Light the Shadows (A Grimm Novel) (31 page)

“Is she breathing?” Anna flitted about, worry creasing her forehead. “She isn’t supposed to die, is she?”

Sully laid his head against her chest, listening. Cursing softly, he brushed away the wet hair that clung to her face and began CPR.

“Breathe, damn it!” It was easier to get angry than scared. He could not lose her, would not allow it. “Come on, Micah!”

Anna fell to her knees beside him, tears leaking down her face. “Please, don’t let her die, Sully.”

Already a doorway had blinked into existence. A delicate flower pattern was carved into the wood’s grain.

“No, no, no…” Anna wailed.

Sully glared at the door as if doing so would force it away. She’d only been beneath the water for a moment, so why wasn’t she breathing? “Come back to me, doll. Please.”

Micah choked as water trickled past her parted lips. She gasped and coughed as she struggled for a gulp of clean air. Sully repositioned her into a sitting position, using his knee as a brace against her back. He leaned his forehead against her shoulder and stifled tears of relief.

“We’re okay
.” Anna’s voice was shaky. “The door is gone.”

When the worst of it was over, Micah turned her gaze toward Sully. In a hoarse voice, she said, “You saved me.”

He smoothed hair from her face then wrapped his arms around her. “I guess that makes us even, doll.”

Anna fell forward onto hands and knees. Tears spilled down her cheeks
, and she laughed hysterically. “I thought you were a goner.”

Micah smiled at her friend then reached out to touch fingers with the ghost. Anna’s fingers passed through Micah’s, but the sentiment wasn’t lost on Sully. He’d even begun to like the
shepherd a little, especially since she had proven how much she cared for Micah. If she hadn’t come to him, told him that Ben was killing her … well, he didn’t want to imagine what might have happened.

“Where is he?” Sully asked Anna. “I’m going to kill that
mother-fucker with my bare hands.”

“He got the hell out of here,” Anna
said. “He’s long gone. Should we call the police?”

“He’s going to pay for what he’s done.” Sully helped Micah to her feet then wound an arm around her waist. She leaned heavily on him, still weak and shaky.

Micah gripped his hands. “But not by your hands. We’ll let the police take care of it, okay?”

Sully opened the glass door and urged her into the house. “Fine.”

The ghost and Micah exchanged a glance. Sully suspected neither believed him.

“Do you want to go to the hospital to get checked out?” he asked.

“I just want to go home.” Micah gripped his hand. Her fingers trembled in his. “But I don’t want to be alone right now.” Her laugh was a sharp exhalation of air. “I’m still a little shook up. I’m so stupid. I should have known that was him on the phone.”

“This isn’t your fault
,” Anna said in a flash of frustrated anger. “That son of a bitch tried to kill you. You did nothing wrong.”

“I know, I just…” Micah shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut. Fresh tears danced at the corners of her eyes.

Sully gently gripped her shoulders to turn her to face him. His fingers tipped her chin up, and he placed a soft kiss at the corner of her mouth. “I want you to go lie down and get some rest. Don’t come out until I come for you, understand?”

She opened her mouth to question him further, but he placed a finger against her lips. “Do as I say, doll.”

Micah shared another suspicious glance with Anna before she finally trudged deeper into the house. He waited until he heard her shut an upstairs door then fished Micah’s cell phone from her purse. He dialed a number then waited to be connected. Anna watched him in silence as he asked for Detective Brewer. After giving Brewer an address, Sully hung up.

“A friend of yours?” Anna asked with a raise of a brow.

“Reaper,” Sully said then sat on one of the patio chairs. He pushed fingers through his hair then sighed. As far as he knew, Ben Harmon was not supposed to die anytime soon. Though if the bastard crossed Sully’s path again, it’s exactly what would happen. There would be consequences, but he’d deal with them later. Azrael was bat-shit crazy if he thought he’d allow that asshole to kill Micah.

