Chapter 7

7

We returned to the hotel and pulled right into a loading dock door, meaning we avoided the crowd building out front. The curse worked overtime bringing Cinderella hopefuls, and I had to note that while single available princes were rare and often caused commotion when they appeared, I’d never seen this kind of frenzy before. It was further evidence of the curse morphing, becoming more intense. It made me worry what kind of darkness it might have in store.

Killian appeared amused, murmuring, “Satin, ribbon, and taffeta vendors must be raking in the dollars.” This in response to the number of ball gowns being worn. Although I had to wonder how many of the women had been visited by a fairy godmother. Mine had not mentioned if she acted alone or if an army of them existed. How insane would that be to have dozens or hundreds of women waving wands around and transforming rags into dresses?

Once we entered the suite, I pulled out my laptop and began running the names on the guest list through the various databases I could access, looking for anyone with an arrest record. I also reviewed any pings on social media that might be cause for concern or indicate someone received one of the invitations that Killian hadn’t sent. Of those I found, most appeared to be ordinary women, suddenly in the grips of the Little Ash curse.

Since the hotel chose to send up a lunch of soup and salad—on the queen’s order—Gerome popped out and fetched us pizza. We weren’t allowed to touch it until the Knights had a piece from each box. The pie surprise had left them even more alert.

As for me, the incident baffled. What did that rhyme have to do with the Little Ash curse? And why send it to Killian?

When I excused myself to use the washroom, as I washed my hands, the air sizzled and poof!

Fairy godmother stood there with me. A good thing the luxury hotel suite had a large bathroom or her wide skirt might have made things cramped.

“Hi, again,” she chirped.

I leaned against the counter. “Back so soon? The ball isn’t for a few more days.”

She grimaced. “I’m aware. However, I thought I’d check in with you since the curse is nagging. One Godmother and hundreds of Cinderellas is making it hard for me to find time to eat and sleep.”

Well, that answered my previous thought. “Do you have to grant all of them their wishes?”

“Only the authentic ones who are getting screwed like in the story. For example, I had one girl beaten black and blue by her mother for stating she’d be attending the ball and marrying the prince.”

My mouth rounded. “That’s awful.”

“Agreed. Rather than dress her for the ball, I took her to another state and put her in a women’s shelter. She won’t make it back in time and will hopefully beat the curse.”

“If it helps, I don’t have any urge at all to throw myself at Killian.” A relief. Yes, the prince could be charming, and most definitely handsome, but I felt nothing. The man invading my dreams wore a different face. At the same time, the Levi I interacted with when I closed my eyes resembled nothing of the man I knew in real life. The former actually smiled and liked me.

“Don’t be so sure you’re safe,” Godmother warned. “You’re one of the strongest pulls I have. So be careful. The Grimm Effect can be devious when it wants a certain outcome.”

“I wish I understood why. Like, where did this magic come from? Why is it determined to make us live out fictional fairytales?”

“Can we really understand aliens?” her cryptic reply.

Before I could say anything else, someone knocked at the door. “Agent Jones, are you okay?”

“Fine,” I loudly stated to appease Levi, even as I wondered why he’d be listening in on me in the first place.

“I hear you talking, yet your phone is out here.”

“Just having a chat with my fairy godmother.”

A reasonable answer, unlike his response, which involved kicking in the door.

Me and Godmother gaped at him and the gun he had pointed at her.

“Who are you? How did you get in here?” he barked.

“Once upon a time, people called me Agatha.” The initial shock quickly wore off, and Godmother smiled. “And you are the boy who killed his father to escape his curse.”

My eyes widened. “You killed your dad?” I wondered what tale that was associated with.

“He had good reason, dear girl. His father made a bargain with the Nixie in his swimming pool. Riches in exchange for the life born in his home, which turned out to be Levi. Unlike the original tale, where the father keeps the child far from the evil spirit, he tossed you in without a fight.”

“How do you know that?” Levi barked. “That information is classified.”

“Unfortunately, I know more than I ever wanted to.” Agatha’s lips turned down.

I glanced at Levi. “How old were you when your father gave you up?”

“Hours old, and he assumed I drowned, only the Nixie kept me alive. Took care of me. Raised me.” He sighed. “But she wouldn’t release me. Or should I say couldn’t because of the terms of the deal brokered with my father.”

My brain quickly did the math. “He had to die for you to go free.”

“Yes.”

“And in doing so, Levi broke the curse. The Nixie in the Pond hasn’t afflicted anyone since,” Agatha announced.

I blinked, trying to organize my thoughts on all this new information. For one, Levi wasn’t like the other Grimm Knights, who were people caught by the curse, but in a good, not bad way, and had been turned into heroes, the kind that thrived on tracking, hunting, and saving the world. For another, Levi had broken his curse, cured the world of it. But how was that possible?

“Why did his refusal to follow the story break it, but others, like me, who didn’t marry the prince, are still dealing with it?”

