Chapter 18
Ariel noticed a man with dark hair standing at the start of the obstacle course.
He directed people either to WANC or to other agents.
The suit he wore screamed, “I’m an agent.
” Ariel figured that must be Agent Park.
Paige stood next to him. A grim expression darkened her delicate features.
The counselor’s usual loose, black hair was pulled back into a low ponytail.
The sun reflected in her silky hair, giving it a glossy sheen.
The light also shimmered in the greying hair at Agent Park’s temples.
The rest of his hair was spiked in various directions, at odds with the serious tone of his suit.
He glanced at the three women as they neared him, his eyes inspecting them for injuries. “You need to go to the hospital wing, cadet,” he said to Joline.
“I’m alright if you need to ask us questions first,” Joline reassured him. From Ariel’s visual assessment, her wounds seemed superficial only.
The agent nodded. Before he could start in with his questions, Paige asked, “Do any of you know what is in the lake?” Her dark eyes locked on the tall creature, wading its furry legs in the cool water up to its hips.
A soft coo escaped the beast’s beak as it ruffled up the feathers around its head.
Ariel assumed the thing was perhaps a griffon hybrid with its mismatched furry predator body and bird head.
Although, since it stood on two legs and didn’t have wings, she couldn’t be sure what Grimm was aiming for.
Maybe nothing. The more she thought about it, there was no logic behind Grimm’s choices. Just madness.
Ariel and Joline exchanged glances. “We think it’s harmless,” Joline started as Ariel gave a shrug.
“We also think it may have been a shifter that Grimm…” Ariel searched for the right words.
“Turned into that creature.” She sighed, thinking back to how she hurt it.
While she needed to incapacitate it in that moment, she still felt bad.
“I may have used my brass knuckles on its kneecap. And ankle.”
Paige’s eyes widened. Before she could chew Ariel out, Joline interjected, “It was trying to bite me with its giant beak.”
“I’ll send someone out to take it to the hospital wing,” Agent Park said before turning the conversation back to his task.
“We’re hoping that, with Grimm and his henchmen caught, they’ll talk.
We’re not sure how many labs Grimm has hidden and hope to eradicate them all.
Did he brag to you three about anything? ”
The three of them shook their heads. “It seemed more that he wanted to lecture us on being bad experiments who were no longer listening to their master.” Ariel shuddered. She couldn’t believe all his narcissistic traits went over her head before. Now that she saw it, she couldn’t unsee it.
“I-I shut h-h-him… up,” Gabby added with a sly smile. She rubbed at the shoulder with the droopy wing as if her body remembered too well the pain it endured while shutting him up.
“What about the daycare plot?” Ariel asked. She didn’t think Grimm would give the agents any power against him. He’d not talk no matter what.
Paige smiled. “I helped Agent Talbot interview the amphiptere. We made it seem like we would withhold the venom antidote until he talked. He didn’t know that we decreased the strength of your venom and it is no longer poisonous.
” She shrugged. “It seemed an appropriate time for a little white lie. The paralysis venom you gave him was already wearing off, but he didn’t seem to realize.
So he told us exactly what the plot was, and we’ve confirmed all the children are safe. ”
“What about Grimm’s plan with the county jail?”
“It seemed he just wanted to attack a vulnerable population. It was the same reason he chose the children. The amphiptere told us everything,” Paige explained.
Agent Park nodded. “I’m sure we can motivate some of the henchmen you helped us catch today to tell us the location of the rest of the labs. There were some things the amphiptere didn’t know.”
Ariel felt a strange sensation wash over her body.
Relaxation. Or relief perhaps? “So it’s finally over?
” She looked to Paige, wondering if this was some kind of prank.
Like the agent would start laughing and tell her Grimm was still on the loose and planning to nab her in her sleep.
After the man attacked her in the morning, she’d thought she’d be looking over her shoulder the rest of her life.
