![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.shilohwalker.com\/website\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/01\/GrimmTidings50.jpg\" "\\"Grimm")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cYou can chase death a little too closely.\u201d<\/p>\n
Death was no stranger to the Grimm\u2014men and women who dealt with the demons who managed to cross over into the mortal world.<\/p>\n
The three men stood there, staring down over the edge of the building into the alley below, watching the bloody, brutal battle taking place. Will\u2014their leader\u2014watched the woman closely. Few others knew him by any other name. Their leader was rather closed-mouthed, especially about himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho is chasing death? Finn?\u201d The blond at Will\u2019s side cocked his head as he studied the Grimm with a knack for fire and fondness for firearms. \u201cOr the baby Grimm?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIs it hard to figure out, Rob?\u201d Will murmured.<\/p>\n
Rob smirked in response.<\/p>\n
No. It wasn\u2019t hard, not for anybody with eyes. Finn fought like a hellion, but he fought like a hellion with a focus.<\/p>\n
The woman, though\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cShe doesn\u2019t seem to care if she lives or dies,\u201d Rob murmured. \u201cAs long as she kills things.\u201d His eyes\u2014the strangest eyes\u2014glowed red in the dark, a sign he was either pissed off or amused. Neither boded well. Rob was the dangerous sort when he was pissed. When he was amused\u2026 Hell. He was the dangerous sort no matter what.<\/p>\n
But he\u2019d been the most dangerous when he\u2019d chased his own death hundreds of years earlier.<\/p>\n
The other man, Jacob, stood with his hands linked loosely at his back. His eyes were a cool, flinty gray and although they were nowhere near as odd as Rob\u2019s, they were still unsettling. As he stared at the duo fighting in the alley below, he eyed the woman\u2019s technique\u2014it was flawless. She knew how to fight. She was green, but that was to be expected. She was still young\u2014he could feel it.<\/p>\n
He knew her name. Celine. A lovely name\u2014graceful. It suited her.<\/p>\n
Most of the Grimm this side of the Atlantic knew who she was. She\u2019d crossed over nearly four years earlier and she\u2019d gone through more trainers in those four years than any ten Grimm usually went through in the same time frame combined.<\/p>\n
Sometimes new ones went through a rough patch and needed an adjustment period. Just not such an extensive one.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t that she was a bad student. She learned fast, she trained hard and once she\u2019d figured out what she was supposed to be doing, no demon put in front of her stood a chance.<\/p>\n
Grimms were made to kill demons and she did it very, very well.<\/p>\n
She just might become a legend among them. A legend among legends\u2026strange, that.<\/p>\n
If she survived.<\/p>\n
That was a big if<\/em>.<\/p>\n Her fight wasn\u2019t about the mission. She hadn\u2019t become the whirlwind he saw before him because she cared all that much about what they were doing. It was, to her, a means to an end. She fought like there was no tomorrow, because she didn\u2019t want<\/em> a tomorrow.<\/p>\n She fought because she wanted to die. It was all but etched upon her skin. Her problem was that she was just too damn good at what she did.<\/p>\n But sooner or later, that luck would run out. And as he watched, it almost happened\u2014too fast for any of them to even stop it, considering how far away they stood.<\/p>\n A silver flash caught the faint light as a demon came up behind her. If it weren\u2019t for her trainer, Finn, she would have been toast. Finn was pyrokinetic and he used that handy little talent for fire to eliminate the other demons who managed to surround them. As the flames ripped through the alley like an inferno, Finn stormed up to Celine, his face tight and angry.<\/p>\n Celine didn\u2019t look like she appreciated the save.<\/p>\n \u201cWill, what do you expect us to do with her?\u201d Jacob slanted a look at Rob. \u201cAnd are you actually expecting the two of us to work together with her?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. But one of you will be the one to get through to her.\u201d A faint smile curled Will\u2019s lips and the simple silver disc at his neck glowed. \u201cIt will be one of you\u2014because there aren\u2019t many left who have the experience to guide her. She\u2019s gone through most of the others I thought could help her. So it\u2019s down to one of you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDown to one of us?\u201d Rob stroked a finger across one eyebrow. \u201cSo did you save the best for last or hope like hell you wouldn\u2019t need one of us?