J. Nelson: Free Agent

Grimm reached down and took my good hand. “This is my home now, and in it, you are what I make you.”

I winced and looked away, waiting for the wrenching healing to begin.

“Marissa, here I am not limited in my abilities.” Grimm spoke softly, patiently.

I opened my eyes in time to see a burst of light wash across me. Warmth like fire raced along me, tracing my wounds, numbing the pain. The thorns dissolved like butter and the cuts healed. My skin grew tan and smooth. I wished Grimm would heal like that more often. Only the scars remained on my hand, tracing out in white the handmaiden’s mark. “You can’t do anything about this?”

“I’m afraid not. Your scars are not something I can take from you.” A table appeared behind him. “You said once I’ve never had you over for dinner.” Food grew on the table from a vine, with goblets and platters. “It never occurred to me to, shall we say, turn down the volume on my realm. Would you like to have dinner?”

Though I no longer ached, I was tired beyond all knowledge. “I want to go home. Rain check?”

“Out through the mirror is a more difficult task,” said Grimm, “but one I can handle. We’ll go through fae to retrieve Ari, and that means you must sleep. I would not have you ruined for your home by the journey.” A portal sliced itself out of the air, and through it came the colors and sounds of fae, pale against the colors here. “Do you trust me?”

A bed appeared, a luxurious four-poster bed with deep satin sheets and silk pillows. As I touched them, all the weariness of six years came on me. I barely managed to climb in before my head became too heavy to keep off the pillow. Grimm leaned over and tucked me in.

“Sleep, my dear, and dream.” Sleep wrapped around me like a warm blanket, and took me home.

I dreamed we traveled down a tunnel made of diamond, but the diamond moved in waves like the ocean, and mighty voices thundered around me as I passed. The Fae Mother came to me, gliding on the wind.

I trembled when she reached out to me.

“Peace. You do not need to fear my touch here. The Princess has restored our Seal. We have ceased our war. But yours is only beginning.”

I remembered her words so long ago when she blessed me. The Black Queen would come. I would drink of a river of pain.

“You must tell her. She must become what she is, if there is to be hope.”

“Who, Ari?” I asked, and she nodded. Behind me, I realized Ari traveled with us, her eyes shut tight. My bed had changed into a box that looked disturbingly like a coffin.

The Fae Mother brushed my cheek. “You will bring the end of the world, and carry its hope.” She drifted away, carried by the wind. We sailed on a river of rainbow, until darkness wrapped me and I truly slept, until I heard his voice.

“Go on, kiss her,” said Grimm. “It is traditional.”

I opened my eyes, and I saw Liam’s face. He smiled at me in that way I had waited so long for, and I flung my arms up around him. I was free. He was mine.

I STOPPED BY the Agency on my way out of town, and of course Liam went with me. Jess asked for one more look at Liam’s curse. I watched him through the normal monitor, almost as pleased to see him shirtless as he was to see me.

Jess had him turn around enough times that I figured she was no longer looking at the curse. “That’s one hell of an entanglement.” She shook her head.

“I’ve seen worse,” said Grimm. “It’s been a couple of millennia since then, but with two of you working on it, I’m certain you could earn enough Glitter for a cure. I doubt it would take more than a couple of decades.”

I let out an offended gasp. “What happened to the ‘No Men’ rule?”

“I’ll make an exception in this case.”

“No thanks. I’m looking forward to getting back to doing art.” Liam put his flannel shirt back on, buttoning each row with care.

“I could use the services of a half-dragon,” said Grimm, and he morphed into his temptress form, a lush woman with purple locks of hair. “And you’ll love the way we sign our contracts.”

I hooked my arm into Liam’s and pulled him toward the door. “Vienna, Grimm. We’re taking some time.”

“I’m well aware of that. Leaving me to handle cleanup from the largest war in sixty years. I’ll be overseeing reconstruction of Kingdom for the next six months, so don’t think you’ll get out of it.” I shook my head. “Running DNA tests on the remains of half of Kingdom’s army isn’t my idea of relaxation.”

Grimm shifted back to his usual self. “Well, I’ve got offers for work in the old country. In case you get bored.”

I tossed Ari the keys to my apartment. “You’ll keep an eye on it while I’m gone?”

She looked at the key ring. “No car key?”

“I want you alive when I come back.”

Jess came over and put her hand on Ari’s shoulder. “I taught Evangeline how to drive. I can teach anyone.”

Ari turned a little green. “I don’t have anywhere else to go. Mother’s banned me from Kingdom, I don’t have a job. I was supposed to marry for happiness.”

Grimm cleared his throat. “In light of past events, I’ve been considering an opportunity for new agents. I offer medical, dental, and employee education plans. You’ll need the medical and dental more than the salary.”

“Sorcery?” said Ari, a note of hope in her voice. She practically beamed with excitement.

Grimm crossed his arms and gave her a stern look. “College, young lady. A smart agent is an effective agent. Though were you to excel in your normal studies, we might negotiate access to other training resources.”

I shook my head. “I thought you had a ‘No princesses’ rule.”

“Rules are made to be broken,” said Grimm.

Ari sat back in the chair, her eyes closed.

“Of course, young lady, there’s the matter of how we sign our contracts.”

“Not gonna happen.” Ari threw a pen at the mirror for emphasis.

We walked out without looking back. Ari would be fine. We rode down in the elevator and caught a cab for the airport. I snuggled up to Liam and put my head on his chest. He put an arm around me and squeezed me so tight my ribs hurt. “Is this the ever after I keep hearing about?”

I thought about the prophecies I’d heard from the Fae Mother. I ran my fingers over the scars on my hand and made a decision. I couldn’t get back what I once had. I didn’t know what might come. But I could enjoy the now. “I don’t know, but at least I’ve got the happy.”