The Grimm Files Collection Boxed Set

by Selene Charles

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “All I want to do is bring Elle home, Captain. That’s it. She’s my partner, and I want her back.”

  “Don’t you fucking get attached like that again, Maddox. I swear, don’t you do it.”

  I stood and looked down her, giving her a weak grin. “I won’t.”

  Her nostrils flared, and I wondered if she smelled the lie. Because the truth was, I already had, a long, long time before now. It was far too late for me. “We’ll handle it from here,” Bo said.

  I reached the door and I knew I’d been taken off the case for good. I clenched my jaw and turned.

  Her eyes glittered with hard determination. “You’re too deep in this, and I won’t have this happen on my watch.”

  I snorted and reached into my pocket. “Fine. Makes this a whole lot easier, then.” I pulled out my badge and gently placed it on her desk.

  She looked at it coldly for several long seconds. “Don’t do this, Maddox. You know that’s not what this is. You’re a solid detective.”

  “But you don’t trust me.”

  Bo gave a harsh laugh. “I don’t trust anybody.”

  I shook my head. “Then you should know that I’m going for her. Now that I don’t work here anymore, I see no need to try and work through the proper channels.”

  “Don’t do this,” she repeated. “You’re just too close to this one. I should have done this a while ago. And I should never have let Elle go down to Never.”

  I heard the regret in her voice, but I felt freer than I had in a long time. “I hope you figure out what Crowley wanted that thing for,” I said, pointing at the timepiece. “But I’m going. And now you can’t stop me.”

  “I could always have you arrested.”

  I smirked. “And we both know how that would go. All I’m going to do, Captain, is bring her back by whatever means necessary.”

  She leaned back. “Don’t tell me anything else. I don’t know want to know.”

  She was giving me an out, but like the wise woman she was, she was making sure to cover her own arse in the process.

  I turned to go and reached for the doorknob.

  “And we’re talking about this little stunt when you get back. And you will get back. Or I’ll kill you myself. Also, I’m going to be standing up in a minute and walking over toward that”—she pointed to a filing cabinet in the corner—“cabinet. If something should vanish from my desk in the interim, it will be like it was never there.”

  Her face was a stoic mask as she stood and did just that. I gaped at her backside, all the cogs in my head turning as realization finally dawned. What had just gone down was suddenly crystal in my mind. She’d goaded me into doing just what I’d done, into turning in my badge and circumventing the law. It had been Bo’s plan from the beginning.

  Master strategist that she was, I’d fallen right into her trap. My lips twitched. I might be something she didn’t trust entirely, but I was also something she trusted just enough to go and retrieve her best detective. I didn’t say thank you. I didn’t even acknowledge her win.

  I looked down at the desk and noticed that not only did the timepiece rest where I’d placed it, but somehow she’d even slipped a golden travel key card beside it. Confirming to me that she’d intended this to be the likely outcome all along. I glanced back up at her briefly. Her spine was ramrod straight, but she wouldn’t turn. I sniffed, retrieved the trinket and key card and quickly pocketed it. She still didn’t turn, and likely wouldn’t until I left. With a silent nod in her direction, I turned on my heel, opened the door, and walked out.

  If Bo had played that hand, then it must have meant that she knew Marcel would not come through after all. Crowley and Elle were likely on their own, and me helping was the only chance they had of making it out of there.

  Someone called my name, but I didn’t stop. I ran as quickly as I could back toward my flat.

  There were a few things I needed to do, and then I had to hit the underground. There would be no legal waystations for me to travel through—I wasn’t a lawman anymore.

  But I knew things. People. Places. I knew how to get what needed getting.

  I was getting her back.

  Elle was coming home. No matter what I had to do, she was coming back. I picked up my pace.

  CHAPTER 47

  ELLE

  DROPPING TO MY KNEES, I looked at the little creature. A fur seal pup lay on its side, dead for days. Even in the darkness, I could see that his little tail had been badly damaged, and bits of gore and fat had necrotized days before and reeked of hot death. But because he’d been trapped behind an enchanted doorway, no smell had given away his location until now.

