Page 10 of Rehabbing the Beast
Chapter Six
Seth went back to oneof the bars he’d visited earlier to grab a plate of something deep-fried and greasy while he considered his options. His beast purred happily as he sank his teeth into the two-handed sandwich and nearly groaned in ecstasy. Either they hadn’t heard the fried-food-is-bad-for-you thing or they had and just didn’t give a shit.
That was the thing, he realized. Life was all about choices, the goodandthe bad.
Until recently, he hadn’t worried too much about making bad choices. He’d done what was right for him, and consequently, his life had been a series of missions, tasks suited to his superior skill and strength. Fighting. Protecting. Winning.
All that had changed with that last mission. Even if he could regain most of his strength, he wasn’t sure he could go back to that. It was no longer enough. He wanted somethingmore. Something he couldn’t readily identify. What he did know was, whatever that something might be, it had begun the moment Quinn Brennan walked into his life.
“No luck, eh, son?” An older man in his mid- to late sixties sidled up to Seth and sat down without waiting for an invitation. He lifted up his hand to signal for a couple of beers.
Seth shook his head, taking another bite of what he thoughtmighthave been a burger as grease dripped down over his fingers. Whatever it was, it was delicious.
“Could’ve told you you were wasting your time.”
Seth chewed and swiped his mouth with the extra napkins that came with the meal. “Yeah? Why didn’t you?”
The old man chuckled. “Because I would’ve been wasting my breath. Some things a man needs to see for himself before he’ll believe ‘em.”
Amen to that,Seth thought, thinking of Quinn’s family.
“Fergus Brennan is as mean as a snake,” the man said, earning a muttered agreement from the woman who brought over two fresh, frosty bottles. “Bet he near ripped your throat out at mention of the girl’s name, eh?”
It was something Seth could not wrap his mind around – the fact that a father could harbor so much ill will towards his daughter. Especially when that daughter was Quinn. “Why is that?”
The old man’s eyes flicked toward the door. “I think Danny might be a better one to tell you about that.”
Seth looked up and saw one of Quinn’s brothers making his way toward them.
“Good luck to you, son,” the older man said as he got up and walked away with a nod to Quinn’s brother.
“Hey.” The newcomer shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “Mind if I join you?”
Seth eyed him carefully. He looked like the others, but he didn’t have the same cruelty in his features they’d had. That didn’t mean Seth was going to put up with any shit from him. “That depends on if you want to walk out of here or be carried out.”
The guy considered him for a moment, then nodded. “Fair enough. I’m Danny Brennan.” Sliding out a chair with the tip of his steel-toed work boot, he sat down across from Seth and signaled toward the bar. He must have been a regular, because the server appeared moments later with a bottle of Jack Daniels and a glass.
“How do you know Quinn?” he asked.
“She was my physical therapist,” Seth said simply.
“Why is it important that you find her?”
Seth was getting irritated with Danny’s questions, especially since he had quite a few of his own. However, he also knew that the man sitting before him was his best chance of locating Quinn.
“Because she helped me, and I want to thank her.”
Danny nodded as if that was the answer he’d expected and poured himself a few fingers of the Jack. He drank it down, repeating the gesture twice more before he spoke again. “If you’re serious about finding Quinn, try heading north to a little town called Erehwon.”
Wiping his mouth, Seth pushed his now-empty plate away and dropped the saturated napkin on top.
“What’s in Erehwon?” he asked. It didn’t really matter. If there was even the slightest chance that’s where Quinn was, that’s where he’d be, too. He sensed he was being given a rare opportunity to glean information, though, so he would make the most of it.
“My grandmother,” Danny answered. He took his time saying his next words, watching Seth’s reaction carefully. “She’s a healer.”
Seth’s expression remained interested but little else. Leaning forward, Danny lowered his voice and added, “Not the kind with a medical degree.”
“What are you telling me? That your grandmother is a witch?”
