Read The Grimm Chronicles, Vol. 2 for Free Online Page B

clearly looking for something. And when she didn’t find it, she moved west and started the process all over again. I don’t believe she knew I was a Corrupted, but I could smell it on her well enough. She had the nasty tendency to let her miners die rather than spend the extra money reinforcing the mine walls.” He smiled. “It would have been admirable had I not found myself on the wrong end of it so many times.”
    I tapped the piece of paper, thinking. “The dreams I’ve had … it was in a big house. A mansion. I heard kids. This has to be the same house in my dreams.”
    “Good,” said the dwarf. He leaned back. “Then I can trust you to complete this task in a reasonable amount of time.”
    “Yes,” I said. “Definitely. But first, I need to go up to Minneapolis.”
    The limo stopped. I glanced out the window: we were parked outside my house. Sam was staring at me. Glaring at me.
    “Why, exactly, do you need to go to Minneapolis?”
    “Because there’s a crazy Corrupted fiddler making people dance until they pass out and then sucking weird blue smoke from them.”
    The dwarf didn’t say anything at first, probably expecting me to add a “Just kidding!” Finally, a low growl escaped his throat. “Very well. But I expect this to be completed soon. That was our agreement, Alice.”
    “I’ll live up to it,” I said. “You’ll get your mansion, and you’ll get it soon.”
    Sam said nothing at first, then leaned over and reached into his pocket. Briar immediately clutched my arm, spilling the last few unopened packages of crackers to the floor. I pulled out the fountain pen, ready to strike.
    Sam raised an eyebrow, then withdrew a twenty-dollar bill. He held it out.
    “What’s that?” I asked.
    The dwarf smiled. “Gas money.”
     
    “Well!” Briar said once the limo had driven off. “We certainly could have done without that. Such a gloomy end to a perfect day.”
    “I guess.” I walked up the driveway with him, spinning the fountain pen around in my palm. “Still, that twenty bucks could have come in handy. Me and my scruples.”
    “Scruples?” the rabbit asked, his whiskers twitching.
    “Yeah. It means ethics or principles . I didn’t want to take the money because I didn’t want to … well, I just didn’t want to take money from someone like him.”
    “Ah. Perfectly understandable. Um …” He tapped me on the shoulder before I could open the front door. “If you could, just check first to see if the coast is clear? The soda has made me feel out of sorts, and I fear I might accidentally turn visible.”
    I went inside first to make sure the coast was clear, then shooed Briar upstairs.
    “Alice?” my mom called out from the kitchen.
    “Yeah, Mom.” I hung my purse on the coat rack beside the front door. My mom had done us all the favor of getting our autumn jackets from the basement in preparation for the cool weather to come. They were hanging from big (my dad’s dark leather jacket) to small (my violet windbreaker).
    “We’re eating dinner in one hour. Can you please clean your room?”
    “What do you mean?” I asked. Totally a teenager kind of question, I know! But sometimes I liked giving her a tough time.
    “I mean pick up your bras and your undies,” Mom called out.
    Even in the empty living room, my face reddened. “Geez, OK. Where’s Dad?”
    “He’ll be home in half an hour.”
    I went upstairs. Briar was already at the computer, checking his email. Yup, the rabbit had email now. And he had quite a few unread messages, too.
    “Who are all those from?” I asked, glancing over his shoulder.
    “Professors, historians and the like,” he answered. His paw waved me away. “If you don’t mind, I’m trying to get some work done.”
    “You sound like my dad from when I was a kid,” I said, picking up all of the clothes littering my floor. I tossed them in the hamper in my closet. “Put on …”
    “The Thinking playlist?” Briar suggested.
    “Yes.