The confusion vanished from his face, and he gasped, glancing worriedly over my shoulder. To speak out against royals would be folly, so I wouldn’t do it, but goddessdamn did I think it.
“Those people.”
He pulled me into a tight hug, kissing the crown of my head with obvious worry. We’d come so close, but we hadn’t come close enough. Not nearly close enough to expose the real monsters amongst us.
I shook my head. “Sometimes I wonder why we do this job day in and day out. The bad guys just keep getting away, no matter how damned hard we try.”
“So we keep trying, and we keep trying, Elle. Because that’s who we are. We have to keep pressing forward, believing that one day, we’ll get them all. We’ll catch every one of those sick bastards and make them pay. But until we can, all we can do is grind and press on.”
I closed my eyes.
“The groundskeeper and the maid that had been found on their estate, did you know they were father and daughter?” I swallowed hard, feeling the tears pricking at my eyes. “He...he must have gone searching for his daughter, I doubt they’d have killed him otherwise. He must have stumbled on the scene and was just another casualty in a long list of them.”
He sighed deeply. “I didn’t know that.”
I nodded with a sniff.
Hatter’s jaw clenched, and his Adam’s apple rolled. I knew he felt it too. The injustice. The absolute and wretched injustice that, at the end of the day, power and money had been all that was needed to see them free and still living their lives while so many others had been lost.
Hatter was right. There were parts of the crime still fuzzy and unclear, but it was a miracle we’d been able to uncover what we had with the cover-up that had gone on. Tanner, when he’d been taken in, never talked. Even up to the bitter end, he’d never cracked. Isa had spoken, but all she’d said was an apology to Alice. Tanner had been hung in the town square for his crimes. Isa had been allowed to deliver her child before being thrown in the eternal fiery pits of the Darkrealm, forever cast out of the universe of Grimm.
Cases like these were the hardest to swallow and the hardest to let go of. But it was the reality of the job. Sometimes there wasn’t going to be a neat and tidy resolution. Sometimes it was as messy and confusing as the twin hells.
“Maybe someday, they’ll see the hanging end of the rope. Maybe someday, Elle. But for right now, we at least brought the murderer and his accomplice to justice.”
“How’s Alice,” I asked softly. “Isa was her—”
He sighed. “Better now, though I don’t think Alice will ever trust anyone again. Not after me, and especially not after Isa.”
“Was it you, Maddox?” I asked in a breathless rush, hating myself the moment the words escaped me, wishing like the two hells that he wouldn’t understand what I meant.
But he went snake-bitten, so still he looked like stone.
His eyes blazed, and I knew he was seeing something. I watched him, pained in my soul for this good man, but desperately needing to know the truth. Desperately needing to be told he didn’t cause the fire, couldn’t have done that to his own child.
Letting me know in no uncertain terms that he’d understood what I was asking, he took my hands in his and stared deep into my eyes.
“Hear me now, Elle. Only you could ever make me say what I’m about to say. My butterfly is off limits to all but you. You ask me did I do this terrible thing, and I have just one question for you.”
My nostrils flared, waiting with bated breath to hear what he’d say.
“If I tell you the truth, will you believe me?”
I blinked.
“Will you really?” he pressed.
“Yes, Maddox. Yes, I’ll believe you.”
“The short answer is no. I could never have done that to my precious child. But the long answer is that it’s very complicated, and in a way, yes I did.”
I sucked in a sharp breath.
“Will you leave now?” he asked slowly.
Chewing on the inside of my cheek, I shook my head. “I want to know you, Maddox. I want to know you. So no, I won’t leave. But someday, you’re going to tell me the full, complicated story.”
His face was serious, and his eyes looked broken. “I know. But that’s not all I came here for today, Elle. I... I saw something. And the last time I saw something and didn’t tell you, I nearly ruined any chance for us. So I’m going to tell you something now that I don’t want to tell you, and I’m pretty sure it will destroy our story completely. But I care for you too much to keep it hidden.”
I frowned, a sick feeling worming through the pit of my stomach. “We haven’t been together for a year, Maddox. What could you possibly have to tell me that’s so dire?”
“He’s alive, Elle.” He squeezed my fingers so tight that I felt bone rub on bone.
I blinked, confused by what he was saying. “What? Who’s alive?”
“Hook. He’s alive. Hook’s very much alive, and... he’s not well.”
I suddenly felt cold all over. Shocked. Numb. I was sure he was teasing, but I saw nothing but heartbreak in his eyes. It took a full minute before I was able to register what he was saying.
“What?” I shot to my feet, looking down at him, numbed to my very core. “What did you say?”
