Page 69 of Go Luck Yourself
“Ah hell,” Finn curses.
My eyes widen. “When?”
“Now.” Loch pops open the door and launches from the car.
I haul myself out and hobble after Loch into the castle, pretending my injuries don’t hurt as much as they do.
By the time I stumble into the foyer, Loch is talking with Colm.
When Loch’s eyes slide to me, he looks, briefly, ashamed.
“Thanks, Colm.” Loch pats his shoulder and hurries down the hall.
He’s trying to avoid me.
Fuck that.
I limp after him, biting back a wince, and just about match his pace. For a few halls.
“I almost got a concussion today,” I call to his back, several paces ahead of me. “Stop making me run, jackass.”
He staggers to a halt at the base of the stairs. There’s a beat where I’m shuffling closer to him and I think he’s going to bolt again, but he stays, shoulders drooping in resignation while his hands stay fisted.
I almost,almostsaygood boy.But my throat, thankfully, refuses to let those words out.
Face flushed, I come up alongside him. He’s glaring at the steps.
“So?” I press when he stays quiet.
His jaw’s going to fracture at the rate he clenches it. “So?”
“Your uncle?”
“It’s none of your concern.”
“Yeah, it is.”
“How do ya figure that now?” he asks the stairs.
“I’m here as an ambassador from my Holiday and haven’t met the King of St. Patrick’s Day. So it’s mildly my concern.” And I want to see this fucker for myself. “Are you going to talk to him now? Where is he? I’m coming with you.”
Loch finally does look at me. But he must see the logic in my reasoning, because his nostrils flare. “He’s in his office. Told Colm to get a supper ready for us all to have,as a family,but that’s sure as fuck na happening. I’m showering then I’m gonna talk to him. If you are so invested in meeting him, be outside your room in twenty minutes.”
The girls come up the hall behind us. “Loch?” Siobhán calls.
“Twenty minutes,” I say to him, and I don’t give him a chance to renege. I dart-hobble past him up the stairs.
“And take some pain tablets,” he shouts after me. Then adds, muffled by the stones, “Gobshite.”
I shove into my room and yank out normal clothes while texting my brother.
COAL
Sorry. I’m alive. Everything’s fine. I tripped like a dumbass. I’ll call you tonight.
COAL
HE LIVES!!
