Grimm Consequences (3 page)

 

 

I gasped, taking in a great gulp of air as I sat up, throwing off the sheet that was covering my face.

“Holy shit!” someone yelped.

I glanced around in a panic, searching the room for Tess. I immediately recognized the morgue at FMA's headquarters, but Tess wasn't the woman standing a few feet away with an astonished look on her face. “Where is she?” I demanded, my already raspy voice shot to hell. “Where's Red?”

Trish Muffet blinked at me, no doubt still grappling with the fact that I'd just risen from the dead. At some point I really needed to fill everyone in on how death worked for a Reaper. Thank God she hadn't started an autopsy on me. “Uh . . . Al is debriefing her on the Jabberwocky. He needs to get another team after the guy right away.”

“How long was I gone?” I demanded, wadding up the sheet and casting it aside before snatching up my fedora from the rack under the gurney.

She shook her head, shaking off her stupor. “An hour maybe. They just brought you here about five minutes ago.”

I rushed from the room and glanced down the hallway, wondering which way Tess and Al had gone. I caught the sound of a sniffle and took off in that direction. Seconds later, I made it to the door of an empty examining room and heaved a relieved sigh when I saw Tess sitting on an exam table, her eyes swollen from crying. Al held her hand, talking to her softly. Seeing the pain in her eyes tore at my heart, shredding it with merciless claws.

My voice broke when I said, “Hey ya, Red.”

Her head snapped up and her eyes went wide before she leapt up and ran to me, throwing her arms around me as I lifted her into my embrace.

“Oh, God, it's good to see you,” I murmured into her hair as I held her.

She pulled back just enough to give me a hard kiss. Considering the emotions passing across her face, I half expected her to clock me next, but to my surprise, she just hugged me again. “I thought you were really dead, you son of a bitch,” she said, her voice catching. “Don't ever do that to me again!”

My arms tightened around her. “Wouldn't dream of it, sweetheart.”

“Welcome back,” Al Addin interjected, his voice calm, as if he'd known all along that I'd come strolling in. Hell, maybe he had.

“Thanks.” I set Tess back on her feet but kept my arm around her shoulders. “Jabberwocky's poison packs one hell of a punch.”

Al gave me a terse nod. “That it does. Which is why we need to get him back to the Asylum where he belongs.”

“How'd he get out in the first place?” Tess demanded. “He's supposed to be under constant guard. No visitors. Period. Who's the idiot who fell asleep on the job?”

“That's the thing,” Al said. “No one did. The security footage shows no one entering or leaving the area. The guards were on patrol the entire time and the shift change went off without a hitch.”

“Any chance the footage has been tampered with?” I asked, searching Al's face for any signs that he was withholding information, but he was completely on the level.

Al shook his head. “None. Just got a text from the IT team confirming that the footage was good. The only thing that showed up was some kind of light anomaly.”

I jerked my chin at his phone, knowing the footage would've been forwarded to him already. “Show me.”

Tess peered at the screen with me as we watched several minutes of the security footage from the camera that was always trained on the Jabberwocky's cell at the Asylum. The iron door remained closed, the heavy hydraulic bolts never moving.

“Looks normal to me,” Tess said. “Do
you
see anything odd?”

I shook my head slowly. “I got nothin'.” But just as I was about to hand the phone over to Al, a sudden shift in the frame caught my eye. “Wait.” I hit rewind, then played it again, squinting as I studied the action on the screen. My gut clenched when the same shift occurred. Not wanting to believe my eyes, though, I rewound the footage a third time.

“Looks like a lightbulb about to go out,” Tess murmured. “Am I missing something?”

I paused the footage, wishing I could dismiss what I saw, but there was no denying it. This was no light anomaly. I stared at the shadowy face that formed in that frame for a split second before vanishing into darkness. The same face I'd seen behind Tess in the warehouse as I lay dying from the Jabberwocky's venom.
Demetrius.
I hadn't imagined him. He'd been at the Asylum and then at the warehouse. I knew in my gut that he'd released the Jabberwocky. The question was why. A powerful and unscrupulous Reaper like Demetrius didn't really need an instrument of evil to do his bidding. He could've wreaked havoc well enough on his own. The thought of that bastard using the monster for his own nefarious purposes chilled me to my bones.

“Nate?”

“It's nothing,” I lied, handing the phone back to Al. There was no need to alarm Al when I couldn't share anything beyond a gut feeling. And what was I going to say? Anything I divulged would've led to more questions. Questions I wasn't exactly prepared to answer. “Let's just focus on getting Jabberwocky back in the Asylum where he belongs.”

