Page 259 of Warlords, Witches & Wolves

“No, but we’d like your statement and then to follow up on what you told us.”

“So, I can leave after?”

“Why are you so keen to leave?” the cop asked.

“Because I need to study. I have one more exam.”

The cops looked at him like he was stupid. Yeah, he was in deep shit, but they didn’t need to know that he was aware. Let them think he was scared and willing to tell them everything.

The ride to the police station was silent. Then they put him in an interview room and his leg started bouncing under the table. Were they watching him? Recording every move he made?

He closed his eyes and tried to find a little calm. When he found only more tension, he reached for the now delicate bond. It wasn’t enough. He needed someone to hold his hand and tell him it would be all right even if it was lies.

It wasn’t one of the uniformed cops that had brought him in that entered the room. It was the man who rarely spoke, Crooked Nose. He perched on the table near Bailey and stared at him.

Bailey stared back, not wanting to be the one to speak first.

The man smiled. “All this can go away if you do as you’re told.”

“You’re a cop?”

“We are everywhere.” He smiled. “Now you have a birth certificate and a driver’s license and a bank account you can be tracked no matter where you go.” He leaned closer. “You exist.”

“And?”

“And how long until people figure out what you are? We protect your kind.”

“You put me in danger. I’ll tell them everything.”

“You can try, but everything you know, and love will be destroyed. Your gran, your friends, everyone, and you will go away for a long time.” He eased back. “But it’s your choice.”

“You’re supposed to be one of the good guys.”

“I am. You don’t want things to escalate…your mother screamed for hours. What will your witch feel?”

Bailey’s fingers curled. His nails pressed into his palms. “So what? I fall into line or go to prison?”

“Yes.” Crooked Nose smiled. “Everything will be fine. I will make the charges go away.”

He closed his eyes and drew in a breath. Then he opened his eyes and glared at the man who’d bullied him into crime in the first place. “No. I’d rather go to jail.”

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