Chapter Summaries

Nick killed the scythe-wielding attacker while protecting Aunt Mary, who was hospitalized as her cancer worsened. He learned she had less than a week to live, and she revealed that his ability was tied to a family curse and the responsibility she had tried to prepare him for.

• Nick shot the attacker in the throat and left eye, killing him as he charged with a scythe.
• Hancock arrived, took charge of the scene, and agreed to keep Dahlia out of official records; Nick told Dahlia to protect herself and guard Aunt Mary's RV.
• At the hospital, a doctor told Nick that Aunt Mary had no more than a week to live and asked about the many scars across her body.
• Aunt Mary apologized to Nick for the family curse falling on him, and Nick said she had treated his ability as a responsibility.
• Aunt Mary explained that she had pushed Nick to become a police officer so he could protect himself.

Nick learned from Aunt Mary about the Grimms’ history, their journals, and the wider supernatural world. After returning home, he found Dahlia had discovered that his pendant was an antique bronze key, and he invited her to see Aunt Mary’s trailer.

• Nick visited Aunt Mary, who explained that his mother and maternal ancestors were Grimms and that their family had hunted dangerous Wesen for generations.
• Aunt Mary told Nick about the Grimms’ journals, specialized weapons, Wesen Grimm Hunters, and other hunters who dealt with ghosts and demons.
• A doctor ended Nick’s visit, and he saw Andrew Wu and another officer standing guard outside Aunt Mary’s room.
• Nick returned home after midnight and found Dahlia examining the pendant, which she had opened into an old bronze key.
• Nick told Dahlia what Aunt Mary had revealed, and she agreed to leave supernatural threats to him if bullets could not stop them.
• Nick invited Dahlia to look at the trailer Aunt Mary had towed over.

Nick and Dahlia explored Aunt Mary's Airstream and discovered its alchemy equipment, an extensive collection of weapons, and the Grimm's Journal. They found a possibly useful artifact and a portrait that reminded Nick of a Wesen he had seen near a coffee shop.

• Nick and Dahlia entered Aunt Mary's Airstream and found it filled with alchemical equipment and a wall of connected photographs and clippings.
• Dahlia opened a wardrobe containing nearly a hundred weapons, and Nick identified a Ming Dynasty sword inscribed with words about slaying demons and warding off evil.
• Nick gave Dahlia the sword to take to Chinatown for a new scabbard, then pocketed a broken black beast's claw linked to a case he was investigating.
• Nick and Dahlia examined the Grimm's Journal and found drawings labeled “Vulture” and “Witch” in German.
• Nick recognized the hideous face in the journal's witch portrait as resembling a blonde woman he had seen outside a coffee shop.

Nick secured the Grimm journals and learned that the attacker Hancock killed was a wanted criminal using multiple identities. Inspector Raynard ended police protection for Mary that night, while Nick continued investigating a missing-person case.

• Nick stored a volume of Grimm's Journal in a reinforced chest, and Dahlia offered to install cameras and alarms around the motorhome.
• Hancock told Nick that the scythe bore an Old High German phrase meaning "Grimm killer" and identified Horda as a criminal who had used several identities.
• Hancock offered to handle Nick's cases while he recovered, but Nick refused and said he would keep investigating.
• Inspector Raynard reminded Nick to see a psychologist and told him police protection for Mary would end that night.
• Nick made coffee and began reviewing the file on the missing-person case.

Detective Burkhart and Officer Wu returned to the Labe estate to ask the family about missing Rocky, whose disappearance might be connected to the break-in. The Labes denied knowing him, but their reactions raised the officers’ suspicions, and Nick ended by showing Frank Rabe an item from a paper bag.

• Nick and Wu returned to the Labe estate and encountered Barry Labe and two friends riding dirt bikes.
• Nick showed Barry and his friends photographs of Gilda and Rocky, but they said they had never seen them.
• Diana Rabe and Frank Rabe denied knowing anything about the missing boy, while Barry said he had spent the night before last at a party at the Colberts’ home.
• Nick noticed Barry’s evasive gaze, and Diana moved to block his view as Barry answered questions.
• Diana objected to the officers treating the Labes as suspects, but Nick said they were making routine inquiries about a missing person.
• Nick opened a paper bag and asked Frank Rabe whether he recognized what was inside.