A stocky man in a white shirt and dark dress pants filled the doorway ten minutes later. He narrowed eyes on Sully. “What the hell’s going on, Sullivan?”

Anna cast a doubtful glance at the detective/Reaper then drifted toward the house. “I’ll go check on her.”

Brewer knelt next to the pool to inspect a dribble of blood. “Whose is this?”

“Ben Harmon. He was trying to drown my Grimm.”

“Thomas?” Brewer glanced around as if searching for him.

“No, his protégé. Micah Munroe.” Sully didn’t bother to hide the anger in his voice.

Brewer studied him for a moment then grinned. “She’s the one who body jumped, isn’t she?”

“Yeah.” Sully eyed Brewer, not liking the sudden interest. “She’s Azrael’s granddaughter or some shit.”

“I heard you ran into some trouble a few days ago. Good to see you’re back.” Brewer said, though there was no sincerity in his voice. He gestured toward the sparkling pool. “So, I guess you’d like me to look into this, see what I can charge him with?”

“Yeah, that would be great.” Sully stood now, anxious to end this exchange.

“I need to talk to her, get her take on things. That’s her car out front?” Brewer turned to look at the house now.

Sully nodded.

“And the girl is okay?”

“I’m fine,” Micah said as she moved through the doorway to stand on the patio.

Sully whipped his head around to look at her. Damn it, she needed rest. She needed to stay out of this. Plus, he’d heard that Brewer was quite the ladies
’ man, and he didn’t want him anywhere near Micah. She belonged to him, plain and simple.

She’d toweled her hair, but it was still damp. Her clothes clung to her body, showing each and every curve. He could even see the polka-dot pattern of her bra through her shirt.

Brewer put on a charming smile and nodded hello to Micah. “You want to tell me what happened?”

“We’re wasting time,” Sully growled. “The longer we take, the more time he has to hole up and hide.”

Brewer held up a hand to silence him. “Go on, sweetheart. What happened?”

Sully watched the detective as Micah explained everything in detail. Brewer watched her closely, maybe a little too closely. There was an odd glint to his eyes as she described her near drowning
, and Sully didn’t like it. Brewer might be one of those Reapers who got off on the killing. Some of them, especially those who had been around a long time, had grown bored with the mundane deaths. These few thrived on the more horrific and brutal killings they witnessed.  Even though they played a small part in the act overall, they tended to have ideas of grandeur. He hoped he never turned into one of them.

Brewer pulled out his cell phone and stroked his thumb across it. “Okay, Sullivan. You get this pretty lady out of here. I’m going to run the investigation, so I’ll make sure this Harmon guy is charged with attempted murder. He’s not going to bother you any more, Ms. Munroe.”

“You’d better find him before I do,” Sully said in warning.

A horrified expression crawled across Micah’s face. She gripped Sully’s sleeve and whispered
, “Don’t do anything we’ll regret. Ben’s a bastard, but I don’t want you to do anything stupid or get in trouble on my account.”

“Better listen to her, Sullivan,” Brewer said. “Look, I’m gonna go pick up this Harmon character. I may call with more questions later.” He glanced at Sully then seemed to recognize how pissed off he was. “If I do, I’ll call you, not her. Just be aware that she’ll have to testify in court.”

Micah looked at Sully, and her expression clouded. “Can we go home now? Please?”

Sully pursed his lips then nodded. He gripped her hand and pulled her toward the house. “Of course, doll. Let’s go.”

Brewer followed close behind.

Micah cast one last glance at Brewer
, who smiled reassuringly as he moved past them. “Everything’s going to be fine,” he called from the front patio then made his way to the sedan parked nearby.

Crammed into her car, Sully silently cursed the small vehicle as he drove away from the house. Luckily, it was still early enough that most of the neighborhood was not home from work. He didn’t know how well he’d handle their gawking stares.

Anna appeared in the backseat. Her eyes were large and filled with worry. “Are you really okay, Micah?”

