The Grimm Files Collection Boxed Set

by Selene Charles

  I turned, holding the cup in my hand. She was a redhead, broad in the hips and ample in the chest, with the kind of body even a siren could appreciate. Her eyes were so blue as to be nearly violet, and she had a smattering of freckles along the bridge of her very straight nose. She gasped, her pretty eyes widening as she finally caught sight of the mark on my forehead.

  “I… I… I thought you a nymph,” she mumbled as she licked at her pearl-pink lips.

  The man beside her, large and roguishly handsome in a nerdy, boyish kind of way, grabbed her elbow. “Bloody hell, Glenda,” he mumbled, “you would pick on a siren.”

  There was a vein throbbing in the side of his neck, and he was slightly shoving her behind his back, the stance protective. I almost laughed. Did they think I would eat her?

  Just a second earlier, I really wanted to punch her in her pretty face. But now, all I could think was how flattering her flowery blouse looked on her.

  “Well, have a nice day then.” I tipped my cup toward them and scooted off. “Nice shirt, by the way.”

  She patted her top. “Thank—thanks, I think.” Her red eyebrows gathered into a V .

  “It was the forbearance,” my cashier said with a breathy little laugh. “Gets ’em every time. Now, what’ll you have?”

  I shrugged, having no damned idea what she was talking about but suddenly feeling as light as air and weirdly happy, all things considered. Standing up on my tiptoes, I hummed under my breath—making sure to keep my tone to safe human decibels—as I meandered my way back toward Hatter’s private room.

  When I got in, I was pleasantly surprised to see him sitting up as two nurses flitted over him, one monitoring his vitals as the other wrote something down on a clipboard.

  The nurses were dressed in long gowns of black velvet. Their corsets were colorful, though. One was a beautiful indigo and the other a rich hunter green. They had the witches’ hat perched jauntily on their heads, and I couldn’t help but smile when I saw it. They were pretty witches.

  “Maddox!” I said with a happy chirp and raced over to him. He looked at me with something akin to horror on his face as I leaned in and gave him a quick peek on his cheek. “You’re awake. You look well.”

  When I pulled back, he still looked confused and rubbed at his cheek with his fingertips. “Elle, are you— ”

  I grinned, sipping more of my delicious brew.

  “Are you his mate then?” The nurse in the indigo gown glanced at me.

  I chuckled. “Sure, if that means you’ll tell me that my partner is fine.”

  Hatter snorted. “She is not my— ”

  “He’ll be just fine. Are you the siren? The one who saved him then? What you did to save him is practically legend now.” Her dark-purple eyes sparkled.

  I humbly shrugged, but my grin was practically taking up my whole face. “Well, I don’t wish to brag, but yes, that was me.” I laughed heartily, feeling weirdly positive and happy.

  “Most astonishing, stealing his heart from his chest as you did. My goodness, I’m not even sure I could have managed such a feat. And to not even bruise an artery in the process.” She placed her hands on her cheeks and shook her head, awe shining in her eyes. “Well, it was nothing short of a miracle. Might I… might I shake your hand?”

  Giggling, I turned and winked at a still far too silent Hatter, then I held my hand out regally toward her, knuckles pointed downward. “You may.”

  “Ah. Yes, well,” she said and clasped my hand, turning it sideways and giving me a hearty shake. “An honor.”

  “Adira…” The green corseted witch sighed. “Leave them to it then, shall we? Her man needs his rest. He’s only just woken up. Nice to meet you both.”

  “Zephinira, but—” Adira squawked as the other nurse pulled her out by the collar, and the door slid shut with a loud boom behind them.

  I was eyeing the interior of the recovery room, which looked just like Maddox’s bedroom garden in Wonderland. There was a large full moon hanging above us, and well-groomed hedgerows. Massive butterflies with electric wings zipped by, and the air smelled of earthy flowers.

  “And just what in the devil has gotten into you?” he asked.

  “Hm? ” I blinked and took a longer pull of my drink. Gods above, but this thing was addictive. Never thought I’d like anything but the sea blends. I’d most certainly be grabbing another before I left.

  “You, what has gotten into you, woman? Who are you, and where is my partner?”

