Chapter Seven

Adalind woke in the morning with a splitting headache. She wasn't sure why her head hurt so much. She had cried a bit before falling asleep but that couldn't explain the amount of pain she was feeling. It felt almost like a hangover.

It wasn't completely unique for her to sleep alone since she and Nick had begun sleeping in the same bed, however, it felt very different this time. The bed felt extra empty without Nick laying next to her. She had tossed and turned quite a bit the night before. Not understanding why she felt random bouts of anger had also kept her awake and left her feeling helpless. Without knowing where the anger was coming from made it more difficult to resolve. It wasn't like her to be so angry all the time.

Well, that's not necessarily true. It's not like her now... but there was a time when she was angry quite a lot. Back when she and Nick were on opposing sides. When he had tricked her into biting his lip and accidentally swallowing a bit of his blood thereby removing all of her Hexenbiest abilities. Her mother had rejected her for being so foolish. She had hated him so much for that. She had wanted to kill him, to hurt him by hurting his friends.

She clenched her fists, closed her eyes and took deep slow breaths. She realized she was making herself angry again by thinking of her past. It made no sense to her. She had fallen deeply in love with Nick. Ever since she'd returned and made him aware she was pregnant with his child, he'd protected her. He'd taken her in when she had nowhere else to go. He'd proven to her that he loved her and has since made her his wife. She wasn't going to allow whatever hormonal imbalance or whatever it was causing her mood swings to disrupt what should be a good life with a great relationship. Maybe she could find a Wesen doctor to check her out?

Before she could give the matter any more thought she heard her phone vibrating on the night stand. Thinking it might be Nick calling to check up on her, she made a mad scramble across the bed knocking pillows on the floor in the process. She removed the charging wire and looked at the screen to see the general office number of the law firm she worked for. She was disappointed, but answered the phone in case it was something important.

Whoever was on the phone screamed something so loud that Adalind had to pull the phone away from her ear. She had no idea who was shouting so loudly or what was being said. When it appeared the shouting was over, she attempted to place the phone to her ear again, hesitating for just a second to make sure the screaming had actually stopped, then placed the phone to her ear. She attempted to ask who it was she was speaking to, but before she had gotten out two syllables, the screaming began again. This time she recognized what she thought were the words, "do to me!" However, she couldn't be certain.

She hesitated even longer to return the phone to her ear than the time before, then said, "I"m sorry, but I wasn't able to make out anything you've said. Who is calling?"

This time the response was loud, but not as bad as before. She heard the voice say, "Don't try to play games with me! You know exactly who this is! Tell me what the hell you've done to me or I will track you down and make you regret ever messing with me!"

Adalind furrowed her brow. She wasn't a hundred percent certain, but she felt she was beginning to recognize the voice of the person calling her, so she asked, "Megan?"

Adalind had to pull the phone away from her ear a tiny bit as she heard the voice shout again, "You know damn well this is Megan! What did you do to me? Did you mix in some of your Grimm husband's blood into my lunch somehow?"

Adalind was clueless to what Megan was saying and had a fleeting thought wondering to herself if she had done something to Megan without realizing it. But Nick's blood? That implied that Megan had lost her Hexenbiest abilities, and Adalind, as much as she disliked Megan, wouldn't have done that to her. Threatening to do it would certainly be on the table, but doing it? No.

She said, "Megan, I know that you and I had a heated exchange, but I promise you, I have no idea what you're talking about."

Megan, who hadn't calmed down at all, but had at least stopped screaming said, "Would it surprise you if I said I don't believe a word of what you're saying?"

Adalind didn't mince her words, "Megan, I don't care if you believe me or not. I don't know what you're angry about. I didn't do anything to you and if you call me again, you'll find out what it is I will do."

She disconnected the line and tossed her phone so it landed at the foot of the bed. She grabbed a pillow off the floor, laid on her side and clutched it in her arms. Letting out a deep sigh, she wondered if she should call Nick and tell him about the phone call she'd just received but decided against it. The last thing she wanted was to make Nick think she was attempting to play the damsel in distress again.

