Chapter 20

Present

After everything that happened with Nora, Amir needed to hide from the police force, so he stayed in Jefferson's mansion. He still couldn't believe that Nora got the best of him. He should have expected it though. Back in the Enchanted Forest, she always did the unexpected, which was what amused Amir. Even now it did, but that was also a problem. If any of his enemies were unpredictable, then it meant that they needed to be disposed of. Amir would rather have people around who he could be a few steps ahead of them than the ones who surprised him.

When Jefferson set Amir's tea on the table, Jefferson couldn't take his eyes off of him when he sat across from him, but all Amir did was stare at the ground, thinking to himself. "Never seen you like this," Jefferson remarked. "That Nora really got you, didn't she?"

He finally looked at his old friend and leaned back in his seat. "Well, what did you expect? It was just like back in our world when she escaped. She surprised everyone, including me and Rothbart, and now that Emma's here, everyone will soon wake. It's only a matter of time since she's the Savior, and I'd rather get rid of Moon more than Swan if I'm being honest because I could at least predict what Emma has planned as opposed to Nora."

"You really wanna do this though? If you kill Gold's daughter, he won't stop 'till you're dead."

Amir smirked as he showed off his gun with the rounds inside before closing it as he spoke, "I've got nothing left to lose anymore. And besides, he can be killed too if he tries anything on me. Gold's powerless like everyone else here, and he won't be able to do anything when I put a bullet in his precious daughter's head. For now, Jefferson, I need you to do something for me."

Meanwhile, Nora went inside Granny's Diner to get some coffee. Everyone went back to their old lives which was a bit strange, but then again, life goes on, so they probably didn't want to worry over what happened to Amir's bar. There was nothing but yellow crime scene tape around the building. Everyone who worked for Amir was being interrogated and investigated before going off to look for another job.

When Nora saw Granny and not Ruby, she thought that maybe Ruby turned in or something. "Can I get a to-go cup of coffee?" Granny finally noticed her and gave her a look of sympathy before nodding her head as she got it ready and handed it to her. "Ruby's working late today?"

"Yeah, well, after what happened last night, thought I might let her clock in late. How are you doing by the way?"

She knew Granny meant well, but she didn't like how everyone pitied her. It made her feel like a victim, and she didn't want to be even though the horrible truth was that she was. "Overwhelmed."

Granny gave her an encouraging smile as she told her, "They'll find him."

Nora was thankful for Granny's words, but it still didn't ease her nerves. Still, she didn't want Granny to worry about her, so she gave her a small smile before Granny went to go wait on a table as Nora's smile quickly fell when she was out of sight. Her eyes though soon caught wind of the Daily Mirror on the counter, so she read the article on the front page and sighed. It gave vigorous details of last night's events by describing many eyewitness reports and explaining why the police force had an arrest warrant for Amir Khan. Nora even scoffed when Sidney's article went further to claim that Nora's emotions were high that night and ended up back-fisting the mayor's face when she supposedly tried calming her down.

Having enough of the paper, she threw it back on the counter before hearing, "Nora?"

She turned to see Mary Margaret sitting in one of the booths. After Amir was found guilty for Kathryn's death when Nora handed the flash drive over to Emma and Graham, the judge allowed Mary Margaret to be free. At least Mary Margaret didn't have to be in jail anymore while proving her innocence. It still bothered Nora though whenever she noticed people glancing at her out of pity. That was the one feeling she didn't want.

Nora went over to her friend and sat across from her. "Hey, how are you doing?"

"Do you want me to lie?" Nora asked.

Mary Margaret clearly heard her sad tone, so she offered her words of sympathy, "Don't worry, Nora. The town's looking for him now. He won't get away with this."

She wished that was true, but the problem was that no one had any idea where he was. They had no idea if he was hiding or if a friend or any of his old employers were helping him. It was terrifying for Nora to think about since she knew that Amir was furious for her by ruining his life and exposing him to law enforcement.

"I gotta go."

Mary Margaret tried calling her back, but Nora didn't want to hear her anymore. She didn't want everyone comforting her and asking her if she was okay all the time. Nora had already been through enough with the abuse she dealt with from her father, which was exactly why she ran away to start a new life and forget it. Now that everyone knew she was one of the victims, they wouldn't leave her alone. Even a couple of reporters from the press that Sidney sent wanted her to comment on Amir as soon as she made it out of the diner as Granny went outside and yelled at them to leave the poor woman alone.

Nora was still on edge though over everything that happened. Her heart pounded excessively against her chest, and she felt like her nerves were going to drown her. She tried tuning out their voices as she kept walking away from them, but they were relentless with their pestering questions. Eventually, she closed her eyes and felt her breath quickening while her feet moved quicker.

"What's going on?"

Nora gasped and opened her eyes when she saw Gold in front of her and glared at the reporters, causing them to get terrified of his dominating presence. "We only wanted to get a few words with Miss Moon. The people want to know how she's feeling," one of the reporters said.

His toothy grin didn't extend to his narrowed eyes as he limped over to the nervous reporter and told him off, "I think...if Miss Moon doesn't want to answer you, then she doesn't have to.Now, leave."

His seething tone at the end of his sentence forced them to back off before he turned back around to head her say, "Thank you, Mr. Gold."

"There's no need. I simply did what anyone would have done." Nora nodded her head in acknowledgement before Gold stared at her, and for the first time, she saw him filled with mixed emotions. "You needn't worry. Khan will receive worse treatment than what he put you through."

"Can we...please not talk about it?"

Gold was a little taken aback to hear her raise her voice a bit for a mere moment, but then again, he didn't blame her for it given what she had been through. However, what Nora had no idea was that Gold was trying so hard to contain his frustration. He was seething deep inside ever since Sidney's article was in the paper. No one knew the effect it had on Gold for him to discover that Amir involved Nora with his disgusting hobby. He was angry that Emma couldn't figure out Amir's real business in time to make an arrest, but he was even more upset that he couldn't protect Nora from that cur to get his hands on her.

It explained the fresh blood on Gold's bandaged hand when he smashed the mirrors in his home and broke anything in sight, to which she noticed as she took his hand and asked in concern, "What happened to your hand?"

"I had a little trouble repairing one of the antiques. It's not much of an importance," he answered, pulling his hand away and gave her a deceptive smile before gesturing to the sidewalk. "Would you like me to walk you to your shop?"

She shook her head, telling him, "Actually, I was...going to see Graham at his apartment, but thank you though."

He really wanted to be with her more after finding out what Amir did to her, but he knew that he needed to back off so that she could be more comfortable rather than forcing her to do things she didn't want to do. "Alright then."

Nora gave him a small smile and headed on her way to Graham's apartment while Gold watched her go as his smile slowly fell when she turned away from him. He really wanted to follow her to ensure that nothing happened to her. Amir was very cutthroat and was willing to go the extra mile to get what he wanted. Since Nora ruined his new life in this cursed world, then Amir would surely go after her. He only hoped that Sheriff Swan and Deputy Humbert were with her during his absence. A shame that neither of them noticed the black SUV in the alleyway, and no one could see Jefferson driving it from the tinted windows as he watched Nora heading towards Graham's apartment building.


