Page 49 of Goblins Don't Count
“Well, who doesn’t?” I rubbed my hands together. “Would you like me to do the dishes before we start?”
“No. That doesn’t require soul. The spiders will take care of it.”
“Mr. Racoon will be so disappointed that they aren’t beetles.”
“I have beetles too.”
I held back a shudder and smiled brightly. “That’s good.” I was immediately drowning in an image of beetles crawling all over a dead carcass. Yeah, so good.
His blueprints were all electronic and could be accessed via the glass wall that overlooked the city. We stood there, with the view past the glowing blue lines that delineated the court house.
“Here’s where Judge Stevens was killed,” I said, touching inside the blue square, precisely where he’d fallen. Where I’d touched glowed orange, marking the spot. “Cool. What are these double lines?” I asked, pointing at the spaces next to the judge’s office.
“There are old access tunnels through the building that they converted into a duct system when they remodeled half a century ago to update the heating and cooling systems.”
“A secret tunnel? How exciting!”
“Yes. There may even be real live spiders in there, so be certain to keep your face mask on.”
I nodded at him. “Of course. This is where Representative Phil fell.” I touched inside another box and there was another glowing orange dot. “There isn’t an access tunnel over here.”
“No, but that office wasn’t nearly as secure.”
I examined the blueprint, following the thin space that was former maintenance access. Sashimi stood at my shoulder, arms crossed, studying the blueprint intently. He shifted slightly and the scent of his shampoo wafted towards me, trailing from his silky hair. For a second, I was completely distracted, as lost in his scent as I’d been in his food.
After a second of very nearly smashing my face against the back of his head so I could inhale all of him more thoroughly, I got it together enough to refocus on the blueprint.
“Isn’t it entirely sealed? The access panel, I mean.”
He pointed to a small x on one side. “There is access through a vent on the roof.”
I looked at him. “We’re going through the roof?”
He shrugged then gave me a calculating look. It reminded me of when he was measuring square feet in his closet. “Do you still ride that board at the park?”
“Not very often, but I’ve been meaning to. Why?”
He smiled at me, sharp and dangerous. “You’ll see. Are you ready to do some breaking and entering, Miss Sato?”
“Yes, Mr. Goblin. Are you?”
“Always.” His eyes gleamed wickedly and for a second I thought he was going to kiss me. Of course he wasn’t. Even dress-drunk, he hadn’t instigated any kissing. Not that goblins kiss, but if they did, they were wickedly good.
ChapterFourteen
Goblins were more than bankers and assassins. They were also weapons makers, particularly bombs and other things that married chaos and gadgetry. I knew that, but I didn’t realize the making also went to hoverboards.
“Try it out,” Sashimi said, nodding at the large disk with glowing purple veins running through it.
We were in his garage, for lack of a better word, and there were so many interesting vehicles that Tarn would go ballistic over. Sashimi’d brought me to an area with smaller equipment, like the piece he was looking at. We were wearing armored suits that could go invisible, with tiny screens that could show whatever was behind me.
I adjusted my helmet, took a deep breath, and then carefully stepped on the dark sphere, shifting my balance as it rocked. Vines sprang out of it, wrapping around my ankles and up my legs, fusing me to the thing before I could do anything about it.
I tugged delicately, but those metal vines weren’t going anywhere. “Um, Sashimi, I’m not sure that I’m comfortable with this.”
He stepped on another board, slightly larger, with the same purple veins. “That’s why we’re trying it. If you’d rather climb up the building, we can do that, but you’re so good at riding, I think you should try this first.”
I shot him a skeptical look. “I’m not that good at riding. Gabby was always better.”