 ***

Juliette and her crew of Hexenbiests had new problems to deal with. The previous night's power theft had added patches of Woged skin to their bodies. Most were able to be covered up with long sleeves or ankle length dresses or pants. But Juliette, who was arguably the most powerful Hexenbiest in the room before the power theft, seemed to have gotten the worst of it after the Siphon performed its task. Roughly half of her back had Woged with random patches and her jaw line on the left side of her face had also Woged. The jawline was not an ideal place to have to hide from public view. They'd attempted using make up to cover it up, however, it wasn't doing much good.

The dried up corpse skin, with it's unique texture, refused to smooth over and the makeup clumped up in the wrinkles between the normal and the Woged areas. Juliette had shrugged it off as best she could. She knew having exposed Woged skin would be a risk but had still hoped for the best.

She had little choice but to cover it up as much as she was able and try to ignore the stares. Perhaps with practice and different brands of makeup she'd find a better way to disguise the Woge.

Collette had fared better, but not by much. Her entire right arm was fully Woged. She would be forced to wear long sleeves and gloves in public from now on.

There was a short amount of discussion about how many more times they could risk using the Siphon as it would further expose more and more of their Woged appearance with each use. The idea of becoming a more powerful Hexenbiest was obviously too attractive to pass up to the women in their group, however, Juliette was no longer interested in more power and was, above all, more interested in her revenge against Adalind. So long as Adalind was without power, and Juliette was among the ones who stole it, she would be satisfied and she could leave Portland behind. Possibly forever.

With Adalind powerless to stop them, the plan was to force her to tell the group where Zerstörer's Staff currently was located. Once that had been done, Juliette planned to kill Adalind. After that, she was going to abandon her new Coven and leave them to find the Staff on their own. Not that it would do them any good. So far as the Coven was concerned, Juliette was in this with them for the long haul and would help them figure out how to use the Staff to steal even more power.

Juliette knew that Nick would be at work even if he and Adalind hadn't had their argument the night before. But that argument was extremely fortuitous. It helped solidify the likelihood that Nick wouldn't be around and added to it that he took their toddler, Kelly, somewhere else. Juliette wanted revenge on Adalind so badly she could feel her heart pumping faster in chest at the thought of it, but she had no intention on hurting Nick's child. She also wasn't going to let the existence of the child stop her.

Once again, they'd used the old Shanghai tunnels to sneak into Nick's loft. They'd done their best to remain as silent as they could. Juliette knew from experience that having six different people climb up the ladder rungs and through the secret door was difficult to do with grace. Assuming that Adalind would be home alone, but having no idea where she'd be in the loft could leave them open to discovery at any point and they'd lose the element of surprise.

Juliette wasn't very concerned at the prospect of being discovered too soon. Adalind would be powerless. The biggest risk was that she could somehow escape.

Juliette was the first one to make her way up the rungs. She was the most familiar with the layout. She carefully opened the secret door. She peered around as best she could and when she saw no one around she climbed through. Staying at the door she carefully and quietly helped each member of her crew climb through to join her.

 ***

Adalind had dozed off for a bit. She would normally have been up and about by now. Doing chores or taking care of her son, Kelly. Perhaps a day on her own was exactly what she needed to put her temper back in check. She had considered going out. Maybe treating herself to a spa day. If not for her own feelings of guilt and the worry she would lose her temper again she would have. But for now, she lay in her bed, fading in and out of sleep.

She rolled over onto her back and felt an odd twinge through her body. Something was wrong, but she wasn't sure what. She opened her eyes and before she knew what was happening she'd Woged. She leapt out of the bed and as her feet touched the floor the double doors to the bedroom slid apart and she saw six Woged Hexenbiests standing on the other side. It was difficult in her haze to be completely certain, but the one who opened the doors appeared to be Eve. She was about to say as much when all doubt was disposed of when the person spoke and Adalind had no doubt that it was Eve. Though she was, in the most technical sense, incorrect.

Juliette, in a threatening tone, said, "Adalind, I'd like you to meet my new friends."

