Grimm Consequences (8 page)

I punched open the doors, wincing instinctively when I heard one of them bang against the wall. The glass held. The girl at the front desk started with a little cry, her eyes wide.

“Where is he?” I demanded.

She shook her head, her eyes darting down to the holster holding Trish's gun. “I have no idea who you mean.” She reached for the telephone. “Let me just call—”

I lunged across the counter, grasping her wrist. “Touch that phone and I'll break every bone in your pretty little manicured fingers. Feel me?”

She nodded furiously.

“Good.” I released her and slowly pulled back. “Now, where's your boss? Where's Ben—” I bit off my words, remembering that, like me, Benedict went by an alias. “Where's Humpty Dumpty?”

The Tale swallowed hard, debating whether she should take a chance on experiencing my wrath or her employer's. She chose wisely. “He's in the third room on the left. But, wait! You can't go in there! Stop!”

I ignored her. At this point, she could call security for all I cared. I'd only need a few minutes to find out what I needed.

I slipped into the massage room, surprised to see the masseuse wasn't there. The room's only occupant was a man with white hair who lay on his stomach with his face hidden by the hole in the table. He was naked except for a towel draped over his ass. But I didn't need to see Benedict's face. I sensed him. My leader. My mentor. My tormentor.

“Belinda,” he murmured, not bothering to lift his head, “I think I'd like the works today. I've been dealing with bullshit complaints from the trustees all day long.” He chuckled. “And we Tales love our happy endings, you know.”

I crept up to him, pulling Trish's gun and slipping off the safety. Benedict's entire body went tense when I pressed the cold steel against his temple. “It's up to you how this story's going to end.”

“The way I figure it,” I drawled, “we've got about two minutes before your guards come busting in that door, Benedict. And I can't really be sure what'll happen if they startle me. My finger could slip, put a bullet right through your brain.”

“I don't know this Benedict you speak of,” he said, his voice edged with apprehension. “My name is H. D. King. I own this establishment.”

“And my name is Marius Titus Maximus,” I growled. “I am the Death Bringer.”

“Maximus,” he breathed. There was a long pause as Benedict weighed his options carefully. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then said, “Well, my old friend, I suppose you should draw away so that we don't have any mishaps before we have a chance to chat.”

I hesitated, not sure I wanted to give up the advantage I had at the moment. But even though he had been living among the Tales for centuries, having assumed the identity of Humpty Dumpty while still in Make Believe, Benedict was a Reaper. If I blew his brains out and destroyed the life he'd created among the Tales, he was going to be righteously pissed off. And right now I didn't need yet another Reaper to worry about. Demetrius was enough.

I withdrew the gun and stepped back, raising my hands. At that moment, the guards barged in, their Tasers aimed at my torso.

“Holy shit,” one of them muttered. “That's Tess Little.”

If I didn't have fifty thousand volts aimed at my heart—
Tess's
heart—I would've been tempted to chuckle over the sudden nervousness of the big burly security guards at the sight of my diminutive Enforcer.

“It's all right, it's all right,” Benedict said, getting up from the massage table and wrapping the towel around his waist. “Thank you for your concern, gentlemen, but I am quite unharmed, as you see.” He offered them all a comforting smile as he lifted his arms to his sides and herded them out the door. “That's right, now, off you go.”

As soon as the guards were gone, I raised the gun again, keeping it trained on Benedict. He chuckled and gestured with his hand. “Oh, do put that away, m'boy.”

“No offense,” I replied, “but I'd feel better if I didn't.”

He shrugged, going to a wardrobe and pulling out his clothes. “Suit yourself, Max—” He paused and turned to face me. “Sorry. Not sure what I should call you. Maximus? Nate?” He chortled, gesturing toward me. “Little Red Riding Hood?”

I bristled at his taunt, but I wasn't going to rise to the bait. “I need to find out where Demetrius took her soul.”

“And you think
I
would know?” he asked, feigning ignorance. “I
oversee
the Reapers, m'boy, but I don't
babysit
them.”

My grip on the gun tightened. “He plans to punish her in my stead. And then he intends to make her a Reaper. All Reaper candidates still have to be approved by you. So tell me where the hell she is!”

“You know,” Benedict said, casually pulling on his shirt, “when I decided to step down as Reaper for the Tales, I didn't even hesitate when it came to a replacement.”