Nick’s animal claw exposed the Labe family as Bear Wesen, and he later learned from Monroe that it was used in a violent coming-of-age ritual. Monroe’s description left Nick suspecting that the Lohaz Ceremony was connected to Rocky’s disappearance.

• Nick showed the animal claw to the Labe family, who revealed their Bear Wesen forms, and Frank Rabe ended the visit by referring Nick and Wu to his law firm.
• Nick returned to the car with Wu and joked about wearing sunglasses before dropping him at the police station.
• Nick visited Monroe and asked him to identify the claw, explaining that he had encountered two nearby Bear Wesen families.
• Monroe identified the claw as a ritual implement used in the Lohaz Ceremony and explained that Bear Wesen used it to disembowel prey during a three-day coming-of-age hunt.

Nick asked Monroe for help understanding Wesen and avoiding harming innocent ones, while Monroe reacted with concern about Aunt Mary’s illness. Back at PPB headquarters, Wu uncovered evidence that Barry Labe had gone hunting before Gilda and Rocky were killed, but Nick faced legal obstacles and considered his competing concern for Aunt Mary.

• Nick questioned Monroe about Wesen hunting and learned it could involve other powerful species, then told him Aunt Mary was hospitalized and asked for help dealing with Wesen.
• Monroe hesitated over Nick’s request, and Nick left him time to consider whether they could work together.
• Nick returned to PPB headquarters, where Wu showed him a photo of Barry Labe and the Colbert boys on a hunting trip with a dead buck.
• Wu said Barry’s phone records showed calls with his mother, suggesting the family had lied, but admitted he had obtained the records without a warrant.
• Nick worried that the case would be difficult to pursue against Barry’s lawyer father, while Wu urged him to focus on Aunt Mary instead.

Nick learned that Gilda had taken a gun and was heading to the Labe estate, so he raced there to warn the family and prevent a confrontation. He discovered that Frank Rabe knew Nick was a Grimm, then confronted the Labes about the Lohaz Ceremony and the missing boy’s planned death that night.

• Wu told Nick that Gilda had taken a handgun from Rocky’s room and threatened the Labes, so Nick sent officers ahead and called Frank Rabe.
• Nick and Wu raced to the estate, where Frank Rabe arrived and reunited with Diana Rabe.
• Nick sent Wu to watch the road and search for Gilda, then stayed behind to speak with the Labes.
• Frank Rabe called Nick a Grimm, and Diana Rabe began transforming before Frank calmed and shielded her.
• Nick asked whether the Labes were holding two innocent young people and accused them of planning to kill the missing boy during the Lohaz Ceremony that night.

Nick and Frank Rabe searched the forest for Gilda and Rocky after Frank agreed to help the police find his son and the Colbert children. They reached the children’s cave and discovered the ritual had already begun, then rushed to find the victims.

• Diana Rabe refused to tell Nick where Barry and the Colbert children were, so Frank Rabe offered to lead Nick into the forest.
• Nick told Andrew Wu that he was searching with Frank, while Wu reported that police had found Gilda’s concealed pickup and phone.
• Frank drove Nick to the children’s secret camp and warned him that the boys had set traps along the trail.
• At the cave, Frank smelled blood, found a bloodstained shirt, and realized the ritual had begun.
• Frank charged deeper into the forest as Nick struggled to keep pace.

Nick rescued Gilda from Barry Labe and his accomplices, then helped stop the Bear Wesen family ritual from turning deadly. After Frank Rabe and Nick agreed on the official account, the police arrested those at the scene while Rocky remained at large.

