Page 12 of Ryld's Shadows
“Oh, hey. Are you waking up for us?”
Hank turned his head, which didn’t like that movement one bit, to find a handsome smile attached to a handsome face beside his bed. There were horns and wings… Right. Incubus medic. Hank had seen him for minor things before.What’s his name?Nope. Asking too much from his head again.
He probably should’ve asked. Instead, he blurted out, “Are the kids okay?”
One black eyebrow climbed as the incubus said, “You’ve gotta be kidding, right? Those fucking punks beat you into the pavement and you wanna know ifthey’reokay?”
“They’re just kids,” Hank whispered.
“I get it. Goblin instincts about kids.” The incubus checked vitals and shone a light into Hank’s eyes, which his headreallydidn’t like. “But it’s still weird. Anyway, yeah, the little shits will be fine. One’s got a broken nose. Another’s got a broken wrist. Some bruises and crap. Nothing serious.”
“Hey, Sin!” a voice called from the doorway. “You were supposed to call me when he woke up.”
The incubus, Sin, rolled his eyes. “Hejustwoke up, Officer Ants In His Too Tight Pants. Lemme do my job first.”
The AURA officer, an aelfe, swaggered into the room and took a seat in one of the plastic chairs. “My pants are not too tight.”
“Oh well. They must just get tighter around me, then.” Sin adjusted an IV and gave Hank a wink before he sobered again. “Sir, can you tell me your name?”
“Hank Onyx-Wainwright.”
“Excellent. So far, so good. Any idea where you are?”
“AURA Medical department, I think.”
“Perfect. Not gonna ask if you know what happened since we kinda covered that.” Sin waved a hand to the officer. “He’s all yours, Flaxy. No thumbscrews in the patient rooms, please.”
The officer, who really had every right to be angry, shook his head and laughed. “You’re ridiculous. Go away so I can chat with your patient.”
Sin raised the head of the bed and handed Hank the call button. “You press that if he starts to annoy you. Or even if you just want to watch me throw him out.”
A smile would’ve been appropriate, but Hank’s face hurt too much. The officer moved his chair closer when Sin left and pulled out a tablet to take notes.
“Morning, Mr. Onyx-Wainwright. I just—”
“Hank. Please. Just Hank, Officer.”
“All right. Well, you can call me Flax, then. Just a few quick questions, and I’ll let you rest. What were you doing on that street after business hours? It’s nowhere near the address on your ID.”
“Going home from a job site.” Hank took a breath. That didn’t hurt too much. “Temporary. Through job placement.”
“All right. Easy to verify.” Flax tapped away on his device. “Have you been unemployed long?”
“No. Just this week.”I really don’t want to go through all that again.
The officer just nodded. “The goblin kids said you threatened them. Wanna tell me your side of it?”
“I knew it wasn’t a great neighborhood.” Hank hitched himself up farther to take the pressure off a sore spot on his back. “I should’ve left with everyone else, but I wanted to be helpful.”
“Being in a bad place doesn’t make you guilty of anything, Hank,” Officer Flax said gently.
“I tried to walk fast. Tried to pretend I didn’t hear them when they shouted. I guess me being on their street was threatening enough.” Hank sighed.Oh, yes. That hurts. “Half-goblins…where some of them are from, half-goblins are drow foot soldiers.”
“Maybe. Did you threaten them?”
“No. I told them I was trying to get home. Shouldn’t have called them little brothers. Just made it worse, I guess.”
“Who swung first, Hank?”
