Grimm: The Killing Time (17 page)

Just when she feared the Wechselbalg had figured out she was on to him, he said, “Sure.”

She managed a smile before turning and heading for the kitchen once again. She felt the Wechselbalg watching her go, and she suddenly felt awkward, as if she was unbalanced and ungainly. But she made it out of the living room without the Wechselbalg doing or saying anything, and once she was in the kitchen, she took out her phone and began texting Nick. She knew she didn’t have long until the Wechselbalg became suspicious and came looking for her, so she kept her message short.

Shapeshifter is here. I’m okay. Come fast.

She hit SEND, then tucked the phone back into her pocket. She got a bottle of water from the fridge and then returned to the living room. The Wechselbalg was no longer sitting on the couch. He was walking around the room, looking at pictures and knick-knacks, a slightly lost expression on his face, as if he was trying to remember them but couldn’t. It seemed that while the Wechselbalg had managed to copy some of Nick’s memories, he hadn’t copied them all.

She wanted to keep a safe distance from him without making it obvious, so she went to the couch, sat, removed the cap from the bottle and took a sip.

“How was work tonight?” she asked.

He turned around and looked at her.

“Why ask me that? You know what I really am. I can see it in your eyes.”

Cold fear gripped her as the Wechselbalg started walking toward her.

* * *

Nick and Hank had been patrolling the streets of Portland for the better part of an hour. Monroe and Rosalee had remained at the spice shop to contact the Wesen on their call lists and continue researching. Renard had left the shop at the same time as Nick and Hank. He was also patrolling the city, while presumably calling his various Wesen contacts to elicit their help. Knowing Renard’s somewhat Machiavellian personality, Nick had no doubt the man had any number of contacts in the city—hell, probably across the globe—that he could call on when needed. But whoever they were, Nick feared they wouldn’t be enough to cover the whole city.

One encouraging development was the traffic. It wasn’t as if the streets of Portland were suddenly clogged with vehicles, but there was a marked difference in the number of cars out compared to a normal night. Then again, Nick thought, there weren’t really any normal nights in this city, not since he’d started working as a Grimm.

“Looks like the Wesen are getting out of Dodge,” Hank said. “I think we just passed a family of… What do you call the ones that look like rhinos?”

“Dickfellig,” Nick said.

Hank chuckled. “I know. I just like to make you say the word.”

Nick scowled at him. He was about to comment on his partner’s juvenile sense of humor, when a flash of movement on the sidewalk caught his eye. Someone was running down the street, a Seelengut from the look of her. The sheep-like Wesen wore a red hoodie and black yoga pants, but her feet—which were more or less human—were bare. Some Wesen were graceful and powerful when woged. Others not so much. Seelenguter tended to fall into the latter category. The woman was
trying
to run, but her motion was more like a fast shuffle, her arms hanging limply at her sides, as if she feared she might unbalance herself by using them.

Following behind her at little more than a fast walk was a cat-like Wesen that Nick figured for a Klaustreich. While Klaustreich were technically predator types, they tended to be scavengers rather than hunters. More alley cat than jungle cat. But he supposed that thanks to the
Ewig Woge
, the Klaustreich’s feral instincts had been strengthened and brought to the surface.

“Hank!”

“I see them.
Really
see them. Hold on.”

Hank yanked the steering wheel hard to the right, and the Charger’s tires squealed as the car skidded to the curb. Nick didn’t bother complimenting his partner on his parking job. He shoved the door open, got out of the car, and made it onto the sidewalk in time to intercept the Seelengut woman. She let out a bleat of surprise as she bumped into Nick, and he took hold of her shoulders to steady her.

“It’s all right,” he said quickly. “I’m a police officer. I’m here to help.”

But his words didn’t seem to reassure her. If anything, they upset her more. She tried to pull free from his grip, turning her head from side to side as she did, as if she were trying to avoid meeting his gaze.

“Don’t look at me!” she shouted. “Let me go!”

She’s not just afraid of the Klaustreich
, Nick thought.
She’s also afraid because she knows she can’t hide her appearance.

“I know you’re Seelengut, and it’s okay,” he said. “I won’t hurt you.”

“But
I
might.”