• Rocky abandoned Gilda as three Bear Wesen chased them, and Nick appeared to protect her.
• Nick defeated two of the Bear Wesen and stopped Barry from attacking, but Diana Rabe charged out fully transformed.
• Frank Rabe transformed and collided with Diana, whose argument revealed his affair with a Colbert widow.
• Nick fired a warning shot to end the fight, then called Wu and waited with Gilda for the police.
• Nick and Frank agreed to portray the incident as kidnapping and attempted murder, and officers arrested Barry Labe, Jason Colbert, TB Colbert, and Diana Rabe while Rocky escaped.

Nick and Frank Rabe found Rocky, and Nick returned to the hospital after closing the case to care for Aunt Mary. Aunt Mary told Nick that some Wesen were evil by nature and urged him to stay cautious, while Nick worried she might not live long enough for his next journey.

• Frank Rabe detected Vultures nearby, but they had already passed through the forest.
• Wu told Nick that Rocky had escaped the forest and been found by a patrol car.
• Nick thanked Frank Rabe and left the Rabe estate, reflecting on the respect his Grimm identity had earned him.
• Nick visited Aunt Mary in the hospital after learning she had left the ICU, then sent Dahlia home to rest.
• Nick told Aunt Mary about his recent cases and asked whether he had acted rightly.
• Aunt Mary said Nick had handled himself well but warned him to be careful around Wesen who were evil by nature.

Nick learned that Aunt Mary had been luring the assassins who murdered his parents, but a Hexenbiest and a disguised priest attacked them at the hospital. After killing the priest and identifying himself to hospital security, Nick left Aunt Mary’s fate and the assassins’ motives unresolved.

• Aunt Mary told Nick that his parents had been murdered and that she had returned to Portland to pass on the trailer’s secrets before she died.
• Aunt Mary explained that Grimm Reapers served the Royal Family and warned Nick to protect the key to a thousand-year-old secret.
• A Hexenbiest disguised as a nurse tried to stab Aunt Mary, but Nick threw her through the hospital-room door before she escaped using an invisible force.
• A disguised priest attacked Nick with a heavy Bible and a scalpel, but Nick wounded him and shot him dead.
• Hospital security guards aimed their guns at Nick, who showed his police badge and shouted that he was police.

Nick was pulled into an out-of-body state by Artie and Galahad, who came to offer Mary a chance to become a guardian of the Library. He returned to his body as Mary collapsed, leaving her future uncertain while doctors rushed to save her.

• Nick's consciousness left his body as time stopped, and Artie and Galahad introduced themselves to him.
• Galahad explained that Mary was an unofficial librarian and offered her a choice in her final moments.
• Galahad and Artie woke Mary, and she signed a contract to become a guardian of the Library.
• Galahad told Nick that Mary's binding ritual would take about three years and that she hoped he would stay safe and fulfill the Grimm family's duty.
• Nick returned to his body as doctors rushed in to perform CPR on Mary, and a nurse helped him sit down.

Nick told Dahlia that a knight had taken Mary’s soul and speculated that the Metropolitan Library and Warehouse 13 were connected. Meanwhile, Renard punished Adalind for failing to deal with Nick and revealed that he intended to control Nick through other means.

• Nick explained to Dahlia that the knight had taken Mary’s soul and that she would see her aunt again in three years.
• Nick and Dahlia discussed whether the Metropolitan Library and Warehouse 13 were related supernatural containment centers.
• Nick worried about Wesen and planned to find and kill the Hexenbiest who had immobilized him.
• Renard confronted Adalind over her failed attempt and blamed her for letting Nick recognize her.
• Adalind suggested using Hexenbiest methods against Nick, but Renard choked her and insisted Nick was vital to his plans.
• Renard declared that Nick Burkhardt could not escape his grasp and that women were not the only way to control him.

Nick handled Aunt Mary's funeral, completed a month of training at Gunsite Academy, and returned to Portland. At the airport, he spotted Dahlia waiting for him.

• Inspector Raynard told Nick about the investigation into the two assassins and gave him the case file, while Nick promised not to act recklessly.
• Nick comforted Hancock, then held a simple funeral for Aunt Mary.
• Nick traveled to Arizona and spent a month training at Gunsite Academy, where his squad drew with the instructors’ team in the final CQB exercise.
• In October, Nick returned to Portland and saw Dahlia waiting for him outside the airport.