“I don't have time for a trip down memory lane, Benedict,” I snapped. “Tell me where Tess is, goddamn it!”

“I knew it would be you who replaced me,” Benedict continued. “I always knew. But I thought it would be as Supreme Reaper, master of all, not just as the Reaper to the Tales. I mean, you were the great
Death Bringer . . .
the most celebrated, the most dedicated, the most
heartless
Reaper I have ever known. I mean, the Black Death? Never once did you shirk from your duties on that one. There were days I actually worried about you, m'boy, thought perhaps you enjoyed this job just a little too much, that you might go rogue on me. Until”—he grinned and shook his head, shaking his finger in the air—“until the day I sent you to Make Believe and you saw
her.
”

I clenched my jaw, not sure where he was going with this, but knowing for damned sure that he was wasting my time. “I love her,” I ground out, not sure what else to say.

Benedict nodded, buttoning the cuffs of his shirt. “Clearly. You have broken our laws time and time again for her benefit, Maximus. By all rights, I should've had you relieved of duty and left to your damnation.”

“If you were so pissed about me granting her reprieve after reprieve, why the hell did you assign me to the Tales?” I demanded.

Benedict regarded me for a long moment, a look in his eyes I'd never seen before. For a moment, I wasn't quite sure what to call it. But then he gave me a sad smile. “I was once like you—completely heartless. Until someone showed me I wasn't quite as unfeeling as I'd thought.” He heaved a long, sad sigh that was rife with regret. “I loved her. It's that simple. But unlike you, m'boy, I lacked the courage to tell her so. I just watched from afar, wishing for what could never be.”

“You're in love with a Tale?” I asked, finding it hard to believe that Benedict was capable of loving anyone. “Who?”

He waved away my question. “Doesn't matter. She died many years ago, before the relocation to the Here and Now. Oh, I could've stopped her death, could've granted her a reprieve. But when she saw me as I really am, the depth of the darkness in my soul, she was terrified of me. She screamed at the sight of me.
Me!
The one who loved her so. I was so angry at her response, so hurt, I lost control. I”—here he paused, his voice catching—“I let her go. And not nearly as gently as I should have.”

I wasn't sure what to say. All I could do was gape at the man I'd known for centuries but was just discovering I really didn't know at all.

“That's when I decided to become Humpty Dumpty,” he admitted. “She had a daughter, a beautiful girl. I decided the least I could do was watch over her and make sure she grew up well and lived a happy life. It was easy to be a benevolent benefactor to the woman who might've been my own child, had things gone differently.” He grinned. “In fact, I found I quite enjoyed it. I became rather fond of her and she of me. And my little tale of woe—my
great fall
and all that—made me a rather sympathetic character all these years, don't you think? Easy to trust.”

“You made up that story,” I reminded him.

He grunted. “Did I? Losing my love shattered me, m'boy. I can tell you, that silly little rhyme isn't really so far from the truth.”

“Then you understand why I have to find Tess,” I insisted. “You gave me a chance to succeed where you had failed when you let me take your place as Reaper to the Tales, Benedict. But that was your plan all along, wasn't it? You wanted me to continue pursuing Tess, to finally have the chance to be with her as a man and not a monster.”

Benedict nodded. “You have sacrificed so much for this woman, m'boy. You have endured so much pain.... Is it worth it? Is
she
worth it?”

“A million times over,” I said without hesitation. “And I'll continue to protect her, no matter the cost.”

“And does she love you in return?”

“I'm sure she does.”

Benedict's brows shot up. “But she has not told you so.”

“She doesn't need to. I know.”

Benedict picked up on the note of uncertainty in my voice. He came forward slowly, still wary of the gun I held, and placed a hand on my shoulder. “I hope you are right. For your sake and hers. Because you will need that love if you are to get her back from Demetrius. He is lost to me, m'boy. He did not seek my permission to make Ms. Little a Reaper. I'm afraid I've turned a blind eye to his brand of justice for far too long. He is now beyond even
my
control—his jealousy, his madness.... He is far more dangerous than you can imagine. I fear for you should you confront him and his Judges.”

I squared my shoulders. “Demetrius is the one you should worry about.”