Past

As Grim continued to struggle against his chains, all he thought about was Odette. He wanted to protect her. There was no way he was going to allow her to continue to be Rothbart's prisoner. That was why he needed to find a way out of here. Prince David, however, just looked at him pitifully.

"It's no use, Grim. I even tried. We can't get out."

Grim continued banging against the hook of the chain using a rock he got from the ground. "There has to be. I'm not going to die here-not while Odette's suffering."

"Believe me. I don't want to be here anymore than you do, but without a way out of here, then what are we supposed to do?"

Grim finally gave up after thinking about what David said. He was right. There was no way out without having a plan to escape. He slumped to the ground and heaved out breaths to steady his breathing as he felt all hope was lost. All he wanted was for Odette to be free and to see her happy again, but he failed. He didn't know how to protect her now.

"I don't know," Grim admitted in defeat.

Their heads snapped when they heard an imp-like chuckle, and they saw Rumplestiltskin outside their cells. "If you wanted to get out, all you needed to do was ask."

"You?" Grim's eyes narrowed and spoke in an accusatory manner as he questioned, "You're going to let us out?"

"Surprised, aren't you?" Before either of them had a chance to say anything, he raised a hand and waved it after he said, "Allow me."

Their chains rattled and clumped to the ground, and their cells doors creaked open, and David asked him, "Why are you doing this? Why would you go this far?"

Grim knew he couldn't trust The Dark One since there was something rather suspicious of him-more sinister. At that moment, he questioned in his head about the deal he made with Rumple again. Rumplestiltskin clearly wanted to see Rothbart dead, but why? He had no idea. Still, whatever it took to achieve his goal, Grim was willing to do whatever it took if it meant for Odette to be set free.

Rumple then conjured their weapons floating in the air for them to take, including the quiver filled with the dream shade arrows. "Why for both of you to find your true love of course," Rumple answered when he turned to the prince. They hesitated to take their weapons, and when they did, Rumple smirked wickedly as he told them, "Best of luck."

He then vanished in a cloud of red smoke, causing them to wonder what just happened when they turned to each other. However, the men realized that they shouldn't waste this opportunity. Whatever Rumplestiltskin wanted from them, they were willing to pay the price so that they could find the ones they love.

As soon as they made it out of the dungeons, David stopped him, "Grim wait. I can't go with you. I need to save Snow."

Grim nodded his head in understanding especially since he didn't have time to argue. "Alright. Good luck, David."

"You too."

Both men went their separate ways as Grim ventured on ahead to find Odette. However, he couldn't fight off all of the soldiers on his own, so he needed to be stealthy. That was when he remembered how Odette was able to go through the castle undetected. He looked around for the secret passage and started panicking when he heard footsteps nearby. It wasn't until when he found a certain section of the wall that he pushed that allowed him to step through a system of tunnels as the wall shut behind him. He then continued forward to find Odette.


Present

Graham turned the knob to his shower, turning it off. He wrapped a towel around himself and noticed how the steam rose and clung to the mirror above his sink, so he wiped the steam off his mirror and looked at himself. His eyes narrowed when he stared at his reflection while droplets from his wet hair tapped the floor with a few drops. He was still so mad at himself for what happened to Nora that he couldn't forgive himself.

The fact that Amir actually involved Nora by taking advantage of her and blackmailed her to have sex with August made Graham's stomach drop. He felt numb the more he imagined the idea of it. How Nora managed to endure it, he couldn't even believe it. If only Graham told her everything from the beginning, then none of this would have happened. However, it also showed her strength. No doubt Nora was terrified since Amir was a dangerous man, but the fact that she obtained the evidence to help him and Emma, proved what an amazing woman Nora was. That was why Graham was going to do whatever it took to protect her.

He left his bathroom and dropped his towel to get dressed by putting on his boxers, his jeans, and his socks. Graham then grabbed his towel to dry his hair as much as he could so that he could put a shirt on. He then threw his towel on the bathroom floor before opening one of his drawers to take a shirt out.

Before he had a chance to put it on though, he heard his door knock, so he looked through the peephole and froze when he saw Nora. Graham looked back at his apartment and cursed in his head. He didn't want Nora to come in and see this mess.

He hurriedly went over to his bed to make it quick. When he heard her knocking again, he didn't want her to think that he wasn't home and just leave, so he told her to wait a second. Graham then grabbed his dirty clothes on the chair against the wall and tossed it in a laundry basket before throwing his towel inside that he just tossed to the ground. He then shut his bathroom door so that Nora wouldn't see the mess in his laundry basket before going over to the door to open it.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey." Graham was a little nervous since she had never been in his apartment before, but nevertheless, he wasn't going to waste an opportunity to see her as he gestured her inside. "You want to come in?"

She gave him a small smile and allowed herself to go inside when he offered. Nora slowly made her way into his home and looked around. For some reason, she seemed as nervous as he was, and when he shut his door to give them privacy, his heart pounded excessively against his chest. He wondered if she felt the same way as he couldn't get enough of her.

When she turned back to him, he saw her fidgeting with her hands, so he knew something was wrong. "What is it?"

"Sidney released an article talking about what happened last night, slandering me, and the press wouldn't leave me alone this morning until Mr. Gold stepped in."

He sighed and shook his head before turning back to Nora. "Just ignore them. We know the truth now, and there's no way I'm going to let Khan get away with what he did."

"How? You don't even know where he is?"

Graham wished that Nora had more faith in him. If there was one thing Graham knew for certain, he was going to do whatever it took to find Amir. There was no way he going to get away with what he did to Nora and many of his other victims.

He then went over to one of his drawers to pull out a small device, and Nora stared at it with speculation as he asked her to give her phone to him. When she did, he sat on his bed as Nora watched him work by taking the cover off her phone to insert a chip inside. He then slipped the cover back on and handed it back to her.

As she stared at it, he explained what he did. "I installed a tracker, so that I'd know where you are. If Amir tries anything like kidnapping you, then I'll know where you are, so make sure you have it on you at all times."

Nora stared at him after hearing how serious he sounded, but this wasn't a joke to Graham when it came to Nora's safety. This was the best solution Graham could think of since he couldn't be with her all day. He knew that Amir would go after Nora for obtaining evidence against him that showed his motivation. Now, Amir has a double homicide investigation after pointing out to the judge of the same murder weapon used on both Kathryn Nolan and Derek.

She then looked back at her phone and sat by his side, and Graham noticed her expression filled with worry. He knew she was still thinking Amir, and she had a right to be. Anyone would have a right to be after they deal with Amir. The only reason why Graham wasn't afraid of him was because he dealt with him for years, so he knew exactly what Amir was capable of. He just didn't expect Amir to go to such an extent by using people for sex to gain information. One thing was for certain though, he was never going to allow Amir to touch her ever again.

