Page 83 of Crown of the Fae King

Instead of waiting for me at our favorite spot on the second floor, however, Griffon stood in a small crowd of people just beyond the check in desk. He looked intense, and when he saw me, he closed his eyes and cursed.

That’s when I noticed the police officers pouring toward the door. But they weren’t headed outside, they were headed for us. They surrounded me, Brian, and Flann and ordered us to our knees. I didn’t look back. If they hadn’t noticed Kitch, I wasn’t going to draw attention to him.

My heart thudded in my bones like a bass drum. I’d never been arrested before. And without a passport, I was in trouble. But they couldn’t know about that…

While my wrists were strapped together, I swung my hair to the side and looked for Griffon. The tormented look on his face told me he was heartbrokenforme, notbyme. I tried to stall when an officer helped me to my feet. “What’s going on?”

Griffon edged to the front of the crowd. “The Covenant has been stolen. And dozens of books and documents, all on the Fae.”

And we’d been there for a month, hoarding them.

“Give me your phone,” he shouted. “I’ll call Wickham.”

I couldn’t do that. My photos included tight shots of four enchanted pages I shouldn’t have been able to access. If he was Fae, he might just recognize them. And now was not the time to test him.

I didn’t have to deny him, though. The police took away my bag, and he’d assume it was inside.

“Find Kitch,” I said, as they rushed me toward the door. “Find him fast!”Before the police did.Wickham and the others might walk into a trap too, if they weren’t warned, and Kitch was the only one who could do that.

I just hoped the local bobbies wouldn’t know an enchanted bookmark from a hole in the ground.

Four police cars waited.They put Brian, Flann, and me in separate cars. I guessed the fourth was intended for Kitch or whomever escorted us to the library that day. If they knew there were always four of us, had they been watching? Or had they just reviewed the footage of us coming and going?

I cursed myself for not paying closer attention to closed circuit cameras.

They would have a record of who was checking out Fae research. And there had been a camera in the Faculty Theology Library. They would know we'd seen the contract and would know the general area of where it was stored.

With my hands behind me, I was helped into the back seat of the police car. Out the window, I looked for the brothers and saw Brian in the car beside me. He winked and smiled, so I knew he wasn't traumatized. I couldn't say the same for me.

When the officers looked through my bag, they wouldn't find a used airline ticket or a passport, and they'd want to know just how Lennon Todd from Wyoming got into their perfectly proper country.

What could I possibly say? A witch transported me in the blink of an eye? I was kidnapped and forced to come play student and study fairies at the Bod?

The safest plan was to say nothing at all.

I bounced along on the barely cushioned seat and wished my hands were free so I could cover my ears. The earsplitting sirens just went on and on and on.

"How can you stand it?"

The female officer in the passenger seat turned slightly. "Be there shortly."

The driver scoffed. "Why ye givin' comfort to a thief, then?"

The woman scowled. "She's bein' polite. So I'll be polite, got it?" She shot me a smile before turning her back again.

Allies. Allies were good.

The St. AldatesPolice Station might have been five minutes away, but by the time we arrived and the sirens ceased, they were inscribed on my brain and left on repeat. I could barely hear what was going on around me.

The same woman helped me from the car. I thanked her, then thanked her again when she swung my coat over my shoulders. The wind was blowing just enough to remind me that England was a hundred times as humid as Southern Idaho. As soon as I was inside, though, the coat came off again. Someone took it and my bag away as others ushered me through offices and into an interrogation room.

An officer told me where to sit and rewarded my compliance by cutting the ties off my hands. The female officer was back again. This time with a yellow envelope and a large plastic bag that held my purse. "All jewelry or other valuables in the bag. We'll add the inventory and seal it. When you're allowed to leave, you'll have them all back, along with your coat, of course."

All valuables. Shit! I had Hank on me!

Please, God, don't let them take it!

I nodded, my entire body shaking like it was on vibrate. My hands were so cold the ring came off easily, as did the cuff bracelet. The earrings took a little more time, and I couldn't get a hold of the clasp on my necklace. "I'm sorry," I said, my voice trembling just as badly as the rest of me. "Just give me a minute."

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