He gave me a smile that was edged with pride. “I have no doubt of that, my friend,” he said. “But I know you of old, Maximus. I know how long it took you to rediscover the kernel of humanity that kept you from becoming like Demetrius. You came to me so many centuries ago because you were perfectly suited to be a Reaper. But I saw more in you. And this woman—this Tale—has brought you out of the darkness that can become part of us, that can overtake us. I'd hate to see you go back to that cold place.”

I understood what he wasn't saying. I had been in danger of losing my soul forever before I'd met Tess. I'd been Demetrius. “I can't let him win, Benedict. I'll do whatever I have to do to get Tess back.”

He sighed, a little sadly. “I'm afraid that's true. Just be sure you don't lose yourself in the process. Hold on to your humanity, Maximus. Hold on to your love. It's all that will save you in the end.”

“I want my tether to Tess restored,” I told him. “I want it to be permanent. I'll always protect her, Benedict. The Judges will come again. And if it's not Demetrius, it'll be someone else just as vindictive. I'll not risk her again.”

Benedict nodded. “Very well then. I will tell you where you can find your love, and if you can free her, I will grant your wish. But know this, Maximus—Demetrius has no intention of letting her go.”

I met and held his gaze. “Neither do I.”

I parked my car a few blocks away from the cemetery and made my way toward the crematorium on foot, keeping to the shadows cast by the trees and ostentatious monuments erected by some of the most prominent names in Chicago's history. Leave it to Demetrius to choose a location rife with drama and grandiosity.

I could feel the restless souls milling about in the darkness, their slumber disturbed by the presence of so many Reapers. A woman in Victorian garb wandered toward me, her eyes nothing more than empty black sockets. Her expression was vacant as she turned toward me, met my gaze, and then vanished. She was lost in more ways than one.

My senses began to prickle with apprehension the closer I drew to the limestone building where Demetrius was keeping Tess. There would be guards positioned at every door, sentinels against the forces of darkness that might try to intrude upon the trials of penance when the soul being punished was at its most vulnerable. It wasn't just other Reapers that I had to worry about attacking.

Not for the first time since I'd left the car, I wished that Trish had loaned me something more akin to Tess's normal black attire. With the moonlight flooding every open space, I might as well have been barging in with sirens blaring and guns blazing. It was nothing short of a miracle that I'd made it into the center of the cemetery without encountering one of my brethren—or something else equally as deadly.

Or maybe that was the plan.

I felt the attack coming a split second before a massive fist took a swing at me. I dodged just in time to avoid the hammerlike blow, and pivoted around to block another one, landing an uppercut of my own that took my attacker by surprise. A man his size sure as shit wasn't used to getting his clock cleaned by a woman—let alone a woman who was barely five feet tall and the same woman whose soul he'd helped to abduct.

“Well, hello there, Junior,” I drawled, giving him a cocky grin. “I think you and I have a score to settle.”

His eyes went wide with confusion. I took advantage of his bewilderment to fall back on the ol' standby of nailing him in the junk. He groaned with pain and doubled over, clutching his crotch, but his expression quickly morphed from agony to fury. He made a sloppy grab for me, but I easily dodged, grabbing his outstretched arm and bringing my elbow down on his. The bone snapped with a sickening crunch, sending him to his knees with an agonized cry.

“I'll fucking kill you,” he snarled.

“I don't think so,” I retorted, driving my fist into his chest, my Reaper's soul giving Tess's body the ability to penetrate Junior's weakened human form. “Not tonight.”

His gaze snapped down to his chest, then back up at me. “Stop, stop, stop! I'm sorry, man,” he said in a rush. “I'm so fucking sorry! I had to beat the shit out of you earlier tonight or that bastard Demetrius was going to kill my family. I have a wife, man—a kid. They're human. Demetrius was going to unleash that fucking Jabberwocky on 'em! I didn't have any choice. Don't, man! Please!”

My fist closed around his soul, the temptation to rip it from his body, his human construct, almost more than I could resist. I wanted to tear it out of him, reduce it to cinders and ashes. But I hesitated, my newly rediscovered conscience annoyingly inconvenient. I squeezed, grinding my teeth, torn between ending him and showing him mercy. “Where is she?” I demanded. “Is she in the crematorium?”

Junior nodded, not able to speak with my fist literally squeezing the life out of him.

“How many Reapers are here?”

He shook his head, grimacing.

“Tell me!” I hissed, squeezing tighter.

I could see sweat popping out on his forehead, the veins in his neck bulging. “Ten,” he gasped.

