Page 74 of Looking Grimm

Tobin approached while pulling a set of handcuff keys from his pocket. He crouched at my side, and his lips pursed as he scrutinized me. “I hoped you’d be in better shape, but this’ll have to do.”

He tugged on my uninjured shoulder, encouraging me to lean forward and give him access to my shackled hands.

While he worked the tiny key in the lock, I asked, “Have to do for what? Stumbling out of here? I’ll manage.” Even as I said it, a half dozen body parts sparked with pain.

“More than that.” Tobin grimaced and glanced aside. “There’s no easy way to say this…” He drew a breath but didn’t speak before Felix chimed in.

“We need your help.”

As I looked from one investigator to the other, my slack-jawed expression shifted into an incredulous grin.

“You’ve gotta be shitting me,” I said.

The cuffs hit the floor with a clatter, and I brought my hands around to rest in my lap. My dislocated shoulder was less cooperative, and I was already dreading having to forcethe joint back into its socket.

Tobin stood and repocketed his keys as Felix said, “We know you’re innocent.”

“Ofrecentcrimes, at least,” Tobin grumbled.

I’d committed plenty of crimes recently, but it didn’t seem prudent to correct him.

“Fine, I’ll bite,” I said. “What do you need my help with?”

“Saving our boss,” Tobin replied. “And stopping yours.”

“I told you,” Felix interjected. “I don’t think he’s with them anymore.”

I shook my head. “I’m not. The opposite, in fact.”

Tobin propped his hands on his hips as he replied, “The opposite of with the Bloody Hex is with us, and you aren’t that, either.”

Whatever relief I’d felt at Felix’s support was replaced by the bitter resentment I’d been steeped in for days. “I gotta say, Toby, you’re making it real easy to turn you down on this.”

“Fine, then,” Tobin snapped. “Go to the guillotine and die. That’s your option. Help us, and you’ll at least have a shot at survival.”

“You say ‘us,’” I began. “Who else do you have? You two plus…? Where’s Holland? Briggs?”

“They have Holland.” Felix twisted the toe of his loafer against the floor. “And Maximus.”

“Briggs?” I pressed.

The investigators shared an uncertain look before Tobin gave a strangled cough. “We haven’t found him,” he admitted. “Or anyone else. Alive.”

Nash emerged from the bathroom, his cheeks colorlessand eyes misty. He held a wad of toilet paper, and the fingers of his empty hand had curled into a fist. He looked down at me.

“Vinton did that?” His head angled toward the open doorway at his back.

The ripped curtain, water-stained walls, and trail of blood told the parts of the story I had not. I gave a scarce nod.

Nash held out the tissues for me to take. “I’ll kill him my damn self,” he growled.

“By all means,” Tobin said.

I wiped my face, then set about rolling the paper between my fingers, making little bullet-shaped balls to stuff up my nostrils. I was preoccupied enough that it took a moment for the investigator’s statement to register.

When it did, I peered up at him. “You’re greenlighting us killing people?”

Storm clouds rolled across Tobin’s face. “Given the circumstances, I’m willing to stay out of your way.”

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