Grim Read online

  But I can hear her clearly. And while I know she wants me to give her an explanation, I can’t. I feel the same way, though. And after what I learned last night about myself, I’m even more confused about what I am.

  I thought going to Revenna’s would help, but I’m not sure it did. Yeah, I learned what I was and how I was created, but that’s about it. And then I let Thorn get under my skin, enough that I lost control and blacked out.

  That isn’t good, especially since I have this full feeling inside my chest.

  Whose soul did I eat last night? I mean, I’m sure it was yummy and everything since my hunger feels satisfied, but I’m a bit worried I may have gone into a hunger frenzy like I almost did a couple times when I first changed. And during those times, I almost ate my mom’s soul, along with a few other innocent people …

  Dammit, what if I did something stupid, like ate Revenna’s soul? Thorn’s? Not that I really give a crap about Thorn’s, but I’d feel bad if I devoured Revenna’s soul. Honestly, though, with how pure her soul smelled, I’m not sure my hunger would feel so settled right now.

  “Remi, get up.” My mom pounds on the door, her tone biting with frustration.

  “Fine,” I mumble back through a yawn. “I’m up.”

  “Good,” she says. “And you better stay at school all day or I’m going to ground you.”

  “Okay,” I agree, knowing deep down she can’t. I have too easy of a time sneaking out of the house these days, and I have to sneak out if I’m going to feed.

  Speaking of feeding, I really need to figure out what I did last night.

  Getting up, I search my room, looking for clues. All I can find are the clothes I wore last night. They seem clean enough, and my pockets are empty except for my phone. I take it out, check the screen, and then pause.

  Well … looks like I may have done a little feasting last night, or I just spent some time dancing around to my Badass Fighting Playlist.

  “Aw, crap.” Sighing, I turn toward my closet to get dressed for school.

  When I come home later today, I’ll have to try to retrace my steps.

  But as I pass my bedroom window and get a glimpse of my neighbor’s house, I realize I may not have to go very far to do so.

  An ambulance and police car are parked in the driveway, and some of the neighbors are crowding the streets and sidewalks, watching as my creepy-ass neighbor gets wheeled out of his house on a stretcher.

  “Well, that can’t be good.” Gripping my phone, I hurry out of my room and track my mom’s soul’s scent to the kitchen.

  She’s sitting at the table when I walk in, peering out the window at the scene next door.

  “What happened?” I ask, stepping up beside her.

  She shakes her head. “I’m not sure, but I’m going to try to find out.” She steps away from the window and heads to the door, pointing at me. “You go get ready for school.” She doesn’t wait for me to answer, walking out the door.

  I move over to the window and peer out, watching as my mom approaches one of our other neighbors and briefly chats with them. Then she rushes back up the driveway, shaking her head as she hurries inside the house.

  When she sees me standing by the window, she scowls at me. “Remi, I told you to get ready for school.”

  “I will,” I promise her. “But I want to know what happened first.”

  She scratches her brow, letting out a stressed breath as she sets her phone down on the counter. “I don’t know all the details, but from what Mrs. Weathertonford said, the man who lives next door to us was attacked last night and now he’s in a coma.”

  Uh-oh.

  “I feel awful.” She pinches the brim of her nose. “I mean, he’s lived here for two months, and I’ve never even taken the time to learn his name.”

  Larry … I want to say Glendtonson, but I’m not certain. And I didn’t even know his first name yesterday, so …

  Well, crap.

  “Um, I’m going to get ready for school.” I back away and hurry to exit the kitchen.

  “You need to be more careful, okay?” she calls out after me. “If people are getting attacked … make sure to lock the doors when you’re here alone and no wandering off after dark.”

  I almost laugh that she’s worried about me, especially since I’m pretty sure I’m the one who attacked Larry.

  But there’s only one way to find out for sure.

  When I exit the kitchen, I veer toward the back door. Then I slip out and slink into the shadows, creeping over to the next-door neighbor’s and to the front of the ambulance. When I’m positive no one is watching or nearby, I sneak into the front seat of the vehicle and peer into the back.

  A paramedic is examining Larry. Other than that, no one is back there.

  “Hey,” I greet the paramedic as I duck into the back.

  Her eyes widen. “What’re you doing in here?” She starts to rise to her feet. “You need to …” She trails off as I let my eyes shadow over. “What are you?”

  “Something you’re going to forget about very soon.” Then, while she’s good and stunned, I rush over and get a good look at Larry, trying to sense his soul.

  But he looks so empty. Feels so empty.

  Well, there you go. I think I figured out what I did last night.

  And someone has discovered the body, which so isn’t a good thing.

  I may very well have to make a plan to sneak into the hospital and steal his body. Not right now, though. No, it needs to be nice and dark when I do so to avoid risking being seen.

  Sighing, I turn around and blow a puff of breath of forget into the paramedic’s face. Then I slip out of the ambulance, back into my house, and hurry back to my room.

