“You stay right here,” I bark at the class, as I open a side door that leads straight to the path outside the windows, when I see someone hiding in the hedges right outside the window. I pretend I don’t see anything at all, and watch as Malachy sends teachers back in, and patrols around the perimeter of the school.
I catch Tiernan’s attention ahead of me. His gaze meets mine, and I jerk my chin. In seconds, he’s by my side, weapon drawn. I hold up three fingers to him.
One. Two. Three.
In unison, we point our weapons at where I see someone in hiding.
“Out!”
For long seconds, there’s no movement, and I cock my gun.
“Out!”
Two sheepish students emerge from the bushes. Bloody hell.
“Explain yourselves,” I growl, barely containing the desire to grab the two of them by the backs of the neck and shake the hell out of them, when Tiernan kicks his foot at an empty shell on the ground.
“Smoke bombs.”
They both speak at once.
“He made me!”
“It was a dare!”
“He didn’t bloody say he was going to actually use them!”
Tiernan’s face is a mask of fury that matches mine. The boys’ eyes quickly go to our weapons. In any other school, we’d lose our bloody jobs for packing weapons, and most especially drawing them in front of students, but not at St. Albert’s. We’re expected to be armed, as we instruct the next generation of Clan members.
I stalk over to the largest lad and take him by the arm, hauling him over to Tiernan. They need their bloody arses kicked. To think, I thought these prank-pulling teens were someone come to harm my girl. “Take them to the headmaster.”
We dismiss everyone back to class, and I leave the two fucking lads to be dealt with by Tiernan and Malachy.
I go back in the class to find them all exactly as I left them.
“All good. Class dismissed,” I tell them.
McKenna gets out from under the desk, watches the boys leave silently, and when I get her, I open up my arms. She comes in gratefully for a hug.
“What the hell was that?”
I fill her in. She shakes her head. “Stupid boys pulling stupid pranks.”
I blow out a breath. “Can’t say I didn’t do the same bloody things when I was a lad.”
“Tully, you didn’t!”
She makes me laugh. “Learned my lesson, though, didn’t I?”
I lean in and give her a kiss before the second bell rings. I take my position at the back. I thought I’d be bored here, that I’d rather be doing a million other tasks as a member of the Clan’s inner circle, but I love watching McKenna. She comes alive when she teaches, her gorgeous eyes dancing with excitement and enthusiasm. I could listen to her voice and watch her teach all day long and not grow tired of it.
We eat lunch together in the dining hall, joining Faidha and Tiernan.
“Thought they’d pulled a prank,” Tiernan says in a low voice as we eat.
“Aye?”
He chuckles. “Overheard one tell the other he didn’t know you were here today, or he never would’ve done it. Thought you’d nearly made one shite his trousers.”
The girls laugh, and I can’t help but smirk myself. “Little bastard,” I mutter.
“Tully!” McKenna’s shaking her head at my reproachfully, but her eyes are twinkling.
“True,” I mutter. “But we were all little bastards, weren’t we?”
Tiernan grimaces. “Sure as hell were.”
“Were?” Faidha teases.
The rest of the day goes by without a hitch, and we finally wrap things up, prepared to go back.
“You ready to go home, lass?” I ask, as she packs up her things.
She bites her lip. “Wellll…”
“What is it?”
“I may have to swing by mom’s today,” she says. “I want to feel her out, plan on bringing Mary here this week.”
I nod. “Fair enough. I’ve got a good bit of work to do this evening, but could spend a little time at your mum’s.”
A shadow crosses her face, and I give her a curious look.
“What is it?”
She shakes her head and doesn’t answer. She opens her mouth, then closes it twice before she finally nods. “Alright.”
It’s a concession, somehow. Why?
“I just...” Her voice trails off. I give her a moment. I don’t want to push too hard, but she’s frustrating me. Finally, I blow out a breath.
“What the hell, McKenna?”
She frowns, staring at the floor. “I just… listen, Tully, I… have you ever met my mum?”
I shake my head. I met her deceased stepfather, of course, but that was ages ago when he worked for the Clan. I was younger, then, but I knew who he was. Is there something about her mum she’s embarrassed about?
She worries her lip, and when I reach for her bag, she doesn’t even protest this time, which is unusual for her.
“My mum’s an… odd duck,” she says with a sigh. “Hard to take. I have to limit my time interacting with her, because she just…” her voice trails off. I don’t push, but give her space to finish. “Well, she can be a bit much.”