  “Oh, you silly boy.” I laughed effervescently and slapped lightly at his chest. “It’s me, obviously. And I love your choice of décor, very Wonderland. Very you. Does anyone in here know yet that you descend from the gods?” I took another swig of my coffee. “Mm , this is lovely. Would you like some?”

  Tipping my cup toward him, I waited expectantly.

  “No,” he said slowly, “I think I’ll pass.”

  His eyebrows were pinched tight, and he looked a little pale all of a sudden. His entire body had gone tense too.

  Pouting, I shook my head. “Why so glum, chum?”

  Not bothering to ask permission first, I sat down beside him, wiggling my body in close to his and then sighing once my thigh was flush with his.

  He looked taken aback and hardly even breathed as he watched me.

  “Elle, I don’t think you know what you’re talking— ”

  I shook my head and placed a finger against his mouth, leaning in until our mouths hovered close to one another. “I thought you would die. I thought…” I swallowed hard and shuddered. “I thought I’d lost you, Maddox.”

  I brushed my fingertips against his very bristled cheek. He needed a bit of a shave—not much, as he preferred to wear his goatee, but he was looking a little rough around the edges.

  His shoulders, which had been tense just seconds earlier, slumped, and he seemed to literally wilt before me. “I thought I was dying. I’m… I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what had been done to me sooner, but I didn’t think it was anything to worry about.”

  I nodded. “Because you’re a god and you can’t die, right?”

  “What? No, Elle. Bloody hells, what is in that coffee you’re drinking?”

  I looked at the cup, smiling happily. “It’s just mundane coffee, which I was never particularly keen on trying, but I swear to the gods, or you, I suppose, that it’s the best damned thing I’ve ever had in all my life.” I laughed lightly, realizing in a corner of my mind that I was definitely not acting like myself.

  “Elle,” he grumped, “for the gods’ sake, please stop saying that.”

  Grimacing, I nodded. “Right. You’re right, of course. Can you imagine the chaos that would ensue if the world learned of a god walking amongst us? Oh, how they’d panic so. So how exactly did you get banished, Maddox. That’s all I really want to know.”

  He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, his face looking deeply troubled. I took another long slug of the bean brew then sighed as I rested my head against his shoulder for the briefest of moments.

  “I won’t tell. I vow it,” I said to put him at ease. “But I do know. You lied to me. You’re not human at all.”

  I was looking directly at him, so I saw when he finally opened his eyes. They sparkled, but he looked tense and miserable.

  “Elle, you have to stop saying such nonsensical things. It’s not true.”

  His eyes shot around the room, and that was when it dawned on me that we were being monitored, and though I couldn’t work up the energy to really worry about anything at that moment, deep down, I suspected that if my hunch was right, we absolutely should keep his secret a… well, secret.

  I cleared my throat and lifted my head. “Dear gods, I do think you’re right. I have been drugged.” I said it rather loudly then laughed, as though to mock myself. “Of course I am wrong. You are a man. Just a man. Just a wonderfully beautiful man who I still wish to have relations with. But a man when it’s all said and done. And I really like this coff
ee. My gods.” I moaned with desire so fierce one might think I was about to orgasm right on the spot from it.

  I made to take another sip but Maddox grabbed it from my hand, brought the lid to his nose, sniffed, then with a shrug, whispered, “Bottoms up.”

  I gasped as he downed the rest.

  When he finally came up for air, my eyes were narrowed, and I was wagging a finger in his face. “You’re evil. I hate you.” But the threat lost its effectiveness because I couldn’t stop giggling as I said it.

  Then he was the one smirking, taking my finger in his hand and placing a tender kiss upon its tip.

  I shuddered but not with revulsion. Biting my lower lip, I stared at his full, lovely mouth, then I muttered in a hoarse voice, “I am glad you are well, my friend.”

  “Thank you for making the hard choice, Elle. I’ve said it before, and I’m fairly certain I’m going to keep saying it with you, but I’m so glad you’re my partner.”

  He framed my cheek in his large palm, and I sighed as I snuggled into his hand.

  “And Elle,” he whispered softly.

  “Hm? ” I blinked, staring at his handsome face and thinking that I was sure I’d never seen anyone nearly as beautiful as him before—save for Hook, of course, and now that I was thinking of Hook, I was also thinking of false Hook.