Juliette was about to take a step forward but one of the Hexenbiests reached out and grabbed her elbow.

In her mind, she had prepared a lot of things she wanted to say and was about to say them. But when Collette touched her arm it brought her back into reality. Adalind wasn't supposed to be Woged. She wasn't supposed to be able to Woge at all.

Something was wrong. Did the Siphon not work? What was going on? Juliette didn't know how to proceed. Whatever element of surprise they had was ruined.

Though she was immensely confused, Adalind could feel her temper rising to the surface. Whatever questions she had about what was going on didn't matter. She was facing six Hexenbiests who had entered her home uninvited. The sensation she was feeling went against everything she had wanted to be since she moved in with Nick. Her anger wasn't just anger anymore. The best word she could think of to describe it was 'euphoric.' She finally had an excuse to let loose, to allow her anger to overtake her and let the cards fall where they may. She felt a rush of excitement and satisfaction like she'd never felt possible.

She took a step forward, ready to unleash whatever hell she could summon from deep within. The six Hexenbiests didn't hesitate at all. They began waiving their arms, looking for whatever random objects they could find in the loft and sent them flying towards Adalind.

Pots, pans, even a chair, soared through the air. Adalind lifted a single hand up and all the objects stopped in midair a few feet from having collided with her. Though her Woged face didn't convey the emotions she was feeling, there was no doubt Adalind was angry. All the Hexenbiests except Juliette were looking back and forth at one another attempting to discern what it was they should do next.

In the few seconds it took them to do that, Adalind took several deep breaths. She put her other hand in the air and the objects that floated in front of her began to separate, putting more space between them, rising higher into the air. She then took one last deep breath and let out a banshee like scream. All of the Hexenbiests covered their ears and did their best to turn away from the scream but Adalind flicked her wrists and sent all the objects floating in the air back to their original senders at high velocity. Each of them were struck hard and fast, knocking them down.

Juliette, who'd been motionless for several seconds, turned back to face Adalind. She raised her own hand into the air, attempting to lift Adalind off of her feet. But nothing happened.

Adalind, whose anger had reached a boiling point she'd never felt before, took another few steps forward. She wanted to put her hands directly on who she thought of as Eve. Before she could make contact with her, Juliette had tried several times to use her powers to push Adalind back and still nothing happened.

Juliette took a step backwards and, with exaggerated arm motions, she put all her thought and emotion into driving Adalind back.

Adalind reflexively put up her hands to protect herself and attempted to push Eve as well. At that moment, a deafening silence filled the area, no one in the room could hear anything. Like the air itself seemed to thicken and press against their ears, muffling all sound. Neither Juliette nor Adalind could move from the spots they were standing in. The forces they were using against each sent out waves of energy pushing the other Hexenbiests further into the loft. The twins had decided separately that they needed to get out of there and didn't bother communicating with the others about their escape plan. They crawled on the floor, scrambling as best they could to get to the secret door to make their way back out of the loft and hopefully to safety.

Juliette attempted to yell something to her cohorts but nothing came out. She took her hands down, releasing the attempted attack she was making at Adalind. The waves of energy ceased and she could once again hear clearly. Realizing that for unknown reasons she couldn't use her powers on Adalind directly, she ran at her and tackled her to the floor.

Adalind grabbed Juliette by the throat and rather than follow her instinct to push Juliette off of her she pulled her in so closely they could smell each other's breath as she asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Juliette, again, was surprised by Adalind's ability to withstand the attack and defend herself. Juliette could barely breathe beneath the grip Adalind had on her throat. She had rehearsed in her mind all the things she had wanted to say to Adalind in the days leading up to their ambush. With all their carefully laid plans completely ruined, Juliette chose to try to say at least some of what she had mentally prepared. All she could manage to choke out was, "You stole everything from me. Make... You... Pay."

Adalind realized at that moment who she was actually dealing with. Using all the force she could, she pushed Juliette off of her, sending her through the air, back several feet, she collided with the floor directly in front of Robin who had only just managed to stand up. Robin grabbed Juliette by the arm and pulled her off the ground onto her feet. Robin didn't bother saying anything, simply pulling Juliette's arm, making it clear it was time to leave. The remaining four Hexenbiests ran towards the secret door and filed their way out as quickly as they could.

