Page 75 of Looking Grimm

From his position beside me, Nash offered a hand up. I wasn’t sure my legs would support me yet, so I laid my head against his palm instead. He got the message and stepped closer, guiding me to lean on his leg.

Tobin scowled, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

“And then?” I prompted him. “When it’s over?”

He huffed a short breath. “When it’s over, you should get as far away from here as you can. There’s plenty of people who want to see you punished for crimes past, present, and future.”

“Futurecrimes?” I scoffed. “That’s a new one.”

His expression went deadpan. “It’s a matter of probabilities.”

“It’s bullshit,” I retorted.

Tobin looked at Nash. “Are you gonna chime in on this? That’s why we brought you. To talk to him.” He motioned to me.

Nash cupped his palm against the other side of my face, as protective as he could get without putting himself physically between the investigators and me. “I said I’d talk to him but not on your behalf,” he said. “If I were him, I wouldn’t do shit for you.”

“It’s for him, too. It’s his only chance to live through this. You want him to live, right?”

I didn’t wait for Nash to answer before cutting in, “You still haven’t told me what you need my help for. Well, you did, but it was vague, and I’m fucking tired. Explain it again.”

He launched into a description of a few things I already knew and a lot I didn’t. The media was publicizing the trio of executions as a mandatory gathering. Civilians were being rounded up and corralled by the public stage even now, where they would be lorded over by Grimm’s platoon of grunts. The headliners were Maximus, Holland, and me. I might have been flattered if the crowd wasn’t likely to be rooting for my death.

According to Tobin, I would never take the stage. They were busting me out of the clink to join their two-man army. With his time manipulation powers and Felix’s dumb luck, they needed firepower to put up any kind of resistance against the Bloody Hex. Which made me the heavy hitter, a laughable proposition as I sat slumped against Nash’s leg wearing soggy loaner scrubs and no shoes and my nose stuffed full of TP.

As much as I loved a come-from-behind victory, I hadto break it to them.

“It won’t work.”

My declaration stalled Tobin’s verbal flow midstream.

“Why not?” he demanded.

I blew a breath up into the ragged fringe of my hair, causing my broken ribs to protest painfully. “Your whole idea hinges on Grimm going ahead with the executions after I go missing,” I explained. “Like he won’t think about me, or you, or anyone else trying to foil his shit plan. If he sees this cell empty, he’ll know there’s a plot afoot, and he’ll pussy out.”

Felix shifted his weight from side to side, visibly uncomfortable. “It kinda sounds like youwantus to leave you here.”

“No way.” Nash stepped away so suddenly that I almost fell over. “Absolutely not.”

My nose scrunched. I rocked back against the wall, using it and my good arm to shove myself to standing.

“Can you let me explain?” I asked.

“It’s that damned potion all over again,” Nash argued. “Same play out of the same book.” His expression was severe as he stared at me with his head shaking. “Jesus, Fitch, is there anything you won’t die for?”

He was angry enough that I shouldn’t have antagonized him, but I smirked and sassed back anyway. “Good, clean living?”

Tobin moved forward, waving a hand in a call for quiet. “I’m with your boyfriend on this.” He indicated Nash. “What does it accomplish to leave you here?”

“It lets the show go on the way Grimm thinks it will,” I answered, then wondered aloud, “Whose head’s gettingchopped first? Is there an order of events, or a setlist, or something?”

I looked from Tobin to Felix as the latter answered sheepishly, “You’re first.”

I nodded. “Perfect.”

“Notperfect!” Nash exclaimed.

“Nash, will you gimme a goddamn minute?” I snapped.

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