Page 42 of The Valiant Knight (The Ravensmire Chronicles #2)

As Finn held Gabby’s hand, he closed the door behind them to close up whatever was in that tower room.

Truth be told, he wished there was a lock on it, because he didn’t want this happening again.

It was terrifying.

In the kitchen, Tony went to where the liquor was, and poured them all some amber liquid into cups.

“What is it?” Gabby asked, when he handed her one.

“Girl, you just tried to commit sleep suicide. Does it matter?” he asked. “Bottoms up,” he stated.

Yeah, he had a point.

“To surviving this haunted Castle,” Tony said, clinking his glass off of theirs.

Then, they all kicked it back by chugging that amber liquid. It turned out, it was Scotch, and it burned all the way down.

When she could finally speak, she went there.

“We have to figure this out,” Gabby said.

They both stared at her.

“This is your first suggestion?” Finn asked. “Not run for your life? That’s where I was heading. Something is gunning for you.”

She stopped him.

“Do you think leaving Graham here alone to deal with this when he’s fighting his own demons is a good idea?” she asked.

Well, damn it.

That made him pause.

Then, he had to give that fantasy of running away up. He couldn’t do his friend dirty like that.

“No.”

She put her glass down.

“We’re going into the village tomorrow. We’ll do some research. Ask around, and see what we can figure out,” she stated. “We might not get full resolution of this situation, but Graham told us that when Gryphen and Ian found Ceit’s grave, it calmed down. We just need to get it to that point.”

And then what?

That was the million dollar question.

Tony sighed.

“I have to put Ceit back together again,” he said, pointing at the skull that was on the counter not far away in a box. It was only partially completed. “So I will keep an eye on Graham.”

Well, at least they were buddied up.

“I need to get handcuffs,” Finn admitted.

When Gabby giggled, he stared at her.

“Oh, and not for a fun reason, Gabriella. I need them to make sure you don’t walk away in the middle of the night. I don’t know what you were thinking, but I wasn’t thinking for sexy fun.”

She leaned on him and grinned wickedly.

“I mean, come on. You really didn’t think that? Am I the only one who did?”

Finn kissed her on the temple.

“I’m glad I’m here with both of you,” Tony said. “This would suck alone.”

Wasn’t that the truth?

Finn was a detective, so he was going to detect. They needed to get this place to calm down.

“I think the majority of the construction is done on the tower,” he stated. “I didn’t see any tools lying around, so maybe that will calm it down too.”

That was a good point.

“Whatever this is, it doesn’t like Ceit,” she admitted, and as soon as she said it, the lights flickered. “See? That might be why I’m being targeted.”

Finn went there.

“This thing might not like women. Period. That seems to fit better for me.”

Tony agreed there.

“She nearly fell backward into the crypt, and she nearly drowned. Then, that crashing bookshelf and now, she almost yeeted herself out a castle window.”

“YEETED?” they both said together.

He laughed.

“Listen, I’m a doctor eighteen hours a day. We’re in the eight hours of my day when I get to not be one. To me, yeeted sounds good.”

Gabby stared at him.

“Are you good at math?” she asked, since the math wasn’t mathing.

He nodded.

“It’s been a LONG ass day. I added two hours for emphasis. Of course, I can add. I work for Elizabeth. Do you think she’d let me work with my shoes off so I can count?” he asked.

That amused her.

Finn stopped their conversation.

“Not only did it try to, and I’ll humor you, Tony, and YEET , her out of a window, but another bookshelf fell, and it tried to crush her. That’s the crash you heard. This is all very worrisome.”

That it was.

Tony agreed.

“The bottom line is this thing hates women, clearly. It’s not coming at us, Finn. Get her out of here tomorrow for some time, and if need be, sleep at your place. I’ll let you know if it calms down.”

Gabby wasn’t having it.

“I’m not leaving you and Graham here alone. Pass,” she said. “What if it goes after someone who isn’t stable?” she asked, meaning how Graham wanted to end his life. “This darkness might get lucky with Graham.”

That was a good point.

For Finn, if she wasn’t leaving, he wouldn’t be leaving.

“We’ll go out and do some research,” he said. “Then, we’ll be back. I’ll get us food. Graham shouldn’t be stressing feeding us.”

That was a good point.

“He smelled like he fell into a vat of whiskey. He’s not going to want to eat much tomorrow, but it’s still a good plan. If he is hungry, I can feed him. I can make food. As for dinner, get him some comfort food.”

“So Haggis?”

He stared at him.

“Do you hate him? A stomach stuffed with stuff?” he asked, making the man laugh.

“Good point. I don’t even like Haggis. I’ll find something else. How about pizza? We have a few good places in the village.”

That worked.

It appeared that they had a plan.

Which was good.

“For now, I’m going to get some sleep,” Finn said. “Meaning, she’s sleeping in the bed, and I’m sleeping in front of the door in a chair to make sure she doesn’t slip away from me.”

“I like the handcuff idea better,” she admitted.

He laughed.

“Me too, but I lost them in the lake when I was jumping in. I’ll go see if I can find them tomorrow. DURING THE DAYLIGHT .”

Oh, she knew why.

No one wanted to wander these grounds at night.

“I’m up,” Tony said. “I’m going to work on the skull, and check in on Graham. I think I’m going to get him to move into the castle, and not in the garage space he calls home. I can’t hear him if I’m inside.”

“You’re really going to babysit him?” Finn asked.

He nodded.

“Yeah, I’m doing it for my family. Like I told him, he works for the Blackhawks. Once you do, you’re clan.”

That worked for them.

When they headed up, Tony picked up the skull and stared into the orbit less eyes.

“Okay, Ceit. You just keep whatever is here haunting us away from me, and I’ll get your skull back together again.”

He hoped she heard him.

God.

It was evident that science went right out the window for him in Scotland.

This castle was crazy.