"Do you have the required price?" Devon asked.

I gaped at him, feeling my blood begin to boil. His reaction felt so mercenary. Cold.

It was heartless.

Alice stopped her chewing and watched the exchange neutrally. That reaction pissed me off even further.

What the hell, Devon?

"I do. And I'll offer more if need be."

He shook his head. "I make no promises. We shall wait for the girl to return."

The priestess' fingers curled into a ball. She kept her bent posture, and Devon said nothing to correct it. With more anger than necessary, I bit down on the cookie.

What a shame.

The thing tasted delicious and crunchy, the kind that melted in your mouth after breaking apart.

I sipped the tea and mentally shrugged. Maybe it wasn't my thing, but it tasted like strained root water—wholly bland and slightly bitter.

The door slammed open and smacked into the wall. Alice and I turned to stare at the paralyzed girl. She shook in her cloth shoes as she tiptoed over to the head priestess. The older lady sat up and, with a strained smile, placed her hand on the girl's own.

"Thank you, dear. Go run along, I'll be fine," she soothed.

The girl nodded and did a half curtsy before thinking better of it and nearly stumbled her way to the door.

With agonizingly slow movements, she pulled the door closed behind her and left, sealing the room.

Before Devon continued, I placed the cup and saucer down. "My apologies. I'm Cain, and your cookies are fantastic."

Alice side-eyed me, but Devon remained expressionless.

Alright, you statue, man. At least learn her name.

She looked surprised but quickly smiled, a genuine one. "Thank you, Cain. I'm glad you enjoyed them. Please have some more. And I apologize as well; my surprise is no excuse to lose my manners. My name is Thelassa, head priestess of our church."

Her smile stayed until she returned to looking at Devon's unreadable face. She lowered her head and ran her fingers along the journal's spine. Her thumb ran down the pages until she stopped midway through and opened the book.

Silently, she handed over the journal. Devon read the page and then turned to another. For three minutes, he silently read while we sipped our tea.

Throughout it all, Thelassa stared nervously at the journal in his hands.

Devon shut the journal and handed it back.

"Has there been anyone affected by the flare-ups?"

Thelassa shook her head. "Not permanently. Three of the noted cases suffered a mild fever for an hour that receded on its own. From daily talks, we know of no obvious problems."

"And you noticed the south anchor had a cut link a week ago?"

"Yes," she said hesitantly. "From our best guess, the chain was tampered with over a month ago."

He paused and watched her. She fidgeted in her chair but kept her shoulders squared.

"The townspeople are uninformed," he stated.

Her head lowered further, but I saw anger flash across her face. "No. The village leader thought it best for the information to be kept from the people."

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He didn't respond and instead stood up. The three of us watched him move to the door and position himself directly to the side, opposite where the door would swing.

What are you doing?

Alice sniffed the air and frowned.

"Do you need us to get ready?" she asked.

Devon shook his head.

Okay.

"Sir, please… It's… busy!"

The voice sounded female, young, and panicked.

"Get out of my way!" came a voice much louder and clearer.

"Sir, please wait-"

The door slammed open, and a short, muscular man barged through. His eyes caught sight of Alice and me beginning to stand. He had enough time to run through a series of increasingly shocked and frightened expressions before a thick arm reached out and grabbed him by the neck.

The man let out a screech before being lifted into the air. He desperately clawed at the manacle around his neck, but Devon's fingers refused to budge.

Devon stepped to the side as another man, one dressed in black leather and twice as muscular, rushed in, reaching a hand out to grab at Devon's arm. Devon used his free arm and quickly grabbed the man by the skull, lifting him into the air to join the fool trying to scream.

The larger man launched a kick at Devon's knee, but before his leg could extend, Devon slammed him face-first onto the ground. A wet crunch rang through the room, and a loud moan followed.

The bodyguard had enough time to windmill his arms before Devon's boot launched him into the wall. His back met stone, and a resounding thud accompanied the spray of blood that splattered the floor.

As the muscular bodyguard groaned, curled into a bleeding mess on the floor, the man in Devon's grip ceased struggling and stared in horror. His eyes switched from the bodyguard to Devon, who looked disinterested.

Devon turned to Thelassa. "I apologize for the blood in your church."

Thelassa's lips thinned, and she stared furiously at the man in his hand. "It's of no bother, sir Hunter."

He nodded and then turned towards Alice and me. "Alice, guard the outside. Stop the priestess from running away screaming, please. Cain, keep the guard down."

Alice nodded, then bolted out the door. A shriek pierced the air, sharp and sudden before it silenced just as quickly. I hadn't even noticed the priestess begin to run down the hall, but Devon seemed to have eyes everywhere.

Not wanting to fail a simple order, I stood up and found the bodyguard slowly bracing himself against the floor.

Sorry.

I placed my boot on his back and whispered, "Don't move."

He stilled and lowered himself back onto the floor. I couldn't see his face, but he reeked of sweat and blood. The copper of his blood smelled foul to my senses, but not in a corrupt way.

The beast inside me felt zero interest in tasting his flesh.

Alice came back, half dragging, half coaxing the frightened girl. She stared at the man in terror and then rushed into Thelassa's arms once Alice let go of her robes. Thelassa immediately set to comfort the girl while whispering soothing tones.

I looked at Alice, and she watched them before turning to the man underneath my shoe. She nodded and then moved to stand in the doorframe.

Devon adjusted his grip and switched from pressing down on the man's voicebox to holding him up by the collar. "Are you foolish, or do you have a death wish?"

"I... I do-don't. I-" the man stammered, his words tumbling from his mouth.

"You failed your duty as steward of this town. The report we received came not from you, the one person whose job was to alert us to changes in the seal."

The town leader went bug-eyed, and he stared daggers at the head priestess. She met his eyes defiantly, and the man began to shout, only for Devon's hand to shift back to his throat and grip his jaw, forcing it shut.

"Under the treaty forged between this kingdom and us, your death would not only be justified—it would be expected. Mind your tongue."

Devon slowly lowered the man to the floor and released his collar. The town leader shook in place, staring bug-eyed at the Grimm. He opened his mouth to speak and then closed it. He opened it again, but no words came out.

When Devon went to reach for the man for the second time, the town leader did the unexpected and crashed to the floor like a stiff corpse. The room went silent as everyone stared.

Holy crap! Devon gave him a heart attack!

The bodyguard turned his head and saw his boss on the ground, unmoving. He tried to shift, and I pushed my boot down further.

"Oomph!"

He stopped his attempt to get up.

I watched as Devon placed his hand on the man's chest and shook his head. He stood up and dragged him to the corner. "Pathetic. He's alive but unconscious."

I think that's pretty obvious, Devon.

"What do I do with this guy?" I asked.

"Knock him out if he tries something stupid."

I waited, but the man refused to move or shift.

Good.

"Priestess, do you have your half of the key?" Devon asked.

Thelassa patted the girl's arm and switched positions, forcing the girl to sit down while she got up. She turned and held out her hand. "My necklace, dear."

The girl unhooked the necklace around her neck and returned it to Thelassa.

Thelassa tossed it to Devon, who caught it. "Do you require anything else?"

He shook his head.

"Very well," she said. She walked over to the unconscious town leader and bent down. "Always the fool, Albrus."

She slipped past Devon, poked her head into the hallway, and let loose a shrill whistle. The echo of running feet bounced down the corridor. She then stepped aside, gesturing towards the man pinned under my boot.

A string of priestesses entered the room, all five of them. In their hands, they held sharpened daggers of black metal that reminded me of a thorn.

"Ladies, the Grimms have business to attend to. Please take Mr. Morley and Mr. Albrus to the confinement room."