Adalind got to her feet and walked as quickly as she could in their direction. She looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon and began flicking her wrist sending random objects hurdling towards the open door.

Collette was the last one out and she slammed the door closed just in time. She could hear several loud thuds against the wall but didn't linger to find out if Adalind was coming after them. Instead, she rushed her way down the rungs, nearly falling twice.

As they sprinted their way down the tunnels they heard Adalind belt out one last furious banshee scream.

 ***

Nick had left Kelly with Monroe and Rosalee so that he could go into work. He'd been called into a crime scene. A simple robbery of a liquor store. The employee had been shot and killed for what the receipt roll showed was little more than four hundred dollars. He was examining the body with Hank, his partner, standing behind him looking over his shoulder. Nick stood up and pointed at the security camera and asked, "Has the footage been pulled yet?"

Hank replied, "Wu is taking care of that now."

Nick was about to ask about witnesses but his cell phone rang. He fished it out of his pocket and was a bit relieved to see that it was Adalind calling him. He held up a finger at Hank, stepped out through the liquor store doors so that he could have a small amount of privacy as he answered the phone.

He attempted to answer the call by saying he was glad she called but before he could get out her name she shouted, "I was just attacked!"

Nick shook his head in shock, "By who? That co-worker you told me about?"

Adalind shouted back, "No! No! It was a group of Hexenbiests."

As she spoke, Nick's brow became more and more furrowed as he couldn't imagine a scenario in which a gang of Hexenbiests would suddenly attack his wife. But then he remembered, he's a Grimm. The fact that she's his wife may be motivation enough.

Adalind continued, "They were all Woged, so I didn't get to see their faces, but Nick, I recognized one of them. At first I wasn't sure until she spoke. It was Juliette."

The repercussions of what Adalind just said were staggering. Nick needed clarification, so he asked, "Eve?"

Adalind paused briefly, understanding the weight of what she was saying, and replied, "No. Juliette."

Nick, confused, began to ask, "How..." but was unable to complete the thought.

Adalind interrupted, "She never outright said she was Juliette, but she said I'd taken everything away from her and she was going to make me pay. I admit, I'm kinda reading between the lines."

Nick nodded, mostly to himself, "No, no. You're right to at least suspect it."

Adalind knew she had to call Nick right away, but after the argument they'd had the night before she was terrified he wouldn't believe she was telling the truth. It sounded to her like Nick had no doubt at all, but she had to ask, "You believe me?"

Nick replied, "I do, but we can talk about last night some other time. I need you to call Monroe and Rosalee. Bud too. Everyone should know what's going on. Gather up a handful of clothes, I want you out of there in no more than ten minutes. I'm going to the trailer." He paused for a moment, then added, "I'm going to see if the Seidels will be willing to help us out."

Adalind knew of the Seidels but had never actually spoken to them. Their son had been murdered by the Grimm that Nick had put in prison. Before she could ask how the Seidels could help, Nick said, "I'll call you once I know more. Just get out of there."

He disconnected the line and marched back into the liquor store. He walked up to Hank and let him know what Adalind said. Hank reacted with mostly disbelief, "Wait, what? Is that even possible?"

Nick shrugged and replied, "I'm not sure it's worth asking that question anymore. I'm taking a personal day. Let Renard know and make sure he knows why." He then turned and walked out.

On his way to the trailer, Nick had checked, checked and rechecked several times that he wasn't being followed. He had done what he could to hide his trailer using paints and strategically placed plants and branches. His innermost circle not only knew exactly where it was, but they also had their own keys to get into it. He'd been planning to provide that kind of access to Eve as well, but because she was so rarely in Portland he'd never gotten around to even telling her that he'd bought it. Now, it appeared, that the procrastination was paying out dividends.

