Grimm: A Novel In The Nate Temple Supernatural Thriller Series (The Temple Chronicles Book 3) (39 page)

The waiter was exiting the kitchen, and saw my pointed double blink. Our prearranged signal. He halted, glanced at Indie with a frown, and then back at me. I nodded discreetly and he disappeared behind the curtain. Why did he look surprised? I had told him more than a dozen times what I needed him to do. Even if I was jumping the gun a bit. But I couldn’t help myself. Thinking of spending another hour in front of this woman and not asking her to marry me sounded horrible, and impossible.

Indie was watching me thoughtfully.

“But that’s not the only reason I wanted to have dinner with you tonight.” I began, noticing the owner of the store now standing by the curtain leading to the kitchen, barely hiding his interest in the upcoming action about to go down at my table. The waiter approached, set Indie’s drink before her, and took a step back, waiting patiently. Indie frowned at him momentarily, but my words suddenly caught her full attention.

“Indiana Rippley. You are the most stunning woman I have ever encountered. Despite our…
differences
, I have thrived in your loving arms. We come from different worlds.” She sighed at my words, eyes glittering as she smiled so deeply I thought she would burst out laughing. “But you have never been far from my side. I am not worthy to hold one such as you so close for so long, but I would ask that you let me do so a little bit longer…
forever
.” My eyes met hers, and she glanced again at the waiter, who suddenly knelt at her feet.

The restaurant grew silent as a tomb, chairs creaking and scraping as everyone turned their heads to watch with disbelief. Her eyes flickered from me to the waiter and back again. I stood, approached her, and knelt at her other side, clutching her hand delicately. “Would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?” She stared incredulously at me, and then her eyes darted to the waiter as he produced the kind of engagement ring only a once-billionaire could afford.

The
Infinity Gauntlet
oven mitt.

I accepted the mitt, nodding for him to leave, and then carefully, with great reverence, covered her hand with it. “No one else would propose with an
Infinity Gauntlet
. They would keep the power for themselves.” I said solemnly. “But I want to share everything with you. The good. The bad. The ugly.” I smiled at her, waiting for her response, my heart racing wildly. I had done it. All she had to do was say one little word.

Several customers left. In fact, I realized that quite a few customers had left. And the ones still in the process of leaving now had disgusted looks on their faces. The owner stared slack-jawed at me, then began to quietly but insistently berate the waiter whom had just left my table. But I didn’t care. They could hate me all they wanted. I didn’t blame them after what they had seen. After Wilhelm had impersonated me so perfectly to the local news channel, sending Temple Industries into a nosedive.

Then they got to see me at a posh restaurant, apparently unashamed, proposing to the woman I loved. Typical billionaire arrogance.

I realized Indie hadn’t spoken yet, so I turned back to her, ignoring the increasing exodus of customers. “Well?”

She stared back at me, eyes staring at me with disbelief, and then they slowly began to transform into a smile.

But something was…
off
.

The smile was sinister. Wolfish. Mocking. Full of glee, but not for my intended reasons.

“Oh, this is likely the crowning moment of my existence.” An entirely different voice spoke through her lips. Time momentarily froze with the familiar pulse of power I had come to fear, and the restaurant was instantly silent. Completely. People frozen in midstep. Then Indie’s form began to twist and transform into a different being entirely.

Wilhelm suddenly sat before me, still wearing my engagement
Infinity Gauntlet
.

And I was clutching his hand like my life depended on it. I flung it away but couldn’t manage to work my legs. My blood turned to ice. I didn’t know how it was possible. How he knew to be here at this moment. The most important moment of my life. But it didn’t matter. Here we were.

No
…
Not this too.

He nodded, seemingly able to read my thoughts. “Oh, I’m afraid so. Your little wench is currently under lock and key, but on her behalf I feel I must give you at least some kind of response.” He caressed the oven mitt with pantomimed seriousness. Then his cold, dead eyes met mine, flashing black. “The answer is
No
. Indie is mine. But you will see her in the morning. Perhaps.” He winked.

