J. Nelson - Free Agent

I ignored their stares and walked down to the hole the troll had smashed in our hallway. Outside, smoke billowed from an alleyway across the street, and sirens wailed. The explosion had blown out every window for a block.

“M, I think Grimm did it,” said Evangeline as she came up to survey the carnage. “I told him there was a Dumpster with a huge blob of silver on it, and he started glowing. The mirror in my office melted.”

Ari and Liam peeked out of the door and came walking down to join us. Ari pushed past me to get a better look. “What was that?” We watched as the fire trucks gathered and began to spray foam.

“Only Grimm knows,” I said.

Liam jogged down the hall and came back a moment later, having retrieved Grimm’s mirror from his office. He carried it with ease and leaned it against the corner so that Grimm could see.

“Thank you, Mr. Stone.” Grimm’s voice sounded like he was almost laughing. “I think that will send an appropriate message.”

I stepped out of the way so that Grimm could see better. “What exactly did you do?”

Grimm started laughing. “I sent a message to the new fairy in town. It’s tragic. A satellite misfired and fell to earth. Quite fortunate that it missed everyone and obliterated a Dumpster. A miracle, really.”

“You crashed a satellite to destroy a Dumpster?” asked Liam.

“I didn’t have an asteroid handy. I sent a message to the party responsible for your close encounter of the troll kind, Mr. Stone. That sort of mirror is intimately linked to the fairy who empowers it, and I’m sure right now she has a nasty burn or two. I wouldn’t have risked anyone else coming into contact with her anyway.”

I watched the firefighters spray foam on the fire. “I’m not sure that’s an appropriate response.”

“That’s exactly what the dinosaurs said. Kindly return my mirror, when you are done appreciating my handiwork.” Grimm faded from view.

I realized Liam had been staring at me the whole time. I’d never understood why it was that men saw me in a bikini and didn’t look twice, but if they saw me in a bra, it was scandalous. If I’d known I was going to be modeling for Liam, I’d have chosen the push-up bra.

He caught me looking at him and turned away. His face wasn’t angry anymore, but I knew I’d killed my only chance at a relationship. Or had I? I left him there in the hallway and went back to get my shirt. By the time I was done getting dressed, Grimm’s mirror was back in his office. I had business there, so I went to finish our discussion.

“Grimm, did you send the cops after Queen Thromson?”

“According to her law firm, she only created enough apples to defend her family.” Grimm’s tone said he felt the same way about that claim that I did.

“Bull. You show them the records Ari found?”

“Marissa, I believe the bulk of those apples were actually delivered to Kingdom forces. My ears tell me Kingdom believes they can win a war against the fae if need be. That means someone has given them the means to do so. The authorities are not inclined to quibble over a few illegal weapons when a threat like the fae wait in the wings.”

“So she makes a bunch of weapons for them, keeps a few for herself?”

Grimm nodded. “It appears so.”

“So the question is, how did she know the fae were coming? What about the curse?” I stood up and walked to the armory wall.

“I’m certain she’s responsible, but I can’t prove it.” The frustration in Grimm’s voice was palpable. “Someone blurred her position with a spell such that I can’t tell where she was or was not. Even if she did perform the curse, since it only affected a commoner, we’d have no legal recourse against her.”

So Ari’s stepmother would get away with trying to curse another royal simply because she hadn’t succeeded. “You still have my potion?”

“Second column, third down. May I ask why you would want it?”

I slid out the box and it opened for me without a sound. In the black velvet lining sat the love potion the Isyle Witch had given me. “I need it.” I ran my fingers over it. A tingle shot through my hand, and I curled my fingers around it.

“Marissa, I do not think that is wise.”

“I can fix things. You say magic is a supplement for your mind. It’s no different than you using a potion on Mihail.” I started to slip the potion into my pocket and my hand went numb.

Grimm spoke from the chrome shelving before me. “My dear, I do not think you understand what you are suggesting. These are completely different situations.”

I felt his power radiating out along my arm, holding it still. “Let go of me. You said it was mine. I’m taking it.” I struggled to move my hand, but it hung limp at my side.

“Please, Marissa. Put it away. Allow me to explain.”

“I said I’m taking it, Grimm. If you want a potion, pay for it yourself. I know you’ve got the Glitter.” A cold pulse of energy rushed from the vial, and my eyes locked onto the door to his office. I was done. This discussion was done.

“It’s not about the magic,” said Grimm, his eyes narrow, his face red. “You don’t understand what you might do, and I won’t allow you to harm yourself like that. Put the potion away, Marissa.”

I felt my hands move of their own accord and watched them put it back in the box. I fought with all my might, but all I could do was induce a tiny tremble. My hands slid the box back into place and he released me.

He had never done that before. Ever. “You . . .”

“I’m sorry, my dear. You gave me no other choice.” He wouldn’t meet my eyes.

“You made me.” My voice shook as I said it, and my face felt hot. I was dizzy and nauseous, and my throat felt like I swallowed the desert.

“Marissa, I don’t enjoy—”

“Don’t. Just don’t.” I summoned every bit of willpower I had and the cold emotional wall I had used so many times on so many princes. I walled it away, the fear, the feeling of being violated. “I’m going into Kingdom.” My voice was cool and calm, a facade I prayed I could keep up until I was out of his office. “I’m going to go see if Clara left anything behind, Godfather.”

He didn’t say anything.

I went straight to my car, and found Liam and Ari waiting in the garage. Pink sutures stuck out of Liam’s head like tiny ribbons. I left the Agency, wondering how I’d ever bring myself to come back.

I spent the next hour fuming in the car as it crawled toward Kingdom. There’s a traffic jam in Kingdom every single day, caused by the bleed over from the Avenue underneath, and we sat in traffic going nowhere when he spoke. I kept my hands on the wheel to keep them from shaking.

“Did that really happen?” Liam asked.

“Trolls? Wolves? Portals? Yeah.” Every inch of me wanted to scream at him to leave me alone, and at the same time I wanted to wrap my arms around him and close my eyes and forget about being Grimm’s marionette. I couldn’t do either.

“No. What the Godmother showed me. Your parents put you up to that deal.”

I shoved away the fear and the pain, putting on my mask of fearlessness. From behind the wall of cold it was easy to answer now. Easy to see what my life had been, and what I had done. “Yeah, it’s real. All of it.” We sat in silence and inched a half a car length forward.

“What is it like working for him?”

I held up the bracelet. “Most days it’s like a job. Some days a good job, but it’s never a choice.”

“So can he make you do something?”

I tried the next lane over in hopes it would move faster. It didn’t. “He could. His requests aren’t requests at all. So you do what you have to do, and you tell yourself it’s what you want to do, because in the end it’s the thing you are going to do.” I glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Ari staring at me. She knew about not having choices.