CHAPTER ELEVEN
When Nick got back to the precinct, he went straight to his captain's office and knocked on the door.
"Come in" he heard Renard say.
"Sir, do you have a minute?" Nick asked, peeking in through the door.
"Of course."
Nick stepped inside the office and closed the door behind him. He slowly walked towards the desk, mentally rehearsing what he was about to say.
"So what can I do for you Nick?" Renard asked, keeping his eyes on the file he had open on his desk.
"I'd like to request a few days off."
Renard looked up from his desk, his eyebrow raised.
"Is everything all right?"
"My aunt came by for a visit yesterday. She's terminally ill."
"I'm very sorry to hear that. I'm assuming you'd like some time off to take care of her?"
"Actually no, she's already left town" Nick said, carefully observing his captain's reaction. "She wanted to go back home where she felt most comfortable. She just came by to say goodbye… just in case."
"So from what I understand, she doesn't intend to come back?"
"I'm afraid not… she was told she doesn't have much time left" Nick said in a low voice.
He cleared his voice before he spoke again.
"Anyway, I wanted to take a few days… there are some personal issues I need to sort out."
"Of course Nick, take as much time as you need."
"Thank you sir, I really appreciate it."
"No problem. You can take the rest of the day too; I'll have detective Pogue cover for you."
"Thanks again" Nick said as he exited the office.
Adalind had just gotten home from work when someone knocked on her door. She looked through the peephole to see who it was and felt a chill run through her entire body when she saw the tall man standing in front of her door. She wanted to pretend she wasn't home but he would undoubtedly find another way to reach her. So she took a deep breath and opened the door.
"Hello Adalind" Sean said as he entered her home. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."
"No" she said, closing the door. "What do you want?"
"Aren't you going to offer me something to drink first?" he asked, a sly look on his face.
"I figured I would get straight to the point… I know why you're here, and the answer is no; I don't have the key" she told him.
"Well, that certainly is disappointing. I had such high hopes you would be able to get the job done without any bloodshed."
His last words made her blood run cold; was he threatening Nick's life? Her heart started pounding at the thought of the man she loved being hurt in any way. She would kill Sean before she would let him lift a single finger on Nick.
"Bloodshed?" she managed to ask in a shaky voice.
"What's wrong Adalind? That's never stopped you before…" he told her with a piercing stare.
"I've never killed anyone."
"Relax, I'm not going to ask you to kill anyone, I have other henchmen for that type of work" he said, moving closer. "Your powers are much more valuable to me" he whispered, stroking her hair.
Her skin crawled as she felt his fingers touch her. She took a step back, barely containing her disgust.
"You don't need to kill the Grimm" she said, trying her best to maintain her voice steady.
"Well she's gone, so that won't be necessary now."
Adalind figured Nick had probably told Sean his aunt had left town.
"But she gave the key to her nephew Nick."
'You stay away from him or I swear to God…' she thought.
"If we can't get the key from him, then we'll need to take away what he holds most valuable; his girlfriend Juliette."
Adalind turned away from Sean and walked towards the living room window. As she stared into the night, she wondered if that was still the case; was Juliette still the most important thing in Nick's life? Or was she now the one he couldn't bear to live without?
"Are you sure he'll give up the key if you threaten to take away his girlfriend?" she asked, still looking out the window.
"Yes. She's the love of his life. If we get rid of her, he'll have nothing left" Sean said, walking up behind her.
'He'll have me' Adalind thought. And yet, Sean threatening Juliette's life was a nightmare; one she couldn't possibly let come true.
"Maybe I can convince the Grimm's nephew to give me the key" she said, turning around to face Sean. "This way no one will have to get hurt."
"What's gotten into you? Since when are you so concerned about insignificant casualties?"
"Insignificant? We are talking about a woman!" Adalind shouted. "How can you be this cruel?"
"You have no idea what's at stake here. This key will change the world."
"There must be a way to get the key without harming anyone."
Sean suddenly grabbed her by the shoulders and bent down until his face was only inches away from hers; and then he woged.
"Get the key from Nick…. or Juliette dies" he muttered through his teeth.
He woged back to his human form, let go of her, and gave her one last cold stare before he walked out the door. Adalind immediately burst out crying and grabbed her cellphone.
