Andre should have been back by now. Eric had sent of his guard to the main entrance to escort the Grimm and his hostage inside three minutes ago. If the prince was a man who believed in feelings and intuition, he would had scraped the entire operation and headed back to Europe. It seemed that everything in the past 12 hours that could have gone wrong had gone wrong. Two members of his security force were dead, a hostage escaped, he'd failed to gather damning evidence on his brother, and the Grimm was proving much harder to control than he'd anticipated. Perhaps aborting was the strategic move.
Eric internally chided himself for his thoughts. It was true that the plan hadn't come off as smoothly as he'd wished, but he'd brilliantly salvaged the situation. The Grimm would be here momentarily, and Eric was ready for him. He would have the key, and potentially the unexpected bonus of his brother's death. Besides it wasn't as though failure was an option here, not with the lines he'd crossed in order to get this far. The Families were very clear that if he was successful, he would have a seat at the High Table. If he was not, the consequences would be quite unpleasant.
"Hope I didn't keep you waiting." The Grimm entered the large opened factory floor area that Eric had chosen specifically for the original exchange. Sean, still gagged back walked no more than a foot in front of his detective, acting as a body shield for the Grimm. His hands were cuffed behind his back. Detective. The sight of his captive brother would have brought him inexpressible pleasure, if Eric hadn't noticed the absence of his employee.
"I'm not surprised it took you some time finding, given that you seemed to have become separated from your escort." Eric definitely needed a higher caliber of security. It would be his first order of business after this hideous escapade was over, and the key was in his possession.
"You sent him to keep him from me from getting lost? How considerate. Maybe you should have been a little clearer in your instructions. He seemed to think it was his job to assault me."
"An unfortunate miscommunication." Unfortunate in the sense that Eric was quickly losing the advantage of superior numbers.
"Unfortunate for him, at any rate. So are you ready deal or not?"
"Not quite yet. One thing is still troubling me. Why exactly would Sean reveal to his identity and mine? He rarely volunteers information for no reason." Eric watched the Grimm intently. After years in the political arena, he knew how to spot a lie.
"Oh, he had a reason. He generously offered to help me save Monroe." Eric read that as the truth. So Sean had interfered after all, he had just been canny enough to avoid the listening devices.
"Why, may I ask did you turned him down?"
"I have a hard time trusting someone who not only lied to me for five years, but also conspired to kill two people I love." Once again the Grimm's words were sincere.
"You seem to be aware my brother and I aren't the closest of siblings, so why do you think I'd turn over the Blutbad to ensure his safe release?" The Grimm smiled thinly.
"You misunderstood the deal I was proposing. I'm not offering you your brother's life, in exchange for Monroe, I'm offering his death."
"Go on." Despite himself, Eric's interest was peaked, at least enough to hear what the Grimm had to say.
"The Captain was kind enough to inform me that part of the reason you were here was to gather evidence against him, so you could get the family's approval to have him killed. If a rogue Grimm were to take him out, I'm guessing that would cut through quite a bit of red tape?" This Burkhardt was more intelligent than appearances had indicated. Still Eric needed to be cautious, when something sounded too good to be true, it usually was.
"And you'd be willing to do that, kill your boss, and fellow police officer in cold blood to protect a Blutbad?" Burkhardt's reputation as a moral and compassionate Grimm (if there was such a thing) had to have come from somewhere. He has his doubts that this officer of the law had the stomach for cold blooded murder.
"That's the wrong question. The real question is: Would I kill a man who tried to murder my aunt and partner to save a friend?" Revenge and the protection of another creature. Yes, Eric could see how the detective could rationalize his actions, if he were given proper incentive.
"We have a deal, provided you fulfill your end first." Eric had no intention of holding up his end. Once the Grimm had rid Eric of his perpetual burden he could use his crime to blackmail him for the location of the key. At last things were falling into place.
"On your knees." Detective Burkhardt forced his brother to the ground and removed his gag, "so Captain, any last words?" Eric's brother glared up at his former subordinate.
"Just one. North." North? Why-Eric didn't have time to finish the thought before the Grimm spun and took out Eric's sniper, who had been perched in the catwalk near the north wall of the building. There were two more gunshot cracks. Eric swung his gaze away from the crumpled sniper, back to the Grimm, expecting to see his body sprawled on the floor bleeding. Instead the Grimm stood whole, unharmed and pointing his gun straight at him. Worse, he wasn't alone. Sean stood shoulder with the detective. The handcuffs that had bound his brother's wrists moments before were strewn at Sean's feet and somehow a gun had materialized in his hands.
"Keep your hands up, or you end up like the rest of your men." The prince didn't need to turn around to know that his final two guards were lying dead behind him, likely at the hand of his brother. He was the sole survivor. Whether he continued to be one remained to be seen.
"Nice shot, even though you did take you time with it," though his brother spoke to the Grimm, his triumphant eyes never left Eric.
"Give me a break, I was trying to figure out where North was. You couldn't have just said 'right'?" Detective Burkhardt holstered his gun.
"You wouldn't have known if it was your right or my right. Besides you were an eagle scout. You should be able remember which way north is." The detective sauntered over to Eric, roughly spun him around and slapped handcuffs on his wrists like Eric was just one more common thug he arrested on a daily basis.