Graham took her hand, causing her to look at him. "Don't worry. I won't let him hurt you ever again."

"How can you promise that?" Nora asked, turning away from him. "I feel like he won't stop until he kills me now."

"I won't let that happen," Graham assured her as he lifted her face to get her to meet his eyes. "You helped Emma and me see the truth by getting the evidence we needed to bail Mary Margaret out. It's my turn to help you now, and I won't stop until Khan's behind bars. I love you, Nora, and I'll never let anything happen to you."

The more they stared at each other, the more Graham thought about her. He wanted Nora to be safe more than anything because he truly loved her. If Amir actually got a chance to harm her in anyway, he wouldn't know how to live with himself. It was his duty to protect her from now on. She just needed to rely on him.

When Nora leaned in, he allowed her, and he accepted her sweet kiss. It may had been short, but it was intimate, and it made Graham feel so much heat when their lips met. He wanted to continue feeling that moment, but she pulled away and stared at him. His eyes were intense, and he wanted more of her, so he pleaded with his longing gaze, allowing her to give him permission. He was thankful that she didn't stop him from kissing her again, to which she accepted.

He then deepened the kiss with limitless devotion before slowly bringing her down so that her back gently touched his mattress. She smiled into the kiss and brought him closer to her while he bent her leg over his hip so that he could feel her more. Her soft moans became a drug in his mind as he wanted to hear them more, so he nipped her neck, causing her to arch her back a bit before he slowly hiked the skirt of her dress over her hip. As his hand wandered down, he heard her breath quickening, so he captured her lips once more before he went to unbuckle his belt, but he stopped as soon as the door knocked.

Nora sucked in a breath out of surprise and immediately sat up while Graham glared at the door and cursed in his head at the person for disturbing his moment with Nora. Graham took a moment to go to the door while Nora made herself more presentable by smoothing down her skirt when she got off his bed. When he looked through the peephole, he saw Emma, so he looked back at Nora, who was perplexed to know who it was. Instead of answering her, he opened the door to reveal Emma.

"Hey, ready to...go-" Emma stopped herself when she noticed Nora in his apartment. "I was...just go-going to ask if you wanted to go to the...station. Unless you're busy."

Graham glanced back at Nora and saw her flushed face as she turned her head away to avoid the awkwardness, but the damage was already done by getting caught by Emma. "Could you give us a minute?" Graham asked somewhat annoyed when he turned back to Emma.

"I'll be outside."

He shut the door as Emma left and turned back to Nora. She had a sheepish grin on her face. Graham couldn't help but smirk when she finally released a laugh. It was cute, and all he did and just watch her. When he made his way over to her, she still continued laughing until he finally wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. She had a pleasant smile on her face when she put her arms around his neck as his head leaned in with their noses barely brushing against each other.

"You thought that was funny?" He asked with subtle amusement while his eyes gazed into her so intensely.

"Mhm."

He smirked and kissed her to which she accepted back. Graham kissed her with the same passion he did before Emma interrupted them. He wanted to continue where they left off to satisfy his urges for her since he could never get enough of her.

Thankfully, Nora stopped him by pulling away. "You shouldn't make Emma wait."

Nora was right of course. They still needed to find Amir, but Graham still didn't want to let her go. He may have a tracker on her now to know where she is, but it didn't mean that she would be safe completely from Amir. He just hoped that she stayed safe.

When Graham got ready by putting a shirt and his leather jacket on, they headed outside to see Emma waiting for them. She had an awkward smile on her face as Nora greeted her. Nora then turned to Graham and wished him good luck for his work today before kissing him, and Emma smirked and looked away awkwardly when Graham and Nora made the sweet kiss a little longer before finally pulling away from each other. They all wished each other well again and went their separate ways with Graham and Emma heading to the station while Nora headed to her shop.

Nora, however, stopped in her tracks when she noticed a black SUV by the sidewalk that was directly facing Graham's apartment. She stared at it for a moment since she had an eerie feeling. For a moment, she felt like someone was staring at her, but she couldn't tell because of the tinted windows. She tried not to think much of it and headed to work without knowing that Jefferson was following her as he turned the key in the ignition when Nora was out of sight.


Past

Odette stared at the ground, not believing that Grim was going to be executed in the morning. She cried so much earlier with her eyes red as she sniffled her last sob. She needed to find a way out, but after Rothbart ordered for the soldiers to patrol the tunnels through the secret passageways, she knew there was no escape. She couldn't take on too many on her own without a sword and the soldiers wearing too much armor.

When the door opened, her head snapped to see Rothbart lingering in the doorway before slowly strolling inside, and she couldn't stand how his smirk grew when he noticed her face. "Now, don't let this whole thing upset you, Odette. I'll be sure that yourprecious huntsman's deathis painless and quick."

She didn't even want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her crying face anymore, so she turned away. None of this would have happened if Odette didn't go with Rothbart in the first place. She blamed herself for believing in him. Odette was desperate enough to stupidly believe that her life would turn out great if she wore the diamond so that her father wouldn't find her and listened to everything that Rothbart told her. A part of her wished that she never got involved so that he would at least still be alive. Now he was going to die because of her and there was nothing she could do about it.

"How can you live with yourself?" Odette finally stood against the vile sorcerer as a couple of tears escaped her eyes when she confronted him. "All of this torture and torment on me to enact your revenge against my father?"

A scowl loomed over his face as he said, "I've already explained why."

"I understand what you're feeling. I lost my mother and my brother a long time ago. I may have had my father, but he gave me a punishment that was cruel just to keep me by his side, but one thing I can say about him is that he never hit me or allowed anyone else to do it for him, and heneverhumiliated or mentally broke me the way you have. There aren't any words with what you did to me, andno oneshould be treated that way."

He was somewhat taken aback, almost perturbed with her words, but his expression soon hardened as he found himself glaring daggers at her. "Why don't you ask your wretch of a father how one should be treated when he killed my daughter?"

Odette didn't bother retorting back at him, because she knew there was no point. Rothbart already made up his mind to see her father's demise. He wanted Rumplestiltskin to suffer the way he suffered by knowing what it was like to lose a daughter by taking Odette away from him. If Odette took off the diamond, then her father would surely rescue her, but then she would have to live in that horrible life again by being imprisoned at the lake.

One of the guards then bursted through the door, alerting them. "Rothbart, the prisoners escaped!"

His eyes slowly widened, and Odette was relieved to hear that Grim made it out of the dungeons to avoid execution, but it didn't stop Rothbart from turning back to her as he reminded her, "Make no mistake. I will find him, and when I do, I'll make you watch me tear his heart out and crush it."

Odette just glared at him as he followed the soldier out the door and slammed it behind him, leaving Odette on her own. She clutched onto her swan necklace and smiled to herself as a few more tears fell. They were tears of joy as she was relieved that he was safe for now.