Nick stood on the porch of his home, staring at the door handle. He knew what he had to do, but he had no idea how he was going to get through it. He cared a great deal about Juliette. After all, he had loved her enough to want to marry her. But a lot had changed; including himself. As much as he didn't want to hurt Juliette in any way, not breaking things off with her now would only eventually cause her more pain… something he wanted to avoid at all costs. And although some of the events that had unfolded in the last couple of days were still hazy, one thing was crystal clear; he had fallen in love with Adalind, and he knew deep down in his soul that she was the one he was meant to spend the rest of his life with.
Nick took a deep breath, unlocked the door, and went inside. Juliette was sitting on the couch; she had obviously been waiting for him. When she heard him come in, she looked up from the book she was reading, set it aside and got up to greet him.
"Hey" she said, walking up to him. "I'm glad you're finally home. How was your day?" she asked, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"It was all right" he said, avoiding her gaze.
He removed his jacket and set it on the armchair. Juliette wrapped her hands around his neck and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him, but he instinctively turned his face away from hers. She let go of him and looked at him, clearly hurt by his behavior.
"Is everything ok?" she asked.
"Yeah… why?" he replied, moving towards the kitchen.
"Because you're acting strange… are you upset with me?" she said as she followed him.
"No, why would I be?" he responded, glancing in her direction but still not looking into her eyes.
"Because of how I overreacted this morning… I'm sorry Nick. I was just worried when I woke up and realized you were gone."
"I told you, I went for a walk" he said as he took a glass out of the cabinet and filled it with water.
"And I shouldn't have accused you the way I did" she continued. "I know now you were only worried about your aunt. Where is she by the way? I thought she would've been here when I got home…"
"She's gone" he interrupted. "And she won't be coming back."
"I'm sorry Nick, I know you probably would've liked her to extend her stay for a few more days, the way she usually does when she comes by for a visit."
"Yeah, well… things change" he whispered as he took a sip.
Juliette remained silent for a moment, just staring at him. Nick gave her a quick glance and noticed her eyes had started to tear up. He felt a twinge of pain run through him. This was it; the time had come to break her heart... even though it was the last thing he wanted to do.
"What's going on with you? Why are you being so distant?" she said, her voice shaking.
Nick put his glass down on the table, looked at Juliette, and took a deep breath before he spoke.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to hurt you… but there's something you should know..." Nick said right as he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket.
He took his cellphone out and checked the caller ID; it was Adalind.
"I'm sorry, I gotta take this" he told Juliette, walking away from her and into the living room.
After he made sure Juliette would not be able to hear him, he answered.
"Hey, this isn't really a good time…" he started to say.
"Nick! You can't break things off with Juliette!" Adalind said frantically.
"What? Why not?" he asked, trying his best to keep his voice down.
"Sean just came by my house… he threatened to go after Juliette if I fail to get the key from you. You need to stay with her so you can protect her" she explained, still agitated.
"Adalind, I'm sure you misunderstood him" he said, trying to calm her down.
"No, I didn't. Juliette's in danger."
"That's ridiculous…"
"No, it isn't!" she cried. "Nick, I am begging you… you don't know how powerful Sean is. He will not give up until he has the key. He'll stop at nothing… not even murder."
"Then I'll have her moved to an unknown location, I'll make something up and convince her she needs to leave for her safety…"
"No, it won't be enough!" she interrupted him. "He'll still find a way to get to her. There's no other alternative; you have to stay with her."
"No, I need to be with you…" he whispered.
"Nick, please… don't make this harder than it already is. I'm sorry."
"Adalind…" he said right before he heard a click at the other end of the line. "Adalind!"
But she had already hung up.
"Who's Adalind?" he heard Juliette say behind him.
Nick slowly turned around to face her. He immediately noticed the tears streaming down her face.
"Who's Adalind?" she repeated, this time in an accusatory tone. "Is she the reason you're so emotionally detached from me?"
Nick swallowed his saliva, trying his best to keep his cool. But he could feel his face turning red from the guilt.
"Damn it Nick! Answer me!" Juliette yelled when he failed to provide a response to her questions. "Are you having an affair?" she asked, her voice breaking.
"I can't talk right now… I have to go" Nick blurted out.
"No! Don't you dare walk out on me, I deserve an explanation! You tell me what's going on right now!" she shouted.
"I'm sorry… I just can't" he murmured, walking away from her.
"Nick!" she cried.
But he grabbed his jacket and headed out the door, leaving Juliette in tears on the living room floor.
