Pandora's Box Read Online Free Page B

sink back into the couch pillow. Honestly, it
     felt a whole lot better when she didn’t move, but what was that?
    Lousy conk on the head. Big deal. You’ll be fine in a bit.
    Heart pounding, Mina raised her head to glare past her chin at nothingness. “Damn it. What the hell’s going on?”
    Teague, who’d just clicked off the phone, looked over at Mina. “Doctor’s on her way. She said ice was okay, so that’s what
     I’m getting you.” He paused to study her dubiously. “Are you going to pass out on me again? You look white as hell. Whiter
     than a few minutes ago, even, and you looked like a ghost then. Maybe we should—”
    “No. Ice is fine.” She sounded faint even to her own ears. Maybe her hearing was screwed up? She’d heard buzzing in her ears
     before. Ringing, too. So maybe this—what sounded like a voice but probably wasn’t—was all just her imagination. She’d been
     knocked unconscious, after all.
    Hmph.
    She stilled, gazing around suspiciously as she rubbed at her ear. “I think I’ll just rest now. If that’s okay.”
    “It’s all I wanted.”
    Some people got it good.
    “Yeah, I got it good all right. No money, no insurance, a car older than my students—my former students, rather—and now a
     hole in my wall. Got it just great.” Not that she was in the habit of feeling sorry for herself, but the unplanned ventilation
     of her house—okay, so it was planned in a manner of speaking, even if the head conk wasn’t—was sort of jarring. And now she
     either had a concussion or she was just going nuts.
    Got it better than I do. Haven’t had a good night’s sleep since Maegth sicced her—Aaaargh!
    “Ouch.” Mina cringed, raising a hand to her temple. “Will you please stop yelling? My head is killing me.”
    Teague raised his voice just above his men’s chatter. “Guys, less talk and more action, okay? Injured client.”
    “Sure thing, Teague.”
    Two thousand years and you’d think I would have learned not to say her name. Guess I’ve gone too damn long without a good— ahem. Sorry, Mina. I forgot about the lady in the room. Although, for a lady, you have some kind of mouth on you.
    “I know. I cuss like a trucker with hemorrhoids. It’s been worse since my breakup, too, but then what do you expect?” She
     muttered it resignedly, still studying the inside of her eyelids. Everything was a funky reddish black with painful glowing
     splotches that were probably lights just waiting to nail her when she opened her eyes. “I’d like to see you discover your live-in boyfriend in bed with a bimbo named Tiffy. Bet it does wonders for your X-rated vocab, too. What a stupid
     name. Like you’d need a nickname for Tiffany for pete’s sake, but I guess three syllables is just one too many for her to handle. Her spastic little brain shorts out after
     the schwa sound.”
    “Um. I’m sure you’re right?” She heard a click and mumbling. “Yeah, Nell. Kick it in gear, please. She’s sounding a little
     odd. Anything I should watch for?”
    Mina kept her eyes closed throughout. Her head just plain hurt, damn it, so she was allowed to sound a little off, in her
     opinion. A moment later, she felt a cold bag of something touch the side of her head. She flinched. “That stings.”
    “Easy, honey. It’ll help. Doc’s orders.”
    Grimacing, she felt him replace the pack. After a few moments, she had to agree. Cold felt better. “Got another one of those
     for my shoulder?”
    “Your shoulder? You didn’t mention your shoulder before.” He sounded alarmed.
    “That’s because my head hurt too much and my shoulder was still numb.”
    “Damn it, you didn’t say anything about a numb shoulder. Nell—”
    “It’s not numb anymore, genius. That’s the point. It hurts like hell.” She enunciated carefully, then heard a sigh and retreating
     footsteps.
    “Any reason why you keep hurling insults at me?” The words came from the other room—her destroyed kitchen, she