\u201d<\/p>\n Will\u2019s mouth twisted in a humorless smile. \u201cTo be honest, I never thought it would be one of you. But today I\u2026had a feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n A feeling. Yes, Will\u2019s feelings were another thing of legend. He had \u201cfeelings\u201d and cities rose and fell, saints wept and angels bled.<\/p>\n The Grimm, usually. They were<\/em> angels\u2014of the guardian variety. And they could bleed. It wasn\u2019t unusual for one of Will\u2019s feelings to lead to bloodshed. The Grimm were a tough lot and they could heal just about anything short of losing their heads, which, all things considered, was a good thing.<\/p>\n \u201cSo this feeling,\u201d Jacob asked, \u201cdid it say which one of us, or are we here just to see if you can have us both manage to be in the same hemisphere without killing each other?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve both been in the same hemisphere for six years now and you haven\u2019t killed each other,\u201d Will chuckled. \u201cNo. I wasn\u2019t sure which one. You\u2019ll both be connected to something that\u2019s coming up for her. I don\u2019t know how. I can\u2019t see that clearly. But I suspect the one who can help her will feel it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat girl down there needs serious guidance, Will. Everybody knows what a mess she is, but you\u2019re moving down the food chain.\u201d The glow in Rob\u2019s eyes glinted hotter, redder, as he crouched down, almost animal-like, one hand gripping the edge of the building. \u201cI\u2019m the biggest head case among a party of head cases. And that one?\u201d He nodded at Jacob. \u201cThis chit\u2019s problem is that she can\u2019t stop living in the past, right? She\u2019s only been one of us a few years. Jacob though? He\u2019s still dragging his chains after close to two hundred years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWill, bear in mind, if you expect me to work with that imbecile, I\u2019m likely to use any chains I might carry to strangle him.\u201d Jacob had worked with Rob. Once. Nearly one hundred and fifty years ago. It had ended in a bloodbath\u2014for them. Not the demons. Jacob had spent nearly two weeks in stasis, the healing sleep a Grimm needed when the damage was too extensive. Rob had needed a few days of downtime himself, even though he was somewhat older than Jacob.<\/p>\n It was a well-known fact Rob and Jacob didn\u2019t get along. At all. It hadn\u2019t been a joke about keeping them in different parts of the world. For a very long time, Will had done just that.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry. I need to bring the girl down to earth\u2014make her accept her reality. Only one of you can do that. And I think the right one already knows who it is.\u201d<\/p>\n Jacob wore a silver pendant around his neck. The other Grimm wore one like it, a silver disc, etched with wings, upswept. And right now, Jacob\u2019s pendant was pulsing, throbbing, heating from within. The medallion wasn\u2019t just for decoration. It served as both a reminder, a connection to what he was, who had made him\u2014and in times like this, it could be a silent nudge.<\/p>\n This time, though, he hadn\u2019t needed it. He already knew.<\/p>\n He\u2019d known the moment he saw the girl she was for him.<\/p>\n Memory stabbed at him\u2014he was no good at saving people. He was good at fighting and excelled at killing things. Those were his talents. Oh, and reminding people of things they\u2019d rather forget, stripping them bare of all defenses until they had to face things they\u2019d rather die than accept. Nothing else.<\/p>\n Moving to the very edge of the building, he watched as Finn finished banking the fires he\u2019d called. The woman stood off to the side, cleaning her blades and tucking them away, looking cold and unaffected.<\/p>\n She wasn\u2019t, though. Unaffected. There was pain inside her. The power inside him, that monstrous power that had almost driven him mad, pulled at him, teased him\u2026 What lies behind the pain, let us see\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n Jacob pushed it down. He wasn\u2019t going there, not with a Grimm. Her pain was her own.<\/p>\n Turning, he stood with his back at the very edge of the building, the wind slamming against him. It was cold, the bitter edge of winter sharp in the air.<\/p>\n His eyes met Will\u2019s silvery ones and he saw nothing there\u2014no satisfaction, no interest, no curiosity. Not even that keen intelligence he knew existed.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd if I can\u2019t help her, what then?\u201d<\/p>\n Something flashed in Will\u2019s eyes. It might have been relief. But then Will lowered his lids, his gaze shifting away to linger on the woman down in the alley. \u201cWe don\u2019t want that to happen, Jacob. It\u2019s been a long time since we\u2019ve lost one. Let\u2019s not let it happen now.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Excerpt<\/a>…<\/p>\n Preorder<\/p>\n Samhain<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0BN<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"