Grimm: A Novel In The Nate Temple Supernatural Thriller Series (The Temple Chronicles Book 3) (4 page)

Indie held up a hand, stalling Gunnar’s impatience. “I got this. I speak Nate.” She didn’t try to hide her words. She turned to me, face deadpan. “Oh, Nate. You’re so witty and clever. Why did you take us to your oh-so-secret underground lair? No, please, tell us. We can’t take the suspense.” She said voice monotone and dripping with sarcasm.

I scowled, and she winked, cracking a smile as she lifted her hands in a bow as if to tell Gunnar,
See
? She took all the fun out of it. I turned my back on them to address the door.

“No, really. Why are we here?” Indie asked seriously this time, peering over my shoulder with an affectionate squeeze as I struggled with the rusted lock on the door. I began to answer with the prearranged, carefully-crafted lie on the tip of my tongue, but then I had a thought. Thanks to the sprite, I now had a justifiable excuse for wanting to stop by here. I didn’t need to lie to cover the truth from her.

“I have a small vault down here as a precaution against the bookstore ever being robbed. I keep several things down here. The books the Grimms want are here. Lucky us, right?”

Gunnar studied me suspiciously, but didn’t speak the question on his mind. If the sprite’s visit was unplanned, why had I coincidentally known how to get to this place so quickly on a convenient vampire-hunting trip? I shrugged at him with a smile, silently urging him to drop it.

I finally wrestled the door open to loud screeching, which made me shiver.

The wolves had to have heard
that
.

I strode over to the hidden safe, the room comfortably illuminated by the sprite’s presence on my shoulder. Several bookshelves lined two walls of the small storage room, filled with important looking books, but they were just a front. I plucked a seemingly random loose brick free from the far wall to reveal a digital safe keypad. I heard grunts of surprise behind me but ignored them as I punched in the code. It beeped once, and a three-foot section of the brick wall swung silently towards me on well-oiled hinges, but the brick affixed to the small safe’s door scratched the floor loudly. It had to be a tight fit to remain hidden, so there was nothing to do about it or else it would have been pretty obvious that it wasn’t part of the wall.

I reached inside and plucked two books wrapped in silk from a jumble of random items. I also palmed a loose sapphire ring, glittering with a collection of tiny loose diamonds around its antique edges. The sprite – the only one close enough to see my hands and the contents of the vault – frowned at that, turning her gaze to the side of my face to regard me thoughtfully. I was too close to her physically to return the gesture so I merely pocketed the ring and lifted a finger to my lips, requesting her silence.

“Um, Nate? They’re onto us. Did you get the books yet? If not, maybe we should come back later.” Gunnar asked from out in the tunnel, speaking over his shoulder as he kept an eye out for us. Growling could be heard in the near distance, picking up on the sound of his voice and probably our scent too. They were close.

“Yes, I’ve got them.” I tucked the books into my other coat pocket and shut the vault, carefully replacing the loose brick. The two books weren’t particularly large, more journals than anything. Indie stepped closer to me, but hadn’t seen the ring, thank god. It had belonged to my mother and I was going to use it when I proposed to her.

The growling suddenly ceased and I turned to find five figures facing Gunnar beyond the doorway.

“Wow, did I shake a bag of puppy chow or something?” I asked loud enough for everyone to hear as I stepped out of the room.

The leader stepped forward with a snarl. “Does he have it?” He asked one of his compatriots, staring past Gunnar and directly at me. He was a large specimen of a man, and sported a thick black beard that just touched his chest. They were dressed in casual clothes, grays and blacks, loose fitting, and unremarkable. They all wore heavy hiking or combat boots, as if they had known they would be down here tonight. Which told me this wasn’t a coincidence. The vampires had also been prepared for wolves. Blackbeard’s eyes glittered expectantly in the darkness as he watched me.

One of the other wolves – a leaner, whip-thin scrapper, by the looks of it – took a deep whiff and nodded. “Yes. But he said nothing of the Maker being present. In fact, we are to avoid the Maker at all costs. Punishable by death.” Scrappy warned Blackbeard.