"If we were out in the middle of a forest, it would have been a little easier." Eric was forced to suffer the indignity of a pat down while his brother gleefully looked on. The detective found and discarded Eric burner phone, his weapon and his backup weapon. When he found Eric's regular mobile, he tossed it to Sean who caught it in one smooth motion. Finally the Grimm removed a key from his inner front pocket. With one last contemptuous look the detective ran over to Eric's hostage and released him from his restraints.
"Monroe, are you alright?" Eric read genuine concern in the Grimm's voice. Unbelievable and unnatural as it was the Grimm did have a strong emotional attachment to the Blutbad.
"I've spent the night being interrogated by a sadist, but other than that I'm peachy. How's Rosalee?" Rosalee must have been the Fuchbau that had eluded capture. When the Blutbad spoke her name he sounded more anxious than he had at any point during Eric's questioning. If his men had just been competent enough to gather both hostages today could have turned out very differently.
"She's fine, apart from being furious I wouldn't let her give her a gun and let her shoot up the place. She's parked about five minutes away. I better give him the all clear before she calls for backup." The Grimm whipped a cell phone from his pocket and hit a few numbers.
"Hi Rosalee. Yes, we're all fine. Hang on." The Grimm passed the cell phone to the Blutbad and suddenly the voice that had been too soft to make out suddenly became loud enough for Eric to discern words like, "idiot", "foolish", and "never again". The Blutbad seemed to be being scolded like a schoolboy and his only and response seemed to be nodding and apologizing. After a thirty second tirade the sounds emanating from the phone reduced in volume, and the theme of the conversation seemed to shift, judging by the soft smile that played across the beast's bloodied face. After another twenty seconds he turned to the Grimm who had been pointedly looking away.
"She'll meet us out front in three minutes and apparently we're heading straight to the hospital."
"Good. In mean time take these. They were left over from my run in with the Siegbarste. Apparently I healed much faster than my doctors expected." The detective dropped two pills into the Blutbad's outstretched hand. "Why don't you sit here and rest a minute while I deal with him?" On the word 'him' the Grimm jerked his chin towards Eric. That didn't bode well.
"It's not exactly like I got a lot of other options." Monroe gestured to legs, at least one of which had been broken in past 12 hours. The Grimm face darkened ominously. The eyes that had been so soft looking at his friend moments before burned with a deep primal fury. This was a Grimm, a slayer of monsters and a dealer of death and Eric was standing before him, stripped of every last ounce of protection. The Grimm stalked towards him and Eric felt something he hadn't felt in a long time: fear.
"I have always been a simple guy. I catch bad guys, hang out with my buddies, and go home to my girlfriend. I'm a SIMPLE GUY. Granted since I've become a Grimm the bad guys have gotten a little scarier and my buddies have gotten a little stranger, but I'm still a SIMPLE GUY. My world is small and I like it like that. When you came here and attacked my friends, you made a mistake, because I don't give a shit about your political power, or your pedigree. When I look at you I don't see a prince, I just see the son of a bitch that hurt my friend."
The Grimm's fist seemed to come out of nowhere, but suddenly Eric face and stomach exploded in pain. Eric doubled over clutching his gut while simultaneously holding his now broken nose. His eyes were filled with involuntary tears. The Grimm leaned down began to whisper in his ear.
"If you touch anyone I care about, I will come for you. I won't just kill your assassin and send you his head, I will come for YOU. Not matter how many guards you hire, no matter how long it takes, I will find you and I will take you apart, piece by piece. I will cut off your hands and your feet, your nose and your eyes, and finally your tongue and when I'm done I won't kill you. I will leave you there disfigured and alone to think about if coming after me was really worth it," The Grimm then straightened and walked back toward the Blutbad without another glance at Eric. The prince looked and his brother, who stood silently with his gun draw and a small satisfied smile on his face. It made no sense. Eric had been certain Nick was telling the truth.
"So much for finding it hard to trust someone who lied to you and tried to kill two people you love." The Grimm looked back over his shoulder at Eric.
"I wasn't lying, but sometimes you have to pick the lesser of two evils."
"Are you sure his evil is lesser?" Detective Burkhardt's glance swung to Renard, then back to the Blutbad.
"I'm sure it can't be greater." In a fairly impressive display of strength, the Grimm scooped up his friends and exited as he had entered.
"So what now, dear brother. Do you plan to kill me?"
"No, I plan to personally escort you to your plane and watch you fly away, never to trespass in my canton again."
"You don't honestly think you've won here, do you? You interfered and once I tell the heads of the other houses-" Eric voice died in his throat. As he'd been speaking Sean had plunged his left hand into his pocket. Now the hand was open, palm up and a small metal object was resting on it.
"Nick has generously entrusted me with the key's safe keeping. Now that it's in my possession, should be there will be no more intrusions into my canton. Anyone who wants the key can negotiate with me." Sean had orchestrated this. He'd played both the Grimm and Eric perfectly and he was politically stronger than he'd ever been.
"You won't get away with this."
"I think I will. After all, I've done exactly what I'd said I'd do. I've acquired the key and the Grimm, thanks in large part to you, my brother. It is you that will be in for the reprimand. Losing of six guards and poaching in another prince's canton without anything to show for it?" Eric would be lucky if he could convince the house heads not to execute him for his unqualified failure. There was no use denying it, Sean had beaten him. His bastard, half Hexenbiest brother had beaten him. If the council didn't kill him, his mother would make him wish his was dead.