Then he was gone, leaving me kneeling beside an empty chair as time warped back to normal. Several customers suddenly tripped, clutching onto a chair or table for support. They glanced over their shoulders to see me standing beside an empty chair and frowned in confusion. The waiter and owner looked equally startled.

My vision pulsed blue and I began to hyperventilate. The waiter, noticing the look on my face, rushed over, urged on by the owner. “Master Temple? I didn’t want to say it while he was here, but did I mishear your instructions? I thought you had said Indiana Rippley would be joining you this evening…”

I was growling, an unending string of dark curses pouring from my lips, trying to prevent myself from unleashing my power and burning the building to the ground. “What did you see?” I hissed.

The waiter’s eyes widened. “Um, a rather scruffy gentleman in leathers sitting at the table. And then… well, you
proposed
to him.” He looked as if his tongue was about to dry up and crawl out of his mouth. Not sure if my anger was at his failure or the apparent negative response I had been given by my dinner date.

I was going to kill Wilhelm. And then I was going to kill Death. I had spoken to Indie only hours before on his phone. Was he implicit in her abduction? Had he been lying to me even then? On the phone? Was he the source of the leak I suspected in my crew?

I stood, heaving, pinpoint flickers of light clouding my vision. I needed to get out of here. Fresh air. Cool wind. No people. Before I did something stupid.

“It’s time I left.” I managed to whisper. The other customers still present looked horrified and confused. I would have too if I had just seen the city’s billionaire celebrity heir propose to a leather armored man in one of the more exclusive restaurants in town.

The waiter nodded, turning as if to go grab the check. I tossed three one-hundred-dollar bills on the table and, without giving a flying fuck,
Shadow Walked
out of the restaurant and back into the kitchen of
Chateau Falco
, where I found Dean and Alucard waiting for me.

They blinked in astonishment, eyes slowly sparkling with eager smiles as if anxious to hear how everything went. Their stares slowly faded as they got a good look at my face, which was hard enough to grind rocks.

“We need Mallory up and running. Whatever it takes.”

They blinked at me. “He should be fine in a few hours. That old bastard is beyond tough.” Alucard sounded uncharacteristically impressed.

I nodded. “In the morning, we are going to murder every single one of those bastards. Slowly. I hope there are survivors. I want to make their remaining existence…
memorable
.”

Alucard cleared his throat cautiously. “I take it the proposal didn’t go as… planned?” He offered carefully.

I stared at him, eyes no doubt bloodshot, because they seemed as dry as dust to me. “They took her.” I whispered, barely able to maintain my feet.

They leaned forward as if they hadn’t heard me correctly. The granite countertop abruptly crumbled beneath Alucard’s claws as he squeezed the stone at my words.

I also gripped the kitchen island with shaking fingertips, but didn’t break it. “Indie’s been…” I swallowed deeply, unable to finish as bile crept up into my throat. She was my responsibility. The love of my life. It was my fault she was taken. I had trusted Death, an immortal being with his own agendas, to look out for her, and I had been burned.

My world rocked, and Alucard lurched forward a step as if to catch me.

I held up a hand, took several deep breaths, and spoke in a snarl.

“Indie’s been
taken
. Tomorrow their blood will feed my lawns. Their screams will be trapped inside
Chateau Falco
like a soothing lullaby. Their bones will lay buried deep under our maze. I will destroy everything they hold dear.”

I paused, lifting my gaze to meet their eyes. “I have nothing else to give. So, I will just begin
taking
from them. They will not escape me. This I swear.” I drew a bead of blood from my thumb, and uttered a spell, binding the promise to my soul. A Blood Debt. Alucard’s eyes widened in disbelief, and Dean looked as if his heart had just been ripped from his chest. And then I left the kitchen, ready to arm myself for the biggest tussle of my career.