Paige beamed at her. “It’s finally over. Except…”
Ariel felt her stomach drop. This was the bad news she had feared. Maybe they decided she wasn’t being honest enough about her plan to catch Grimm. Letting the hippos loose was probably a bad idea, and all of it was going to add up to her being locked up again. Or worse.
“I think you need to keep up your Survivors of Grimm Club in addition to weekly therapy.” Ariel stared at her dumbly, thinking she heard Paige wrong.
When Ariel continued to give the classic deer-in-the-headlights look, Paige continued, “Look at how much progress you’ve made since starting it!
” A look of pride brightened Paige’s face.
Ariel stood straighter, glad someone was recognizing her progress.
Some days it felt like Joline was the only one who believed in her.
Especially since she was really putting the work in now.
Jennifer was right. She’d only been doing the bare minimum before.
“I plan to.” She glanced around, wondering where the club members were.
She wanted to congratulate them all on helping to put Grimm where he belonged: Behind bars.
As if understanding what Ariel was looking for, Agent Park explained, “Some of them are in the hospital wing. With minor injuries only. I bet they’d really want to see you.” Even the agent smiled at her. An actual agent was happy with her. That was different.
Ariel reached over to grab Joline’s hand.
She laced her fingers through hers. “I guess we’ll go check up on them.
” She gave Joline’s hand a gentle squeeze.
Happiness swelled in her chest. She was so happy Joline took a risk and decided to be her friend.
Ariel didn’t know where she’d be if Joline hadn’t invited her to eat with her the day they met.
Joline winced as the antiseptic was applied to her cuts.
It stung and burned at the same time. She reassured herself that the pain meant the antiseptic was doing its work.
That didn’t mean she had to like it. Ariel held her hand the whole time, giving it a reassuring squeeze when she jumped from the initial sting.
“Sorry,” the nurse apologized. “I’m almost done.”
Joline decided that since they finally had a moment, she could ask what had been on her mind the other day. “Why had you been avoiding your brother?”
Ariel winced slightly as if the thought was painful. “It sounds dumb now, but I think I was avoiding him because I wasn’t ready for the truth.”
“What truth?”
“That Grimm was the bad guy.” Ariel’s brow furrowed. “I should have talked to Anson the second they let me. Maybe I would have learned that lesson sooner.”
Joline brushed some of Ariel’s hair out of her face before cupping her cheek. “You weren’t ready to talk to him then. But you are now.” Ariel gave a nod before beaming a grin up at Joline.
As if catching wind of Ariel being in the hospital wing, members from the club started crowding around the door to the examination room. Their excited chatter filtered into the room in waves. Their excitement was infectious. Joline smiled despite the sting of the cleaning solution.
“I think your fans can’t wait to talk to you.” Joline gave Ariel’s hand a squeeze.
“Why me?” One of her auburn eyebrows raised in confusion. She didn’t seem to know she had a fan club.
“You helped them bring down the monster of their nightmares. After everything Grimm took from them—and you—you gave them their lives back.”
“But...” Ariel turned to look at Simon and Arty as they talked rapidly to each other in the hall.
Siman was smiling ear to ear. Even Arty’s beak appeared to give a grin, though it was always hard to tell what expression his beak was emoting.
“They don’t have their lives back. They’re still a mashup of animal parts. ”
Joline put a finger on Ariel’s jaw, pulling her face to look back at her. “That doesn’t matter. They don’t have to worry about Grimm. Ever again. Regardless of what they look like, they can move on. And they really connected with each other to reach a common goal. You gave that to them.”
“I did, didn’t I?” Ariel’s face brightened with pride. She looked so beautiful when she smiled.
Joline leaned in, giving Ariel a kiss. Joline’s body hummed with pleasure. “What do you say to finishing up the party we started?”
Ariel grinned ear to ear. “I doubt the agents would let us back on the obstacle course with it being an active crime scene and all.” She gave a chuckle. Joline smiled back.
“I’m sure Huggie will have us covered.” Joline knew no one loved throwing a party more than Huggie. And they all had a great reason to celebrate.