She should have been safe, Shayne told himself as he placed his trembling hands on the bathroom counter and tried to figure out how this was fucking happening.
He should have given in to the pull the first time that he felt it. He should have gone to her and made sure with his own eyes that she wasn’t Lasarín instead of hiding behind the fucking guilt tearing him apart. He should have been there. He should have protected her. He-
“Goddamnit!”
-felt the panic that used to threaten to swallow him whole when he was a boy.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket, opened the browser, found the list of porno videos in his favorites, and hit play before he placed the phone down on the bathroom counter. Slowlyexhaling, Shayne placed his hands on the edge of the bathroom counter as the sounds of women moaning and men groaning filled the air while he struggled to stop thinking about just how fucking badly he’d screwed up.
“Don’t go in there, lass,” he heard Quinn say, only to hear the bathroom door open a few seconds later.
“Don’t,” Shayne said when he felt her move closer only to have her ignore him and turn off his phone.
“Ye always were a pain in my ass, mo bheag mhuirnín,” Shayne said as he opened his eyes to find her standing next to him with a sheet wrapped around her.
“Start talking,” Ashlyn demanded as she folded her arms over her chest.
“Which part do ye want ta hear first, lass? The part where I fucked up and ended up getting us all cursed or how I fucked up and left ya at the mercy of the curse?” Shayne snapped as he pushed away from the counter and faced her.
“How about we start with the incredibly hot man that magically appeared in the bedroom?” Ashlyn said, making his lips twitch despite just how fucking badly he was struggling not to fucking lose it.
There was a heartfelt sigh from the other room, followed by a murmured, “I knew I liked the lass.”
“What is he?” Ashlyn asked as she reached over and closed the bathroom door.
“Besides really fucking annoying?” Shayne asked, before adding, “He’s my brother.”
“He’s more than that,” Ashlyn pointed out.
“He’s a ghost,” Shayne said, watching her closely to see how she would react to the news.
“A ghost,” she repeated back slowly, seeming to think that over. “And what does that make you?
“I have no idea what that makes me,” Shayne admitted.
“And Tristan?”
“He’s very much alive,” Shayne said only to watch her gaze flicker to his phone.
“And your deeply disturbing need to listen to porn at a time like this?” Ashlyn asked, blinking at him as he bit back a sigh.
“The sound soothes me. Always had. I need chaotic, predictable sounds so that I don’t lose my fucking mind, which is why ye found me in the emergency room that day,” Shayne said as he watched her think that over.
“So, that bullshit story that you tried to spin about a drug interaction that sent you to the emergency room?” Ashlyn asked as she hopped up onto the bathroom counter.
“A necessary lie,” Shayne said as he kept his gaze locked with hers.
“And the ghost with the food channel obsession that’s been bugging the shit out of me for the past two weeks?” she asked, making his lips twitch.
“That would be my brother Declean,” Shayne said as he sat down against the wall across from her.
“And just so we’re on the same page here, I’m not going insane?” Ashlyn asked, making him sigh.
“No, lass, ye’re not going insane,” Shayne said, watching her nod as she slid back off the counter.
“But you are an asshole,” Ashlyn said as she made her way across the room.
“Aye, I’m definitely an asshole,” he said, watching as she adjusted the sheet wrapped around her as she sat down on his lap so that she was looking him in the eye as she said, “Now, tell me about this curse.”