Meanwhile, Grim roamed through the tunnels and faced some soldiers along the way. His sword clanged and hammered against the steel. Grim made sure to kill or knock out the soldiers so that they wouldn't follow him as he ventured forward to find Odette. It was a struggle at first, but he eventually found the right wall when he looked through one of the holes and saw her.

She stood from her seat and backed away when the wall opened until she finally noticed Grim was standing there. Her breath hitched in her throat, and he panted heavily when he laid eyes on her. He could tell she had been crying earlier, and he was a bit taken aback when she rushed over to him to hug him.

She shook in his arms as she silently sobbed in his embrace. He held her close to him and told her how sorry he was that he couldn't get to her sooner, but she kept crying and told him that he came back and how she couldn't believe it.

When they let go of each other, her eyes slowly widened when she looked over his shoulder and shouted, "Grim, look out!"

Expecting it to be a soldier, he whirled around to strike him down only to stop to see Rumplestiltskin waving his hand to make his sword disappear with a wicked smirk. Odette clutched onto Grim's arm while Grim stood protectively over her, creating a distance between herself and Rumplestiltskin. He had no idea why he was here, and he was puzzled when Rumplestiltskin remarked, "You've done exceptionally well I have to say, huntsman."

"Why are you here?" Grim questioned.

Just before he was about to take his arrow out, Odette stopped him and took him by surprise when she told him, "Grim, no! My father will kill you."

He did a double take when he turned to her before looking back at Rumplestiltskin. At that moment, everything clicked. The reason why Rumplestiltskin wanted Rothbart dead. Rothbart took his daughter away from him. He then remembered everything Odette told him before she secured his heart. He cursed her to be a swan to keep her close to him which was why she agreed to Rothbart's deal. He was the reason why she lived a lonely life for three hundred years.

Rumplestiltskin smirked wickedly as Grim questioned in an accusatory tone, "You? You're her father?"

"And you led me right to her. Now, I don't need you anymore."

With an extension of his arm, he sent Grim flying across the wall and smashing into a vanity. Odette cried out to Grim and was about to rush over to him until she remembered her father, so she backed away from him only for him to draw closer to her. She pleaded for him to stop, but he wouldn't. In fact, she saw his eyes growing angrier when he glanced at the diamond on her head, so he threw the diamond across the room by using his magic with a flick of his wrist.

Odette's entire body glowed and burned brightly before transforming into a swan. She couldn't even fly away when Rumple put her in a cage and lifted her using his magic as he gave her a victorious grin that stretched from ear to ear. She couldn't believe this was happening. Her father finally found her and captured her. Grim was determined not to let her go though as he grunted and saw The Dark One staring at his daughter, so he used the opportunity to grab his bow and one of the arrows that Rumplestiltskin gave him before firing it at him.

With a swift hand, he caught the arrow right between his fingertips and gave an imp-like chuckle to him. "Did you really think you could use the arrows I gave you against me?" When Grim just glared at him, Rumple answered for him, "Thought not."

Rumplestiltskin then disappeared in a cloud of red smoke and took Odette with him right before Grim had a chance to tackle him, but it was already too late. The Dark One took off with his daughter. However, that didn't mean that Grim was simply going to give up. He was going to track them down and rescue Odette from possibly the most powerful man in all of the realm as he scaled down from the window when he heard the wall moving and the door bursting open as the guards shouted that the prisoner was in there. Grim made certain to escape right before they noticed that he made it down to the ground and headed to the wall where he normally snuck out to feed Akela back when he was a heartless soldier by removing the soldiers and squeezing his way through before running off.


Present

Graham and Emma were at the station looking through a map to figure out where Amir could be hiding, but Emma noticed that Graham was bothered by something. "What is it?" she asked.

"Nothing."

Emma shook her head, catching his lie. "It's not nothing." She stared at Graham, trying to figure out what was on his mind, but one thing that Emma knew was reading people, and Graham was like an open-book, similar to Nora. "You're still worried about Nora, aren't you?"

He sighed and finally acknowledged, "I just still can't believe that Amir actually did that to her. I knew about his criminal history and killed Derek and now Kathryn, but to involve Nora and countless of other people to do such a thing, I can't even stomach it. If only I'd told her the truth from the beginning, she never would have been taken advantage of like that."

Emma understood what Graham was feeling. She also couldn't even believe it when Nora handed her the flash drive as Emma and Graham watched the videos. Even Emma was completely disgusted by them. She had to give Nora a ton of credit though for what she went through and still went out of her way to obtain the evidence they needed to bail Mary Margaret out.

"Hey, it's over. We now have everything we need to make an arrest. Amir's going to prison when we find him," Emma assured him.

"I would just feel a lot better if Nora stayed with me. I even installed a tracker in her phone in case Amir tried anything."

It was a smart move since Emma knew that Amir would definitely go after Nora. She was the reason why Amir had a warrant out for his arrest now. That was why Emma didn't blame Graham for taking precaution. Emma would honestly do it too, but a tracker didn't necessarily mean that she would be completely safe. It would just detect where she was, so Emma had an idea.

"Why don't I keep an eye on Nora?" Emma offered. "That way if Amir tries anything on her, we'd catch him."

In agreement, Graham and Emma agreed that Graham would stay at the station to try and track Amir down on the map while Emma kept an eye on Nora for her protection and to arrest Amir if he went near her. It was the logical solution. Emma was as determined as Graham to find Amir too after all. The amount of damage he caused was beyond compare to what she had seen from the people she arrested when she was a bail bonds person back in Boston. That was why Emma was going to help as much as she could to take Amir down.

Meanwhile, Nora was in her workroom at Dusk Tailor sewing some orders. She kept getting distracted by glancing at her phone from time to time. No matter how many times, she called Ruby to see how she was doing, there was no answer. It always went straight to voice mail. She thought that maybe Ruby didn't want to talk to anyone because she wanted time for herself. None of the news reporters refused to leave them alone ever since what happened with Amir, so maybe she just wanted time for herself, but Nora thought that maybe Ruby would open up to her by now since they were both of Amir's victims.

Having enough of it, Nora stopped what she was doing to pick up her phone and call Ruby. The number dialed, and all Nora heard were a couple of rings before it going straight to voicemail again. She wanted to know if Ruby was okay given everything that happened. Even though it was still too early for her to close up her shop, Nora couldn't help but feel like something was wrong.

She took her phone and headed to Granny's after closing her shop. "Back again?" Granny asked with a small smile.

Nora got straight to the point by saying. "Actually, I was wondering if Ruby's here."

"Well, if you could get an answer out of her, then good luck trying. I've been trying to get a hold on her all morning. She's most likely sleeping after the night she had if you ask me, and to be honest, I don't really blame her. Those reporters wouldn't stop knocking on my door, asking her all kinds of questions about Khan."

There was something about this that didn't sit well with Nora. Ruby wasn't the type to ignore her friends for a while to get time for herself. After all, how much more time would she need? If anything, Nora would most likely be the one to remain hidden from the world, and Ruby carried a "I don't care what you think of me" kind of attitude. That was why there was something not right about this as Ruby would have shown up to work and was more open to her friends.