He parked his SUV and walked through the trees and bushes. Taking great care to keep an eye out for anyone else that could be around, he made his way to the hidden trailer. Before he let himself in, he paused, looking around. He was beginning to feel paranoid. It was Juliette who had set his previous trailer on fire. Thankfully, not everything was destroyed, but much was. He couldn't help but feel a bit of unease that Juliette would once again repeat her actions and do a better job of destroying all he'd collected from his time as a Grimm.

When he was confident there was no one watching, he used his key and let himself in. He was only there for one thing. His Staff. He rarely used it and since the accidental power theft at his wedding to Adalind, it simply wasn't as powerful as it once was. Nonetheless, it was still a powerful weapon with the power to heal.

After retrieving it and having placed it in his SUV, he drove it to the Seidels where Adalind was parked outside waiting for him.

They each stepped out of the vehicles in near unison and then walked up to each other. Adalind was wearing a guilty expression on her face while Nick was wearing one of concern. He looked her over for any possible injuries. The first thing he asked was, "Are you okay?"

Adalind nodded, "My back hurts a bit. She tackled me if you can believe it."

Nick put his hand to his forehead, frustrated that he wasn't there to protect her and that all of this was coming up so unexpectedly.

He reached out, putting both his hands on Adalind's shoulders and said, "I called the Seidels and they're expecting us. Come on."

Adalind grabbed an overnight bag from the back of her car and they both walked up the stairs and Nick knocked on the door and waited. The last time he'd been there was to inform the couple that their son had been killed. Their family were Lausenschlanges. A snake like Wesen. He felt a twinge of guilt at asking them for their help. But, as a way of thanking Nick for arresting the Grimm who'd killed their son, they offered to help his family any time they needed it.

It was Isaac Seidel who answered the door and gestured they come inside. Sasha, his wife, was at the dining table going over paperwork. When she saw that Nick and Adalind had entered their home, however, she stopped what she was doing, stood up and walked over to them to welcome them to her home.

Nick shook their hands and said, "I really appreciate you helping us out."

Isaac dismissed Nick's appreciation with a hand gesture as he said, "No, there's no reason to thank us. Besides, based on what you told me over the phone it sounds like this may actually be Council business. And we did volunteer to be on the Council. So, please, sit... sit." He gestured at the dining table and Nick and Adalind sat down next to each other. Sasha returned to her seat and began scooping the papers up to get them out of the way. Isaac sat down next to her and said, "Who is this Juliette person and why does she want to hurt you and your wife?"

Nick took a deep breath. The story was a long one. He did his best to break it down to just the bullet points. The questions left unanswered was who the other Hexenbiests were that were acting as Juliette's backup.

Sasha chimed in, "It sounds like she went and got herself a Coven. They're not all that common here in the states, and even in Europe and Asia, Covens aren't nearly as important as they were centuries ago."

Nick shrugged, "I have no idea. All I can tell you is that she likely wants Adalind dead and I had to think of a place she could stay where Juliette would never know to look."

Isaac asked, "You won't be staying here too?"

Nick shook his head, "Not for right now. Once I get everyone in safe places, I have to find Juliette and whatever group it is she's messing with and put a stop to this one way or another."

Sasha leaned forward in her chair as she said, "No offense, Nick, but you're one Grimm. Going up against a group of Hexenbiests?"

Nick nodded. He fully understood that what he was up against may be fully insurmountable but he also had very little choice in the matter.

He stood from his chair and said, "I'm only doing what I have to. I still have other people I have to check in on and make arrangements for their safety as well." He leaned down and gave Adalind a kiss on the cheek and then he turned to leave.

After Nick had left, Sasha turned to Adalind and said, "So... lunch?"

 ***

There had been much arguing in the car ride back to the former home of the Hexenbiest, Henrietta. The six women were confused about how Adalind was not only at full strength, but also, was able to overpower their group in a matter of minutes all by herself.

The twins received most of the brunt of the anger. First, for leaving the loft in the middle of fight. But, also, for possibly obtaining the hair of a completely different person than Adalind to use on the power Siphon.