I was more startled to discover that yet another flavor of Freaks knew about my new powers, but I didn’t have time to ask about it. Things escalated rather quickly.

“I know what our fucking orders were, pup!” Blackbeard bellowed as he backhanded the lean wolf without taking his gaze from me, sending the skinny werewolf into the wall with a hard thud. The other wolves shifted their shoulders reflexively but didn’t avert their gaze from our party. They were all different flavors of Hard Ass.
Blackbeard, shorty, rhino, Arian, and scrappy
, I silently nicknamed them in my head.

“Orders. Taking commands.” I waved my hands to enunciate. “Wanting something of mine while tucking your tails between your legs in order to avoid a confrontation with me.” I spoke softly but clearly. Gunnar grunted in agreement.

Indie piped up. “Gunnar, didn’t you tell me werewolves were brave and honorable?”

He nodded. “I had thought so, but we’re just people. Some good,” he studied them each with a glare, “Some who shouldn’t be let off their leashes.” He yawned. Indie looked thoughtful, idly tapping a lip.

I nodded. “Not very impressive at all. In fact, you’re boring me. Getting on my nerves, even. If you want to scrap, shed your human skin and let your fur fly, pups. We’ll oblige. If not, Daddy’s got important things to do. So,
shoo
.” I flicked a dismissive hand.

Indie cocked her guns in the silence. Mr. Arian took a step forward. “Our orders were not to kill you. I can handle that.” He took another step.

Gunnar growled, fists shifting into long black claws sheathed in thick white fur. “One more step and you’re a sack of meat.” He warned, looking resolved but distantly sickened at the potential for upcoming murder. The wolf snickered in doubtful reproach and took another step.

Before his foot touched the ground, Gunnar shifted entirely to wolf form in an explosion of tattered fabric. All I saw in the dull illumination was the Arian looking man standing upright with his throat ripped out. Gunnar stood in his impressive wolf form, muscles bristling, on the other side of the pack, but still between the thieves and us. He growled a warning. The other wolves responded with menacing growls of their own.

Then the body thudded into the water.

Two of the others, Rhino and Shorty, instantly threw themselves forward and Indie’s pistols
boomed
, sending Shorty back into the darkness with a cry. The other sailed right past Gunnar and Indie, straight for me. Of course it was the bigger one, Rhino. I was fueled with plenty of rage at the moment, having anticipated a much calmer walk in the sewers than it had ended up being. The wolf’s outstretched arms had been aimed at my feet, but since I had dropped to my knees, his fingertips managed to instead hit my side before time seemed to freeze. He was reaching for the books, but his hand got caught in the wrong pocket. The force of the burly werewolf’s attack would have folded most people or slammed them to the ground. But I’m a wizard, and I had let him get close enough to touch me on purpose.

You may not know this, but wizards are dirty cheats.

I had needed him to make physical contact with me in order for me to add his momentum to my magic. My fingertips broke the surface of the frigid water. As time seemed to stand still, I exploded upwards, a single drop of frozen shit water resting in the air before my face. My sudden motion caused his hand to tear open the pocket of my coat, but luckily the books were in my other pocket. I flicked my finger and the wolf was abruptly engulfed in a vortex of icy, stinky water. I used the rotating momentum to cast him straight back the way he had come. The explosion of frosty air hit the tunnels like a snow blower, coating the walls and ground in icy hoarfrost, a shining surface that was as slick as quicksilver. The wolf hit it.

And kept right on going at warp speed, right past Blackbeard and the others, fueled by the maelstrom of my magic.

He disappeared from sight and slid down the tunnel quite a ways before the chill began to wear off and the friction increased, hopefully giving him one serious rug burn. I heard a final yelp and then a crumple as he struck a wall that was no longer slick, well out of sight.

I brushed off my hands and turned to the remaining wolves. Only Blackbeard and Scrappy remained in sight, looking startled. “Stomach shots. It won’t kill him, but it will slow him down.” Indie spoke clinically, thrusting her jaw at Shorty’s groaning body.

Blackbeard growled menacingly and turned to Gunnar. “You will pay for that, rogue. Every wolf needs a pack. It’s time you learned your place. The night is dangerous for a lone wolf.”