  I waited for the rage to suffuse my body, but it never came. Instead, all I could think was that I needed to speak with Bo and figure out why they’d clearly enchanted a man to look like my dead lover.

  Glancing both ways, Hatter moved in closer to my side, and I could smell his sandalwood cologne. It was rich and earthy and sexy, just like him. I had to tamp down on a sigh.

  His warm breath caressed the shell of my ear as he said, “You’re not entirely wrong, either.”

  I blinked, and he pulled back, staring at me with worry glittering in his two-toned eyes. Still, very aware of the watchers, I swallowed down the hundreds of questions his statement had elicited in me and instead nodded.

  “Okay,” I said. “Okay.”

  “By the way, you have been spelled. I tasted patience and alertness and possibly a few other emotions in there, and all things considered, that’s not a terrible thing to be influenced by right now.” He brushed his knuckles down my cheek, his touch feather light and barely more than a graze, before he pulled his hand back to his lap.

  I placed my fingers upon my cheek, still feeling the tingles of where he’d touched me. “How long will it last?” I asked him.

  He shrugged. “A few hours at most. It wasn’t much, just enough to take the edge off. Which I imagine you must have needed in a bad way. I’m sorry. How many days was I asleep?”

  “Two. And I have to go soon. Bo’s sent me to speak with Midas— ”

  As if on cue, the door opened with a loud wooden groaning. When we looked up, I wasn’t sure who to expect to find, but it wasn’t Bo. That was for sure.

  “Captain.” I shook my head and quickly scooted back to the edge of the bed, dangling my legs over the side. “I was just saying my goodbyes to Hatter. I’m headed to King Midas’s no— ”

  She looked hard between the two of us for a few seconds before she held up her hand and shook her head. “Hold off on that trip, Detective. We have far more pressing matters.”

  I cocked my head then glanced behind me at Maddox, who looked as lost as I felt.

  When I turned back around, Bo was striding elegantly toward us. She was dressed in a steel-gray jumpsuit with a smartly knotted tie. Her shepherd’s-hook pendant gleamed quicksilver in the V of her breasts in the dim lighting.

  “There was an incident. At Neverland. Three Lost Boys.” She thinned her lips. Her gently lined face grew stoic, but I’d heard the barely there hitch in her voice and shook my head.

  “Oh no. Are they— ”

  “Dead?” she finished my thought without preamble and cleared her throat before shoving her fists into her pockets. Her voice was steady and controlled, but I saw the pain glittering in the depths of her warm brown eyes. “Yes, Detectives, they are. A realm is in mourning, and I would not ask you to go, all things considered, but our department is stretched thin as it is, and there’s a… well, a matter.”

  I frowned, saddened by the loss of the boys. Though they weren’t technically boys—they were eternally youthful men, really. Still, I’d always had a soft spot for the Lost Boys crew. I’d once known their leader, the Pan, quite well, and him—there’d been multiple pans, actually—I did not like. No matter the incarnation, the boy had always been a devil. But thankfully, the Lost Boys hadn’t taken completely after their leaders.

  “What’s the matter?” Hatter asked.

  She looked at us both as she said, “We have probable cause to believe the dragon caused it.”

  I blinked and leaned back a little. “The dragon? As in the dragon, Whiskers? That beast might as well be a teddy bear, that’s how frightening he is. Whiskers would never hurt a soul.”

  Bo shook her head, her gaze glassy and faraway as she whispered, “Whiskers was captured late last night. There is video of him. Incontrovertible proof of his crimes. He will be put down, Elle. I am sorry.”

  I gasped and shook my head. Titiana had told me to go to Neverland, to see to Whiskers. Guilt that I’d waited too long scratched at the back of my mind. But with everything that had happened recently, seeing to a pacifist dragon had been at the very bottom of my ridiculously long list of things to do.

  “Dragons are rare and ancient creatures, Bo. The realms will riot if the courts do this terrible thing. You know they will. I just can’t believe he’s done this. Not him. Not Whiskers.”