At my query, Agatha shrugged. “I’m sure there’s a logical reason. However, I couldn’t tell you what it is. I can only assume each story has a different condition. In his case, the story went off on a different tangent from the beginning and culminated in his father’s death.”

“Who died?” Killian suddenly appeared behind Levi. “And who is this? I didn’t know we had a guest.”

“Move back, Your Highness. I’ve yet to ascertain if this intruder poses a threat.” Levi still had his gun pointed.

I slapped the barrel. “Stop it with the macho-man stuff. Agatha is my fairy godmother, and she wouldn’t hurt me. She wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“And yet I’ve inadvertently done so.” She sounded so sad.

“It’s not your fault the Grimm Effect forces you to act.” I patted her arm.

“I’m so tired of it, though. We must find a way to put more of the stories back where they belong, in their books,” Godmother emphatically stated.

A weird statement, but then again, could anything about this be categorized as normal?

“You’re the fairy godmother?” For some reason, Killian retreated and made the sign of the cross.

Odd until the realization hit me. “He’s afraid you’re here to make us get married.”

“Oh dear me no. I doubt that would break the Little Ash Girl curse.” Godmother shook her head.

“What would, then?” I asked.

“I don’t know. I mean jilting the prince obviously didn’t. I’ve also seen some Cinderellas refuse to attend the ball, and that had no effect.” Agatha tapped her chin.

“Someone has to die.” Levi’s stark assessment.

“Not everything needs to be killed,” I retorted.

“And yet didn’t killing the huntsman solve the Little Red Cap curse?” he countered.

“Yeah, I’d rather not have to croak,” I huffed.

“Me, either,” Killian interjected. “I’d marry before I went to that extreme.”

“Agreed.” I nodded in solidarity.

“Perhaps you can figure it out. In the meantime, I’m being tugged in so many directions. Until we meet again…” With that, Godmother faded from sight.

Levi glowered. “Fucking magic.”

Whereas Killian looked pensive. “With the fairy godmother on our side, surely we stand a chance?”

I wouldn’t be so sure. The last time she got involved, I’d almost gotten forced into marrying an old pervert.

Killian and I spent the rest of that afternoon and early evening discussing the Little Ash curse in detail. I pulled up reports of previous incidences involving it.

It was Killian who pointed out, “I don’t think it wants us to die.” Indeed, we had a few cases where the prince killed his intended and one where the Cinderella slit the throat of her prince on their wedding night. None of those halted the recurring storyline.

“I guess that’s a relief,” I stated, “but, at the same time, brings us back to the dilemma of how to make it stop.”

“Any Cinderellas get divorced?” Levi sat in the chair opposite me with a mug of coffee in hand, prepared by his bodyguards to ensure no foul play.

“Yes. Happens all the time once the fairytale magic and excitement wear off.” People caught in the grip of the curse didn’t realize how the Grimm Effect manufactured emotions.

“A dilemma for sure,” he stated.

I packed up my laptop. “I should get home. My menagerie is probably getting hungry. Can someone call me a taxi?”

Hannah pushed away from the small kitchen bar in the main living area. “I’ll drive you.”

For a second, Levi opened his mouth, and I expected him to object. Instead, he nodded. “Take her straight home and make sure you see her inside.”

I rolled my eyes as we left. “Is he always that paranoid?”

“No. But given this mission is different than usual, I’m thinking he wants to cover all his bases.” Hannah offered an excuse.

“No one cares about me,” I huffed.

“The prince might. You two seem to be getting along rather well. Guess it helps he’s easy on the eyes,” Hannah teased. The woman, who’d been caught in the Hansel and Gretel curse, had a naughty and sometimes dark sense of humor.

“We get along, but there’s no spark.”

“Spark is important,” she agreed. “But sometimes not enough if the other person is stubborn.”

I glanced at her. “You sound as if you speak from experience.”

“Nope. I’m not cut out for a romantic relationship.”

“I’d like one, but the moment guys realize I’m an actual Cinderella, they get all weird.”

“Weird how?”

“I had one date who wanted me to wear these ridiculous stilettos so he could suck on the heel.”

Hannah blinked at me as we reached the SUV. “Um, yeah, that would be a hard no from me.”

“Ditto. Then there’s the ones who think I will be their built-in maid. Also, a hard pass.”

“Men are jerks.”

“Agreed.” I happened to glance up at the hotel, all the way up, where the lit penthouse windows were tiny specks of light, and yet I could have sworn I saw a shape in one.

Watching.

As we drove off, I said, “Mind swinging by the bureau so I can grab my car?”

“I take it Levi gave you a ride this morning from the office?”

“Actually, he gave me a lift from my place. He insisted on taking me home last night after the elevator fiasco.”

“He did?” Hannah took her eyes from the road for a second.

“Yeah, even did a scout of my place, although I don’t know for what. I don’t have anyone targeting me.”