Gunnar responded by shifting back to his human form. He stood from the ground, looking like a Viking from Norse legends, blood dripping from his mouth. The sprite murmured appreciatively.

He only smiled. “I’ll take my chances.” His pecs glistened with the victorious sweat of a Roman Gladiator.

Either that or icy shit water.

But that kind of killed the sexy factor.

Blackbeard’s eyes were murderous. “Gather the wounded. This wasn’t as we were told it would be. No one else needs to die.” He assessed Gunnar hungrily. “Tonight.” He promised.

Then they were gone. Well, except for the dead werewolf. I looked at Barbie and then at the body. She rolled her eyes at me and he was suddenly gone. Disappeared or destroyed, I shivered to think about. Indie gasped too, and Barbie smiled darkly, licking her lips. I turned away from her. I had plenty of nightmare material already.

A few moments went by before Gunnar confirmed. “They’re gone.”

“Well,” I sighed, “I don’t know about you guys, but I’m exhausted from kicking ass all night. Let’s head back. Gunnar, you’re on point. Indie, in the middle. Barbie, watch our six.”

“Oh, I’ll definitely be watching
his
six.” She pointed bluntly at Gunnar’s prominent nakedness. He blushed. Indie burst out laughing.

“
Professionalism
…” I muttered, shaking my head as they began to follow me. I idly patted my pockets as we moved, my mind struggling to decipher why the sewers had been such a happening place tonight. And the coincidence that Achilles had sent us here, this night of all nights. Then I blinked, slowing my steps. I patted my pocket again more frantically as another second ticked by, feeling only the torn fabric hanging free. I halted, checking my other pocket now, turning it inside out.

I growled a curse as I came up empty handed. “Son of a bitch!”

The ring.

I searched the ground like a madman, scraping the puddles, ignoring everyone’s incredulous faces and questions about what I was doing. I even cast out a bit of my new power, searching with magic for any traces of a small metal object under the filth, but I found nothing but a dented soda can. It was no use.

It was gone.

Rhino must have managed to swipe it when his hands got stuck in my pocket, tearing open the fabric.

I growled darkly as I climbed to my feet, glaring murder at the direction of the retreating werewolves.

Things can always get worse.

Chapter 4

W
e sat in my BMW X5, Gunnar behind the driver’s wheel and Indie in the passenger seat as we headed back to
Chateau Falco
. Gunnar had thrown on some loose sweats and a tee that he always carried around with him in case of needing to re-clothe after a shift. I had also changed into an old gym outfit buried in my trunk, but still stunk to high heaven. Barbie had stuck by our side and was now hovering beside me in the backseat, looking pleasantly naked. I turned my head in embarrassment, which elicited a small smile from her silver lips.

Having survived the night, I was ready for a drink and a long massage, especially after Indie’s very obvious innuendos on our way back to the vehicle. It seemed the sprite’s magic had definitely lit a match in her that I wanted to explore. I cleared my head with a gentle slap to my cheeks.

Later. Business first. Beneath the more life-threatening situation, all I could think about was the lost ring. Had Rhino managed to nab it before I sent him on his icy waterslide? It seemed unlikely, but the bottom line was that I had assumed I was quicker than the lycanthrope gene, and now the ring was gone. I was confident it hadn’t fallen into the muck. I had silently tested the tunnel with magic to no avail. I shook my head. I would just have to ask Rhino about it before my dinner date with Indie in a few days.

He and his pack weren’t likely to want to see me.

I wasn’t likely to be too concerned about that. I would just have to ask nicely.

Also known as
walking loudly and swinging a big stick
.

“So… the Grimms,” I began, desperately needing to distract myself with something other than the ring. Barbie watched me hungrily as if waiting for me to finally tear off my clothes and submit to her allure. Dark sex may be appealing to some, but that was taking it to a whole different level. I shivered at the thought. “I take it that they aren’t too happy with me?” In hindsight, it was a good reason I was down in the sewers tonight. It hadn’t been my intention, but it seemed awfully coincidental that things had gone to hell the very night I had decided to make a trip to my previously secret vault for personal reasons.