“Where?” I demanded. “Inside?”

He shook his head furiously. “Five.”

“Five inside? Five out?”

He nodded with equal fervor.

I released him abruptly and shoved him away. He ass-planted, gasping for air, his form flickering as he lost his hold. I'd granted him a reprieve, shown him mercy although he'd shown me none. But seeing as how I couldn't have him following me . . .

I brought the butt of the gun down against his head, hard enough to crack his skull and incapacitate him for half an hour at most. The second he dropped, I bolted for the crematorium, sensing the other four Reapers drawing near, but I'd only gone about six steps before two of them appeared in front of me. I recognized one of them from the attack earlier that night. The other was a woman I'd never seen before.

I planted my feet, preparing for a fight, but at that moment, my soul inside Tess's body began to twitch, the hold I had on her slipping. I was running out of time. The guy from the parking lot raised his arms and squared off in some kind of martial arts stance, settling in to try to kick my ass while his girlfriend whipped off her jacket and bared her teeth at me in a horrific smile.

“Well, if it isn't the infamous Death Bringer,” she drawled. “We meet at last.”

I grunted. “Fuck this.” The first round I fired off struck her between the eyes, snapping her head back. The next was for the karate kid.

“Three down, two to go,” I muttered, mentally calculating how much time a bullet to the brain would buy me as I took off across the grass again.

I caught the shift in the shadows out of the corner of my eye just as I made the sidewalk in front of the crematorium. I didn't even slow my walk as I raised my arm and fired. Two rounds to the chest brought the Reaper up short.

But before I could turn my head away from where number four was taking a dirt nap, his buddy jumped me, grabbing one arm and twisting it painfully behind my back as he bum-rushed me at the crematorium's wall. I still had the gun, but with the guy safely behind me, there was no way to get off a clear shot. Not sure what else to do, I went limp, crumpling to the ground. The guy's momentum sent him stumbling over me. He tripped and tried to regain his footing, but he was a massive wall of muscle and not nearly as nimble as I could be while in Tess's petite frame.

I scrambled to my feet and was on him before he could get up from his knees. One quick twist snapped his neck. I shoved him away and turned back to the crematorium's door. My already raging anger did nothing to help the waning hold I had on my borrowed body. I felt a fire building inside me, perspiration prickling on my forehead, trickling down my back. I was burning up. Or, more precisely, Tess was. I was going to have to get out soon and get her soul back where it safely belonged or risk doing permanent damage.

I barreled toward the door and tried the knob, not surprised when it rattled but failed to open. I rammed my shoulder into the door, hearing it creak in the frame.

I was going to
seriously
owe her for what I was putting her body through....

On the third try, the door burst open, banging against the wall behind it. I immediately fired off two quick rounds, nailing the Reapers who'd suddenly materialized in the foyer. They dropped, their faces frozen in masks of surprise at being bested.

I knew there were still three more Reapers holing up in here with Demetrius, but he'd keep them with him to protect his own ass. He'd sacrifice them all in a heartbeat if it gave him time to get away.

I crept down the hall, keeping close to the wall, gun at the ready, quickly clearing each room I passed. Finally, at the end of the hall was a huge door that opened into what had to be the furnace room. Figured he'd take Tess there. It perfectly suited this melodrama he'd created.

Demetrius's high-pitched titter suddenly broke the silence. “Oh, come on in!” he called, laughing. “I just can't take the suspense anymore.”

I entered the furnace room, taking in the place at a glance. As suspected, the three remaining Reapers were spread about the room, their hands clasped casually in front of them, looking more like Secret Service agents than agents of death.

The others had been lackeys, expendables. These three were seasoned Judges who'd been around for as long as I had—maybe longer. They weren't going to go down as easily as the others, that was for damned sure.

But it was Tess whom my attention fastened on. Her soul had taken form. No longer just a diaphanous strand of spirit, she had taken the first step toward becoming a ghost. Demetrius held her close to him, her hair clasped tightly in his hand. He'd bound her hands and ankles with ghostly chains. We Reapers started jokingly referring to the chains as “Marleys” after Dickens wrote his famous depiction of them in
A Christmas Carol
.

And at Demetrius's feet was the Jabberwocky, the same chains around its neck. The creature's tongue shot out at the sight of me and licked its lips. It growled, a low rumble that made my skin crawl.