Nikki attempted to defend herself, "If, and it's a big if, that wasn't Adalind's hair, then you can't blame me for not knowing it. The hair was blonde, it was on her coat. What more could I have done?"

It was then that Juliette revealed what she had in her hand. She held it up for the others in the car to see. Clasped between her fingers were several blonde hairs. She said, "Why do you think I tackled her? We're doing it again tonight. I'm getting that bitch's powers one way or another. Then we're taking her down."

Collette needed clarification, "And we use her to get that Staff thing you told us about?"

Juliette, who knew that the Staff would be completely worthless to them, nodded her head, "We get her to tell us the location. Failing that, we kill her and go after the Grimm directly."

She thought to herself how odd it was to be referring to Nick as 'the Grimm,' but knew she had to stay in character for the benefit of the others along for the ride.

Robin held up a finger to bring up a new subject, "Can we talk about that weird silence? I've never encountered anything like that."

All of the women, except for Gail who was driving, turned to look at Juliette. She looked back at them flummoxed. She shrugged an exaggerated shrug and waived her hand in front of her, "Like I'd know! I've only been a Hexenbiest for a few years. I'm still learning all the rules to what it is magic even does."

Robin tilted her head and glared wide-eyed at Collette looking for affirmation that Juliette had really only been a Hexenbiest for a few years. She knew it wasn't impossible but had never actually heard of anyone doing it before. Collette didn't say anything but nodded her head.

Robin turned back to Juliette and said, "Well, I've been a Hexenbiest for forever and, of course, I was raised by a Hexenbiest, but I've never seen, read or heard about anything like what happened with you and Adalind. It was like there was a force between you preventing you from using your powers on each other. At least not directly anyway."

Collette looked at Juliette and added, "Maybe, since there's still so much we don't understand about what's going on, you shouldn't participate in the power theft tonight."

Juliette clenched Adalind's hairs in her fist and held them up for the others to see for emphasis, "I'm not letting this slide. After I take away her abilities, I'll never use the Siphon again. You all can use it till you're fully, one hundred percent Woged. Adalind is mine!"

Collette closed her eyes and rubbed her temples with her fingers. When whatever headache she'd gotten seemed to subside, she stopped and opened her eyes again to say, "Fine. But the reason we came to Portland was to get the Staff, study it and hopefully use it in place of the Siphon. If we're just going to use the Siphon over and over, suffering through that incredible amount of pain, then we don't really need the Staff. So let's all agree, this is the last time we use the Siphon. After tonight we get the Staff and hopefully no more holes in our hands. Agreed?"

 ***

After dropping off Kelly to Adalind at the Seidels, Monroe and Rosalee had taken their triplets to Samantha's house. It wasn't ideal, they packed as quickly as they could but felt they had left far too much behind. They also felt guilty about asking Samantha to stay at her home, though they could think of no safer place, at least in Portland. Juliette had never met Samantha, so chances were in their favor that whatever crew Juliette had put together would have no idea where they holed up.

They had made a weak attempt to explain to Samantha who Juliette was but fell short of actually communicating her complete complex history.

Samantha had prepared her deceased parents old bedroom for them to sleep in, which made Monroe feel even more guilty for needing to stay in her home.

After everyone had settled and a trip to the store was made for more supplies, like food and diapers, they sat in her living room area and did their best to feed their triplets and keep them amused. Rosalee seemed to be making an extra effort to inconvenience Samantha with their triplets as little as possible.

Samantha, who had done her best to not mention Juliette for much of the afternoon decided it was time to bring up the topic again as she asked, "Why is Juliette so hostile to you guys and Nick?"

Monroe, who was holding one of his sons to his shoulder, patting his back, said, "That's not easy to answer. Juliette was Nick's girlfriend when we first met her. She didn't know anything about Grimms or Wesen or anything. It's really a complicated backstory, but to put it as simply as possible, through a lot of back and forth crazy magic stuff, Juliette was turned into a Hexenbiest."

Samantha was surprised, "That can happen?"

Rosalee, breastfeeding one of her triplets, said "It can be done and from what I've read and seen, Hexenbiests that are made and not born are extremely powerful."