The Klaustreich had slowed his pace to what Nick thought of as an insolent stroll. His fur was black with patches of white above the eyes and around the mouth. The Klaustreichen that Nick had encountered had possessed eyes that looked like a fifty-fifty blend of feline and human. But this one’s eyes were all cat. Another sign of the
Ewig Woge
’s effects?

The Klaustreich wore a scuffed black leather jacket, a white turtleneck, jeans, and sneakers. He kept his hands in his jacket pockets as he approached, and Nick heard a soft, throaty rumbling. The man was purring, he realized.

The woman looked over her shoulder at the Klaustreich, and the sight of him so close—he was less than ten feet away—caused her to forget her fear of Nick. She pressed herself against him and said, “Don’t let him hurt me!”

“Keep your distance,” Hank said in an I’m-a-cop-and-don’t-mess-with-me voice.

The Klaustreich gave him an amused look, clearly unimpressed, but he did as Hank asked and stopped walking.

If this had been an ordinary situation, Nick would’ve gently placed the woman at arm’s length, and then he and Hank would’ve begun questioning her and her pursuer to find out what was going on. But this was nowhere near a normal situation, so Nick allowed the woman to continue clinging to him.

“What’s your name?” Nick asked. It took her a moment to reply.

“Allison,” she said.

Nick nodded, then turned his focus to the Klaustreich. “What about you?”

“You can call me Sylvester.”

“Don’t be a smart-ass,” Nick said.

Klaustreichen had a reputation for being the jerks of the Wesen community, and it seemed this man was determined to do his best to live up to that reputation.

The Klaustreich let out a long theatrical sigh. “Fine. My real name is Donald.”

“That’s not much better,” Hank said.

Donald shot him a dark look, but didn’t comment.

Allison kept sneaking glances at Donald, and Nick felt her tremble in his arms.

“What happened, Allison?” he asked gently.

She kept glancing at Donald as she spoke. The Klaustreich looked equal parts amused and bored.

“I—I was at work when I felt a woge coming over me. Not a regular one, either. This was different somehow. Stronger. I was on drive-thru, so I yanked off my headset, grabbed my hoodie, told the manager that I wasn’t feeling good, and got out of there just as the change hit me. I scared a customer who was walking into the restaurant, and that’s when I knew everyone could see me. See me like
this
, I mean. I pulled up my hood and kept my hands in my pockets and started walking home. Normally I take the bus, but I couldn’t get on when everyone would see me as a Seelengut.”

Allison hadn’t said where she worked, but it was obviously a fast-food joint of some kind. She could’ve caught the
Ewig Woge
from a Wesen customer, and then in turn passed it on to other Wesen who came to her drive-thru. At this rate, most of Portland’s Wesen community would be infected by sunrise, Nick thought. If not sooner.

Hank turned to Donald. “Where do you come in?”

Before he could answer, a passing motorist honked his horn and shouted, “Kick-ass costumes!” out the window as he drove by.

“Damn it,” Nick muttered. Similar scenes were probably playing out across town. Humans spotting fully woged Wesen and taking them as people wearing costumes or—if they got a close-up look—thinking they were seeing monsters. How long would it be before the city had a full-scale panic on its hands?

“I asked you a question,” Hank said to the Klaustreich.

“I was out clubbing when the woge came over me. I rushed out before too many people saw me. Luckily, most of them weren’t in a condition to trust their senses, if you know what I mean. So after I left the club, I tried keeping to the shadows while I attempted to get my woge under control—with no luck. And then I saw
her.”

Nick wasn’t used to seeing Wesen fully woged when first encountering them. Usually he saw their human aspects first and then witnessed them change. Seeing Allison and Donald like this made it hard to judge their ages based solely on appearance. But now that he’d heard both of them speak, he figured them to be in their late teens or early twenties.

Donald continued. “She was walking on the sidewalk. At first I couldn’t tell she was Wesen. Like she said, she had her hood up. But I was intrigued by the way she walked. Or
tried
to walk. She kept wobbling and stumbling, as if her legs weren’t working right. I thought she might be drunk or high, but then she stopped to take off her shoes, and that’s when I realized
why
she was having trouble walking. She was Seelengut. It was obvious she was struggling to control her woge, and since I was similarly affected, I thought I could help her. And—selfishly—I hoped she might be able to shed some light on what had happened to both of us. But when I approached her, she did a major freak-out. She looked at me as if I was a starving Blutbad, screamed, and ran. Seelengut aren’t always the most graceful creatures—especially when they’re afraid.” He glanced at Allison and smiled. “No offense.”

