Page 24 of Goblins Don't Count
I stared at him while my soul floated out of me, abandoning me to my fate. “Oh. Is the Goblin Authority here?”
He raised his hairless brows, looking at me again with some concern. “Perhaps. Are you sure you’d like to know?”
I wasn’t sure, and my stomach and my heart were moving in different directions, leaving me positively squeamish. I took a deep, even breath, catching his scent, the curiosity and the thread of disapproval. He didn’t think human girls should pursue the Goblin Authority so shamelessly, particularly at a respectable bank like the Granite.
Really? I was pursuing the poor Goblin Authority? Well, of course I was. If he could actually stop me from becoming a goblin, I’d pursue him to the moon and back. I could be very tenacious when necessary. I never would have become a police officer otherwise.
“Yes. If the Goblin Authority is here, then I’d like to see him. We have some business to take care of.”
“You have business with the Goblin Authority?”
“Of course. Why else would I come to his business?” Is that what this was? The business of dating had never sounded so official. Officially weird.
He frowned as he studied me. “Very well. This way, if you would be so kind. I don’t believe he’s left his office yet.”
I followed him, shocked that he’d take the human girl he felt so much contempt for so easily. The Goblin Authority’s office was on the top floor. The lobby outside his office had an enormous arched window that looked over the city, and the extreme drop to the street below.
There wasn’t anyone behind the long desk of gray stone, just the door, also gray stone, with an enormous knocker on it.
“Go ahead and knock,” the tidy suit said, edging away from me, back towards the elevator while he eyed the door with unease.
“I don’t want to interrupt him if he’s doing something important.”
“I don’t blame you, but there’s no way to tell what he’s doing until it’s already done.” The goblin’s words were not helping me relax.
Oh well. I wasn’t here to relax. I marched over to the stone door, raised the knocker, and let it fall. Then I pushed on the latch and shoved the door open with all my strength.
I assumed that the stone door would be difficult to move, but the balance was so perfect, it swung open like an ordinary door, smashing against the wall with an enormous crash that made chills run down my spine and arms. Apparently, I was making an entrance.
I walked in quickly and closed the door behind me carefully, then turned to face the rest of the room. To the right, in a charming alcove surrounded by window seats and bookshelves, a rabid raccoon lay on a pile of pillows, staring at me with bared teeth, like I’d just disturbed his nap.
To the left was another door, while directly ahead of me was an enormous desk, and an enormous chair, that was facing the window behind the desk, away from me. The chair turned slowly while I stood there, trying not to bolt, trying not to smell like fear and frustration, and then I was facing the Goblin Authority. Sashimi sat in the chair, with his shiny dark hair and a slight frown on his mouth.
ChapterEight
Sashimi was in the Goblin Authority’s office. Was he hired to break in here too? No, he was going through some papers on his lap, written in goblin. Yes, I could see that writing from the door.
I moved fast, heading towards him. “Sashimi,” I hissed as I got closer.
His brows rose as I grabbed his arm, tugging him out of the chair, but he wasn’t moving, didn’t understand what I was trying to do. Goblins were heavy, dense, like lead.
“Rynne. What are you doing?”
“You have to get out of here before the real Goblin Authority finds you. If you think me handcuffing you and sticking you behind bars was a relaxing getaway, you’re right compared to what he’ll do to you.” I yanked harder on him, slipped on the smooth stone floor and fell over in his chair, sending it and us rolling towards the window behind the office.
I held my breath to scream, but the glass was magically reinforced and the chair didn’t break through and send us falling to our deaths. Instead, it bounced off the glass and stopped with a jerk, leaving me nose to nose with Sashimi, whose shampoo smelled so delicious, like orangesicle and something dark and musky.
I stayed like that, staring into those golden eyes that were flickering with bits of green that were so alive, so fresh and real, like the fresh spring of a tree’s first leaves.
Don’t bite him. That’s no good, but if you lick him, maybe he’ll think it’s cute and give you a treat. The green beetle has good treats. I’d usually have my dignity, but his treats are worth the humiliation of being a good boy.
The voice in my head was so loud. I turned slowly and stared at the raccoon I’d almost forgotten about. He bared his teeth, but it seemed more like a smile.
“Did you hear that?” I whispered, voice breathless.
“The chair against the glass?” Sashimi asked.
I looked at him, searching his eyes, and then back at the raccoon.