Samantha assumed that Juliette was angry that she had been turned into a Hexenbiest and said as much but Monroe shook his head, "That was our initial reaction, too. But she seemed to be loving it."

"So then..." Samantha began but she was interrupted by Rosalee.

"I've never fully understood why Juliette hated us all so much. Especially Nick, who I honestly thought she would marry one day. Her turning into a Hexenbiest... we all share the blame for that. But we tried to help her to at least suppress that part of herself and she refused and nearly murdered Monroe in the process." Rosalee lowered her voice to nearly a whisper, "I wanted to kill her for that."

"Okay, but why attack Adalind?" Samantha asked.

Monroe let out a breath and then said, "If anyone is to blame for what happened to Juliette, it's Adalind. And that wasn't all she did. Juliette nearly died and, for a while, all of her memories of Nick were erased from her mind. And that was well before she was turned into a Hexenbiest."

Samantha leaned forward in her chair as she said, "That doesn't sound like Adalind at all."

Rosalee looked up at the ceiling and shook her head, "Trust me, we all marvel at how much Adalind has changed since she became pregnant with Nick's son. It's nothing short of miraculous. Sometimes-"

Monroe shot forward in his seat and in a volume that was nearly a shout, he said, "Elizabeth."

Neither Samantha nor Rosalee understood the sudden outburst. Rosalee asked, "What about her?"

Monroe was still holding his son but he used his free hand to reach up and pinch the bridge of his nose as he said, "You're gonna be so mad at me for not mentioning this before now."

Rosalee turned her whole body to face him as she said, "Monroe, what are you talking about?"

Monroe stood from his seat and handed his son to Samantha, "Would you mind?"

Samantha took the child without argument and rested him against her shoulder.

Monroe turned back to face Rosalee. He grasped his hands together in front of himself apologetically as he said, "Please don't be mad. I didn't tell you right away because Elizabeth wasn't even sure about anything and then after a while I just kinda forgot about it, ya know?"

Rosalee's voice elevated a bit and grew more stern, "Tell me what?"

Monroe began to pace around the room, "Right, okay. So, you know how... See... Elizabeth had this theory. I mean, hypothesis is a better word for it." He scratched at the back of his head, "When she told me, I kinda freaked out a little, cause I wasn't sure if I should tell Nick. I thought to myself, why put that kinda thought into his head, you know? And I figured it would be a bad idea to tell you cause then you'd have to keep it secret from Nick, and I know you don't like doing that kinda thing. So, you see, I just didn't want to put you in that position, you know?"

Rosalee kept her temper in check as she didn't want to upset her triplets though she couldn't help herself but to Woge into her fox like appearance before she repeated, "Tell me what?"

Monroe put a hand to his forehead as he took in a deep breath. "Remember when..." he stopped himself mid-sentence, admonishing himself mentally because of course she remembers. It was only a couple of months ago and it was a rather significant event.

He paced around the room a bit more and then turned back to her and said, "When Elizabeth was here, she warned me that there may be a side effect to that power theft cure she came up with."

Rosalee, who'd removed her Woge, widened her eyes, "Side effect? What kind of side effect?"

Monroe grimaced for a moment before replying, "She pointed out how much both Juliette and Adalind had changed. Specifically, the feelings they had for Nick. Adalind despised Nick and Juliette loved Nick and then after all that weird turning into each other and sleeping with Nick stuff," at this comment, Samantha's eyes widened, and she couldn't hide the expression of how bizarre this all sounded to her, "well, Elizabeth believed that maybe, possibly, there was a chance, though she could very easily be wrong..."

"Monroe!" Rosalee shouted to encourage him to get to his point.

Monroe stood completely still where he stood as he delivered the news, "That there was a kind of emotional exchange between Juliette and Adalind."

Rosalee, who felt like that answer didn't really answer anything, asked, "What is that supposed to mean?"

Monroe blew out a deep sigh then said, "That all of the feelings they feel for Nick, might not be their own feelings. That they were feeling each others' feelings."

