A Mongrel, A Bard and Witches, Oh My!: A Mongrelverse Story (Face The Music Book 2) by Paul C. Middleton & Lee Hayton

Author:Paul C. Middleton & Lee Hayton [Middleton, Paul C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-02-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

I woke up, startled. Head throbbing, mouth dry. A sure sign of a hangover, though I didn't remember drinking the night before.

Actually, I didn't remember the night before at all.

A flurry of urgent knocks pounded on the front door. They vibrated down the hallway, and rammed into my tender eardrums. A man, no doubt about that. A woman would have gently tapped her knuckles. This brute used the palm of his hand.

I began to sit upright, then my dismayed stomach warned me under no circumstances should I move. My hands curled into fists as I fought against the rising tide of bile in my throat. My heart beat sped up into a Buddy Rich solo.

Finally, my tensed stomach relented. I cracked open a cautious eyelid to scan the room. It was dark.

I closed my eyes, groaned, and let my aching head sink back into the pillow. Unless I'd gone blind overnight, it wasn't even dawn. Whoever was at the door could go hang.

Then another round of thumping shuddered my front door and I gritted my teeth together in frustration.

"Fine," I shouted out, feeling anything but. I dragged myself up to the edge of the bed and pulled on a T-shirt and jeans from the pile of clothes discarded on the floor.

The thought of some man--and I had a good idea who--seeing me naked was as repugnant as the alcoholic fumes leaking from my pores.

I pulled the front door open to reveal a ginger-bearded man standing there. His hand was raised ready for another thumping. He sported Thal's tattoo, though his mocking grin was a better giveaway of identity.

In a bright voice, he said, "Training time." I clenched my hand behind my back to stop myself smacking it across his amused face.

He was halfway down the driveway before my addled brain worked out how to close the door. The second after the lock clicked into place, I frantically dug into my pockets. My search for the keys ended with nothing.

Oh well. That was why I'd left a set with the neighbours. At least, it seemed like the kind of thing I should have done.

Thal generously offered me the passenger seat in my own car. He drove us out to New Brighton beach, empty sand dunes lying lonely under the night sky. When I hesitated by the car, he used an orchestra of curse words to force me down the long pier.

At the end of the walkway, I slung my arm around a pole while leaning out over the ocean. A cool breeze blew fresh salt air into my mouth. As I watched the faint line of pink dusting the horizon, I started to feel better about the whole day.

Then Thal shoved me into the water.

For a moment, chest constricted with the cold shock of the water, I felt certain I was drowning. Then a powerful instinct for self-preservation overwhelmed my fear. A split-second later, I bobbed back up to the surface.

Shaking my head to blink away the saltwater prisms from my eyes, I wanted to clamber up the pier and tug that bastard into the water.

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