"I'm coming," Alice said, following me out of the tea shop.

I snorted. "I appreciate the backup."

Still, why was Hildegrim here? Why risk coming into town when it was filled with Grimms crawling around? She could only remain undiscovered if she used a cheat-like magic power.

Kierra was ordered to stay at the shop. Thankfully, she didn't protest. As we left, I kept my hand close to my axe.

Two minutes of walking, wasn't long by any means, but inside the town bustling with Grimms, it was an abnormal stretch of time where we didn't see another red cloak.

"Alice…"

"I noticed. Do we proceed?"

I turned around. She asked in her usual calm voice, making it nearly impossible to detect emotions if she didn't outright tell you. But her eyes were eager.

"You realize we can't trust anything that comes out of her mouth, right?" I said. "Even if she claims to know about your brother?"

"I know," Alice answered.

"If she attacks, we attack and run."

She nodded.

We pressed onward and turned to the corner when a familiar smell assaulted my nose.

Want!

"Do you smell it?"

"No, what's it smell like?" Alice asked.

"Appetizing. Like the best food I could ever want." I slid my hand underneath the beard of my axe and lifted it slightly. "It has the gremlin frothing at the mouth."

Alice sniffed the air but shook her head. "Nothing."

We pushed further down the road, and while people were loitering about, they all turned away, too busy with something else to notice us.

My instincts were on high alert. It felt like a trap, and we were the fools shamelessly walking into it.

Devour! Want!

"Silence," I muttered.

I pulled out my axe and pointed to the crack in the wall. "I went through there last time."

"I remember. Circle around?"

I agreed and we went right, moving around the low wall and rows of houses pushed close together. The smell intensified, drawing me in. My stomach roared as if I was betraying it by not feeding it whatever drew my attention.

It aggravated the voice, spurring on a repeat of 'want' and 'need.'

As we circled and should have been able to see the old hag, there just so happened to be a large pile of crates blocking the way.

Frustration welled, but I tamped it down and pulled my axe out of its sheath. Alice did the same, and we slowly walked forward.

"You can put away the weapons, I've not come to harm you," came the old woman's voice.

We kept out weapons in hand and marched past the crates, setting eyes upon the cart and its knicknacks. Hildegrim smiled with missing teeth and waved with her free hand. Her eyes were black orbs that looked far more sinister than they did the first time we met.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

I pushed mana into my eyes, and the world took on deeper colors.

"I feel better holding it," I retorted.

She slammed her staff down, and swirling red lines shot across the area. I channeled mana into my hand, but she slapped her cart and hopped down.

"There we go. Now we can't be interrupted."

"Alice, do you-"

I spun around as a warning scratched at my thoughts. My eyes widened.

Alice was gone. Where she stood was a bare patch of dirt.

"What did you do?," I shouted. My claws elongated, and I let the flames run wild. "Bring her back. Now!"

"Relax, she's safe."

My core churned, and I called to the shadows. The mana rushed into my veins and gathered in my palm. A black haze expanded outward before spinning.

The air whistled, and red flashes of light sparked at the edges of the vortex.

Hildegrim slammed her staff again, and instead of shooting into the air, the red lines speared my barrier. I pulled back as the feedback sent spasms into my muscles, but not before raising my axe.

"Calm!"

I threw the axe, and it sailed through the air. She held up her staff, but instead of deflecting the blow, she caught it.

What?

I charged, but she threw the axe at my feet.

"I said, calm yourself, Cain!"

There was authority, the same kind of authority that Devon used when he howled. I brushed it off and activated the rune in my hand. My axe smacked into my palm and I aimed for her head.

"Return her, now."

"She'll be returned when we're done talking! You are not the only one I'm here to meet, pup!"

"Start talking," I growled.

Hildegrim huffed. "I was trying to. Grimms and your short fuses. Like a bad potion ready to explode."

I lowered my arm, but I didn't move. My eyes trailed her movements as she returned to her cart and leaned on her staff for support.

"You can cut the old lady act. We both know you're not that frail,"

The crone stood up straight and looked down. "You've just like him,"

"This isn't talking," I warned.

"Bah! It's not easy being here, not with him sniffing around," she snapped. "Fine. Then I'll get to it. Tell me, Cain. Have you thought about my deal?"

In response, my cloak stretched beyond its fabric and wrapped over me. Her eyes narrowed and she pursed her lips but I finally felt something that sat on my chest.

I reached down my hoodie and swiped the red-stone necklace, tearing it off and throwing it on the ground.

"Why? How? What is that thing? Why do I keep forgetting about it?"

She didn't answer, so I raised my foot, but she swung her staff. It came nowhere close to touching me, and I trusted in my cloak, but still, I crouched and readied my mana.

"It poses no threat to you."

"That didn't answer my question."

She glared, and I let more mana flood my palm, growing the flames.

"It's made of special crystal, makes you forget its presence that's all it does."

I don't believe that for a second lady.

"Don't lie to me," I warned.

"I told no lies."

"Bring Alice back,"

"It's like talking to a child!" Heldigrim muttered. "She will return when she chooses to. Even if you keep threatening me, boy, it won't hasten the process."

She didn't look like she was lying, but it was impossible to tell with the wrinkles on her face dragging her mouth into a permanent scowl.

"I'm not helping you. I don't care what you have to offer."

"Is that so?" she scowled. "That's not what your heart says."

I gripped my chest and took a step back. She didn't cast magic, and my cloak didn't react to any attack.

"The answer's still no."

"Even if I can tell you the truth about your beloved mentor? About the girl's brother, of whom you care so much about? Or perhaps you want to know why the man with sunlight eyes is so interested in you?"

I wanted to say no, but I didn't, not right away.

"Yeah, and all I have to do is sell you my soul."

Again, she glared. "I already outlined the terms of our deal. Your soul has little use to me. I prefer keeping my skin! All I want is your protection during the harvest."

"If I end up killing myself, it's the same thing."

"Not in the slightest. You should know there's worse things out there than death, Grimm."

She wasn't wrong, but I wasn't going to tell her that.

"And what exactly do you want protection from?"

Something in her eye changed; smugness perhaps?

"Do what your kind does best. Protection from monsters that may come my way when I need it. That's is all. I seek not to harm you or your organization. Simply to take back what was once mine," she explained. "Your predecessor had already helped me."

That last line was said with too much assurity. I released the flames in my hand and let them engulf the area before me. I knew they wouldn't reach; mana in the air felt thick enough to drown me.

When the flames died, it revealed the old crone glaring across the patch of scorched grass.

"He's not a bargaining point. Try again. Nothing you say so far interests me."

"Lies," she stated.

I growled, but she cackled.

"Don't bother, boy. We both know what you just said was a lie. I need not magic to understand the tells of a child."

For a while, neither of us spoke. I stared, but she matched my gaze. Even the flames crawling along my shoulder did nothing to phase her.

I could try to shift… But how much that would change things, I don't know.

"Our time grows short, so I will be direct. Let me make an oath to the system and give you a sample of your reward. What say you, Cain?" Heldigrim asked.