“Yes
.” Micah leaned her head back against the seat and shut her eyes. She didn’t look at him, but he knew her next words were for him. “How’d you get there so fast? I didn’t see your bike.”

Anna scooted forward on the backseat until she could look at Micah directly. “It was kinda neat, actually. I appeared next to him and Thomas, shouted that you were in trouble then grabbed hold of Sully. I didn’t even know I could do that.”

“Do what?” Micah asked in confusion.

“I don’t know how I did it, but one minute we were there in his workshop
, and the next we weren’t.” Anna’s voice rose with excitement, and a giddy smile lighted her face.

“It’s because I’m not dead or alive, but in between.” Sully said without looking at either woman. “I’m a
Reaper, Death’s right hand. I can come and go at will. I prefer to travel by motorcycle though.”

Anna giggled. “Darn, I thought I had somehow teleported you.”

Micah turned to stare at Sully as though she was seeing him for the first time. “Can I do that, too?”

“I don’t know,” Anna
said with a shrug.

He said, “I doubt it.”

Micah looked a bit disappointed, so he explained further. “You’re alive, doll. When you jumped into this body, it put you at a disadvantage. You can’t travel like we do.”

“And you can die,” Anna said in a soft voice full of remorse.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Micah lifted her head off the pillow and frowned. The sky was dark beyond the curtained window. Had she fallen asleep? The last thing she remembered was riding in the car. Sully must have carried her inside then put her to bed.

She stretched an arm out to touch him, needing that reassurance that only he could provide. Instead of his warm body, she found a cold, empty space. Disappointment owned her.

The house was too quiet. Fearing everyone had abandoned her to deal with Natalie, she threw the blanket off her legs then sat up. Her head swam
, and she immediately considered lying down again. Surely it was just an aftereffect of nearly drowning. Perhaps Sully was right and she should have gone to the hospital.

Something or someone moved in the shadowy corner of the room. The rustle of clothing forced her heartbeat into her throat
, and goose-bumps rose on her skin. She struggled to untangle her legs from the sheet. “Who’s there?”

There was a shift in the darkness as someone moved closer. Micah snapped the bedside lamp on to bathe the room in warm light. Surprise trickled down her spine like a drop of cold water.

Azrael stepped out of the corner, a fond smile on his face. His bright blue eyes twinkled as Micah struggled to understand what he was doing here. He sat on the end of the bed then grasped her hand. “I do not have much time to spare, but I wanted to make certain you truly are okay.”

Micah stared at their clasped hands. So many questions burned on the tip of her tongue. What came out was the one bothering her the most. “Was I supposed to die today? Was Ben meant to kill me?”

“Kelly…” His voice took on a soft warning tone. His eyes looked at everything but her.

She didn’t remove her hand from his, though she wanted to. Instead, she stared at their clasped fingers. “I’m Micah now. I don’t want anything to do with Kelly Banks or her messed up life.”

“You remember?”

“Yeah, not all of it though. I remember enough to know I don’t want any part of her life back.” She sighed and relaxed her shoulders. “Honestly, I wish it was all still a mystery.”

Azrael licked his lips then glanced at the bedside clock. It read half past eight. “For that, I am truly sorry. You must have been so afraid, so confused.”

She slanted an incredulous glare at him. “You might say that. Do you know how many foster homes I went through before someone took pity and adopted me? No one wanted the crazy girl who saw ghosts.”

“I should have come to you sooner, but I seldom leave my office,” he said as if he were merely a workaholic.

“You could have made an exception.” Remorse and a bit of anger tinged Micah’s voice. “I was abandoned by you,
by my parents. Toward the end, even my adopted family wanted nothing to do with me.”

He smoothed a hand over their clasped ones then glanced at her. There was honest sincerity in his gaze. “Your mother, your real mother, didn’t abandon you. She thought she could keep you away from the
Grimm’s life if she didn’t expose you to it. She tried to hide you from me, gave you up in hopes of saving you. She regretted it immediately and tried to change her mind.”