Page 54 of Goblins Don't Count
They took me to a room that was small, but with walls four feet thick, and a bed that looked soft and downy. How would I get him on the bed? The spiders didn’t pause, just extended their legs and rolled him onto the bed’s surface, then stopped, looking at me, like they were waiting for orders.
I cleared my throat. “Do you know how to take shrapnel out of someone?”
They stayed there, staring at me. That wasn’t the kind of question they could answer.
“Take the shrapnel out of him,” I ordered.
They immediately moved, using their tiny pincers to get at all the bits of metal. In a very short time, he seemed to be free of all metal, leaving nothing but hamburger skin behind. His back did not look great.
I nodded, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. “Thank you,” I told the bots, then focused on my magic. I wove every spell I knew over his skin, pulling deeper into my resources of magic than I ever had before. I felt the last of my magic go into him with a snap, and then I had a moment of buoyant clarity. I was going to pass out very soon.
I undid my helmet, dropping it to the floor with limp fingers, then curled up next to Sashimi, yanking the blanket over both of us, before I fell into darkness.
I woke up to a distant thumping. My head ached, my mouth was dry, but I felt mostly fine, other than a burning in my shoulder. That’s right, I’d been hit the night before.
I sat up, throwing back the blanket and looking at Sashimi. He was so still, his dark lashes on his pale green cheek. I put my hand on his forehead, and the skin was warm. The pulse of his neck beat under my fingertips, steady, even, and his back had regrown its skin in a pretty silvery green color tinged with pink.
I exhaled a long breath of relief. We hadn’t died! Still, that was the most stressful experience. I never wanted to go through that again. Was Joss okay? And the demon. How was I supposed to track down something that was more energy than flesh and bones?
I shook my head. Seeing the killer was progress. That had to be enough for now. The constant thumping had me moving. My suitcase was beside the bed, along with my briefcase. That was thoughtful of somebody. Probably spider bots. Had to admit they were interesting. Intimidating, but extremely useful. They weren’t waiting around, except for one that was watching Mr. Raccoon, who was snoring next to Sashimi. Couldn’t he hear the thumping? He was the kind of familiar with selective hearing. That’s why he kept eating the toilet paper.
I left the room, once again noticing the thickness of the walls. The door seemed to be a wall of stone that would slide into place. Should I close it for him? I had no idea how, and if I did, would he be able to open it again? Would I?
I shook my head and wandered around, trying to find the origin of the thumping noise. Finally, I reached the large living room with the blueprint wall overlooking the city. The thumping seemed to be on the other side of that.
I frowned at the window. “I can’t see anything. What’s the thumping?”
The view shifted until I was looking at a girl, Sashimi’s sister, who was swinging a hammer at the glass. No, not glass. These were cameras recording this, making it look like it was a window, or a door, but in reality… I squinted at the wall. Was it glass? What was behind it?
She stopped hammering and looked directly at me. “Oh, good, you aren’t dead. Is Corcarn there?”
“Yes, but he’s sleeping. He’s not dead, either.” I gave her a slight smile that she returned with teeth.
“Well, if he’s sleeping, you should let him rest while you deal with the fallout. That will irritate him so much.”
“What fallout?”
She gave me a look. “Seriously? You break into the courthouse, stop an assassination, put several holes in the building, and wonder about the fallout? You should because it’s actually your mother. She’s at the gates of Goblin town making a fuss, threatening to picket us until we give her back her daughter.”
“Oh.” My stomach clenched at the thought of my mother. “That’s embarrassing.” Also frustrating, because we’d had a huge fight and I’d moved out. If I wanted to run away to goblin town, that was my right. I was a grown up, after all. Apparently, I needed to explain that to her.
“Why don’t you shower, get into one of those professional suits, and I’ll grab you breakfast?”
“Do you want to come in?” I asked, not sure how to let her in, because I had no idea if there was a door.
She gave me another blinding, biting smile. “Oh, no. My brother wouldn’t like me stinking up his precious vault.”
“Oh. Is he sensitive about smells?” My raccoon had thrown up first thing. And I certainly didn’t smell the greatest.
She laughed. “He’s sensitive about his privacy. He’s never let me into his vault. He let you, so he must like the way you smell. I’ll be back in a few.” She turned and scampered off, leaving me to stare at the rock wall past the door where she’d been, like it was a stone courtyard outside of the door.
I shrugged and went back to Sashimi’s bedroom, checking to make sure he was still breathing before I grabbed my suitcase and hauled it into the bathroom.
I grinned when I saw his shampoo. Finally, I’d smell as good as him. My shoulder was raw and stung as I washed my hair, but the scent that wrapped around me was absolutely worth it.
I moved quickly, glad to find a first aid kit beneath the sink so I could stick a gauze pad over my wound. I dressed in my gray suit, French braided my hair away from my face and was ready to go. I marched back into the bedroom, checked to see that Sashimi was still breathing, curled up next to Mr. Raccoon. They were so cute. I took a picture of them and then frowned at the blood smeared all over my phone. Was Joss still alive? My phone didn’t have a signal, so I would have to find out later.
I went back out to the main room with the screen, and there was the girl, still in the courtyard, like she was waiting.
