Every time his brother followed after Macha, hoping to break the curse, Shayne was there, keeping his brother safe even after he’d begged his brother to let her go. He kept his brother safe until the moment that it was taken out of his hands and then...
He did it all over again.
When his brothers came up with a plan to have everyone give in to the pull the next time they felt it, hoping that having them all reborn again at the same time was the key to breaking the curse, Shayne agreed. Hell, he would have agreed to anything at that point if it meant that he didn’t have to watch his little brother die one more fucking time.
When it failed, he swore that he would never do it again, not after he was forced to watch her take her last-
Slowly exhaling, Shayne gave Aidan a barely-there nod, but it was enough to have his brother’s lips pull up into a shit-eating grin. He walked over to the couch, grabbed Declean by the back of his neck and shoved him off the couch before dropping down on the freshly vacated seat with a satisfied sigh.
“The lass was born ta Elizabeth White and David Cambridge, who disappeared shortly after she was born. Her mother managed ta finish college, owned a small bookstore, and from all accounts, was a wonderful mother until she disappeared when Ashlyn was six,” Aidan began as Shayne found himself once again watching Ashlyn, barely aware of what she was saying as he listened to his brother. “From what I found, it looked like her mother lost control of the car during a snowstorm and drove straight into a tree.”
“They found the lass curled up in the backseat with a broken arm and a head injury. They almost lost her on the way ta the hospital, but were able ta get her back. She stayed in the hospital for a few weeks before she was released ta her uncle, who by all accounts, is an asshole. She only lasted a few days there before he turned her over ta foster care.”
“From there, she bounced around foster homes and group homes until she was arrested at fifteen for breaking and entering and sent ta juvenile hall. She was released back ta her uncle at sixteen, ran away when she was seventeen, got a job with a private investigator at eighteen, where she excelled at blending in. She quickly built a reputation, found herself in high demand and at twenty-two went into business for herself.”
“She excels at putting herself in dangerous situations, gathering information, and pissing people off,” Aidan said as Shayne sat there, glaring at the small woman who was proving to be a pain in the ass in this lifetime as well.
“We talked about the staring,” Ashlyn reminded him as he watched two men stumble through the wall into the living roomwhile three men stumbled through the living room wall, and another five stumbled through the wall to his right.
“I told you this was the house,” the frat boy with an iron post sticking out of his stomach said with a satisfied sigh as his gaze locked on Marty.
“You also told us that holding a keg party on the roof was a good fucking idea!” the frat boy with a broken neck and half his arm missing snapped.
Before anyone could react, one of the men managed to stumble past Quinn and moved to grab Ashlyn’s arm only to get tackled by Liam, causing the man to brush his fingertips against her skin and-
Aw, fuck...
She felt it, Shayne realized as his gaze shot to Tristan as they were forced to sit there, pretending that the living room hadn’t suddenly been invaded by a group of dead frat boys while their brothers tried to catch them. When one of the ghosts tried shoving past Declean to get to Ashlyn, Shayne moved to grab him only to force himself to stay where he was when Tristan discreetly shook his head, reminding him that wasn’t an option.
Ashlyn had no idea about the curse and if they were going to have a chance at breaking it, they needed to do this carefully.
“Hold still, ye little bastard!” Finn snapped, drawing their attention in time to watch as their brother grabbed one of the frat boys just before he managed to touch Ashlyn, somehow drawing her attention and-
“I’ll tell you everything that I know on one condition,” Tristan suddenly said as he discreetly reached over and grabbed hold of one of the frat boy’s arms when the little bastard reached for Marty.
“And what’s that?” Ashlyn murmured absently as she glanced over her shoulder and-
“That you work with my brother,” Tristan said just as two sets of ice-cold hands grabbed hold of Shayne.
CHAPTER 4
“Iwork alone,” Ashlyn said as she glanced back at Tristan only to end up frowning in confusion as she watched him reach over and grab hold of absolutely nothing before slowly pulling his arm back in a move that had the muscles in his arm straining before he suddenly “let go” and relaxed back against the couch as though it never happened.
“That’s not an option if you want my help,” Tristan said as her gaze shifted to Marty and noted the casual pose, the intent focus on the file on her lap, the way that the back of her knuckles turned white, and the fact that she’d been holding her breath for the past thirty seconds.
“And why’s that?” Ashlyn asked as she watched Tristan reach over and take one of Marty’s hands in his and entwined their fingers, but it was the way that she immediately relaxed against him and took a shaky breath that let Ashlyn know that she was missing something.
“It’s not up for negotiation, Miss Cambridge,” Tristan said as Ashlyn glanced to her left, noting the rigid way that Shayne was sitting before taking in the way that every muscle in his chest and arms seemed to be straining.
“Is he okay?” Ashlyn asked, pointing at Shayne as she met Tristan’s cold gaze again.
“He’s overwhelmed with joy,” Tristan said dryly.
Nodding, Ashlyn said, “It’s the glaring that really gives it away.”
“He can barely contain himself.”
“I can see that, which, of course, is just making it harder to turn down your generous offer to have him help me with this case so that I can experience more of that glare,” Ashlyn said with a sad shake of her head as she twirled the memory stick in her fingers one last time before she moved to place it back in her bag only to go still at his next words.