Nick reflected on the supernatural dangers around him and decided he and Dahlia needed more money for weapons, safe housing, and a secure identity for her. While Nick trained in Arizona, Dahlia made a profit shorting S&P 500 E-mini futures, growing their $80,000 stake to $185,000.

• Nick concluded that gaining strength and legal firepower was essential because Wesen and unexplained magic could threaten him.
• Nick and Dahlia considered buying a secure identity for her, which a Wesen black-market dealer offered for $150,000.
• Nick planned to use the coming housing crisis to buy a backup property and considered Bitcoin too slow to meet their immediate needs.
• Dahlia used $80,000 of Nick's savings as margin to short six S&P 500 E-mini futures contracts.
• Two days before Nick returned to Portland, Dahlia's investment had grown to $185,000.

Nick and Hancock investigated a young man’s body found downstream from Multnomah Falls, where evidence on the victim’s neck suggested he had not simply drowned. The chapter left them poised to investigate a possible homicide.

• Nick and Dahlia’s stock gains continued, but Nick’s Magic Movie Ticket remained less than half charged and his Hexenbiest investigation had stalled.
• Andrew Wu called Nick and Hancock to examine a body suspected of having drowned near Multnomah Falls.
• Hancock recoiled from the young man’s battered body, while Wu showed Nick the puka shell necklace found with it.
• Nick examined the victim and questioned whether drowning explained his unusually pale skin.
• Nick turned the victim’s head and revealed two bloody holes on the right side of his neck, making him suspect the death was not an accident.

Nick and Hancock investigated the death of Steven Bamford, an eighteen-year-old homeless teenager whose autopsy showed he had been drained of blood before drowning. The case remained unexplained as Nick noticed the body had been found near the Labe family’s estate.

• Harper Riley told Nick and Hancock that Steven Bamford had drowned after suffering severe blood loss, likely from an intravenous needle wound.
• Harper suggested blood-draining rituals had appeared in past cult cases, and Nick teased her and Hancock about their history before Hancock hurried them out.
• Nick and Hancock learned Steven had a record of minor offenses and used a post office box for people without permanent addresses.
• Hancock noticed the waterfall lay upstream from the city, while Nick spotted the Labe family estate near a forest two kilometers from where the body was found.
• Nick recalled Frank Rabe’s recent update about his family’s kidnapping case and decided against pursuing a closer relationship with the wealthy lawyer.

Nick and Hancock traced Steven Bamford’s mailbox and a necklace he had given away to a homeless girl named Gracie. When Nick showed her Steven’s photograph, Gracie realized something had happened to him and broke down crying.

• Nick and Hancock searched Steven Bamford’s postal box, but found only advertising mail and learned he had not collected mail for at least a month.
• Hancock noticed a Puka shell necklace on a girl at the postal center, and Nick showed her Steven’s photograph.
• The girl said she had traded for the necklace and directed the detectives to Gracie’s stall near the downtown square.
• Nick and Hancock found Gracie selling handmade jewelry beside the fountain and asked about Steven.
• Nick showed Gracie Steven’s photograph, and she began crying when she recognized him.

Nick and Hancock questioned Gracie and her brother about Steven Bamford’s death and learned that Steven had disappeared after being picked up for a job. The investigation led them to a free clinic, while Nick reflected on the harsh prospects facing people living on the streets.

• Nick told Gracie that Steven’s body had been found, and her brother stepped in to protect her from the detectives.
• Gracie and her brother said Steven had recently found a job and that someone had offered to pick him up, but they knew little else.
• Gracie said the last time she saw Steven was when she and her brother took him to the free clinic on 15th Street for an infected bite.
• Nick gave money to Gracie and her brother and took a necklace before he and Hancock left.
• Nick and Hancock drove to the clinic, ate burritos in the car, and discussed the dangers faced by homeless people.