Page 22 of Prickly as a Porcupine

Ariel felt her shoulders sink.She knew Agent Stone.They’d worked together closely over the past year.“He’ll never let us ex-experiments risk ourselves.Let him know we’re doing our party our way.”She stomped a foot for emphasis.“We’re done being victims.”

“Party?”Agent talbot asked, raising a golden eyebrow.

“We’re disguising our trap as a party for my Survivors of Grimm club.It’s a kickass support group I started to get revenge.”She felt herself beaming with pride over the idea.She was finally using her brain for good.At least a little bit of good.Maybe revenge wasn’t the purest of motives, but Ariel decided that baby steps in the right direction were better than no steps.

Agent Talbot gave a chuckle.Everyone seemed to respond that way when Ariel attempted to be honest.“I’ll see what I can do.Agent Stone may have an idea to trap the scientist before he can get to you and your friends.But I’ll pass on your plan to him and do my part to help out.”

“It might be really helpful to have you hiding off somewhere to watch for anything suspicious.We’re going to meet up by the obstacle course around 11:00 tomorrow morning.The party isn’t until 3 pm, though.”

“As I said, I’ll see what I can do.”After a puzzled look that was so quick Ariel wasn’t sure she’d imagined it, the agent turned down the hall, walking towards the agents’ offices.

She was about to go hunting for laundry lines and extension cords when a small finger tapped her on the shoulder.Her first thought,who now?But all her stress melted away when she turned and saw Joline.“You looked to be having an intense conversation.Who was that?”Joline’s dark, wavy hair was pulled back into a low ponytail.She’d probably given up on trying to tame it.Some of the smaller hairs around her face curled in, kissing her copper skin.She looked simply beautiful.

“Agent Talbot is going to clear our plan with Agent Stone.”

“I can’t say I’m upset by that.”In fact, Joline appeared to relax.She hadn’t been thrilled with the idea of setting a trap behind their backs, even if it was for the bad guys.Ariel couldn’t say she’d felt the same way.To her, the bad guys had it coming if they were really trying to nab their escaped experiments.

“I know.I just hope he doesn’t shut it down.”

“Did you tell her about the hippos?”

Ariel shook her head as a sheepish look crossed her face.“I left that part out.”

Joline chuckled.“Then we have nothing to worry about.We’re throwing a party with some surprises planned in case bad guys show up.”

Ariel looped her hand around Joline’s waist, pulling her close.Joline put an arm around Ariel’s shoulder.“I think this will be good for all of us.”She leaned her head on Joline’s shoulder.Ariel had forgotten what it was like to trust someone, to care about what they thought.She wanted to be a better person for Joline.Joline accepted her for who she was, but that didn’t mean she had to be stagnant.She wanted to evolve.While she could never be the innocent Ariel she was before meeting Grimm, she could grow into something better.Stronger.Smarter.

“Hmm,” Joline said in understanding as she gently pressed her head against Ariel’s.“I’d love to cuddle with you all night, except we have work to do.”She held up a fist of what appeared to be shoelaces.

“Where’d you find those?”Ariel asked, trying her best not to laugh.

“Don’t tell anyone, but I went into a supply closet and pulled all the drawstrings out of the extra pairs of sweatpants.”

“You didn’t!”Ariel chuckled.Maybe she was a bad influence on Joline, but the mischief made her that much sexier.A good girl with a hidden edge.

“I did,” she said with a smile of pride.Ariel figured even Joline was amazed she was able to break some of the rules.“Did you find anything good?”

Ariel shook her head.“They don’t let me in many places with good supplies, but I was thinking about trying to track down some laundry line or see if they have any extension cords.”Then a thought occurred to Ariel.She smacked herself in the forehead.“I can shift my age.Maybe I could disguise myself and get access to more supplies.”While FUC gave her a serum that would make her shrew venom non-toxic, she didn’t think they were able to get rid of the ability to appear older than she really was.

“You can what?”Joline looked confused.

“Grimm made it so I can shift my age, to appear an old woman if needed.It helped me to kidnap people.”She cringed, wishing she could take back that last sentence.“It exhausts me, but if I’m able to eat more and rest, I can recuperate from it.Maybe it will help me get more supplies.I could disguise myself as a doctor.”

“I didn’t know something like that was possible.”Joline’s voice sounded flat.While Ariel had hinted at the terrible things she did, she’d never given any details.While Joline had said before she could accept Ariel for all she was, she wondered if that was really true.At any rate, capturing Grimm if he dared showed his face trumped her need to keep her secrets safe.

“I haven’t tried it in a long time, but I’m sure I could still access that ability.”The last time she used it was to try to kill her brother and the ASS agent he was hiding out with.It was a memory Ariel had hoped to forget.That was a different version of herself, one very twisted by Grimm and his lies.

“If it can get us more supplies… What if that agent you were talking to can help?”

Ariel shook her head.“I think she’s focused on trying to convince Agent Stone to allow us to execute our plan—more likely, tolerate it.I don’t think they will go out of their way to help.It sounded like he may have his own plan in place.”While she wanted to be the one to take down Grimm, she didn’t want any of her new friends getting hurt in the process.It may be for the best if FUC set up something to capture Grimm before he could get them.

Joline nodded, but her eyes made it look like she was elsewhere mentally.As if reading her mind, Joline said, “But what of Grimm’s hidden spies?They could be anywhere.”She glanced to a nearby air vent as if a tiny creature were eavesdropping from within at that very moment.Ariel supposed it wasn’t the most far-fetched thing she’d witnessed since being employed by Grimm.

“That’s more reason for us to be careful.”Ariel tapped a finger to her lips as she thought.“We need to find someone who can help us weed them out.Dr.Grimm had hoped to catch a shifter whose animal ability could sense their prey without needing to see them.He gave me a list of what he wanted though I could never track them down.Some of them were aquatic creatures, but a few weren’t and may be here, at WANC.Do you know of any platypus or vampire bat shifters?”She kept her voice low in case they were being surveilled.Maybe the doctor had thought he’d outsmarted them.Ariel planned on letting him think that.

“Hmm.”Joline bit her lip, deep in thought.“Yes!”Ariel gave her a look that left Joline shrugging her shoulders in apology.She continued, keeping her voice at a whisper.“Agent Quackenbush taught a class I took last semester on Strategy in the Field.She’s a platypus shifter.What do you need her for?”

“Platypuses can use their bills to sense electrical impulses of other animals.It probably works better in water, but I’m hoping she can use that ability to root out any creepers lurking about.Like the amptitude.”Ariel glanced around as if expecting the vile creature to show itself after speaking its name aloud.Too bad FUC nullified her shrew venom.That would have come in handy if they ran into any henchmen.The gadgets in her leg and the snares they planned to set would have to be enough.