"What about Ashley? Is she here?"

Granny gestured to the back room as she answered, "Doing laundry as usual."

Nora thanked her and proceeded to go to the back room while Granny told her to let her know if Ruby calls her back. When Nora went into the laundry room, she saw Ashley inside putting detergent inside the washing machine before turning the dial to turn it on. She then went into the drying machine to take the clothes out and hung them around the small room before she went on to fold one of the sheets.

She finally looked up when Nora made herself known by knocking on the door. "Nora, hi," Ashley greeted with a bright smile on her face.

"Hi, Ashley. Have you heard anything from Ruby this morning?"

She shook her head, admitting, "No. Not since last night. Why? What's wrong?"

"I don't know. I just have this feeling that I can't explain."

"You think something happened to her?" When Nora shrugged her shoulders, Ashley made an assumption. "Maybe she drank a little too much and is trying to sleep it off. I know I would after everything that happened last night."

"Maybe, but I thought that she would call by now. I just can't help but get this feeling that something happened."

As Nora spoke, she glanced at the window and froze when she saw the same black SUV outside of Graham's apartment driving around Main Street and stopped near Granny's Diner. She had a strange feeling when she first saw it since it felt like she was being watched. Now that it was here, a horrible idea came to mind that it was following her. She thought that maybe either Amir or one of his goons was driving it round to follow her every move, which made her stomach drop at the thought of it.

"Well, I'm sure she's okay. Just give her maybe another hour and then call her back to-"

"Can I use your phone?" Nora cut her off, which made Ashley confused until Nora clarified by lying. "I just forgot to tell Graham something, and I left my phone at work."

She knew Ashley would give it to her, after hearing the desperation in Nora's voice. "Sure."

As soon as Ashley handed her the phone, Nora gave her a small smile and told her that she would give it back soon. Nora was not going to take any chances that the black SUV may take her. She needed her phone so that Graham could track her down. That was why she needed Ashley's phone to make them think that she was carrying her phone.

When Nora made it outside, she turned her head when she heard a car pulling up and froze when it was the black SUV. It nearly ran over her feet, causing her to take a couple of steps back before she got hit. The passenger side window was already rolled down, revealing Jefferson. Even though she had never seen him before, he knew exactly who she was after keeping an eye on the people in this town for some time. It wasn't until when he pointed a small handgun at her that made her frozen with fear.

"Get in." Nora was hesitant since she knew that he was going to take her to Amir, but she had faith that Graham was going to find her, so she went inside. "Phone."

Thankfully, Nora took Ashley's phone as she handed it to Jefferson who rolled down his window to throw it to the ground. However, what he didn't realize was that Emma was looking for Nora. She couldn't find her in her shop, so she was on the phone with Graham to track her down. It wasn't until when she saw the SUV in the alleyway at the back entrance of the diner that made her freeze as she watched to which she believed was Nora's phone.

Emma rushed over while telling Graham over the phone, "She's in a black SUV." Right at the moment, it sped off, Emma didn't make it in time and slowed down to pick up Ashley's phone. "He dropped her phone."

"That's not her phone."

"What?" Emma questioned.

"It's not her phone. The signal is showing me where she's going. They just took the road off of Main Street and heading towards the forest."

Without wasting a minute, Emma rushed back to her yellow buggy while Graham told her that he'll follow the signal. They were determined to save Nora in time and arrest Khan for all that he had done to innocent people here in town.


Past

As soon as Rumple took her back to his castle, he locked her in his dungeon by putting a chain around her neck. Now that he had her back, he was determined to keep her hidden from Rothbart. However, it didn't take away the pain that Odette felt when she was ripped away from Grim once again.

"Now, thatvile sorcererwill never find you again." His voice sounded bitter but soon turned reassuring when he saw her grief-stricken face. "You don't have to worry anymore. I will never let him hurt you again."

Instead of saying anything, she brought her head down. Rumplestiltskin's daughter meant the world to him. He may be much more sinister, but he always had a place in his heart for her even if he refused to admit it. He didn't want to appear weak to anyone even if it was towards his own daughter.

When he noticed that she didn't even bother to crane her long neck to look at him, he felt his heart tightening. He knew that she must have been through a lot, but Rumplestiltskin knew all along where she was. The only reason why he didn't rescue her was because he needed her to have time to meet and fall in love with Grim. As much as he wanted her to be by his side, he needed his plan to follow through by continuing to be the villain especially since he was aware of Grim's feelings for Odette now, so he knew that he would come after her. All that was left was to be patient and wait to imprison Grim so that Rothbart wouldn't use him for his diabolical plan, and Rumple knew immediately what it was as soon as he saw the ROC diamond on his daughter's head.

Before he had a chance to leave, he turned around when he heard her, "I know what you did to Rothbart. Why did you kill his daughter?"

"I didn't kill her." He stared at her for a minute before he revealed the truth. "I made a deal with her. She wanted a better life for her and the child she was carrying by marrying the man she loved who was a Duke. She then took a dose of nightshade to force a miscarriage before going insane and threw herself off a cliff."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. No wonder why Rothbart blamed her father for his daughter's death. Rumplestiltskin was a catalyst for Rothbart's misery, and he was the reason why Rothbart wanted to make Odette suffer.

"You didn't even tell her the price at all, did you?" Tears welled in her eyes when he was quick to deny it by coming up with a ridiculous excuse and saying that she could have more children if she wanted to. "You don't realize what you've done! You'll never stop, will you? You don't care about the consequences as long as you get what you want."

Hearing her accuse him didn't bother Rumplestiltskin at all. Rothbart's daughter was desperate enough for a happy ending. If she wanted to change her life, then she should have done something about it, instead of depending on others. One thing was for sure, Rumple was never going to allow Rothbart to get his hands on her.

"You can keep blaming me all you like dearie, but what Rothbart has in store for you is much worse. You should be thanking me that I got you of there, and this time,you won'tever leave me again."

Having said the last word, Rumple slammed her cell door when he left and stormed out of the dungeons so that he could prepare when Grim came to rescue Odette, which was exactly what Grim was planning to do. He escaped the Queen's castle to go and save Odette from her own father, and this time, he had the perfect plan.


Present

The car drove all the way to Jefferson's house, and Jefferson immediately stepped out to open the door for her while pointing a gun at her. "Get out," he ordered.

Nora hesitated for a moment before she got out. She had to do whatever he said since he had a fun on her. There was no way out of the mess on her own. All she needed to do was hope and pray that Graham and Emma would get to her in time as Jefferson led her in the mansion.

She didn't have time to look at the glorious details of it as he led her into the living room where Amir was waiting with a sickening grin. Nora stopped as soon as she saw him, but she ended up hitting the cool steel of the gun, forcing her to turn to see Jefferson, telling her to keep walking, so she did. Nora slowly made her way further inside and felt her breath hitching in her throat when she saw a switchblade twirling in his hand and a gun in his pocket.