“Already on it,” Al assured us. “I've got four teams out there scouring the area. He's a slippery bastard, but he's wounded. Red said she got a few slugs in him. His wounds will be slowing him down.”

I nodded. “All right then. Let's get going.”

We'd spent the rest of the day tracking Jabberwocky, but just when it looked like we'd found his makeshift lair, the trail had gone completely cold. The drops of blood he'd left behind abruptly ended. There was no trace of him. He'd vanished.

The whole thing didn't make any sense. The Jabberwocky wasn't a magical being. He couldn't just disappear. There had to be an explanation. But the only one I could come up with didn't make me feel any better.

I hadn't wanted to pack it in and head home, but the Jabberwocky's venom and my temporary death had taken it out of me. And after my lovely Tess informed me in her oh-so-delicate way that I looked like shit and that she was dragging my ass home, I had little choice but to call it a day and leave it to the other teams to try to find the elusive escapee.

I let Tess drag me to bed—as much for her reassurance as mine—and after making love, I held her close, marking time with the quiet thud of her heartbeat until I was assured she had drifted to sleep. But there would be no sleep for me. Not yet.

It was edging on midnight when I slipped from our bed and went to the window to peer through the blinds. There was no one there, of course. There never was. And still I watched. I couldn't shake the feeling that Demetrius was out there just beyond my sight, biding his time before making another appearance to unnerve me, torture me with the anticipation of what was coming. He was a master at the game. He knew exactly how to fuck with someone's head, keep his victim on edge, drag out the threat of torture so that when the punishment actually came, it was almost a relief. Almost.

“You're doing it again.”

I started at the sound of Tess's voice and took a guilty step back from the window. She stood next to me wearing nothing but one of my T-shirts, arms crossed, a single brow lifted in silent accusation.

“No idea what you mean,” I evaded with a shrug.

The look she gave me clearly indicated she wasn't buyin' what I was sellin'. She jerked her chin toward the window. “I've seen you checking every night. I figured at some point you'd man up and tell me what has you so damned jumpy. Want to clue me in on what you're hiding?”

I chuckled, trying to make light of the situation, and pulled her into my arms. “It's nothing,” I assured her. “Still just a little overprotective after the shit Sebille put you through, that's all.”

“That's all,” she repeated, her tone even, disbelieving. But I wasn't fooled for a moment into thinking she was as calm as she appeared. She was pissed but good. And I was
this close
to catching serious hell. “Go ahead and lie to me again, Nate Grimm.”

For a split second I thought about throwing out another line of bullshit, but now both her dark brows lifted, daring me. She had me by the balls on this one and she knew it.

I wasn't going to let on just how worried I was, but I had to give her
something
so she wouldn't be surprised when the Judges finally showed up at my door. If there was one thing I knew about Tess, it was that she'd fight like hell to protect the people she cared about. And that's what had me worried.

I released her on a sigh and ran a hand through my hair. “I'm in trouble, Tess.”

Her expression registered her confusion. Obviously, that wasn't what she'd expected to hear. “Say what now?”

“Because of what I did to Sebille.” When she gaped at me, seconds away from launching into a tirade, I pressed a kiss to her forehead, then went to sit on the edge of our bed. “There are . . .
rules
about taking a person's soul,” I explained. “When I killed Sebille, I broke a damned serious one.”

“So . . . what?” she asked, shaking her head a little. “You're going to get written up or something? I mean, she had it coming.”

“Damn right, she did,” I agreed. “But that might not matter.”

“Son of a bitch,” Tess spat. “We're already dealing with the Tribunal about Sebille's body disappearing, for fuck's sake! You can't tell me that Al's now giving you shit about how Sebille died. I swear to God, Nate—”

“It's not Al,” I interrupted before she could really get going. Al Addin was a hard ass, but he was fair. And Tess was his favorite Enforcer. There was no way he'd have been critical of me taking out Sebille to protect her. “I'm talking about the
Reapers'
laws. We're not allowed to take people before their appointed time, sweetheart. At some point I'm going to have to face the consequences of what I've done.”

Her eyes narrowed at me. “Which means
what
exactly?”

I spread my hands in something of a shrug. “No clue. I've never pulled this kind of stunt before.” I took a deep breath and let it out on a heavy sigh. “But I think it's going to be pretty bad. Tonight, when I was poisoned by the Jabberwocky, I saw one of the Judges.”

She tilted her head a little, eying me warily. “You were delirious, Nate. You could've been seeing pink elephants in tutus playing trombones and it would've seemed real.”

“I thought so, too, at first,” I told her. “But then I saw him again.”

“Where?”