He closed his eyes and, looking like a man resigned to his fate, whispered, “Hook’s alive, and I know where he is. So, now tell me, will you leave?”
He looked at me, green eye and blue glittering with profound pain.
I felt nothing as I said, “Yes. No. I don’t know. Maybe?”
There was too much in my head, too much for me to process, to work through. Hook was alive. Alive? How was that even possible? I’d seen him die with my own eyes. I’d seen and felt his lifeless body. I’d kissed his blue-tinted lips, and then I’d let him sink into the depths of the sea he’d loved so well.
I shook all over.
Hatter’s shoulders slumped, and he stood. “We need to talk with Bo, and if you’ve got leave, take it. I think I might know where to find him.”
He was cool, calm, and collected, just like he’d been after I’d attacked him for witnessing the darkness of my past. He would work with me, stand beside me, but he’d gone cold. I knew him well enough to know what this was. He was hurting and protecting himself as best he knew how. Hatter turned on his heel and marched right back through the precinct doors, giving me my space.
I wanted to chase after him, to put him at ease. But I was rooted to the ground, cold, and staring up at the noonday sky with disbelief pinching my features. This wasn’t possible. None of this was possible.
Hook was alive?
Alive...
All I could do was tip my head up and watch as a large, lone raven flew through the sky. I watched it until it became a dark speck on the horizon, and only once I was completely alone did I whisper, “Hook.”
THE END IS ONLY THE BEGINNING...
There will definitely be more Elle and Hatter and who knows you might even learn a bit more about Hook in the future. In fact, should all go well I’ll be releasing book 2, The Long Goodnight, in 2018. So keep your eyes peeled to my Jovee Winters FB page for further updates about the Grimm Files. And if you loved this book, I have plenty other UF titles to whet your whistle while you wait. If you’re looking for something edgy and dark consider starting with my Night Series I wrote as RS Black. All 4 books have been released and deals with the physical manifestations of the 7 Deadly Sins. Or if Berserkers are more your speed check out Selene’s Tempted Series. If you like Shifters and Vampires, then you might just love my Southern Vampire Chronicles. All 3 of those series are completed and published.
If you’d like to read a short preview to book 2, The Long Goodnight, then make sure to keep turning the page!
Remember keep an eye on my FB page for further updates! Want to know when the next Grimm Files book releases? Make sure to sign up for my newsletter!
More Books!
> The Night Series written as RS Black
The Night Series Collection, Book 1 and 2 (TOTALLY FREE)
Howler’s Night, Book 3
Red Rain, Book 4
COMPLETED SERIES
Tempted Series by Selene Charles YA Urban Fantasy
Forbidden, Book 1
Reckless, Book 2
Possessed, Book 3
COMPLETED SERIES
The Southern Vampire Detective Series
Whiskey, Vamps, and Thieves, Book 1
Fae Bridge Over Troubled Waters, (short story) 1.5
Me and You and a Ghost Named Boo, Book 2
The Vampire Went Down to Georgia, Book 3
COMPLETED SERIES
SNEAK PEEK: THE LONG GOODNIGHT
Grimm Reports
Cold Case File# 308: The Slasher Gang Heists
Detail of Events-
Seventh Robbery in one year. Traversing realms and dimensions. Each time the shifters get bolder. 16th of May they held a group of peaceful fae nuns from the Holy Tree of Immaculate Conception at gunpoint, escaping the vanguard of uniformed dispatch waiting out front with ease. 22nd of July they took it one step further and held a high-ranking wizard’s gnome hostage, forcing him to draw on dark magick to release locks dipped in dragon’s blood, narrowly evading capture. Golden grains of sand found at scene. Possible clue. 27th of August they committed their worst act of terrorism yet. Holly Thorn, daughter of high fae Lord Banyon and Lady Seraphina caught up in crosshairs of gunfight. M.I.C.E. on scene attempted to resuscitate but she was later pronounced DOA at Winged Seraph’s Infirmary.
Actions Taken-
Working hand in hand with Bureau of Special Investigations. Profilers have determined they might have a possible inside man with some form of law enforcement. Slasher Gang top priority catch. Self-avowed ringleader is number one most wanted, goes by the moniker Sleepy. Considered armed and deadly.
Summary-
Task Force created. All active and retired investigators called to action.
Table of Contents
It's a Charmed Life (The Grimm Chronicles, #1)
Welcome to a world of fantasy, fairy tales, and murder most foul...
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
SNEAK PEEK: THE LONG GOODNIGHT
It's a Charmed Life Page 25