When Nora just stood by the couch, Jefferson grabbed her arm and forced her to sit down, surprising her a bit before Amir turned to his friend. "You tossed her phone away?"

"Yeah."

"Good. I don't want Humbert to have a chance to find us." Amir then sharpened his knife, causing a chill to be swept down her spine. "You can leave us now."

"You sure you don't want me here?"

Amir showed off his gun in a cocky manner as he told him, "I think I can manage. I'll call you when I'm done."

Without another word, Jefferson glanced over at Nora before he headed out the door. As soon as the door shut, Nora looked back at Amir, who was staring at her. He may have had a smirk on his face, but she saw the hate in his eyes. She knew he wanted to kill her. Amir wouldn't be standing there with weapons on him if he didn't. However, she needed to be brave and patient that Graham would come and save her.

"So, what now, Amir? You're going to kill me?"

He scoffed as he replied, "You'd want that, wouldn't you?"

He must have been unbelievably cocky for him to sit down next to her with a smirk on his face while smoothing her hair down. Nora wanted to move away, but Amir had the blade near her breast plate. One wrong move, and he could easily stab her. She needed to stall him as much as he could so that Graham and Emma could get here in time.

"Why did you kill Derek?"

It took him a moment to finally admit, "Derek stuck his nose all the time where it didn't belong, and he was getting dangerously close to my business. He definitely gave Humbert a run for his money for figuring out what I was doing so quickly."

"And Katherine? What was she? Collateral damage?"

He smirked as he answered, "Well, I couldn't blame a snake again, now, could I?"

The more Nora thought about it, the more she realized what Amir was waiting for. He could kill her any moment now, but instead he was holding back. She didn't really understand why unless he was planning for something. It at least gave her more time to stall more time, but she still couldn't help but wonder about it.

"What are you even waiting for Amir? I'm the reason why you're wanted by the police now, so why haven't you killed me yet?"

His smirk stretched even further as he stood, and Nora thought this was it for her until he backed away while remarking, "Teaching you a lesson."

Nora watched him head to the closet door to open it and reveal a tied-up Ruby with tape against her mouth, causing Nora's eyes to widen. Ruby was crying earlier as the puffy, red eyes were proof of it. Her muffled cries broke Nora's heart, while Amir turned back to Nora to see her worried expression. Amir then grabbed Ruby, forcing her to muffle out a yelp before he dragged her to the couch and threw her beside Nora to sit next to her. Ruby then looked at Nora, and Nora saw how scared she was.

She then panicked when Amir went behind Ruby and brought her against him while pressing the switchblade against her neck, causing Ruby to cry even more. "I want you to see this," Amir told her.

"No. No! Wait! Amir, please, don't do this," Nora desperately pleaded. "You don't have to do this. You can leave."

His laughter made Nora unbelievably terrified since he was enjoying this too much. "You really think I can justleave? It's too late for that."

When Amir was ready to slit Ruby's throat, Nora could hear Ruby muffling out "no". Nora didn't know what to do to help Ruby. She tried to think of a way to help her, but Nora was completely frozen with fear. She didn't know how to get out of this mess to protect Ruby. However, it wasn't until when Amir's phone rang, that made them all freeze.

Amir glared at Nora and moved away from Ruby as he tossed her like a rag doll away from him and into Nora as he stared at the two women down before taking his phone out and picked it up after seeing that the caller ID was Jefferson. "What is it?" There was a small pause until he finally seethed, alerting Nora and Ruby. "What?"

He looked over at Nora as his stare hardened before he went over to the front door to look through the peephole as he saw Graham and Emma pulling up by Jefferson's mansion before getting out of their cars. He cursed to himself and looked back to only find Ruby on the couch. Amir headed back and glared at Ruby who leaned away from him and continued crying. He really wanted to kill Ruby right then and there, but he also didn't want Nora to run away, so he went to the kitchen to go through the other entrance of the house since it was the only other possible direction she would have went to.

Meanwhile, Graham kicked the front door open as Emma and him headed inside with their guns ready. They then noticed Ruby on the couch and headed over to her as Emma got rid of the tape on her mouth and Graham cut through the rope while Ruby cried out "Oh my God!" Emma was soothing her by telling her that she was okay now. Graham, however, didn't have time to be calm and say that everything was okay when it wasn't.

When he looked at his tracker, he saw that he wasn't getting a signal, so he turned to a crying Ruby, "Where are they? Where did they go?"

"She ran through there, and Amir followed after her." Ruby pointed out.

Emma then looked over at Graham when she saw that he was struggling to find Nora through his tracker. "You can't get a signal?"

"No." He then nodded over to the front door. "Take Ruby to the car. I'm going after Amir and finding Nora."

"Graham. Graham!" Emma called out, but it was too late, Graham rushed out through the kitchen's exit to follow them out into the woods.


Past

Grim wasted no time heading to Rumplestiltskin's castle. Everyone knew where The Dark One resided, but no one dared to step through. Only those who wanted to make a deal with him went inside, but Grim was there to set Odette free from his prison. He knew that Rumplestiltskin would keep her much closer now since Rothbart took her away.

When Grim reached his castle, he scaled the wall using his arrows and went up to a balcony that led to a bedroom. He thought that it might have been Odette's room before she was cursed after noticing the bright, beautiful colors such as the ivory curtains or the pastel blue walls. It was so grand too that made Grim wonder of the luxurious life she used to live in. However, that wasn't what surprised him. There was hardly a speck of dust on anything. It was taken care of properly, and Grim realized that The Dark One held out hope that his daughter would return to him as he cleaned her room so that it was ready for her if she agreed to go back with him. Knowing though that she wasn't here, Grim knew that she had to be in the dungeon since Rumplestiltskin would never want her to give her a chance to escape.

Grim wasted no time leaving her room and went downstairs in a rush but soon slowed down when he found Rumplestiltskin spinning his wheel. As big of a bastard as he was for cursing his only daughter for centuries, Grim knew that Odette wouldn't want her father dead. If she did, then she would have allowed Rothbart to hurt her father. However, that didn't mean that Rumplestiltskin wouldn't keep coming after them, so Grim already came up with a plan before he came here.

He drew one of his arrow and crept closer to The Dark One with feet moving ever so delicately. Grim was careful to draw his arrow back against his bowstring and aimed straight at him. He glared at his target directly behind his back before he fired. The arrow was sent flying towards Rumplestiltskin.

At the last second, Rumplestiltskin whipped around and caught the arrow's shaft right at the moment it nearly pierced through his heart, and Rumple had a cheshire grin on his face as he gave an imp-like chuckle to Grim. "Don't you already know, dearie? You can't kill me so easily."

This time, Grim was the one who smirked as he told him. "I wasn't trying to kill you."

Rumple was confused at first until he noticed his gloved fingers. They were coated black for some reason. He then looked at the arrow in his hand and dropped the arrow, revealing a black substance on his hand. Grim coated his arrows with squid ink that he got when he fought the giant squid. Since he didn't have a chance to use it on Rothbart, he thought he might as well use it on The Dark One himself.

