Blind Destiny: Grimm's Circle, Book 7 [retail mobi] (9 page)

My mind was still struggling to process those words as he walked away.

Hell. I was still struggling to process them thirty minutes later when I got to the room.

I wanted to ask him to say it again.

I wanted to apologize.

But the room was empty.

Luc was gone.

It was almost an hour later before Natasha was able to leave.

An hour later, her nerves shot, so frustrated—

When she saw the crew waiting out the lobby, she thought she might just cry. She let herself go straight to Lee’s arms, drop her head on the other woman’s shoulder and take a deep, shuddering breath.

But she wasn’t going to break.

“What happened?” Fiona whispered, her voice hoarse from crying.

Natasha just shook her head. Not here.

Not here.

“They don’t know
anything
?”

By the time she was done with the story, the sun was rising.

Coming in through the window where they sat hovering over tea and coffee, liberally laced with some kind alcohol—Natasha wasn’t sure what it was, but it was
strong
—they sat drinking and listening as Natasha told them what had happened.

There was only thing she kept quiet about.

And she couldn’t even explain why.

Except…well, the woman didn’t appear to be part of the police department. Nobody there seemed to know who in the hell
she
was. Natasha wished she could throw off that uneasy feeling about her, but she couldn’t. Maybe she’d feel better about her if she’d talk about the weird occurrence, but what was there to talk about? Some seriously strange bitch showed up, asked a few questions and disappeared.

End of discussion, right?

Absently, she stroked her nail down the line of one of the black roses that climbed up her right forearm. “You don’t think he could have had a heart attack, do you?” she asked softly.

In the pit of her stomach, that just seemed off. Jake had been healthy—healthy as a horse. One of those fitness buffs, always eating the right thing, doing the right things.

“I don’t know.” Lee leaned against her, her head resting on Natasha’s arm.

Normally, Natasha would have hugged her, but just then, she wanted to edge away.

She
wanted
to be alone. Desperately.

Instead, she just sat there,
feeling
alone, although she was with her best friends.

Minus one.

Swallowing the knot in her throat, she shifted her head to stare outside.

“We need to call Neil,” she said softly.

“Yeah.” The quiet chorus of murmurs went around the room.

“Then we should all get some rest.” Fiona stood up, looked at each of them, settling into the mama role as she did so well.

They nodded.

Yeah. Natasha would get some rest. Then she was going to get her ass out to that house, damn it.

She might not be able to finish what she came here for—her plan had just been screwed up so bad, but she’d at least see in the Christou house. One time in her life.

The run on the beach wasn’t brutal enough.

Being one of the Grimm had its pitfalls and its advantages. Being able to live on a diet of junk food, beer and Yoo-Hoo wasn’t a lousy thing, at all. He didn’t mind that he could eat the richest, most fattening, artery-clogging food and never have to worry about it affecting him.

But the flipside—it took a lot to push his body to the very limit and the beach here just wasn’t the kind of grueling terrain he needed.

If he could get to the mountains and run for several hours, that would do it.

Still, he managed to find some peace. Krell loped along at his side and when the dog needed some rest, he dropped down onto the sand and through his link with his animal, he watched as the sun crept up over the water.

He missed the colors.

He imagined the sunrise coming up over the ocean was a spectacular sight. Back before Perci had left, when they’d still been partners, they’d traveled here a few times, but he’d never been to this particular part of the country.

Krell whimpered.

Stroking a hand down the dog’s neck, he felt the dog tremble, wiggling a little. “What’s the matter, old boy?” he murmured.

The dog swung his head to the left, ears pricked, eyes watchful. He wiggled more and sat up, barking a little. It was one of those questioning little yips and Luc frowned as he felt the dog’s urgency.

He stared down the beach, but he didn’t see anything. Didn’t feel anything.

Didn’t hear—

Then he did.

The breeze kicked up a moment later and he caught the faint scent that Krell had already picked up. A pang of longing tugged at his heart. Followed by a twist of rage as he sensed something else. Misery and unhappiness.

A child.

He thought of his own babes—children taken from him before he’d even known them. So long ago.

He rose. “Find him, Krell,” he murmured. “Let’s go find this boy.”

It took another run, but it was easy, maybe three miles down the beach. As he rounded the bend, he saw the boy ahead. Young, he could see that right away, but he’d already figured that much out, just from what he’d sensed of the boy’s mind. Young, scared, scarred and sad.

He slowed to a walk before he got close enough for the boy to see him and then he pushed his sunglasses down onto his face. Although it had been dark when he slipped out of the room he was sharing with Sina, it was habit to keep a pair on hand. When they had to deal with mortals, many of them were odd around Krell—either they didn’t want to let the dog into their business establishments or they wanted to pet him. It was different once people saw the dog as a companion animal, although more than a few times, people had attempted to take him to task over having a malamute for a companion animal.

None of that would be an issue right now. He wanted the boy to see the dog first and focus only on the dog.

Children relaxed more around animals than they did around adults. Especially scarred, scared children who carried as much sadness as this one seemed to carry.

Gripping the harness, Luc automatically moved into the more cautious mannerisms he used when he played at being human. Even though the boy wasn’t as likely to think anything of it, it was simply another habit.

As he drew closer, he sensed the boy’s surprise. Sensed that he was thinking about bolting, then curiosity as he saw Krell. Curiosity that kept him in place.

A few feet away, Krell gave a polite little yip.

“Is somebody there, boy?” Luc asked.

Krell yipped again.