  I start ransacking my room for some sort of sign that I figured out last night that Larry applied to my rule number one. That I really didn’t just drink his soul because I was pissed off and in a hungry frenzy and had an inkling he was bad. But as I come up empty-handed, I become aware that isn’t the case.

  That I blacked out last night and drank a soul that may have not been evil.

  I’m not sure what to do with that or how I feel about it.

  A bit guilty? Kind of.

  I press the heel of my hand to my head and attempt to rub the unsettling sensation out of my head.

  “You’re not handling this very well, are you?”

  My attention snaps up and every one of my muscles wind into knots at the sight of Ellis standing near my desk.

  He’s sporting a similar outfit as yesterday, minus the hoodie, so I get a good view of the black vein running down his face and his pointed ears.

  “Aw, the faerie has returned,” I taunt, folding my fingers inward as I remember what he did to me yesterday. “You know, with how many times you’ve randomly shown up in my life over the last couple days, I’m starting to question if I have a little stalker problem on my hands.”

  “I’m not a faerie.” His eyes funnel with smoke as he pushes away from the desk and inches toward me. “And if you weren’t so damn reckless and clueless, I wouldn’t have to stalk you.”

  “So, you’re admitting you’re stalking me?” I question, raising my brows and crossing my arms.

  “About as much as you stalked that neighbor of yours,” he quips. “Luckily, I haven’t decided to end my stalking tendencies as violently as you have. Yet.”

  “Go ahead and try to hurt me,” I challenge, stepping toward him. “This time you won’t win.”

  He pauses, then arrogant laughter bursts from his lips. “Good gods, you really are clueless.”

  My muscles spasm, then I quickly kick at him. To both our surprises, my foot actually collides with his shin. Although, to my dismay, he retaliates, dashing at me.

  I move to dodge out of his way, but he snags me by the hip. Then, swinging me around, he aligns my back to his chest. I expect him to put me into an immobile state like he did yesterday. Instead, smoke emits from him and quickly fills the room.

  “What
is that?” I hiss, throwing my weight forward as I lift my foot to kick him again, but my foot only touches air.

  As abruptly as the smoke appeared, it dissipates, and Ellis is no longer standing behind me but in front of me.

  “Well, that was a boring trick,” I say through an exaggerated yawn.

  He gives me a shit-eating smirk. “Now, I’m going to say this once and only once. You’ll stop drawing attention and being reckless with your feedings. You need to find a way to be more discreet, or I’m going to use that little device around your neck to make you stop. Do you understand?”

  “What device …?” As I reach up toward the base of my neck, my fingers brush a cold object.

  I glance down and anger purrs through me, potent and controlling.

  “What the hell is this thing?” I growl, clutching the red-stoned pendant of the necklace now draped around my neck.

  I yank on it to tug it off, but the chain doesn’t break. I repeat the movement harder, but again, the damn thing doesn’t snap. Giving up, I reach for the clasp, only to discover there isn’t one.

  “It won’t come off unless I take it off,” he tells me. “And while you’re wearing it, I can see what you’re doing at any given time.”

  “Well, isn’t that super perverted of you?” I sneer, tugging on the necklace again.

  “Don’t flatter yourself,” he sneers back. “I’m not into cursed grims. They’re way too plain and pathetic for my tastes.”

  “Says the dude with the faerie ears. Tell me, do you have sparkling wings growing out of your back, too? I bet you do. And I bet they’re super, duper pretty.”

  He works his jaw from side to side. “For the love of gods, I’m not a faerie.”

  I clutch the pendant. “Could’ve fooled me.”

  His nostrils flare, then he stalks toward me. “Fine, if you’re so interested in what I am, I’ll tell you.” He leans into my face. “I’m what most call a cursed pixie. We’re known best for our ability to use dark magic, our inability to let grudges go, and our cruel forms of torture. And we hate being referred to as faeries, so maybe you should think about that before you call me one again.”

  The word faerie burns at the tip of my tongue.

  “Go ahead, Remi, test me.” Hope gleams in his eyes, like that’s exactly what he wants me to do.

  Which kinds of makes me not want to do it.

  Man, I’m warped.

  “Nah, I’m not going to,” I drone in a bored tone. “Not yet anyway. I’m going to wait until I figure out more about these powers of mine. Then I’m going to get this necklace off and track you down. And after I kick your ass—which I will—I’m going to dance around you, all beat up and pathetic, and sing a song full of faerie lyrics. Hell, maybe I’ll make one up on my own. The title will be ‘The Faerie Who Got His Ass Kicked by a Cursed Grim’ and the lyrics will be, ‘you’re a faerie, because cursed pixies look just like faeries’.”

  His stormy gaze assesses me closely. Then he does something super weird.

  He steps back.