  She thrust out her jaw. “I’ve come because he’s specifically requested your presence, Elle. He wants to speak with you. And what I believe, or even you believe, is completely immaterial to this case, and well you know it. Facts—that is all we deal in, Detectives.”

  She thrust out her jaw again, and my stomach ached. It wasn’t possible. I mourned the loss of the boys. Of course I did. But Whiskers was my friend, and he was still among the living, and I had to get to the bottom of something that made absolutely zero sense to me.

  “What was his motivation for this crime?” I asked. “Has he confessed? Video aside, what might his motive be? And also, I hate to ask this, but I’m on Slasher detail. Is this connected in some way that you’d suddenly pull me from my meeting with Midas to see to Whiskers?”

  It wouldn’t be the first time I got pulled off my case. Not that I was annoyed, but I was annoyed.

  Hatter cleared his throat. “I wondered the same thing. Are we looking at two separate incidents, or do you believe, Captain, that our cases are somehow linked?”

  She glanced at him and nodded. “There are signs that perhaps not everything is as cut-and-dried as the prosecution would try to make it be. They’re fast-tracking this case, as you knew they would. High-profile murder victims and a dragon responsible for the crime—it’s juicy tabloid fodder, and you know how the commissioner and BS get in times like these. They want to fix the problem, and they want to fix it now and to hells with right or wrong. So long as someone swings soon and they can assuage public fears, that’s really all they’re after.”

  She wasn’t saying anything that wasn’t true. We all knew it.

  “What is to become of Whiskers?”

  I knew one thing about my old dragon friend. He was a pacifist, a true one. He’d cut ties with the marauding and blood shedding of his brethren ages ago. It was why he’d left the fire realm hundreds of years earlier. He’d been in search of a simpler life, a more peaceful one.

  What he’d done and who he was—the two simply weren’t computing in my head.

  “He will be tried for his crimes, and if found guilty, he will be dealt with.”

  Code for he would swing. I sighed, conflicted and confused by the horrible turn of events.

  Bo cleared her throat and looked down at Hatter. “The doctor tells me you’re recovering well. Should be c
leared by tomorrow night at the latest.”

  “I am well, thank you,” he said, voice slightly dull and scratchy sounding.

  “Good.” She shrugged and nodded. “Good. Elle, say your farewells. I’ll see you to the door. I have one last matter to discuss privately with you.”

  Nodding, I looked over my shoulder at Hatter. His color was finally returning. I was grateful that he appeared to be on the mend. “I’ll come back for you tomorrow.”

  Looking between the two of us, he nodded solemnly. “Stay safe, partner.“

  I wanted to take his hand and give it a squeeze or even lean in and kiss his whiskered cheek. But Bo’s eyes were far too intelligent and piercing, so I simply nodded at him, brushed off the wrinkles of my dress, and followed Bo out the door.

  It would be the first time in months that I’d be doing a mission without Maddox by my side, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all. I paused at the threshold of the door, spine tense and knees locked, words on my tongue.

  Bearing down on my molars, I nodded without turning around, then I pushed out the door, exiting a garden and entering a cold, sterile hospital wing once more.

  A rush of busy bodies moved to and fro. Owls carrying large trays of food in front of them winged by. It was clearly the lunch hour. One flew past me in a blur, entering Maddox’s room.

  Shoving my hands into the pockets of my leather jacket, I stared at Bo’s lined and worried face.

  “Elle, I wanted to ask you a question before you left.”

  “Shoot,” I said with a nod.

  “The… uh, doppelgänger I suppose is a polite a way of calling the male you brought back with you from Midas’s ball… did he speak with you? Say anything at all?”

  I frowned, wondering why she should be asking me such a question. “Surely Matilda has extracted those memories from it. And no, I don’t recall anything.”

  Cocking my head curiously, I studied her as she studied me.

  Her eyes were thinned. “You don’t seem as upset by this as I’d expected you would be.”

  I shrugged. “Should I be? I don’t believe it is him. You know as well as I that I witnessed his death with my own eyes. I was there. There can be no mistaking that he died. And a human cannot come back from that kind of wound. You know it. I know it. Therefore, the only logical conclusion is that it is a doppelgänger, the magick will wear off soon enough, then we’ll see what we’re really dealing with here.”