“What the hell?” Tess breathed, bringing my attention back to her. She frowned at the sight of her own body standing in front of her.

“Hel-lo,” Demetrius drawled in his sing-songy way. “Took you long enough! I thought for
sure
you'd get here sooner. Ah, well—better late than never!”

“Let her go,” I barked. “Let her go and I'll let you live.”

Demetrius gave me a patronizing look. “Oh, Maximus . . .”

“Nate?” Tess interjected, her eyes going wide.

“I've been to Benedict,” I said calmly. “He's cut you loose. And I have my orders.”

Demetrius's brows twitched together briefly, but he covered his momentary apprehension with a mad grin. “Ran home to tattle to Daddy, did you?” His face suddenly morphed with fury. “Benedict! That
relic
! He's been around too long, sitting on the sidelines, pulling the strings while the rest of us dance. Well, I'm done being his little puppet! I'm not afraid of that old man!”

“Maybe not,” I said. “But you're afraid of
me
. And I'm only giving you one chance.”

“Maximus, Maximus, Maximus—”

It was at that moment I noticed the black flame burned onto the arm of Tess's spirit. Demetrius had harmed her, had burned her soul with penance that I should've paid. The fury built so quickly, the darkness came so fast, I couldn't stop it.

I burst from Tess's body with a roar, and was on Demetrius in a fraction of a second, taking form to grab him around the throat and hurl him against the wall. Startled by my sudden attack on his master, the Jabberwocky lunged at me, fangs and claws bared. I grabbed it by the throat, halting it midstrike. The creature howled with rage, twisting and squirming in my grasp. Lightning quick, I declawed it with my free hand, ripping those poisoned barbs out before it could dig them into me. I tossed the creature aside with a growl, leaving it to lick away the green, steaming pus that oozed from its wounds.

“Kill him!” Demetrius gasped, his eyes wild.

My head snapped toward the sound of Tess's voice in time to see one of the Judges morphing into his true form, his monstrous maw of emptiness opening impossibly wide to emit a horrific screech. The sound split the air, shattered the glass of one of the ovens, and rent a jagged crack in the ceiling that ran the entire length of the building. As the call of the darkness beckoned, I fought against it, squeezing my eyes shut and grinding my teeth to stay rooted to this world. But when I heard Tess scream in agony, my eyes snapped open.

In the seconds that the Judge had distracted me, one of the other Judges had grabbed Tess. He held her chin in his grip, his own shriek adding to the ear-splitting cacophony. As I watched, another black flame began to emerge, branding Tess's bicep, wrapping around her as she writhed in anguish.

I moved before I'd even realized it, snatching him away from her. With a savage snarl, I grabbed the two halves of the Judge's jaws and pulled them apart until the bone cracked and split. And I kept pulling, tearing off the bottom half and tossing it aside as the Judge dropped to his knees, coughing and spewing black particles of smoke and ash. I grasped the chains around Tess's wrists and pulled them apart, barely noting when the Judge disintegrated into a pile of black ash on the floor.

“Jesus,” Tess groaned, covering her ears while I wrenched apart the chains around her ankles.

“Sorry,” I said, catching her around the waist and dragging her roughly to me in time to block a blow from one of the other Judges. I drove my hand into his chest, grasping his heart, slowing the beats.

He laughed. “Go ahead,
Death Bringer.
” He chuckled. “I'll just regenerate and come after your ass.”

“Don't think so.” I pulled, yanking his heart from his chest. His eyes widened in shock briefly before he burst apart, his ashes scattering.

Regenerate from
that,
mother fucker.

The call of the darkness grew louder, every atom of my being pulsing as it drew me in, dragging me closer and closer to oblivion. But I wasn't ready to go. Not yet.

Without wasting another second, I rushed Tess's ghost to her body. “In you go, sweetheart.” I grabbed her arm and shoved her in, relief flooding me when I heard her gasp.

I didn't see Demetrius's attack coming. He barreled into me, taking me down. I felt the blow to my head next. Before he could land another one, I dematerialized, coming up behind him. He sensed me and spun around, laughing maniacally as he swung the shovel he held. I dodged just in time to avoid the edge and probably a very nasty severed head.

When he swung again, I grabbed the shovel, wrenching it from his grasp and throwing it across the room. “Call off the Judge,” I demanded. “Take me on like a man instead of the coward you are.”