Chapter 5 : The Hexenbiest's Gambit
Portland General Hospital smelled like antiseptic and desperation. The fluorescent lights buzzed at a frequency designed to make visitors uncomfortable, encouraging them to leave faster. I walked through the corridors with Daniel Cross's consulting credentials clipped to my jacket, nodding at nurses who recognized the face if not the soul behind it.
Marie Burkhardt's room was on the fourth floor. Critical care. The chart outside her door painted a grim picture—multiple organ failure, mysterious toxicity, prognosis uncertain. She'd been attacked weeks ago, the reports said. The damage was still killing her.
[GRIMM ARTIFACT PROXIMITY: STRONG]
[RECOMMEND INVESTIGATION OF BURKHARDT ESTATE]
The System's notifications had been pulsing since I entered the building. Whatever Marie Burkhardt possessed, it registered as significant to my new existence.
But I wasn't alone in my interest.
[WESEN DETECTED]
[SPECIES: HEXENBIEST]
[THREAT LEVEL: A-RANK]
[CAUTION ADVISED]
The warning flared as I rounded the corner toward Marie's room. A woman stood at the nurses' station, blonde hair immaculate, professional attire cutting a sharp silhouette against the institutional beige. She was reviewing paperwork with the attending physician, her smile warm and practiced.
"Adalind Schade."
The name surfaced from deep in my borrowed memories—not Daniel's, but older knowledge. Canon knowledge from a world where this was all fiction. Adalind Schade: Hexenbiest, attorney, Royal agent. The woman who would eventually strip Nick Burkhardt of his Grimm powers, bear Sean Renard's child, and undergo one of television's most complicated redemption arcs.
She was also currently working to murder Marie Burkhardt.
I adjusted my approach. Head down, consulting badge visible, completely unremarkable. Just another forensic specialist checking in on a related case.
Adalind's woge flickered when I got within ten feet.
It was involuntary—a Hexenbiest's instinctive response to Grimm presence. For half a second, her beautiful face rotted. Corpse-gray skin, hollow eyes, the suggestion of something wrong beneath the perfect surface. Then it was gone, smoothed away behind practiced control.
She turned to face me. The warmth in her smile didn't reach her eyes.
"Can I help you with something?"
"Just reviewing a patient's file." I held up Daniel's credentials. "Daniel Cross. I consult with Portland PD on certain cases."
"Cross." She tested the name. "I've heard of you. Marie's nephew mentioned a forensic specialist had been asking questions."
Nick Burkhardt. He'd been here, then. Probably before his own Grimm awakening, when his aunt was just a dying relative rather than a gateway to monster hunting.
"The attack on Ms. Burkhardt has similarities to other cases I'm reviewing." I kept my voice professionally neutral. "Are you family?"
"Attorney." The lie rolled off her tongue like silk. "Handling some estate matters."
[DECEPTION DETECTED]
[HEXENBIEST MISSION OBJECTIVE: PROBABLE GRIMM ARTIFACTS]
"Estate matters. Sure."
"That's interesting." I met her eyes. Let the Grimm Sight pulse silver for just a moment. Watched her carefully reconstructed calm fracture at the edges. "Because I know what you are, Ms. Schade. And I know you didn't come here to sign paperwork."
The corridor emptied around us. Not literally—nurses still moved, machines still beeped—but the space between Adalind and me became a battlefield all its own.
"You're a Grimm." Her voice dropped below the threshold of casual eavesdropping. "How delightful. I thought they'd gotten rarer."
"We adapt."
"Clearly." She glanced toward Marie's room, then back to me. Calculating. "Most Grimms would have attacked by now. Called for security. Made a scene."
"Most Grimms aren't trying to figure out what's actually happening in this city."
Something shifted in her expression. Surprise, maybe. Or interest.
"Cafeteria," she said. "Five minutes. Unless you'd rather do this in front of witnesses."
She walked away without waiting for a response. Her heels clicked against the linoleum with the confidence of someone who'd never been refused.
The hospital cafeteria was mostly empty. Late morning lull between breakfast and lunch. I grabbed a coffee that tasted like it had been brewed during the previous administration and found Adalind at a corner table, her own cup untouched in front of her.
"So." She crossed her legs, the picture of professional composure. "A Grimm who doesn't immediately try to kill the Hexenbiest. How progressive."
"I prefer information to violence." I sat across from her. "Though I'm flexible on that point."
"I'll bet you are."
[RELATIONSHIP STATUS: ADALIND SCHADE - INTRIGUED (0)]
[DIPLOMACY WINDOW: OPEN]
We studied each other across the cheap plastic table. Two predators evaluating threat levels, weaknesses, potential uses.
"You work for Renard," I said. Not a question.
Her composure flickered. "Captain Renard is a client."
"And Renard works for the Royals. They want whatever's in Marie Burkhardt's trailer. You're here to either acquire it or ensure she dies before her nephew inherits."
The assessment was brutal, direct. Adalind's mask slipped further.
"You know a lot for a Grimm fresh off the boat."
"I know enough to recognize when I'm watching someone else's plan unfold. The question is whether that plan includes room for negotiation."
"Negotiation." She laughed—a genuine sound, surprised out of her despite everything. "Grimms don't negotiate with Hexenbiests. They hunt us. They've been hunting us for centuries."
"The old Grimms did a lot of things I find counterproductive." I leaned forward. "Here's what I see: You're working for people who will discard you the moment you're no longer useful. Renard answers to Royal Families who consider everyone beneath them as tools. Even you, Ms. Schade. Even someone as skilled as you."
Her fingers tightened around her coffee cup. The first real tell I'd gotten from her.
"What exactly are you proposing?"
"Information. Alliance. Mutual benefit." I laid the words out like cards on a table. "I'm new to this city. I need to understand the power structures, the players, the threats. You have access to all of that through Renard and his masters."
"And what do I get in return?"
"Protection from a Grimm who knows your name, your employer, and your methods. A potential ally when the Royals inevitably betray you. And—" I paused, choosing my next words carefully. "Someone who doesn't automatically see you as a monster to be destroyed."
[NEGOTIATION: MODERATE SUCCESS]
[ADALIND'S INTEREST: ELEVATED]
Adalind studied me with new calculation. The wariness hadn't disappeared, but something else had joined it. A flicker of hope, maybe. Or just recognition of a better opportunity than the one she'd been working.
"You're either very clever or very stupid," she said finally.
"Probably both."
"The Royals won't like it if I fail to secure the Burkhardt artifacts."
"Then tell them you couldn't access them because another Grimm was watching. It's even true."
She considered this. Turned the coffee cup in her hands, steam long since dissipated.
"I'll think about it."
"That's all I'm asking."
Adalind stood, gathering her bag with practiced elegance. At the cafeteria entrance, she paused.
"Cross."
I looked up.
"Most Grimms who've tried to recruit me ended up regretting it." Her smile held an edge that could cut glass. "I hope you're as different as you think you are."
She walked away. I watched her go, acutely aware that she was already planning how to use this encounter to her advantage.
"Good. Let her think she's playing me."
The System pulsed with quiet satisfaction.
[QUEST UPDATE: HEXENBIEST ALLIANCE]
[OBJECTIVE: DEVELOP RELATIONSHIP WITH ADALIND SCHADE]
[STATUS: PRELIMINARY CONTACT ESTABLISHED]
[NOTE: SUBJECT IS CURRENTLY REPORTING TO CAPTAIN RENARD]
I finished my terrible coffee and left the hospital through a side exit. Adalind would tell Renard about our conversation. Renard would adjust his plans accordingly. The game had gotten more complex.
But complex was better than dead.
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