“In the security footage from the Asylum,” I confessed. “That light anomaly. It was a Reaper in his ethereal state. And I caught a glimpse of his face, just enough to know who it was. But I couldn't cop to what I saw with Al standing there. It would've led to too many questions about who I really am.”

She ran her hands through her hair and let it fall back onto her shoulders, a habit she had when she was agitated and her thoughts were racing. “And this guy is powerful enough to just waltz outta there with a five-hundred-pound monster tucked under his arm?”

I shook my head. “Size is irrelevant. Reapers who aren't connected to a living person have to get their energy from somewhere. They thrive on death, sorrow, chaos.... The Asylum is brimming with negative energy. He probably could've carted out half a dozen giants on his back without breaking a sweat. This guy, he's bad news, Tess. Far worse than any other Reaper I've ever known.”

“So, what, you actually hung out with this asshole?” she prompted.

“We used to be colleagues. But his appetite for death and destruction was uncontrollable. He was stirring things up between the mortals just to get a fix. So he was given a choice—become a Judge or go to his final torment. Not surprisingly, he chose to become a Judge, kept under tight control, only unleashed in the most severe of cases where the potential punishment will release such pain and suffering that he'll be satiated.”

“But he released the Jabberwocky instead of coming after you,” Tess pointed out. “Why? Why not just come at you straightaway? What does he gain by that?”

I shook my head. “I think releasing the Jabberwocky was just for fun, a teaser. I wasn't sure until the Jabberwocky's trail vanished. The monster couldn't have gone underground like that on its own. Demetrius is hiding it somewhere, waiting until the perfect moment to unleash it again. Our earlier encounter, my poisoning . . . that was just a warning of what's to come.”

Tess sat down next to me on the edge of the bed, her chin lifted defiantly. “Fine. Let the Reapers try to come in here and start something. They'll end up leaving with a boot up their collective asses.”

Grinning, I lifted her hand to my lips and pressed a kiss to her fingertips. “And would that boot be cherry red by any chance?”

“I'm serious, Nate,” she insisted. “They want to get to you, they're going to have to come through me.”

“That's what I'm afraid of.”

She huffed, frustrated. “Nate—”

“Demetrius knows me well,” I interrupted. “He knows that I'm not afraid of what's coming for me. But there's always more than one way to bring a man to his knees, sweetheart, and I've showed my hand. He knows my weakness.”

“Me.”

“Exactly.”

“We're stronger together, Nate,” she reminded me. “And this fight is now mine as much as yours.”

Even though she hadn't yet
told
me she loved me, the look in her eyes said it all. I'd seen how fiercely Tess could fight when someone she cared about was at risk. And I understood that kind of love—it's what had gotten me into this mess in the first place. But there was no way in hell I was going to let her put herself in harm's way for me. I pressed my forehead to hers for a moment and closed my eyes.

“Baby, this is a fight you can't win,” I said on a sigh. When she started to protest, I took her face in my hands and gave her a look that probably appeared as fierce as it felt to me. “Tess, listen to me, damn it! When they come, you
have
to stay out of it and let me go.”

She shook her head, her lips pressed into an angry line. “Bullshit! If you think—”

“No!”
I roared, my voice echoing off the bedroom walls and bringing her up short. She blinked at me in surprise, actually cringing a little.
Shit.
I'd scared her.
Her.
Tess “Red” Little, who wasn't afraid of anything.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, recomposing myself. Literally. In my moment of fear, I'd let the shadows come and felt my mortal form slipping out of my control, the darkness taking over for a split second.

“What the hell was that?” she breathed, inching back just a little, probably without even realizing it.

I muttered a ripe curse and lunged to my feet, pacing the rug in agitation. “Just promise me you won't pull any shit when they come for me, Tess.” When she didn't respond, I halted and met her puzzled gaze. The confused and wary expression on her face wrung my heart, fate's merciless fist squeezing out the happiness that had only recently come to me. “Please. I need you to trust me on this one, sweetheart. I've been punished before. I'll make it through this. But I gotta know you're safe, that when it's all over you'll be here.”

She held my gaze for a long moment, then rose and slowly came toward me. When she was within a few inches of me, Tess lifted her hand and traced where the scars of my penance fanned out across my chest. “The flames burned into your soul,” she murmured. “That's the punishment you've endured in the past.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“Because of me.”

I sighed, wanting to lie to her, but I knew she'd see through it in a fairytale minute. “Yeah.”

She pressed a kiss to my skin, and then another, before wrapping her arms around my waist and resting her cheek against my chest. “Do what you need to do,” she murmured. “But don't worry about me—I'm not going anywhere.”