The Dark One's eyes hardened when he turned back to Grim, and soon, he froze in place as the squid ink's magic overtook the most powerful man in all of the realm. "You think this can hold me?"

Grim was completely unfazed by Rumple's seething tone as he reminded him. "It'll hold you long enough when I finally set your daughter free."

Without wasting another minute, Grim left The Dark One and rushed to where he believed the dungeon would be. When he found it eventually, he searched through all of the doors and called out for Odette. It took a while, but eventually he stopped when he heard her calling out to him. He called out to her to hear her again, so he followed her voice and opened the cell door to reveal a swan chained by its neck.

"Grim...how did you find me?" All he did was stare at her. He had never seen her in her cursed form before, and when Odette realized him staring at her, she looked away. "I never wanted you to see me like this."

He heard her sad voice and slowly approached her before kneeling down to her. "It doesn't matter. What you look like doesn't change who you are." Grim then took out his dagger as he gestured to the chain. "This may hurt, but bear with it. We don't have much time."

Grim raised his hilt and slammed the chain against her neck. She closed her eyes in anticipation and heard the metal clanging before finally breaking as she gasped. He caressed her long neck and asked if she was hurt, but she told him no. Nevertheless, he wanted her to be safe. For her to endure so much with what she had been through, Grim still couldn't believe it. Derek even told her of the horrible scars and bruises she received when she stayed at the Queen's castle. He wanted her to have a soothing moment of comfort, so he leaned in and surprised her by kissing the side of her neck where the chain tightened around her.

Odette immediately glowed and a surge of magic flowed through the castle and miles out into the forest as Odette turned back into her human form. Grim got a good look at her beautiful appearance, and she froze as she looked at her hands before noticing her form as she touched her face. At that moment, Grim realized her curse was lifted. He helped break her curse.

He soon smiled when tears of joy welled in her eyes and soon streaked down her lovely cheeks when she whispered, "I'm free? I don't believe it. I'm free." She immediately wrapped her arms around Grim, causing him to be taken aback since he didn't expect this reaction, but he smiled again when she shook in his arms and cried. "Thank you. Thank you."

As much as Grim wanted this moment to last, they didn't have time. "You can thank me later. We need to leave now. The squid ink I used on your father won't hold him for forever. We need to get as far away as we can from here."

"Wait, no!" Odette pulled him back. "We can't run. He'll just find us again."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

It took a moment for Odette to finally tell him. "My father's dagger. He draws his powers from it. It's the only weapon that can kill him and control him."

It was a long shot, but Odette raised a good point. They couldn't outrun The Dark One. They needed to ensure that he stayed away from them, and if the dagger was the key, then they were determined to find it.

"Alright, but we need to hurry."

They rushed out of the dungeon, and he allowed Odette to take the lead since she knew her way around the castle. They went into another bedroom, and Grim speculated it was her father's room. He imagined where The Dark One slept to be much more eerie, but it secluded itself from the rest of the castle's ornate decorations. The curtains to the windows were nailed down, the mirrors were smashed, and the shelves and his desk were cluttered in a huge mess.

Odette immediately went to work going through his drawers. "His dagger has to be in his room. He wouldn't leave it anywhere else."

"How are we supposed to find it in this mess?"

"I don't know, but we have to try."

He couldn't waste his time arguing with her. If they were going to get out of here, then they needed to find the dagger, so Grim helped her. He looked through the table and checked every nook and cranny of where it could possibly be. They soon froze though when they heard noises in the hallway. Both of them knew that the squid ink wore off and Rumple was looking for them. He probably went to go check to see if they were in the dungeon, but then after that, he would surely find them.

Grim drew an arrow out and turned to Odette, telling her, "Find the dagger. I'll be on guard."

"What? No, Grim. Don't-"

He grabbed her shoulders and calmly explained in all seriousness. "You freed me, Odette. Now it's my turn to free you once and for all, so keep looking for the dagger."

Grim went out into the hallway and shut the door, giving Odette some time at least to find the dagger. Odette scoured every inch of his room, trying to find the cursed dagger. She thought that maybe there was a secret panel or something that her father hid that she may not have been aware of, but all of the walls were solid. They weren't hollow at all to give an indication of a secret panel to store the dagger inside. She even went through the chest inside his room by throwing his magical objects to the floor as she dug inside.

Odette whipped around when she heard a loud thump on the wall. She knew that her father was there and that Grim was fighting him off. Odette knew though that Grim wouldn't stand a chance against him. She imagined her father tossing him around using his magic as she kept hearing more thumping against the wall that shook his already shattered mirrors. Odette was not going to lose Grim. Not this time.

Her last hope was the bookcase. She tossed out the books, hoping that pulling one of them led to a secret passageway. It wasn't until when she heard something clang to the floor that forced her to look to see one of the books opened on the floor. However, the way that the book dropped sounded like steel. It was a hunch, but it was the only thing that made sense.

She carefully picked up the book and flipped through the pages to find his dagger hidden inside between the pages as he tore many of them out to make it look like a secret compartment. Odette smiled brightly as she took her father's dagger out and held it up to see her father's name sprawled on the blade in bold, black letters. Her happiness was quickly short-lived as she remembered Grim being attacked by her father, but with this dagger now at her hand, it was all over.

Odette quickly rushed out of his room and saw Grim on his knees and being strangled by the curtain's ropes as Rumplestiltskin formed a fist to tighten his hold on Grim. "Now that I have my daughter back, I don't need you anymore," Rumplestiltskin told Grim with a sickening grin.

As Grim continued to choke, Odette wasted no time holding up her father's dagger and ordered, "Stop!"

Her father whipped his head around, and his eyes widened when he saw his dagger in his daughter's hand. "Odette?"

"Let Grim go."

He stared at her for a moment before he finally waved his hand as the ropes released Grim, causing him to fall to the ground as he was able to breathe again, but all Odette did was stare at her father just as he did with her. "Odette, what are you doing?"

When she saw him approach her, she shouted, "No!" He took a step back when he heard her tone, and she knew it was because of the dagger. Before she knew it, tears slowly streaked down her face, causing Rumple's heart to clench. "You don't get to control me anymore. I always held out hope that I would have my father back, but I was fooling myself. All you care about...is your power, and that is why...you are going to get everything you want by having me out of your way so that you won't have anymore weaknesses."

"Odette-"

"Don't." He was surprised to hear the venom coming out of her mouth, but then again, he cursed her for three hundred years and made her life a solidarity life. "You willneverhurt Grim or me again, and no matter where we go, you won't follow us or cast any spell to keep either of us with you." When Grim stood, he glared at Rumplestiltskin and slowly went over to Odette as he stood by her side and took her hand, causing Rumple's eyes to narrow by staring at their joined hands. "Now send us somewhere miles away from here, and Ineverwant to see you again."