  I closed my eyes.

  I knew it had to have been Aquata’s pet. Clearly, whatever had gotten my sister had gotten him or her too.

  The nauseating smell made my stomach heave, and I had to clamp down on my back teeth and force myself to take small, deep breaths to work through the need to vomit up the meager remains of my only meal that day.

  Crowley knelt beside me.

  I glanced at his stern profile. I wasn’t sure how a dead sea pup would be of any help to us in the investigation. The witch had been thorough in her dealings.

  “Move,” he commanded, but his words, while blunt, weren’t harsh or angry, but rather, distracted. So I did move over an iota. I was so heartsick by seeing my sister that all the fight had been taken out of me.

  If Crowley still wanted to pretend that we had clues to prove anything other the obvious—that the Sea Witch and no one else had committed the crime—then he could by all means be my guest. But I no longer had hope of any other outcome.

  While it was terrible to see Aquata’s pet as he was, it had been a dead end, a complete waste of our time.

  I rubbed my aching forehead, wondering when the guards would come for us. Now that Aquata’s song was over, they could come as early as tomorrow morning.

  Crowley reached into the doorway.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” I snapped, reaching for his arm. “It’s dead, Crowley. Let the little beast rest now. There is nothing more. Nothing more to s—” I clamped my lips shut when I saw him wrestle something from out of the tightly curled hands of the pup. It was a triangle of thinly hammered gold. On its front was an intricate scrollwork design that felt vaguely familiar, though I wasn’t sure why.

  “You were saying?” he asked in his usual gruff tone as he held the object up for my inspection.

  I cocked my head. “What in the hells is that?” I gasped, reaching for it.

  He dropped it into my palm. It was light as a feather, and I brought it up to my nose and sniffed before locking my eyes onto his bright-red ones. “No scent. Nothing. Not even the smell of this poor pup’s decay. What the hell is this?”

  Crowley grinned. “Proof, Detective. That’s proof. Tell me, was the Sea Witch wearing any jewels whatsoever?”

  I blinked, flashing back instantly to the day of the battle. She’d been covered in scars, and her skin looked cracked, like millennia-old parchment. Her dress had been moth riddled, and her hair lank and thin. The one thing I never noted was any ornamentation on her at all. Not that there couldn’t have been, but it hadn’t been in the least bit obvious.

  “What are you implying?” I finally asked him.

  He cocked his head. “I believe that in that last battle against you, you wounded her gravely.”

  “You think she’s dead?”

  He shook his head. “I never said that. I think we’d be fools to think her threat is gone. But I don’t think she had the stamina or strength for this.” He gestured with his arm to take in our surroundings. “Any of this.”

  Jacamoe had so much as said the same.

  “You… So what?” I shrugged. “Are you saying that you think someone else has done this? An inside man on her behalf?”

  “Or woman.” He pouted his lips. “Yeah, I do. I think someone capitalized on our situation. But I don’t think he or she is
working with the witch. I think the witch is the fall guy for this one. Whoever did this did it for themselves.”

  “But how would they know to do it? How could they, even when I didn’t know until that day that I would be battling the witch for our lives?”

  “Opportunity.” He shrugged. “It would have had to have been someone quick enough on their feet to make an instant pivot. But think about it for a second, Detective. Whether anyone here wants to own it or not, you’re still a princess. Who would it behoove to keep tabs on you?”

  “My father.” My answer was automatic.

  “And anyone else who was in his inner circle, yes.” He growled. “Someone knew where you were at all times. They knew you were in Never. They knew.” He said it a third time with such certainty that I could not doubt it. “Make no bones about that. And now they’re trying their damnedest to frame you for their crime.”

  I almost asked why, but I didn’t need to. The answer would be the same one I’d have given anyone else who would have investigated back on Grimm: because they could. I’d given them their perfect chance.