Wilhelm had warned me of his interest in her. And Jacob had all but admitted that she would be given to his brother. Why hadn’t I seen this coming? I took another breath and strode through the house, stomping loudly without consciously deciding to do so.

I didn’t even bother calling Death this time. I couldn’t trust him anymore. If Indie were free, she would have been at the restaurant. So, she really was gone. This was not some ploy. Some trick. She had been taken. And Wilhelm had stepped into her place for the sole purpose of rubbing my face in it. The fact that I had been proposing was merely icing on the cake.

I began calling the crew, telling them to get here early. I was done playing games. My tactic for this battle was simple, but efficient.

Overkill.

Absolute, illogical overkill.

So it was time for me to dig out the party favors I had secured over the last few months from Temple Industries. Several of my side projects that only some knew about.

The Grimms were history. They just didn’t know it yet.

Chapter 40

W
e stood outside the front door of
Chateau Falco
, the centuries old monolith towering behind us as if in encouragement of our decision to fight. A calming giant backing us up. If only it could do more than look imposing. Inside her halls, maybe, but that wouldn’t help me today.

Sunrise was in a few moments.

Leather creaked.

Fabric rustled.

Metal scraped and clicked, whether from gun, blade, or armor.

We had tried to go over plans a dozen times, but there were simply too many variables. We had killed several Grimms, but how many had truly died, and how many were left? McBeefy, my captive Grimm, knelt on the ground before me, struggling as if sensing my thoughts.

I didn’t even look down as I lifted my boot and kicked the Grimm squarely in the back of the neck hard enough to give him whiplash and possibly crack one of his vertebrae. He grunted in agony and head butted the icy gravel.

Tory watched the violent blow without emotion, face devoid of any empathy whatsoever. I hadn’t had the proper chance to talk to her. But she hadn’t wanted to talk about anything anyway. She just wanted vengeance. I got that. Still, I wanted to wrap her up in a giant hug, help her carry some of those burdens. Even if she didn’t want me to.

It’s what friends did.

She was grieving. And I doubted that the Grimms would enjoy being on the receiving end of her fury. “You okay?” I asked her softly, our first direct communication since Misha had been killed.

Her eyes met mine. They were bloodshot, pained, and full of dancing, malevolent carnage. She looked away, not answering me right away. “I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to get in touch with my feelings right now. But soon I’ll feel
much
better.”

I nodded, and several others murmured their agreement.

Everyone shifted from foot to foot, the non-shifters trying to get used to the Kevlar vests I had provided. It wasn’t perfect, but it would help. I hoped. Gunnar seemed especially uncomfortable, sniffing the air hungrily as he subconsciously adjusted the Kevlar vest covering his torso. He was the only shifter wearing one. I was anxious to see how it would hold up, seeing as how it had been made to hypothetically adjust on the fly, reforming to his new wolf form so that if all went well, I had a bulletproof werewolf on my side. I wasn’t sure if the Grimms were packing silver bullets, or even whether they would use guns, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I had told him of my conversation with the werewolf. He had listened silently, grunted, and then changed the topic.

It didn’t matter anymore. He had more important things on his mind.

Like Ashley.

She was currently in a safe location under the protection of Gunnar’s long-time friend, Agent Jeffries. He would use his FBI credentials to try and run interference if any police activity arose, which I highly suspected as a result of my alleged insider trading crime. Ashley was being held within a silver circle, watched and monitored at all times. I knew that more than almost anything, Gunnar wanted to be there by her side.

But this was the one place he would rather be, to exact revenge, just like everyone else here. Alucard stood like a statue beside him, idly thumbing his umbrella. He was liberally coated with sunscreen, and wore clothing meant to block the rays of the upcoming sunrise. You know, the kind of fabric you see on those pasty kids at the pool that get sunburns at even mention of the word
sunlight
. It was an odd pair, to see a werewolf and a vampire standing side by side, neither snarling at each other, but instead compatriots in the fight to come. Silent comrades, blood brothers of war, almost as if they had fought beside each other for decades, no further words necessary.