Read 1 Grim Tidings for Free Online

fine,” Aidan said. “You’re a little earnest; you need to build up a colder exterior. That’s normal for novices. Don’t sweat it.”
    “I shouldn’t be a novice, though, should I?”
    Aidan furrowed his brow. “What do you mean?”
    “I grew up in this life,” I explained. “I’ve always known what this life entails. This stuff shouldn’t surprise me.”
    “You don’t seem surprised,” Aidan hedged. “It’s more like you’re conflicted. That’s not the same as being surprised.”
    “Conflicted?”
    “Like you don’t know whether you really want to be claiming these souls.”
    “I don’t think that’s what I’m feeling,” I replied. “I know that these souls have to move on; otherwise they’ll be tortured for eternity. I know it’s an important job. It’s just that … there’s something off.”
    “Then what are you feeling? That this is an important job … and then what?”
    “Honestly?”
    Aidan nodded, spurring me on.
    “I feel like I’m disappointing myself.”
    Aidan moved his lips to the side, biting the inside of chis cheek. It was a familiar expression, one I’d seen for twenty-odd years. “Because you’re doing what Dad wants us to do?”
    Did that make me shallow? Did I care? “Yes.”
    Aidan’s charming smile graced his handsome face. “I know the feeling.”
    This was news. “You do?”
    “Do you think I wanted to join this business?”
    “Why did you?”
    “It seemed like the easiest avenue.”
    That didn’t sound like my brother – any of my brothers, for that matter. “Really? That’s why you did it?”
    “We were bred for this, Aisling,” Aidan replied. “It’s not like a family law firm or a family restaurant. We’re born with special abilities. They’re minor, but they’re still special. When I thought about doing something else, the idea of shirking my responsibilities was too much to bear. So I did what I was born to do.”
    “Do you regret it?”
    Aidan considered the question. “No.”
    “Do you think I’ll regret it?”
    Aidan wrapped an arm around my shoulder and pressed a quick kiss to my temple. “That’s my biggest worry right now.”
    That wasn’t an answer. I didn’t point it out, though. “Do you think Dad is really happy that I finally joined the fold?”
    “No.”
    I cracked my neck, mostly because I was looking for something to do that didn’t include ripping my own hair out, and tried to fight my aggravation. “Why not?”
    “Because you got out.”
    His answer stunned me. “What?”
    “Cormack Grimlock is many things, Aisling,” Aidan explained. “He’s a reaper. He’s a leader. He’s a bureaucrat.”
    Tell me something I don’t know.
    “He’s also a father. He doesn’t want you to die like Mom did.” Aidan’s words were simple, but his tone was heavy. “He’s all for family pride, but he’s more for family safety. If you were to die … if something were to happen to you … well, he barely survived mom’s death.”
    Aidan’s sentiment stunned me. I couldn’t form words.
    “He couldn’t survive your death.” Aidan’s voice was barely a whisper. He tightened his arm around me and then forced the serious look from his face. “Let’s cut through this alley, check the apartment again, and then call it a day, shall we? I need a drink.”
    It took me a second to find words – and the ones I discovered weren’t going to help our situation – so I grasped for something to lighten the mood. “You’re smarter than you look.”
    “That’s not possible. I look like Socrates.”
    I snorted derisively and followed Aidan into the alley, my thoughts jumbled and my heart clenched in my chest. Sometimes I wonder whether I’m reading the situation wrong -- where my dad is concerned anyway. Most of the time, though, I think he’s in the wrong. When someone like Aidan stands up for him, though, I wonder whether I’m not as perceptive as I think I am.
    Aidan picked his way around a pile of garbage as we