Grim Lovelies (Grim Lovelies 1)

“Then who did? You know something.”

His jaw tightened. Something wavered in his eyes, but then he shook his head.

“Who else was in the house that night? Tell me, Beau.”

But he wouldn’t.

She let go of his hands, frustrated and a little angry. If he’d only tell her the truth, horrible as it might be, maybe she could return those words he’d said to her. Only a fool . . . and I’m a fool. For now, all she could do was look at him and see a person she might not know at all.

“We don’t have time for this.”

She pushed past him down the stairs into the cellar, where Hunter Black was trying to reason with Viggo, who had for some reason collected a small pyramid of wine bottles in the center of the room. When he saw her, his face brightened.

“Anouk! My trésor, my cœur. Look—?for you I have gathered the finest wines. Only the best for you.” He collapsed to the ground, then inched forward on hands and knees to kiss her toes. Taken by surprise, she jerked backward and accidentally kicked him.

“Oh! Sorry, Viggo.”

He cradled his chin. “Oh, no, my puce. No, no. It’s my fault. I thoughtlessly let my face get in the way of your foot. A thousand apologies.”

Beau sighed. “This is going to get old fast.”

“Not for me,” Cricket said, popping another cookie in her mouth.

“Get up, Viggo.” Anouk felt uncomfortable. She glanced at Viggo’s wristwatch. Three o’clock in the morning. “Beau, were you able to make a map of Castle Ides?”

“I tried, but it makes no sense. It’s almost like the rooms in the paintings intentionally don’t match up. Like the floor plan changes.”

“Let me look at it,” Cricket said. “You’re used to following tidy little road maps where everything’s perfectly to scale. Thievery work is often . . . less precise.”

“We’ll have to hurry,” Anouk said. “We don’t have long to figure out how to break into the most well-protected structure in the Haute.” She couldn’t hide her yawn. “And I need coffee.”

“Allow me to make it for you, my chère.” Without waiting for a response, Viggo sprinted up the stairs, taking them two at a time.

“I have to see this.” Cricket ran after him, followed by Beau and Petra and Hunter Black, though Anouk grabbed the assassin’s arm.

“Hunter Black, wait a minute.”

He practically growled down at her small hand on his coat. She was suddenly very aware that they were alone in the dark cellar and that very recently he’d had a knife pressed to her neck.

“I know you don’t like what I did to Viggo. But you need this plan to succeed as much as the rest of us do. If we don’t get that spell, you’ll lose your humanity too. Besides, the love spell is only temporary. It’s not real.”

“Clearly,” he snarled. “He’d never love you.”

Maybe someone else would have bristled at the barb, but Anouk saw his mask slip another inch. He was like a wounded creature lashing out at anyone but his master.

“We need you, Hunter Black. At the very least, you need to keep Viggo from making an ass of himself in front of the Royals and giving us away. You’re one of us. Like it or not, we’re a family.”

Hunter Black toed one of the wine bottles, sending it rolling across the floor.

She took that as a yes.

She extended her hand. “We only have to work together until midnight.”

He grudgingly shook it. “Midnight.”

Upstairs, they found Cricket studiously drawing out a map. Every inch of the sitting-room floor was covered with paintings that showed the different rooms in Castle Ides. Cricket had scrawled a rough blueprint on the inside of her forearm, and Mada Zola and Petra were helping her fill in the blanks from their memories.

Anouk picked her way across the floor, holding her arms out for balance, trying not to step on any paintings.