“Levi doesn’t do things without reason.”

“If you ask me, he’s convinced there’s bad guys around every corner.”

“In our line of work, that’s often true.” She swerved to avoid the green goblin that darted across the road.

“The Little Ash Girl story doesn’t have bad guys, just an evil stepfamily, and in my case, since I have no family left, it was coworkers.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. How did your parents die?”

“Nothing fairytale related. Mom died having me, and Dad got caught in a house fire when I was at camp.” A camp for misbehaved girls, which, no surprise, didn’t apply to me. The irony being my stepsisters could have used it, but the fire took them, along with my stepmom and papa.

“My parents gave up trying to be responsible when I was young. At times, I’m pretty sure they didn’t even remember they had a kid. Best choice I made for myself was running away. Scrounging for food is what led me to Gerome and eventually the witch.”

I already knew he wasn’t her brother, a variation on the tale. “You have to wonder how much the curse has to do with the tragic events that shaped some of us caught in the Grimm Effect,” I mused aloud.

As she stopped for a red light, some pigs trotted across, followed by a bulky figure in a trench coat with impressive sideburns. I fired a quick text to the bureau to advise them of the location. We had someone attempting to track down the little pigs to keep them safe from the wolf that would try to eat them. They’d proven to be wily at hiding.

“Which is your car?” Hannah asked, pulling into the parking lot for my work.

I pointed to the small electric smart car, nearly identical to Belle’s, as we’d bought the same model a year apart. Though Blanche hated them, I found them less scary than Blanche’s motorcycle. The lot had quite a few vehicles still parked, which had me frowning. Had people already gone back to work?

“What’s wrong?” Hannah asked as she parked beside my vehicle.

“I guess the exterminators got the job done fast.”

“What exterminators?”

“The ones to handle the rats. Levi said I couldn’t swing by the office this morning because of them.’

“Odd. I didn’t hear or see anything when I popped by around lunch to grab something for the boss.”

Why would Levi lie?

I headed for my car, and Hannah followed, for some reason dropping to her knees to check the undercarriage, poking her head inside, and then even popped the hood to glance at the engine.

“Good to go,” she declared. “I’ll be right behind you.”

“You don’t have to follow me home. I’ll be fine.”

“The boss gave me an order, and he’ll skin me alive if I don’t obey.”

I sighed, but what could I do? I didn’t want her to get in trouble.

The drive proved uneventful if I ignored the turtle doves that swooped past my windshield. Please don’t tell me the Twelve Days of Christmas would become a thing.

My triplex appeared fine, but as expected, Hannah trudged up the stairs to do a cursory check. She met my friends, and Izzy fell in love after a good scratching.

“Guess I should head back,” Hannah stated after feeding the mice some licorice she pulled from her pocket.

“I’ll see you at the hotel sometime in the morning. I’m going to check in at the bureau first.”

“Sounds good. Night, Cinder.”

Hannah left, and I was alone but restless. Godmother, AKA call me Agatha, had dropped some interesting hints. As if she knew more about the curse than we did. Her comment about putting the stories back especially intrigued. It brought to mind the stories that had suddenly stopped reenacting. We’d assumed the curse tired of them, but the idea that they’d somehow been solved or, at best, re-enacted in a way so far from the original that it broke them, made a strange sense.

Could it be so simple? It seemed unlikely. After all, my simple solution of avoiding my prince hadn’t solved the issue.

“What do you think, Izzy? How can I stop being a Cinderella?” I’d thought of changing my name but already knew most of the Little Ash heroines bore a different appellation. Killing didn’t seem to solve anything. Nor did the prince marrying the wrong Cinderella. What did that leave?

I didn’t know.

Since I’d eaten already, I simply had to prepare meals for my friends, hand feeding them while I told them about my day. When I readied for bed, I made sure all my doors and windows were locked, Levi’s paranoia having rubbed off.

As I lay in bed, staring at my ceiling, I wondered what Levi did, an odd thought to have. We’d barely spoken all day, although I’d caught him looking in my direction more than once, usually frowning. It should be noted, I glanced over quite often too.

I couldn’t deny being attracted to the man, even as I didn’t like him. Bossy handsome jerk.

My tummy rumbled, and since I couldn’t sleep, I got up and made myself a bowl of cottage cheese and berries. I’d sat on the couch to munch my snack when Izzy hissed and scuttled to her cabinet, which had a special hole to climb in. The mice who’d been hoping to lick my bowl scurried off with squeaks of spider.

“Guys, you shouldn’t be like that. You’ll hurt Charlotte’s feelings.”

Granted, I had issues the first time I met my eight-legged friend. Since that initial fright, I’d come to appreciate how she kept my place free of flies.

I scrolled my phone as I ate, intent on the screen, so when the couch cushion dipped, it took me by surprise.

But I didn’t scream until I glanced and saw the spider sitting down beside me!