Unperfect Souls Read Online Free PDF Page B

believing you. When you report back to Maeve, tell her I said nice try. Insulting, but nice try.”
    I yanked the front door closed behind me. At the bottom of the steps, Tibbet waited in the car. I strode down and got in.
    Tibbet put the car in gear. “What happened?”
    “Do you trust Eagan?” I asked.
    She rocked her head indifferently. “He tries to manipulate me constantly and sometimes succeeds, but, yeah, I trust him.”
    “Why?”
    She glanced sideways at me with a wry smile. “Because more often than not—way more often—his instincts are right. I’ve known him a long time, Connor. He can be a frustrating man, but I wouldn’t have stayed if I didn’t believe in him.”
    “How do you know when he’s lying?”
    She shrugged. “I assume he is and go from there. It’s easier that way. Fewer disappointments and, honestly, more fun. Are you going to tell me what happened?”
    “Eagan implied I shouldn’t trust Moira Cashel. When I ran into her on my way out, she claimed she was someone from my past,” I said.
    Tibbet considered. “Are those two things mutually exclusive?”
    “No. But if she really is the person she claims, then I’m not sure whether I should believe her or Eagan.”
    Tibbet nodded. “Who is she claiming to be?”
    “A woman I knew when I was younger.”
    Tibbet merged the car onto Storrow Drive and wound along the edge of Back Bay to reach the expressway. She’d lived in Boston a long time. On the map, the route might look ridiculous, but it was the fastest way to the Weird. We slowed as the traffic on the elevated struggled out of the merging of three lanes.
    Tibbet smiled comfortingly. She rubbed my thigh. “Connor, I’m not going to ask who she was to you, but if you’re worried about memories being destroyed, don’t be. They’re your memories. If Moira Cashel is this person she claims to be, that doesn’t mean she gets to destroy who she once was to you.”
    “But if Eagan is right, maybe she had an ulterior motive for coming into my life then,” I said.
    Tibbet coasted off the elevated down to Atlantic Avenue. “Did something bad happen?”
    I chuckled. “No. The opposite, actually.”
    “Then let it be. Brownies have an old saying: ‘Don’t go bogey until you have to.’ ”
    I narrowed my eyes at her. “Is that a real saying?”
    Tibbet snickered as she pulled the car to the curb in front of my building. “Yes. It sounds more dramatic and true in Gaelic. But you get the point, don’t you?”
    I nodded. “Yeah. You’re right. I’ve got enough to worry about without getting all anxious about something this old.”
    “Good!” She withdrew a flat round stone from her inside coat pocket. A tingle of essence itched my palm as I took it. “It’s a calling ward. Say my name, and I’ll come pick you up,” she said.
    I slipped the stone in my jacket. “Can’t I call your cell?”
    She grinned. “Anytime. But if you have something for the Old Man, use the stone. It never drops calls and doesn’t depend on area coverage.”
    I kissed her just below the ear. “See you, gorgeous.”
    She ruffled my hair. “Later, handsome.”
    Tibs and I have never had an argument. We had a strange and wonderful random relationship. We didn’t seek each other out, but we didn’t avoid each other. We never criticized each other, but always knew the right thing to say at the right time to move the other along in a decision, not necessarily the one either of us wanted to make. We used to have incredible sex until we stopped. Seeing each other always prompted smiles.
    And yet, as she drove away, I realized that for the first time since I’d known her, she had said something that wasn’t true. Not that she lied. But I knew memories could be destroyed. Mine already had been. I had blank spots. I thought the memory loss started with the damage to my abilities two and a half years previously, but an old friend recently mentioned something from earlier than that, and I had no