Luc didn’t turn his head toward the boy, although he heard him breathing, even smell the bread he’d eaten for breakfast. He could also smell the boy’s unwashed skin, all but smell the misery and the exhaustion on him.

“Hello?” Then he scowled and scratched his head and said it again in stilted Greek. He had to blend, after all. Blend and play the bumbling tourist.

When the boy spoke, his voice was nervous. “I speak English.”

“Oh, good. Hi there. I didn’t think I’d meet anybody up and about this early.”

He moved a little closer, stopping when he felt the boy’s mind icing up with fear. So much fear…

“Do you mind if I sit down? Krell and I were on a walk—he loves them, but he wears me out.”

“I do not mind.” There was a pause and through Krell’s eyes, Luc watched as the boy came a little closer, plucking at a threadbare pair of jeans. “Are…you cannot see?”

“No. I was born this way.” Not exactly a lie, Luc figured, seeing as how he’d be reborn into this life sightless. He patted Krell’s head. “He’s my eyes.”

“He is beautiful. May I…” the boy paused, his face scrunching up. “I would like to touch him.”

He sensed Krell’s intention and placed a heavy pressure on the dog’s mind before the silly animal could start begging for attention. Krell knew better. He hadn’t been trained as a companion animal—he was
Luc’s
companion, but Luc wasn’t exactly the typical blind person and it wasn’t wise for a boy to go and pet a companion animal. “He is working right now, I’m afraid. If I go letting him get attention right now, he won’t want to work and then he might think he can get lazy on me and not take me back to the hotel. I’d be in trouble then. He’s only allowed to play when he’s off his leash. I hope you understand.”

The boy looked even sadder, so sad that Luc almost relented, but he’d hate for the boy to make a mistake later on that could cause problems. “You can sit by us, if you like,” he offered.

A few minutes later, the boy settled by them, keeping several feet between them. Krell cast him longing looks. The boy did the same thing. It was rather pitiful and Luc felt like a bastard.

“Are you always up and out so early?” he asked. He nudged Krell with his knee. “I had this hairy oaf dragging me out of bed, but if it wasn’t for him, I’d still be sleeping.”

“I like it here early.” It came out in a near whisper. Krell wasn’t looking at the boy, so Luc couldn’t read what was on his face, but his mind was a tangle of fear and misery.

An ugly twist of it.

Images slammed into Luc and he lapsed into silence as he went through them. Angry voices. A fist. Hands clenching tight into skinny arms. Hunger, the kind that was an aching pit in the empty hole of one’s belly. Fear and shame—

So much of it.

Pressing lightly at the boy’s mind, he saw more. Too much.

Confusion. Memories that went further back. That angry voice—the boy’s mom, Luc thought—softer now. Kind and gentle. Full of love. Dancing in the sunlight.

“Have you lived here long?” Luc asked softly.

“Two years,” the boy said quietly.

“Hmm. It’s a pretty spot. I’m thinking about moving here myself—”

“No.” It came ripping out of the boy, torn from the very soul of him.

Don’t. People who come here die—I’m going to—

Well, hell.

Reaching up, he closed a hand around the pendant he wore around his neck.

Mortals used cellphones, emails, Facebook and the like to communicate. The Grimm had their pendants. Magical little things, really. They were all identical, silver circles etched with upswept wings. If one stared at them long enough, one might see the words—they would start to glow. A language long dead.

Handy things—they didn’t run out of batteries. They didn’t stop working in tunnels, in elevators, underground or when the power went out, and they didn’t run on a server that could be crashed or hacked, either.

The bad thing? They only worked with one other person.

Will.

Will, the angel in charge of their merry band of lunatics.

A man Luc would very much like to hurt just then.

As the pendant pulsed and warmed in his hand, he sent out a question.

Is this boy in danger
?

He didn’t bother explaining who the boy was, how he’d met him, any of that. Will would know. After all, this was Will.

He might not be the omnipotent Almighty, but he wasn’t far from it. Omnipotent, that is. Will was too big a bastard, too callous and arrogant to be anything like God.

Mere seconds passed before Luc had his answer.
Everybody in that village is in danger, Luc. That’s why you and Sina were sent.

Luc blew out a pent-up breath, turned the problem over in his head and pressed upon the boy’s mind a little more. Cold. Hungry—

Had slept on the street last night, with a blanket he’d taken from his room. He was too afraid to sleep in the house, but his mother had gone looking for him.

No. Just…

No.

Come get the boy.

The pendant grew heated, almost singing his palm, but Luc ignored it, keeping that connection.

I cannot bring a boy here. And your job isn’t the boy—it’s much bigger than just one child
.

Smiling a little, he leaned back on his hands and stretched out his legs.
Yes. It is. And if you don’t come get this boy, right now, I will remain here until you do. I do not care if it takes weeks. It’s not like I have to leave to eat. Sleep. Any of that mess. I’ll just wait.

This time, Will didn’t bother warning him through the pendant. His voice was a raging bellow in Luc’s mind. Luc closed his eyes.

“So,” he said to the boy. “How long do you usually stay here?”

“Until people start to come,” the boy said, unaware of the battle raging inside Luc’s mind. “Then I go to a different beach. It’s rocky. Not as many people go there.”

“Perhaps you can show it to me,” Luc said. Will’s voice ratcheted up a bit more and he inwardly winced. “I don’t always fancy company myself.”

“I do not know. It is a hard walk.”

Patting Krell, Luc said, “That isn’t a problem. Krell is a good guide.”