  If Crowley was right, then it would have had to have been someone used to adaptation. Someone capable of shifting on a literal dime. I only knew one person. I swallowed hard.

  “I know what you’re thinking. I’m thinking it too,” he said quietly, stepping close to me. My gaze shot like an arrow to his. His dark eyes were roving my face, and his lips were set into a heavy line.

  I shook my head and took a step back. “You don’t know that. You’re not a god. You can’t just jump to these ridiculous conclusions with no evidence to back you up,” I hissed, furious at him for even daring suggest it. I’d just lost one sister, and he was trying to poison me against another. It was bullshite.

  He grinned cockily, but there was disappointment in his eyes, and my blood boiled in my veins. My hands clenched.

  “I thought you were smarter than this, Detective. You don’t know her anymore. Why defend her now?”

  That cocky arrogance of his, the way his upper lip curled up into a snarl of distaste as he looked at me… It was all too much. All I saw was red. I didn’t think. I just acted.

  I shoved him, hard—Crowley riled me up like no one else could—but I barely moved the bastard an inch. His body had swelled before my very eyes, and I heard a deep and harsh growl vibrating through his chest.

  It was a warning. But I didn’t give a rat’s arse. “Screw you,” I hissed as my chest rose and fell with my swift breaths.

  He chuckled, and I wanted to do worse than push him. I wanted to smack that infuriating smirk right off his face.

  “Yeah, okay. Deny it. Gods, I was so wrong about you. So fucking wrong. I thought you were better than this.” He spat next to his foot, the implied insult very clear.

  It was my turn to laugh, and it came out as a low and menacing sound. I felt my markings flaring and saw their glow in my peripheral vision. My dark hair was caught up in a stiff current, flying around my face like a dark shroud. I roughly shoved it back. “You’re talking about my sister.” I whipped one of my hands up and pointed a finger in the air, wishing I could do a whole hells of a lot more than point at him.

  Even though I hadn’t touched him, he stiffened, acting as though I’d given him a direct challenge. “You have no proof. No godsdamned proof.”

  “Why was she there"—he jerked a free hand in the direction of the castle—“with Hook? Why was she there, Elle? Huh? Tell me, since you’re so fucking smart. Tell me!”

  I jerked at the vehemence in his tone, but not from fear. His anger had only riled up my own. For days, I’d been stuck in this hellhole with only him and the ghosts that sucked me dry for company. I’d had enough of him, the situation, and everyone else. I’d been gunning for the fight, and I wasn’t backing down.

  I stepped into him, shoving my breasts right into his chest and straining my neck so that I stood as tall as I possibly could. “Back off,” I growled tersely, muscle memory causing me to reach for my piece, but it was no longer there.

  I felt each of his heavy breaths move against me. Electricity snapped and sparked between us. My glow was so bright that it completely illuminated the gardens in a hazy blue light, adding deepening shadows to the hollows of his throat and cheekbones, making him seem formidable and dangerous.

  My lips parted. Just a second, for half an instant, I thought I saw him sway toward me. But it must only have been a trick of the light, because the next thing I knew, he had moved back—way back.

  He’d moved so fast that I lost track of him. His glare was openly hostile, but there was something else burning in his eyes too.

  We stood there just glaring at each other for what felt like an eternity. The hate-filled tension was palpable, but there was much more below the surface of it too. I wet my lips, and I knew it wasn’t a trick of the light when I saw him shudder and glance away.

  “You should go,” he finally said. “Go. I’ll figure this shit out myself.”

  I shook my head. “So now you’re gonna freeze me out?”

  “Godsdamn it, Elle!” he growled and stabbed at his chest with a long, blunt finger. “I tried here, okay? This isn’t on me.”

  “You’re too damned closed-minded. You’re like a fucking dog with a bone. I can see that. I can see that your mind is set.” I crossed my arms.

  He scoffed.

  “You think it’s my sister. But it’s not. I know it’s not.”