She sobbed out her last order, and Grim saw how her last words turned into a dagger that pierced Rumple's heart. Grim knew that Odette was his weakness, but he had no idea how much of an effect she had on him. He must have truly loved her unconditionally in his own sick, twisted way by cursing her for three hundred years just to keep her by his side. It didn't mean that Grim pitied him though since the price for having her by his side was her suffering, then he didn't mind getting her out of her prison.

With a wave of his hand, a cloud of red smoke swirled and surrounded Grim and Odette as they were teleported away with the dagger left behind as it clattered to the floor. Rumplestiltskin then went over to his dagger to pick it up and stared at it. His teeth clenched in fury and he yelled out when his plan failed. Grim managed to escape with his daughter.

He expected for Grim to come, but he planned to lock Grim away too since he knew all about the diamond on Odette's head. On top of that, he failed to procure a strand of Odette's hair. He managed to have Grim's strand of hair, but without Odette's hair, then his plan wouldn't succeed. He should have taken it when he had the chance before he took off that cursed ROC diamond off her head, but he was in a furious state when he thought about Rothbart using the diamond on his only daughter.

When Grim and Odette were teleported deep within the forest and miles away from Rumplestiltskin's castle, they took in their surroundings and smiled when they realized that they were finally free. Odette and Grim hugged each other in relief with bright smiles on their faces. They soon looked at each other and stared into each other's eyes as there was a longing for each other.

"I still can't believe you went through all of that trouble for me," she remarked, wiping away the last tear that escaped her eye.

"I told you already. I couldn't just leave you. I had to go back for you. You...gave me purpose, Odette."

They both smiled at each other before leaning in and kissed each other for the first time. It was a sweet, chaste kiss at first, but it became so much more when he brought her closer to him while she wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him closer to her. He then took hold of her middle and spun her around, causing her to break away and laughed in glee.

When they hugged each other again, Odette felt another tear streaking down her cheek when she heard Grim telling her, "You're free now, Odette. You're free."

Unbeknownst to them, Rothbart was watching them through his cauldron. It sickened him to see Odette and Grim get a happy ending. However, what they were unaware of was that Rothbart was far from over with his revenge as he held up the diamond and grinned maliciously, knowing that Grim would be the cause of Odette's demise. Just the thought of Grim's face when he finds out that he would soon kill hispreciousOdette amused Rothbart that he hardly contained himself when he thought about how he was going to do it.


Present

Nora continued running through the woods, trying to get away from Amir. Now that Emma and Graham were here and saved Ruby, all that was left was to find and arrest Amir, but Nora couldn't stop running since she knew that Amir wouldn't hesitate to kill her after all that she did to him. He was unbelievably cutthroat and was willing to do whatever it took to get what he wanted.

She soon hid behind a tree to catch her breath and peeked over her shoulder to see if Amir was nearby. When she couldn't find him, she took her phone out so that she could call Graham, but the problem was that there was no reception, so she tried to get a signal, but she needed to be careful in case Amir showed up. Nora carefully walked around, trying to get a bar on her phone, but it was no use. There was no signal.

"Hey." Nora whipped around to see Amir with a malicious smirk and standing a few feet away from her with the switchblade in his hand, so she rushed out of there, causing him to chase after her. "Stop, Nora!"

Nora felt a weight pressed down on her as she tumbled to the ground when Amir tackled her. She squirmed and struggled to get out of his hold, but he backhanded her, forcing her to yelp. She refused to give up without a fight though. Nora used her adrenaline to flip them over so that she could knee him, which pissed him off. She soon stumbled back when he punched her across her cheek, giving him an opportunity to grab her and sit against her stomach so that it was harder for her to move. He held her arms by her head, but she soon broke free by biting down on his hand, causing him to grunt out in pain.

When she managed to push him off her, she quickly grabbed his switchblade and fumbled getting up. "Where are you going, huh?" he shouted out.

Amir grabbed her arm, which made her cry out, "Don't!"

As soon as her whole body whirled around, he grunted like he was in pain, and Nora froze with widened eyes. She grew numb when he took a couple of steps, revealing a stab wound in his abdomen as he held it. Nora then looked over at the switchblade and saw how deep it went in as the blood coated a few inches of it. Tears formed in her eyes, but they didn't fall as she looked back at Amir and stared helplessly. He glared at her and choked out in pain as he stumbled backwards and fell to the ground.

She finally released a gasp, and her tears fell before looking back at the blade and dropping it as she sobbed. Her stomach churned just by thinking about what she just did. Nora had never stabbed anyone in her life before. She was afraid that she actually killed Amir Khan, but she didn't want him to die. All she wanted was for him to face justice, and now, she believed he was dead. She needed to find Graham and Emma to let them know what happened.

Nora ran through the woods and cried out for Graham and Emma, but there was no answer. She needed to keep trying though. Nora knew that Graham had to be out here looking for her since she knew that Ruby would have told them where she went. When she called out for Graham's name again, she didn't hear him calling out to her, so she stood by another tree and leaned against it as she couldn't get the thought of her stabbing Amir out of her mind as she believed that she actually killed him.

Unbeknownst to her though, Amir stood about fifty feet away from her, clutching onto his wound and aiming his gun at Nora. He was absolutely furious that she managed to hurt him, but he wasn't going to die just yet, and he certainly wasn't going to get killed by some woman. Meanwhile, Graham was running through the woods, calling out for Nora's name, but there was no answer. He pleaded for her to say something to let him know where she was.

"Graham!"

It was her voice. He knew it was her, and he was relieved to hear it. However, his worries grew when he heard a loud bang. It wasn't just any loud bang. He recognized that sound anywhere. It was a gunshot. Graham panicked and rushed to where he believed he heard the sound, and he froze when he saw Nora's limp body on the ground and a bullet wound on her back.

"Oh my god. No. No, no, no, no, no!" Graham immediately cradled her in his arms, not caring that her blood was soaking his leather jacket as he shook her. "Come on, Nora. Wake up. Wake up! Nora, wake up please!"

No matter how many times he called out to her, her eyes stayed shut. Graham couldn't believe this was happening. First, Nora dealt with Amir taking advantage of her and wanted to use her for blackmail. Now, he shot her. If Graham lost Nora, he swore he would hunt Amir down and make him pay, but right now, he needed to take Nora to the hospital as quickly as he could so that she could get treated, and then there was going to be hell to pay.

Here is the long-awaited twentieth chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Odette's curse is finally broken, but Rothbart is still cooking up something to get his revenge, but what do you think Grim has anything to do with Odette's demise? And, Nora got shot in the end! I know you all were expecting for Graham to die during the confrontation with Amir, but hate to break it to you, I already planned out what's going to happen to Graham as we delve deeper into the story, and I hope you all will enjoy his role. How do you think the story is going to play out now? What are your expectations? Also, what are your guesses for Rumple's plan for wanting Odette and Grim's hair strands? Let me know in the comments. Stay tuned for more chapters heading your way!