Chapter 10

The weekend had arrived, and I'd put it off long enough. My nerves were getting the best of me as I drove to Nick Burkhardt's house on Southwest Prescott Street. I'd just knock on the door, ask if him we could talk, maybe go for a drive, and I'd come clean. Monroe and I had already eaten dinner, so perhaps Nick and I could grab dessert afterwards. Nothing helped to confess that you might be a Grimm like dessert, right? That was as close to a plan as I had. Spontaneity in this situation was best. I was going to chicken out otherwise.

Monroe had let me leave since I'd insisted I had errands to run that couldn't wait. He hadn't probed for the details and I'd promised I would return within an hour. Ample time to talk to Nick and get back to Monroe's. Plus, it would give me an out in case this conversation became too much to handle.

It was a little after six by the clock in my car. What if I interrupted something? I should've called first. No, then Nick would've wanted to know why I needed to talk to him. I shook my head. This kind of discussion was best to do in person. I hadn't told Nick while I was in Louisville because a phone call just seemed wrong to break this kind of news. Besides, he didn't seem to think it was important to call ahead before going to Monroe's last night. Hopefully that went both ways.

I parked my Malibu behind Nick's old Toyota Land Cruiser. His truck was here, so he was probably home. To be honest, I was wishing that it wouldn't be. Since it was, I turned off my ignition, slipped my cell phone into my jeans pocket, and climbed out of the car. Taking in a few deep breaths, I walked up to the porch of the large Victorian house on the corner of the street. My stomach lurched once I hit the last step, but it wasn't due to my nerves. Something wasn't right. I closed my eyes. Faint noises of commotion were coming from inside the house. My reckless woge shot out, and I tried the doorknob. The door was open. That in itself set off alarms in my brain, but I was in no position to worry about it now.

As my reckless woge took over, I was inside and up the stairs in an instant, following the sounds. Flames shot out from the room to the left. The house was on fire! What if Nick was trapped? I ran to the door, my eyes fixed on the scene in front of me as the blaze filled the room. They were coming from a scaled creature standing by the bed. The Daemonfeuer! Nick struggled on the ground while the Wesen tried to roast him like a marshmallow. Her back was turned away from me and instinctively I pushed her, knocking her off balance as Nick dodged the fire.

Miss Fireball retracted, staggering backward onto the bed. Before I could do anything further, she steadied herself and spun around quickly, spraying out the acetone vapors from her mouth in my direction. The fumes caught in my throat, burning straight up through my nose. I suppressed a cough, holding my sleeve to my face. I had one eye on her and another on Nick, who was still on the ground. Crap, was he all right? I wasn't doing a good job of keeping an eye on Miss Fireball, and she lunged forward right as her woge occurred, catching me completely off guard. Seemingly, my reaction did the same to her, and she halted before she lit me up in flames. This was my first Daemonfeuer, and she knew immediately that I saw her for what she was.

Suddenly she grabbed me. "Another friend of yours, Nick? My, you do have quite a following."

"She has nothing to do with this," Nick said, scrambling to get up.

"Oh, but I think she does." She looked me over. "So what are you?"

I struggled against her. "I'm not Wesen if that's what you mean."

"Really?" Her eyes lit up. "Two Grimms in one week." She sounded almost impressed while she gripped me tightly with one arm. She turned us to face Nick, who was on his feet and watching with eyes wide. Miss Fireball was strong, and all my struggling was pretty futile, although I tried hard to break free.

"Let her go, Ariel," Nick yelled out as he looked at me. Etched on his face was the shock of processing what was just revealed.

"No, I think daddy will be pleased to have her." She stated it like I was a shiny, new toy. Nick tried moving forward, but she held me tighter... if that was even possible. Her grip crushed my rib-cage like a metal vise, and I was struggling to breathe.

"He won't be pleased if you're dead, Daemonfeuer." My voice squeaked out the words, which completely ruined any menacing effect they might have had. Miss Fireball merely laughed.

Nick remained still as a statue. "Ariel…"

She yanked me back a few paces. "Don't try it, Nick, or I'll kill her right here."

My recklessness was screaming at me to do something, anything, but I was completely at a loss. I just helplessly watched Nick while hoping for a miracle.

"Nick, I'm sorry," I choked out as Miss Fireball swiftly dragged me down the stairs and out Nick's front door.

Once outside, she thrust me up against a car, pressing my face on the glass and knocking the wind out of me. On the other side was a woman slumped over in the back seat. Red hair obscured her face. Who was she? No time to figure it out now. Using both hands, I pushed myself off the car and turned to face Miss Fireball. She was back to full woge, her amphibian-like eyes glaring at me.

"You're not going to get away with—"

Her fist shot up and connected with my skull before I could finish. Stars then blackness were the last things I recalled.

A/N: Well, Renée wanted to keep her reveal to Nick low-key. Oops?

And I shall leave you with this cliff hanger until tomorrow.

Stay Tuned! (;