In response, Allison pressed against Nick more tightly.

“Why did you follow her after she ran?” Nick asked. Something wasn’t adding up here. If the Klaustreich had the
Ewig Woge
, he should’ve been displaying signs of increased aggression. But he’d been doing his best to paint himself as a Good Samaritan, and working just a bit too hard at it.

Donald shrugged. “I wanted to see what she’d do.”

Nick exchanged a look with Hank before turning back to Donald.

“Explain.”

Donald rolled his feline eyes skyward, as if he couldn’t believe how dense Nick was being. “I followed
because
she ran. It’s an instinct thing. Besides…” The Klaustreich’s mouth curved into an inhuman smile, revealing needle-sharp teeth. “I thought I might be able to have some fun with her.” As if to demonstrate what sort of fun he was talking about, he took his fur-covered hands from his jacket pockets and extended his claws. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t have marked her
too
deeply.”

He let out a hissing laugh that made the hair on the back of Nick’s neck stand up. Klaustreichen might not be as bloodthirsty as some Wesen, but the
Ewig Woge
had intensified Donald’s natural feline curiosity and casual cruelty to the point where he reveled in tormenting Allison. Maybe he was telling the truth about not wishing to kill her. Maybe he was lying. Or maybe once he began spilling her blood, he’d find himself unable to stop, thanks to the
Ewig Woge
. Whatever the outcome would’ve been if he and Hank hadn’t come on the scene, Nick was glad they’d stopped Donald from hurting Allison any more than he already had.

“We should haul your furry ass down to the precinct and book you for assault,” Hank said.

“But I haven’t done anything,” Donald said, his tone all innocence. “Except offer my help to a frightened woman who overreacted.”

His smile widened, and Nick found himself thinking of the Cheshire Cat. He didn’t think Donald would be vanishing into thin air any time soon. Too bad. It would save them the hassle of dealing with him if he did.

Nick looked at Allison. Normally, he’d ask if she wanted to press charges against Donald, but given the way they both looked at the moment, he couldn’t take them to the precinct.

“My partner and I could give you a ride home,” he said. Then he looked to Donald. “As for you, I’d go straight home, pack a bag, and head to the Hafen. This… condition is affecting Wesen all over town. We don’t know how long it will last or if we can find a cure. Until then, the best thing to do is lie low.”

“And keep your claws to yourself,” Hank added.

Donald dropped his mocking attitude. “It’s
that
serious?”

“Sure is,” Nick said.

Allison began to tremble even harder in his arms, and he feared she was on the verge of a full-scale panic attack. If the
Ewig Woge
had intensified the natural timidity of her kind, it could be manifesting as uncontrollable fear.

“It’s okay, Allison. Everything’s going to be—”

Before Nick could finish, Allison tore free from his arms, spun around, and ran toward Donald. Nick and Hank were so surprised by her actions that they could only stand and stare as she reached Donald, lashed out with one of her hooves, and struck him a solid kick to the knee. There was the sharp sound of bone cracking, and Donald yowled in pain. His leg buckled, and he fought to maintain his balance. But Allison gave him a hard shove, and he fell to the sidewalk, yowling even louder as his knee struck concrete. Allison didn’t stop there, though. She began kicking Donald in the face as hard as she could.

Nick shook off his paralysis and ran forward to stop her. He grabbed hold of her and pulled her away from Donald. She managed to get in a last kick before he got her far enough away from the Klaustreich.

“What the hell are you doing?” he demanded as he turned her around to face him, well aware that by doing so he was risking a hoof to the head. He expected to find her features twisted into a mask of hate by the
Ewig Woge
. But instead he saw wide, terror-filled eyes, flaring nostrils as she breathed rapidly, and trembling lips.

“I won’t let him hurt me,” she panted. “I won’t!”

Nick realized she hadn’t attacked the Klaustreich out of anger, but rather from fear. When confronted by danger, all creatures experienced a flight or fight response. Nick had removed the option of flight when he’d stepped in to help her. She’d been left with no other choice but to fight.