Page 114 of Evidence of a Folktale

“Undoubtedly,” Griffin said.

“Even with the murder charges?”

“The public is already spinning things his way,” he said. “His fans believe Rollo’s accusations are a smear campaign. Rollo claims he has evidence, but the police didn’t listen to him six years ago. I have little hope it’ll convince them this time around.” Griffin escorted the couple through the station’s doors. “So, Mr. Stone, if you don’t mind staying until Rollo and Draven depart our custody, I’d appreciate it. Just keep a low profile unless we need you.”

But they thankfully didn’t need Eamon’s intervention. An hour later, a transport arrived to remove Officer Ethan Rollo from Bajka’s town limits. He did not resist as they escorted him from his holding cell to the van. He did not speak.Hesimplyheld his head high, purposefully ignoring Eamon as he strode past, and the only words he uttered were his final wishes whispered into Bel’s ear as they loaded him into the vehicle.

“Tell her I’m sorry.”

“I’ll try,” Bel promised. “For her sake, not yours.”

And then the doors slammed shut around him to an orchestra of reporters and appalled spectators. The air was too cold for such heated voices. It burned her skin and grated through her skull. One of their own had fallen from grace, but monsters bred monsters. He hadn’t been born a murderer. This show had made him one.

Bel crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the transport pull away from the station, but as soon as its size rolled out of her view, a lone figure in black consumed her vision. For a moment, the two women stared at each other, and then the younger crept forward, hernormaldesigner stilettos replaced by flats Bel never thought she’d see grace her friend’s feet.

“It’s true.” Violet’s voice faltered. “It was him. He killed all those people.”

Bel remained silent because what could she say? All words felt inadequate.

“How can you be sure?” Violet asked.“It could be a mistake, right?Just a misunderstanding?”

“Violet…” Bel gripped her slender shoulders.

“But it could be?”

“No.” Tears spilled from Bel’s eyes, the cold freezing them to her cheeks with icy bites. “There’s no mistake.”

“How… I don’t…” Violet started crying, and to Bel’s immense relief, she didn’t pull away. Instead, she collapsed against her chest for all the reporters to see, so Bel twisted until she blocked her friend from the cameras’ view. She shielded Violet’s betrayal from the crowd as she ushered her inside, noticing that Jerry tried his best to keep the reporters from violating their privacy, but it was already too late. Someone would uncover why Violet was so upset, and then they would plaster her friend’s name across the news for the entire nation to mock.

It was rare, but sometimes Bel hated this job. This moment was one of them.

“Everything okay?”Eamon asked when a miserable Bel finally returned from comforting Violet, but she didn’t answer him. She didn’t even stop walking until she collided with his chest, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her.

“Violet’s crushed,” she whispered into his shirt. “They didn’t date long, but still… to learn you were with a murderer.”

“Do you ever feel that way about me?” he asked. “Because I’m far worse than Rollo. He killed four. I’ve killed thousands.”

“Does it make me a bad person if I say no?” Bel pulled away from his chest. “You were brought into this world to end lives, but you consciously choose to defy your nature. Now, if you were murdering people while I slept next to you, that would be different. I could never forgive you if I learned you were the serial killer I was hunting.”

“No, that doesn’t make you a bad person, and I’d never put you in the position Rollo placed Violet in. Come on.” He tucked her hair behind her ear before ushering her toward the breakroom. “Let’s get you some coffee to warm you up.”

They fell silent as they stoodside by sideat the counter, stirring the cream and sugar into their drinks. Griffin had requested Eamon’s presence because he feared Rollo’s reaction, but it wasn’t Rollo who needed him. It was Bel, and she slipped a hand against his back. She caught him smile out of the corner of his eyes, but before the grin could fully spread across his lips, his entire body stiffened, his muscles coiling below her palm.

“What?” She raised her eyebrows at him, but Eamon silently peeled her hand off his back and led her out of the breakroom in time to catch Beau Draven and his lawyer exiting the cells.

“He made bail.” Bel’s voice stuck in her throat when she realized who the lawyer was, and she understood why Eamon gripped her fingers so fiercely. “The deal,” she whispered, and as if the suited man heard her hushed words from across the station, his attention snapped to her. For a fraction of a second, he glared at her with the air of a victor, but then his gaze shifted to the wall of muscle protecting her. His movements faltered as he recognized a far more powerful predatorstalkedhis client’s exit, and then with rushed footsteps, he and Beau Draven vanished into the world.

“Draven won’t go down for the murder of Rollo’s grandmother, will he?” Bel whispered, Eamon’spowerso intense that she couldn’t find her voice until the deal was long gone.

“If his lawyer is the deal, then no, Draven won’t pay for his crimes,” Eamon said. “A single thread of their covenant remains, and as long as black magic has a foothold within the show, he won’t let harm come to the production.”

“It’s an endless cycle. A deal begets death begets fame so inexplicable that not even a serial killer can unravel it. He won’t stop, will he?”

“No, he’ll never stop.”

“I should’ve let Rollo kill Draven,” Bel muttered.

“Hey.” Eamon tugged her hand until she looked up at him. “Don’t do that. You stopped a murder, and no matter how complicated the morality of this situation gets, you have a compass, and you followed it.”

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