More than physical exhaustion, I felt mentally drained. Devon, people, Alice, and now the asshole who decided to ambush me in my room; it wouldn't end.

"How long have you been waiting here? And what if I never came to the room?" I asked, letting my annoyance bleed through.

The green flames continued to burn; my insides were on fire, and minute jolts zapped my muscles. I didn't let the discomfort show.

He stopped next to the table, grabbed the chair, flipped it around before sitting down and facing me.

"You would have to sleep eventually. And no telling. Now, are we going to do this cordially? Or what?" Garret responded.

"Do I burn you first? I can make it hotter."

His eyes narrowed. "Can you now?"

"Are you going to attack me?"

"No," he chuckled. "I'm not that stupid. Devon is weirdly protective of you. More than I thought he'd be."

I cut the flames and let my arm drop, gritting my teeth to hide the spasms.

Beyond the condescension and sneering, my senses told me Garret was relaxed. That fact ticked me off, but I didn't need to worry about a fight. Deliberately dragging my feet, I got up and sat at the table.

Garret observed me for an awkward minute. From below, Freki poked his head out and came to rest atop my feet. He looked chill, but the direwolf had his eyes trained on the other hunter's legs.

Good boy, Freki. Take a toe if he does something funny.

Freki smacked my leg with his tail, and I smirked.

"Something funny?" Garrett asked.

"No, not really. So what do you want to talk about?"

Garrett leaned forward and gripped the table's edge. "Elias."

I tensed. "What about him?"

"Why?"

"He seemed like a good guy. Genuinely cared about my safety enough to risk his life. Maybe-"

"Not what I mean! And you know it!" Garrett roared. "Don't play games. I want answers!"

"Answers to what? I don't know what you're talking about!"

His breathing turned ragged, and his eyes shifted. Freki leaned forward, and I adjusted my legs in case I needed to roll. But Garrett eventually backed off, removing his hands from the table and balling them into fists atop his lap.

There are handprints left behind in the wood. Gotta be careful about provoking him.

"You have to know. Surely, Devon or Adeline explained it. Tell me what they're hiding!"

"Again, I don't know what you're talking about. How about you just say it already."

"Your speech. Elias stopped, that is what you said. He stopped because he couldn't protect you."

My claws punctured my thighs, drawing blood. "Yeah."

"Why? Why did he stop? He could have picked you up and ran."

"Because" I said through clenched teeth. "I was dead weight. The granny overwhelmed him."

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A fist destroyed the table, and splinters flew across the room. Garret towered over me while Freki let flames spread inside his throat.

"He could have run, found a way toward the others. I knew his stats. You weighed nothing to him," he shouted, his voice coming out as a guttural growl.

"We were caught in their spell! He called it labyrinth! Whatever it was, we couldn't run!"

"Liar."

What?

"Liar," Garrett repeated.

I launched myself at Garrett. His eyes widened, but he caught my wrist and shoved me to the side. Freki darted in and bit through his boot, followed by a loud crunch.

"Aaagh! Fuck!"

Garrett kicked Freki away, sending the wolf crashing into a bookshelf. As Freki fell, he dived into the shadows, and I felt him rejoin mine.

Garrett crushed my wrist, and my hand went slack. Every part of me wanted to erupt into flames, but instead, I pictured the light orb and let my mana flow.

Ek kalla á lýsandi stjörnu!

Fire corrupted the star, creating a miniature sun. I wasn't done. Already weakened, but I didn't care; I set fire to my veins and envisioned the sun turning emerald. Without stopping, I punched my hand into Garret's gut and was thrown away as the napalm exploded.

Garret stepped back while frantically trying to brush away the green flames. That ended with the fire spreading to his hands.

"Aagh!"

I tried to stand up, but my left arm gave out, and I stumbled as the pain jumbled my thoughts.

Tears blurred my vision, but I blinked through them and watched as Garret stopped. Mana pricked at my senses, and my hood nearly slipped. Instead, my cloak tightened and secured it while the pressure in the room dropped.

Is that his skill?

Wind ripped at his clothes, and the flame was torn from his body. Not all, not entirely, but it scattered my incantation and left behind smoldering burnt flesh that smoked trails into the air.

He looked like crap. Burnt flesh, destroyed clothes. His hands were blackened messes, similar to my own when I first cast an incantation. Blood started gushing from the wound across his stomach, but Garrett ignored all that and stared.

His voice wasn't human, but neither were the rows of sharp teeth.

"You. You have bite, pup."

I inhaled and exhaled slowly. "You shattered my wrist."

Goop dripped from the wound and splattered on the floor. Garett looked down and growled. He reached inside the pouch hidden underneath his cloak and pulled out a vial. It had swirling silver specs floating in red liquid.

After consuming the contents and smashing against the floor, he found his knocked-over chair and used his good leg to kick it up before sitting.

"And you took my toe, my hands, and burned a hole in my stomach," he retorted, his voice returning to passable human.

I could already feel my wrist start to tingle painfully. But the adrenaline running through my veins helped numb the worst of it. Without a word, I sat back down and cradled my arm.

"Fuck, kid. You're just like him."

Elias? Why is he…

I sighed. "Do you want to beat me up or talk? I'm tired of this."

He reached into his shirt and pulled out a necklace. It was made of simple twine, but the glass bulb dangling off it had intricate runes carved onto its side. I raised an eyebrow as he grunted and squeezed with his right hand, dripping fresh blood onto the glass. It lit up in a hazy crimson that spread like dust through water.

"Catch," he said as he threw the necklace.

Freki snapped it out of the air and growled.

"It's not a bomb. It's a truth seeker orb."

"And why are you giving it to me?"

Damn, that hurts.

The pins and needles of the healing process felt like someone scraping ice picks against my bones.

"I'm going to ask a question, and you answer. If you lie, it turns black. If you tell the truth, it stays red."

"Why would I deal with this?"

His eyebrows furrowed. "Because if you're right, there'll be blood in the Warren once we return."

"I… Why?"

"Are you going to comply or not?"

I reluctantly took the necklace from Freki.

"Wulf!"

I know. But let's get this done with.

"Special instructions?"

Garret shook his head. "Just hold it in your palm."

I squeezed, testing the glass. I heard it creak and stopped.

"You done?" he asked.

I snorted. "Yeah. Ask away."

"What did Elias say to you when he stopped? What was the reasoning for him not running to the other Grimms?"

I wracked my brain, searching for the memory. With all too clear thoughts, the memory played crystal clear in my head. I relived the running, the panic, and the whirlwind of thoughts, but it felt muted and distant.

Focus.

The memories sorted themselves, and I was brought back to when Garret stopped.

"He said, sorry, kid. He didn't expect to be caught in their spell. The Reds. After. When he was bleeding out, he was telling me not to worry. He called it the Labyrinth spell, and it was fading, and the others would arrive soon."

I opened my eyes and found Garret staring at the orb in my hand. It was red.

"You were telling the truth…" his voice trailed.

"Yeah, I was. Why are you so worked up over this?"

He tore his eyes away from the orb. The wind blew back his cloak and whipped the hair from his face. "Didn't Devon explain to you? The reason why Reds are so dangerous to Grimms, and why they fear us in return?"

"No?"

"Because, Grimms negate the Red's ability to do magic. And Reds do the same to our regeneration and strength."

"How does that-"

"How did a Red trap you in their spell?" Garret answered.