Read Samhain (Matilda Kavanagh Book 2) for Free Online Page A
Authors: Shauna Granger
homemade explosive toward my kitchen. If I hadn’t been such a damn fool, I could have stopped her before she bolted from the apartment, screaming about heathens burning in hell for all eternity. But I didn’t, and she did, and the explosion rocked my kitchen, making the floor shake and sending me falling on my ass as my eyes streamed and burned.
Chapter 4
“Mattie! Mattie!” Voices were yelling for me, a chorus of male and female tones.
I was busy with my head in my kitchen sink, letting the water stream over my eyes, trying desperately to get the pepper spray out.
My would-be rescuers came running in, sounding like a herd of elephants. I held up a hand to tell them I was okay. I felt a hand on my back. It was small and light, and I figured it was Ronnie. When I came out from under the water, a cloth was pressed into my hand. I used it to dab at my face. My skin was raw with pain, and my nose was still running. I couldn’t imagine how ridiculous I must look with my hair dripping, my pajamas hanging off of me, my bare feet peeking out, and my face a swollen, red mess.
“What happened?” a gruff male voice asked.
I managed to open my eyes long enough to see Ronnie, Kyle, and Frankie standing in my scorched kitchen, staring wide-eyed at me.
“Bomb,” I said as if it wasn’t totally obvious. I heard the bite in my tone and regretted it instantly, but I was pissed at myself and that stupid girl.
“Mattie,” Ronnie admonished.
I held the cloth to my face a moment longer until I was sure I could keep my eyes open. They still burned, but it was bearable. “I’m an idiot, that’s what happened.” I used the towel to wipe my nose. “Some girl came by pretending to be a customer, and she sprayed me with pepper spray and set off a freaking bomb!”
“Wow, you are an idiot.” Frankie crossed her arms under her ample chest and let her hip jut out as she rested her weight on one side. “You’ll never get your deposit back now.” She clicked her tongue at me.
It took everything I had not to snap at her about the hole she’d punched in my wall last summer when my rent check had bounced. That was the first time she’d told me I could kiss my deposit good-bye. I didn’t need another reminder.
“Frankie,” Kyle whispered, touching her shoulder with two fingers.
Amazingly, Frankie had the courtesy to look abashed.
“Are you okay?” Ronnie asked, pulling the attention away from the werewolf.
“Fine, just my pride.” I tossed the towel on the counter. “Artie!” I whipped my head back and forth, realizing I didn’t know where he had been when the bomb went off.
Ronnie and Kyle helped me call for him. Everyone crouched on the ground looking for him—everyone except for Frankie, anyway.
“Artie, baby, come out!” I was starting to panic, a stitch forming in my chest.
“Mrrrow.” The meow, short and annoyed, preceded Artemis’s arrival around the kitchen wall. He sat at the edge of the cabinets, keeping his distance from the she-wolf.
“Oh, thank the gods,” I breathed, dropping to the floor and gathering the black ball of fur to my chest. I buried my face in his neck and gripped him tight enough to make him meow in protest. He was totally unscathed. He must have hidden in the bedroom before the explosion. I blinked back new tears and let him go, waving him back to the safety of the bedroom.
I went to the stove, thanking the gods I’d turned off the burners before I’d brought the conniving little toad tea and a potion she’d never intended to buy. The entire pot of healing potion was ruined. Now instead of the clear sky-blue it should have been, it was green sludge that bubbled and stank of rotten eggs. The anti-love potion was a blob of black goo—totally unsalvageable. Two vials of anti-jinx potions were broken, but the other four were intact, which was something, I guessed. I sighed and shook my head.
“A human did this?” Kyle turned on his heel to take in the damage.
Chapter 4
“Mattie! Mattie!” Voices were yelling for me, a chorus of male and female tones.
I was busy with my head in my kitchen sink, letting the water stream over my eyes, trying desperately to get the pepper spray out.
My would-be rescuers came running in, sounding like a herd of elephants. I held up a hand to tell them I was okay. I felt a hand on my back. It was small and light, and I figured it was Ronnie. When I came out from under the water, a cloth was pressed into my hand. I used it to dab at my face. My skin was raw with pain, and my nose was still running. I couldn’t imagine how ridiculous I must look with my hair dripping, my pajamas hanging off of me, my bare feet peeking out, and my face a swollen, red mess.
“What happened?” a gruff male voice asked.
I managed to open my eyes long enough to see Ronnie, Kyle, and Frankie standing in my scorched kitchen, staring wide-eyed at me.
“Bomb,” I said as if it wasn’t totally obvious. I heard the bite in my tone and regretted it instantly, but I was pissed at myself and that stupid girl.
“Mattie,” Ronnie admonished.
I held the cloth to my face a moment longer until I was sure I could keep my eyes open. They still burned, but it was bearable. “I’m an idiot, that’s what happened.” I used the towel to wipe my nose. “Some girl came by pretending to be a customer, and she sprayed me with pepper spray and set off a freaking bomb!”
“Wow, you are an idiot.” Frankie crossed her arms under her ample chest and let her hip jut out as she rested her weight on one side. “You’ll never get your deposit back now.” She clicked her tongue at me.
It took everything I had not to snap at her about the hole she’d punched in my wall last summer when my rent check had bounced. That was the first time she’d told me I could kiss my deposit good-bye. I didn’t need another reminder.
“Frankie,” Kyle whispered, touching her shoulder with two fingers.
Amazingly, Frankie had the courtesy to look abashed.
“Are you okay?” Ronnie asked, pulling the attention away from the werewolf.
“Fine, just my pride.” I tossed the towel on the counter. “Artie!” I whipped my head back and forth, realizing I didn’t know where he had been when the bomb went off.
Ronnie and Kyle helped me call for him. Everyone crouched on the ground looking for him—everyone except for Frankie, anyway.
“Artie, baby, come out!” I was starting to panic, a stitch forming in my chest.
“Mrrrow.” The meow, short and annoyed, preceded Artemis’s arrival around the kitchen wall. He sat at the edge of the cabinets, keeping his distance from the she-wolf.
“Oh, thank the gods,” I breathed, dropping to the floor and gathering the black ball of fur to my chest. I buried my face in his neck and gripped him tight enough to make him meow in protest. He was totally unscathed. He must have hidden in the bedroom before the explosion. I blinked back new tears and let him go, waving him back to the safety of the bedroom.
I went to the stove, thanking the gods I’d turned off the burners before I’d brought the conniving little toad tea and a potion she’d never intended to buy. The entire pot of healing potion was ruined. Now instead of the clear sky-blue it should have been, it was green sludge that bubbled and stank of rotten eggs. The anti-love potion was a blob of black goo—totally unsalvageable. Two vials of anti-jinx potions were broken, but the other four were intact, which was something, I guessed. I sighed and shook my head.
“A human did this?” Kyle turned on his heel to take in the damage.