Impervious (City of Eldrich Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page A

know when. Let’s get some ice on that. Ready?”
    She nodded and he helped her up. She put some weight on her injured foot. “Nothing broken, I don’t think. What the hell was that witch and magic stuff?”
    “Don’t know,” Russ answered and for a moment she had the overwhelming sense he was lying. “A book, a movie? There’s no way to tell.”
    With Russ’s assistance, Meaghan limped back to the house. So much for all the running around she planned to do today. She wouldn’t even be able to get a shoe on for a couple of days.
    The front door opened and Matthew stepped out of the house. Meaghan stiffened.
    “Wait,” Russ whispered.
    “Hey, there, young lady. You took quite a tumble,” Matthew said, smiling. “Russ, you bring her into the living room. Let’s get her some ice. And an aspirin.” He held out his hand. “I’m Matthew Keele, dear. And you’d be?”
    Meaghan stared, mouth open. How did Russ keep up with this shit? “Um, I’m Meaghan?” She held out her trembling hand.
    Matthew took her proffered hand in both of his and shook it. “How about that? That’s my daughter’s name.” His smile broadened. “She’s a lawyer, like me.”
    “I . . . I know?” How was she supposed to respond to this?
    Russ rescued her. “Dad, this is Meaghan. She lives with us now.”
    Matthew looked at Russ, surprised. “She does? Well, that’s great!” He seemed thrilled with the news. He turned his attention back to Meaghan. “You’ll like her. She has the same first name as you.” He beamed at Meaghan, with no sign of recognition.
    “You get it now?” Russ muttered out the side of his mouth. “Why I’m so fried?”
    Meaghan, eyes wide, looked back and forth between her father and brother and nodded.
     

Chapter 5
    A ngry Matthew did not make a return appearance that day. He was cheerful and friendly and utterly without comprehension that the woman on the sofa with the swollen foot was his daughter. He went on and on about how proud he was of Meaghan, how she was a lawyer, how she’d be along any minute, and they could all laugh about her having the same name as the injured passerby.
    It was, in many ways, Meaghan realized, worse than being snarled at and mistaken for a witch.
    Meaghan had spent her whole life certain that she never quite measured up in her father’s eyes. But clearly that wasn’t the case, at least not for this version of Matthew. Either she had been wrong all this time or he had changed his mind.
    Not that it mattered. The past was gone and so was the man she had loved and hated all those many years. She could make peace with the addled old man who dwelt in his place, but he was a mere shadow of her father. Matthew, the man she remembered, was vanishing before her eyes, so much of him now gone that true reconciliation seemed impossible.
    After an hour of amiable chatter about his “little girl,” Matthew began yawning and rubbing his eyes like a child and Russ led him upstairs for a nap.
    “You see?” Russ walked into the living room and flopped into the easy chair by the sofa. “He doesn’t hate you. I told you. For years I’ve been telling you.” He rubbed his hand over his face and grimaced. “I need to shave and take a shower. Dad’s never hated you. Except for a few minutes here and there when you were being a total bitch.”
    Meaghan opened her mouth to protest, then closed it. He had a point. She knew she’d been awful to her father over the years. Worse than he’d been to her.
    Russ smiled at her, obviously pleased to see her accepting what he had to say instead of fighting it. “Want a cup of tea? You look kind of beat up.”
    “I am kind of beat up.”
    “Yes. You are.”
    “And it’s all self-inflicted, isn’t it?”
    “Yes.” Russ reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “It is.”
    “You don’t have to be so damn happy about it,” Meaghan said. She could feel her face redden.
    “Sure I do. It’s a long time coming—you finally pulling