up from the table.
I take a shower and change my clothes. Then I go out to Rita, asking her if she’d like to come shopping with me, my treat. I don’t have to ask her twice, especially after I tell her I’m paying. Noreen and Alvie end up coming along as well, and I tell them about Edwards going to hell to bring back my dad.
“He must be a very brave man,” says Noreen.
“Yeah. He kind of seemed to relish the potential danger. He kept saying how he wanted one last adventure.”
“Did he talk about any of his previous excursions?” Rita
asks, browsing through a rack of band t-shirts.
“To hell you mean?”
“Yeah.”
“No, everything was all so rushed. I didn’t really have much time to talk to him properly. We basically just collected him from the airport and brought him to the cave. Why do you ask?”
She grins at me. “Don’t you find it fascinating, the fact that all of these other worlds exist that we don’t even know about? The possibilities of what they might be like are endless.”
“I think I’ll stick with good old earth myself,” says Alvie.
“That’s you and me both,” I agree.
