Shadowed Threads Read Free

glowered at me.
    “Fucking houseguests warming up my goddamn fucking chairs everywhere I go.” His tri-colored blue eyes sparkled up at me, but not in good humor. Not that I was bothered by his potty mouth, mine was almost as bad. Almost.
    Pamela spun and glared at him. Funny how she defended Will from me, and me from Jack.
    Her chin tipped up slightly, a sure sign she was setting her heels in. Oh, this was going to be good. Wouldn’t be the first time the two of them had a go round since we’d been here.
    “Don’t you talk to her like that; if you’d teach her, we’d leave and be out of your way.”
    He thumped over to her and poked at her stomach with his cane. “Smart mouth little witch. Mind your own fucking business.”
    She flicked a hand at him and lifted him into the air. “I’m on Rylee’s team, and you promised to teach her. So teach her.”
    He squirmed and huffed and I let out a sigh. Yeah, playing referee wasn’t my idea of a good time, but I seemed to be doing it more and more with this motely group.
    “Put him down, you might break him.”
    The bastard had the nerve to spit at me, the gob hitting the floor at my feet. “Break me, my ass.”
    I glared up at him. “Don’t you have an appointment to be at?” I knew damn well he had another session with Deanna.
    He glared right back, eyes flashing with anger. “What is it about women and the need to run every gods-be-damned piece of my ever-fucking life?” He squirmed, but Pamela held him just above the floor, teasing him.
    “Pam, put him down.”
    “But—”
    “Just do it!” I pointed to the floor and she lowered him the last foot.
    With a snarl, he hobbled away from us, muttering all the way out to the front door.
    We watched him go, in silence. Jack was hiding something from me, on top of not teaching me. Well, I was damn well tired of waiting on him to teach me, and his fucking secrets could stay that way for all I cared. Except for the somewhat large possibility that his secrets, and his inability to find the time to teach me were likely intertwined, knowing my luck. Damn.
    With all the time he’d been spending in the library, that was probably the best place to start. I made my decision and didn’t question it.
    “It’s time you learn about how to perform a B&E.” I strode out of the dining room and down the long hallway to my bedroom. Pamela trotted to catch up to me.
    “What’s a B&E?”
    “Break and enter.”
    I reached my room and grabbed my sword. Spelled by my former best friend, Milly, it would cut deeper than any other blade and was nearly impossible to break.
    The handle was a comforting presence—a perfect fit—in my hand.
    With my sword, I felt better. Like I could face anything down. I didn’t bother to shut the door behind me, just strode back into the hallway. The library was at the far end of the house. Our steps were muffled by the thick rug, which hadn’t seen a proper cleaning in what looked like a decade. Pamela struggled to keep up with me without jogging every few steps.
    “Jack will be angry. Doesn’t that bother you?”
    “Jack is going to be angry at me no matter what I do. There comes a time when you can’t dick around anymore. And I’m at that moment.” I paused in front of the doorway. “This might give me a clue at least as to what the hell is going on, and if he will ever teach me.”
    “You think it’s something bad?” She whispered, her eyes going wide, a glimmer of the child she still was showing through.
    Damn, that was exactly what I thought. When he’d promised to teach me, I thought it would take a day or two. Not three weeks of him dodging me.
    Which could only mean one thing.
    That whatever the hell was going on was no good. Son of a bitch, what was it with the men around me lately that they couldn’t just spit things out? Nothing like O’Shea, who always spoke what was on his mind.
    Again, a sharp stab of longing gutted me. I breathed in slowly through my nose, working