  “Stay out of trouble,” he warns as he continues to back away from me. “And find a better way to feed.” He starts to fade away, his body turning transparent. “And remember, I’ll be watching you.”

  I roll my eyes as he poofs away. “I’ll be watching you? How cliché?”

  As my gaze descends to my neck, though, I realize that despite the clicheness of his parting words, they do hold some truth. Unless he was lying about the necklace. But my sensors never picked up on anything, so I doubt he was.

  Anger starts to erupt through me at the thought of being tracked by Ellis the asshat pixie. But then my attention travels to the window at the ambulance outside.

  After what I did last night, maybe it’s for the better that I’m being watched. If I can’t control my hunger …

  But even if I am being watched, what happens if I lose control of my hunger again? Is Ellis going to stop me? Then what? He eliminates me? What’s his end game?

  I sigh heavily. I really need to find out who he’s working for, along with another food source, and try to figure out the reason behind my sudden surfacing emotions. Not to mention I need to sneak into the hospital and get Larry’s body so I can bury it in my makeshift graveyard.

  The problem is, I’m uncertain where to start.

  Or, perhaps I do know where to start, but I’m being a brat about it.

  About having to ask him for help.

  Because the truth is that, no matter how much Thorn despises me and I’m really starting to despise him too, he may be the only person—creature—who knows more about me and might know what Ellis is and who he works for. Not that I believe it’s going to be easy getting him to help me. But I’m going to have to figure out a way, because it’s either learn to play nice with Thorn or let Ellis continue to control me and hope I don’t lose control of my hunger again.

  Considering what I did last night and the fact that I hate being control …

  Well, I guess today is the day I’m going to try to make my very first friends as a cursed grim.

  I just hope that Thorn and I don’t end up ripping each other’s throats out. And I’m talking literally.

  Coming Soon

  Keep an eye out for Madness (My Cursed Superhero Life Series, #2), coming Nov. 2018!

  About the Author

  Jessica Sorensen is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who lives in the snowy mountains of Wyoming. When she’s not writing, she spends her time reading and hanging out with her family.

  Also by Jessica Sorensen

  My Cursed Superhero Life:

  Grim

  Madness (coming soon)

  * * *

  Enchanted Chaos Series:

  Enchanted Chaos

  Shimmering Chaos

  Iridescent Chaos (releases September 2018)

  * * *

  Capturing Magic:

  Chasing Wishes

  Chasing Magic

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Chasing Hadley Harlyton:

  Chasing Hadley

  Falling for Hadley

  Holding onto Hadley (coming soon)

  * * *

  Cursed Hadley:

  Cursed Hadley

  Enchanting Hadley (coming soon)

  * * *

  Tangled Realms:

  Forever Violet

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Curse of the Vampire Queen:

  Tempting Raven

  Enchanting Raven

  Alluring Raven

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Unraveling You Series:

  Unraveling You

  Raveling You

  Awakening You

  Inspiring You

  Fated by Darkness

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Unexpected Series:

  The Unexpected Way of Falling

  The Unpredictable Way of Falling

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Shadow Cove Series:

  What Lies in the Darkness

  What Lies in the Dark

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Mystic Willow Bay Series:

  The Secret Life of a Witch

  Broken Magic

  Untitled (coming soon)

  * * *

  Standalones:

  The Forgotten Girl

  The Illusion of Annabella

  Confessions of a Kleptomaniac

  Rules of a Rebel and a Shy Girl

  The Opposite of Ordinary

  * * *

  Broken City Series:

  Nameless

  Forsaken

  Oblivion

  Forbidden (coming soon)

  * * *

  Guardian Academy Series:

  Entranced

  Entangled

  Enchanted

  Entice (coming soon)

&nb
sp; * * *

  Sunnyvale Series:

  The Year I Became Isabella Anders

  The Year of Falling in Love

  The Year of Second Chances

  * * *

  The Coincidence Series:

  The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden

  The Redemption of Callie and Kayden

  The Destiny of Violet and Luke

  The Probability of Violet and Luke

  The Certainty of Violet and Luke

  The Resolution of Callie and Kayden

  Seth & Greyson

  * * *

  The Secret Series:

  The Prelude of Ella and Micha

  The Secret of Ella and Micha

  The Forever of Ella and Micha

  The Temptation of Lila and Ethan

  The Ever After of Ella and Micha

  Lila and Ethan: Forever and Always

  Ella and Micha: Infinitely and Always

  * * *

  The Shattered Promises Series:

  Shattered Promises

  Fractured Souls

  Unbroken

  Broken Visions

  Scattered Ashes

  * * *

  Breaking Nova Series:

  Breaking Nova

  Saving Quinton

  Delilah: The Making of Red

  Nova and Quinton: No Regrets

  Tristan: Finding Hope

  Wreck Me

  Ruin Me

  * * *

  The Fallen Star Series:

  The Fallen Star