Rosalee was struggling more than ever to keep her temper in check and if not for the children in the room she would likely be shouting, "And you didn't think that was something you should mention?"

Monroe shrugged, "Well, come on. Think about it. If Elizabeth was wrong, if Adalind's feelings for Nick were totally legit, and she said that was a total possibility, then what would bringing it up do other than cause more torment for Nick? Constantly keeping an eye on her, analyzing everything she said and did. That's not a healthy thing for any relationship."

Monroe held up a finger as if to say there was one more thing, "And... and... it didn't occur to her, or to me, that the one to look out for would be Juliette. That never came up."

Rosalee had finished feeding the son she was holding and switched him with the son who was laying on the couch. One problem with having triplets was making sure all three boys were well fed. When she had completed her change out, she asked, "Should we be calling Elizabeth? Find out if she knows anything more about what we can expect?"

Monroe was glad to have a task that might ease Rosalee's anger at him and he quickly volunteered to call her. He stepped outside onto the front porch so he could place the call and get some fresh air while he was at it.

Samantha looked at Rosalee and said, "Looks like we set up a Wesen Council just in time."

Rosalee lifted her eyebrows and pointed out, "I may be overstating it, but so far, your Council has been more help than the old one was. We would have been entirely on our own in the past."

Samantha shrugged, "I would have let you guys stay with me, Council or not, regardless. People need help, you help them."

Rosalee smiled a bit and said, "You're sweet."

Monroe stepped back in the house and sat back down on the couch. He set his phone down on the coffee table and said, "She has no idea."

Rosalee was both taken aback and then immediately not surprised. It was already the most bizarre situation that she had ever read or heard about that she thought it was remarkable that Elizabeth was able to help when Nick and Adalind had done their accidental power theft.

When Rosalee didn't respond, Monroe continued, "She said that after she left Portland she asked around with the contacts she trusted. Tried to find out if her suspicions could be verified or if there could be any other side effects, but essentially, she reached the end of known, or at least recorded, magical knowledge on this. We just have to face the fact that what Nick, Adalind and Juliette are going through, may be the first time in history that it's ever happened. I think it's safe to say that no one has ever turned a Juliette into an Eve before."

Samantha had led a very quiet life until her brother had been murdered by a Grimm and she was now beginning to feel somewhat overwhelmed hearing the bits and pieces of Nick's very complicated past. The realization struck her that she was now going to also have a very complicated life as the Chairperson to the Wesen Council and as Nick's friend.

This brought to mind Alexander and how he'd offered her a great deal of money to remain as Chairperson. She hesitated to change the subject but also saw an opportunity to rescue Monroe from Rosalee being mad at him for not mentioning what Elizabeth had told him.

She cleared her throat and said, "That Alexander guy that Nick brought here..."

Monroe didn't realize he was doing it, but he leapt onto the change of topic as he said, "Yeah, what happened with that?"

Samantha continued, "He offered me and all the members of the Council a salary and said we can have things like armed security and all kinds of stuff. It's making me feel like I bit off more than I can chew. But the Council is going to have a meeting to discuss and vote on it. My main concern is whether I can trust Alexander."

Rosalee, who had more experience dealing with the Council, both directly and indirectly through her father, said, "I think so. What did Nick say?"

Samantha smiled a bit, "He kind of implied that I could trust him because Nick would make him regret it if I couldn't. Like a not so veiled threat, if that makes sense."

Rosalee and Monroe both returned the smile and Rosalee said, "That sounds like Nick. Have you been getting a lot of Council business calls still?"

Samantha shrugged and said, "Kind of. I've updated my voicemail to direct people to an email address that anyone on the Council can access. It allows us to return calls as needed. With the nine of us working in tandem we've been able to make it manageable. Alexander attempted to assure me that it will slow down to a trickle eventually. I hope he's right."

Rosalee finished feeding her final triplet for the moment and handed him off to Monroe. She stood up, arched her back and let out a yawn. She chuckled a bit to herself and said, "Despite how exhausted I look, Monroe and I are always happy to help you when we can. You won't be in this alone. You know Nick will have your back as needed too."