Unbound by Tabitha McGowan

Author:Tabitha McGowan [McGowan, Tabitha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-03-28T18:30:00+00:00

Lilith

Niamh answered the door with a tearful, red-faced Sol in her arms and the moment I saw her own bloodshot eyes I knew something had gone badly wrong. “What’s happened?” I demanded as I strode into her home.

“Oh God Lilith, I’m so sorry! Sinéad came back early and I stupidly thought that if I told her what was wrong, she might back off a bit, but she was drunk off her face and she just had a massive go at Finn instead. Fearg and I went outside to talk to her and now she’s stormed off and…”

“And you’ve left him alone?” I asked, incredulous, and Niamh gave a guilty little nod.

“It looks like he’s gone through the press for something to drink; there’s stuff all over the kitchen floor, and Feargal’s mates brought him some disgusting-looking absinthe back from a stag do a couple of years ago and that’s gone missing.”

“Oh, well that’s just stupendous.” I looked at the carnage that Finn had left in the kitchen. “And where is he now?”

This time it was Feargal who answered. “Bathroom. With the door locked.”

Niamh had to run to keep up with me as I stormed down the hallway. “God, Lilith, you don’t think he’s done anything stupid, do you?”

“Well yes, on the basis that he’s barricaded himself in the bathroom with a bottle of absinthe I should imagine he’s done something colossally fucking stupid,” I said, and it was only when she gave a soft cry of horror I realised what she’d been implying. “Oh for crying out loud, not that,” I snapped, and made myself think like Finn. In the circumstances it was a depressingly easy thing to do. “What I mean is, is there anything in your medicine cabinet that the nihilistic bastard could get down his neck as an absinthe chaser?”

“Ooh shit,” Feargal said in response, and my heart sank. “Last year. I did my back in lifting a wardrobe. It needed a relaxant to unlock it so the doc gave me a load of temazepam…”

All thoughts of negotiating my way into the bathroom vanished in that instant. “Feargal, would you be so kind as to put your bathroom door in?” I asked, as politely and calmly as I could manage.

Feargal stared at me. “Do what?”

“Get your shoulder behind the door and break the lock. I’ll pay for any damage if that’s what you’re worried about.”

“Jesus, I’m not worried about the bloody damage,” Feargal said, clearly wounded at the suggestion. “It’s just, well, a bit… aggressive, isn’t it? I mean, I don’t want to scare the fella -”

I’d had enough talk. I fixed the man with a look that I hadn’t had to use in anger for months. “Look, we can debate the ethics of violent intervention when we’ve confirmed that idiot hasn’t choked to death on his own vomit. Right now, I’m telling you to get that fucking door open.”

By the look of mild fear on Feargal’s face I knew I had completed my transformation into a heartless upper-class martinet, and I didn’t care.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.