  “Why? Because she’s too good? Because she loves you?” He finger quoted as he pulled his upper lip back.

  I bit down on my front teeth so hard they ached. “Screw you. What would you know about love anyway? Nothing, I’d wager, considering that you could trivialize it that way.”

  “You don’t know shit.”

  I snorted, realizing I was getting under his skin. Some twisted part of me relished it. “You’re a miserable old man. And you’re gonna die alone.”

  Harsh laughter spilled through the night. “You say that as if I care. I don’t. You’re the one who’s too godsdamned weak to see the truth. You hide behind this bullshit curtain and tell me that I’m the one in denial. Whatever, Detective Fish. This partnership”—he gestured between us—“is done. It’s over, you hear me? I don’t have time for games, and I certainly don’t have time for you. You wanna swing for this shit, then by all means, be my guest. I’m through saving your ass. Save it yourself.” He turned on his heel and began marching away.

  Fury that I’d rarely felt in my life lit me. “You’re such a fucking baby!” I snapped at his back.

  His only response was to flip me the bird.

  His footsteps were so silent that even watching him, I didn’t hear him leave, but once he’d gone, all the fight suddenly evaporated from out of me.

  I stared straight ahead, seeing nothing but feeling the golden triangle in my palm and what felt like a blade through my chest. What the hells have I done?

  I’d known I was overreacting even as I was doing it, but his arrogance and cocky disdain had stoked the embers of my rage to an uncontrollable degree. I’d lost my shite—any and all ability to reason or think had gone out the window.

  Crowley brought out the worst in me. Being with him for any amount of time was nightmare fuel. And though I could easily work my way up to a level of rage again just thinking about how full of shite he sometimes was, I also knew I’d screwed the pooch big-time.

  “Oh my gods,” I mumbled as I dropped my head into my hands and silently shuddered. What the hells have I done? I thought again.

  He had been my only real ally in the whole place, the only one actually trying to help me solve this crime. I hadn’t doubted his sincerity then, and I still didn’t, even after all that had happened.

  Is he right?

  Am I refusing to see the truth because of my love for my sister? Was she really capable of staging all of this? She’s Father’s right-hand man, groomed to be the queen when his reign ends. Had she been impatient? Had she been l
ooking for the perfect opportunity to double-cross him?

  Anahita had always been hungry for power, but I’d never seen her step outside the bounds of right and wrong to attain it. Everyone knew she thirsted to rule—she’d often openly contradicted Father in the courts when she’d felt passionately enough. She was as strong as he.

  But she was also fiercely loyal, clueing him into uprisings and coups before they ever even got a chance to get off the ground. Even when I’d lived in Undine, there’d been a small but growing contingent of disenfranchised Undinians calling for Father to step down so that Anahita could step up. But it’d always been her and not Father who’d quelled those hungry cries for change, saying that laws existed for the good of the whole and not simply to please the will of the few.

  And unless that Anahita had become someone I didn’t know in the time since I’d been outcast, I simply couldn’t believe it. Yes, she would have been the obvious choice—on that, Crowley was right. In fact, she was too obvious. She was the perfect cover. Everyone who knew my sister would know all that I did about her. The logical assumption would have been that she had done something sinister, should someone have leapt to the same conclusion as Crowley had, that none of what had happened were the workings of the Sea Witch.

  It could only mean one thing. If Crowley was right, and it wasn’t the Sea Witch’s doing, then it was someone else’s. That someone was powerful, so powerful that she or he could literally hide in plain sight.

  I stood and straightened my hair. The guards would be coming for me soon. The tribunal would convene tomorrow or the next day, I was certain. But I had to bite the bullet. I had to see him, now.

  I had to see Father.

  “ANAHITA, OPEN UP!” I banged loudly on the door to her study, demanding entrance. I knew she was in there. I’d seen her shadow moving. “I swear to the primordial gods,” I snapped, “if you don’t let me in, I will kil— ”