Page 103 of The Ripper

Me:

Crude.

Grimm:

Realistic.

I shook my head as laughter bubbled in my throat and threw the phone on the couch to continue unpacking.

I was just about to hang my clothes in his uselessly large closet when the fire alarm snapped me out of my happy trance.

The uneasy feeling returned to my stomach and made me freeze on the spot for a moment before leaving the boxes as they were and running to the elevator. I pressed the button fifteen times before I realized that in case of fire, all elevators dropped to the first floor, and stayed there.

“Shit, shit, shit.”

I ran to the door we never used, stumbling on my feet on the way, then struggling to open it as if it was the first time I was opening a door. I was wearing fluffy slippers, my underwear, and one of Grimm’s black T-shirts, and in my panic, I forgot to take my phone. I heard it ring on the couch right before the door closed behind me with a soft click.

I didn’t have a key to it.

I chewed on my lip until the blood seemed to freeze in my veins and every fine hair on my body stood up as I looked around. The hallway was empty because his apartment was the only one on the top floor.

When I reached the stairwell and looked over the railing, dozens of people were hurrying to get outside, all already near the first floor, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I too began to descend the stairs.

It was just a fire. There was no need to panic.

Grimm had guards at every entrance, so all I had to do was reach one of them and wait for him to come back with the keys.

I was fine, I was safe.

Someone laughed behind me, and when I looked up, a man I didn’t recognize was looking down at me with a crooked grin on his face. The air caught in my throat as I recognized the brand on his neck, the tattoo I used to wait for when I was young, and I pushed my feet to run.

And I ran.

Down thirty-five flights of stairs, while the laughter didn’t stop, seemingly coming from everywhere and nowhere at once, mocking me and my attempt to escape, and the heavy footsteps lazily descended behind me, almost as if he knew he was going to catch me.

One of my slippers slipped off, and when I reached the last step, I tripped over my own feet and fell to my knees.

I winced and stood up as quickly as I could, feeling the sweat running in rivers down my back while my eyes looked from one door to the other. The one on the left led to the lobby, and the one on the right led to the alley.

I had no idea where all the other people went, left or right, but I assumed that any human being would choose to go outside when faced with a fire, so I decided to go right.

I chose wrong, because as soon as the cold wind touched my heated skin, I bumped into a hard chest and two arms wrapped around me, but they weren’t his arms.

They weren’t the arms of the man I loved.

I slowly tilted my head up and I found myself facing dirty blonde short hair, a clean-shaven face and eyes that were a perfect copy of my own.

“Es hora de que vuelvas a casa[14],” my brother said as I felt the prick of a needle on the side of my neck.

I whimpered as my vision blurred and my knees knocked against each other, then I was picked up, my eyes rolling to the back of my head as I heard a car door closing.

“Grimm,” I whispered.

The darkness swallowed me.

CHAPTER 20

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

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