Wish Bound (A Grimm Agency Novel Book 3) by J. C. Nelson Read Free Book Online Page A

routine once before, and hiding, running, those things never worked. This time around, I’d try something different. I’d fight her every step of the way. I pushed away Liam’s tail. “So tell me, Fairy Godfather. What’s the plan?”

Five
    GRIMM DISAPPEARED AND remained gone so long I figured he wasn’t coming back. In the ensuing quiet, Liam slowly transformed back into his normal self. The scales melted from his skin, which faded from red to tan. His limbs slimmed down, losing claws. As usual after one of his romps, he snored, and I let him.
    When a crew of Kingdom police burst into the court, I honestly thought we were going to get another round of dragon rampage, but Grimm had apparently notified the rest of Kingdom’s government about the Black Queen’s intrusion. They offered Liam a towel, then ushered us out of the court, sealing the doors behind us.
    Liam looked back, wistfully. “I wanted to check that place out. Looked like a nice hangout.” He walked down the street, arm wrapped around mine, a towel wrapped around his waist.
    “We have got to work on your sense of style.” I’d never change him. Didn’t want to. Didn’t want him to change at all. My thoughts turned to Ari, and I put my hand to Grimm’s bracelet. “Grimm, how’s Ari?”
    Grimm appeared in an oil stain, distorted like a rainbow. “The ritual to re-anchor her soul is complete, my dear. She is spending time with her Seal to complete her healing, and will return to work tomorrow.” Without waiting, Grimm faded away.
    “What do I do now?” I watched an ogre pass by, its trainer sitting on the ogre’s shoulder, guiding it through the streets.
    “I don’t know. I’ll be with you, though. What did she say to you?” Liam waved to a couple who’d apparently never seen a half-naked man walking down the street. Which meant they must have been tourists; I saw at least one buck-naked man on the way to work, every day.
    “She said I had to get my affairs in order and arm myself. Let’s head to the gates. My purse got left in the Forest.”
    “My wallet was in my clothes. Sounds like a great day for a walk.”
    So we strolled together, through the crowds, out of Kingdom. Just outside the Gates of Kingdom, a delivery van pulled up. From the driver’s seat, out stepped Mikey, in his brown Agency uniform. “I was out making deliveries, and Fairy Godfather sent me to pick you up. He said you need to come now.”
    •   •   •
    WE ARRIVED BACK at the Agency, where I kept seven spare sets of clothes, a spare set of keys, everything except an extra driver’s license. I went straight to Grimm’s office while Liam sang in the Agency showers, belting out show tunes from the fifties.
    With a sigh, I flopped down in one of his chairs. “Grimm, any chance of retrieving my purse from the Forest?”
    “We could retrieve the scraps and ashes, no doubt. The goblins are purging everything associated with the Black Queen with fire.”
    The buzzer rang, and Rosa spoke in fluid Spanish, more words than she’d said to me in three months. Grimm answered in English. “Bring her right in.”
    “Ari?” I shot to my feet, grabbed the door, and opened it to find Mrs. Pendlebrook. Wyatt’s mother, ex–High Queen of Kingdom. Taller than me, with pale blue eyes and silver gray hair, she radiated majesty in a way that didn’t at all affect me. “You aren’t Ari.”
    She brushed past me. “Your friend and my son are both still in Fae. Frankly, I think that’s for the best given the situation here.” She sat in one of Grimm’s chairs, placing her purse in her lap. “Fairy Godfather, how may I assist you?”
    Grimm bowed his head to her, earning a dour frown from both of us. “Mrs. Pendlebrook, you are aware of the Black Queen’s attack on the Court of Kings?” He disappeared, leaving an image of the court in his mirror, the kings and princes frozen in place.
    “Of course I am. I would offer Arianna and Marissa shelter, but while I