Free Grimm: A Novel In The Nate Temple Supernatural Thriller Series (The Temple Chronicles Book 3) by Shayne Silvers Page A

want to be sharing my movements with my hunters. If he wasn’t, he needed a justifiable answer. He was a cop of sorts, after all, and even though I didn’t personally like him, I was pretty sure he was good at his job.
    Wizard of the month – or something like that – on the Academy’s break room wall.
    “I was jumped by a pack of wolves and then again by some fangs. In the same hour.”
    He grunted. “Sounds like a personal vendetta. You do have a reputation for making friends wherever you go.” He sounded pleased at the snide comment.
    I swallowed back a retort, taking a breath. This was to be a professional phone call. Even if it killed me. I needed to be able to claim deniability if things went downhill.
    “They said they had orders not to harm me.”
    The line was quiet for a beat. “But you just said they jumped you.”
    “Exactly. Like I said, people are acting strange. It makes no sense. Vampires and wolves hate each other. So why would they have the same order not to harm me, but to jump me anyway?” I asked, not having to feign my confusion. “They were looking for something in my possession, but I’ll be damned if I know what it was…” I teased, offering him something to bite. But he didn’t take it.
    “That is strange.” He finally said. “What do you expect me to do about it? As you know, you aren’t under our jurisdiction, much to my regret. So why should I send anyone to help you? It’s obviously personal.” He was quiet for a moment. Then he took my bait. “Unless… you wanted to make an exchange for our services. Say, unrestricted access to a certain Armory.” I could practically hear him salivating.
    “I’m not giving you the Armory.”
    “You don’t have to give it to me. Or even the Academy. Just let us inventory it.”
    I laughed. “So you know exactly what you need to grab when you clowns finally make your move? Hard pass.”
    He growled. “Then I think we’re finished here.” He answered, sounding pompous. “Watch out for yourself, Temple. The night is dark and full of terrors.” He roared in laughter at his own rapier wit.
    “Fair warning. I’ll put an end to whatever is going on, with, or without you. If I do it without you, I don’t want to hear the Academy crying foul when the dust settles, declaring me some kind of vigilante. Consider this my 911 call. Next move is on your shoulders. If you don’t do anything I’ll do what I do best. Maybe test out my new powers. Who knows what could happen? I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t curious…”
    The line was silent again. Not much of a talker, old Jafar.
    “I’ll run it up the flagpole. That’s all I can do.” He finally grumbled, realizing that he had to do so, no matter how badly he wanted to see me dangling in the wind. I had made it official by calling him. If he didn’t follow the proper channels it could backfire on him.
    “That’s all I’m asking. Call me back and let me know what you guys decide.”
    He had hung up at some point during my last comment. I cursed at my phone and tucked it into a pocket, lengthening my stride a bit to catch up with Gunnar and Indie. They were only a dozen feet ahead of me. I recognized Ashley’s car double-parked outside an apartment building just ahead of us. Indie glanced over her shoulder, looking concerned at the expression on my face. Gunnar had eyes only for Ashley, but Indie slowed down and placed an arm around my shoulders, idly scratching her long fingernails through my scalp. “Bad?”
    “On the contrary. It’s kind of comforting to know that he’s the same flavor of asshole he always is.” Indie nodded, massaging my shoulder with one hand as we walked.
    “Perhaps you just need an outlet to clear your head. Release some tension.” She murmured.
    I nodded. “Maybe I’ll go hit the bag for an hour when we get home.”
    She stopped, her hand turning into a warning claw as she gripped my shoulder, forcing me to stop or fall over. I arched a confused