Page 71 of Goblins Don't Count
Ebon, her husband, nodded. “We will fight.”
My mother slowly stood. “I’ve been texting the coven. They’ll come as soon as possible. They’ll set up a perimeter line to diffuse the strength of the demon. Close combat isn’t our forte. You can stay safe and still fight.”
“Thanks mom,” I said, feeling a lump form in my throat.
She sniffed and glanced away. “Well, it will also be good for public opinion to see witches involved in the city’s well-being, and not just my daughter fighting on the front lines.”
“Public opinion?” I scoffed. “You sound like Winston the Warlock.”
She studied me for a long moment, then smiled. “Well, someone has to be reasonable.”
Mm hm. Because no matter how worthy the cause, it wasn’t reasonable for a witch to join the police force.
The helicopter arrived, and I climbed in with my family, all of us fitting in the rather large machine that creepily made no sound.
“I hope it didn’t ruin your garden,” I said, glancing at Sashimi.
He covered my hand with his and pulled me down on his lap while he sat in the chair, buckling us in together. “It can be redone,” he murmured in my ear.
I turned so I could see him and brushed his nose with mine. He was so beautiful. “We need to find the host so we can stop the demon, right? The courthouse is going to be clogged with Gray Orders and werewolves. Do you know much about Corratta demons? Do you know how far they can travel from the host? That’s the distance from the Courthouse we need to search. Probably on the side nearest her apartment building, where they were coming from, but if she’s clever, she’ll be moving, and keep moving.”
“If she was clever, she wouldn’t be working with a demon,” my brother said.
I sighed, shifting on Sashimi’s lap. I was still confused about being the Goblin King’s bride. It was obvious when you thought about it. How do you stop a curse like that? You don’t. You just choose your target. He’d chosen to bind himself to me. I guess that was something. Not what I needed to focus on. It was hard to not think about him when he had his arms wrapped around me and my grandfather kept looking at him like he was a viper about to strike. He knew goblins better than any of us. Maybe this was just a game of Sashimi’s. But if it was, then I had no choice but to play it. He was far too clever to beat. Why wasn’t I more clever? I had the boost of power from the Magga, but what could I do with it? I needed to study more, to make the most of what I was now. I was just a witch that could read auras. How could that be useful?
It’s not like I could look down and see the maid’s aura out of all those other people. Right? I looked down at the streets, the uniformed officers who blocked traffic and kept it away from the courthouse. There were still crowds further from the building, tons of civilians who wanted to know what was going on, or get through the blockade and get on with their day.
I squinted and focused on auras below, but the helicopter went too fast to really analyze the imprints well enough to know if the maid was one of them.
I swallowed hard and turned to Sashimi. “I have an idea that I might be able to find her by looking at auras. What do you think? Does that sound impossible?”
“Of course it’s impossible,” my mother snapped. “We should make a summoning.”
Sashimi darted a hard look at my mother before he smiled and brushed my nose with his. “It’s brilliant. Our binding will allow you to tap into my magical reserves, extending your own. Why wouldn’t you be able to read her aura? We’ll circle the area slowly while you look for her.”
“What? We’re going to sit in the helicopter?” Trata demanded, scowling like that was the ultimate betrayal.
My mother looked slightly pleased. “At least you’ll be safe.”
I wouldn’t mention that the maid could throw infernal fireballs at us.
I closed my eyes and focused down while the binding grew between me and the Goblin King. His strength was endless, and his magic unfathomable. He was not a creature to be trifled with, but I was the one he’d chosen to be his curse. That was something. Maybe that was the most you could hope for from a goblin. As Tarn said, they didn’t do commitment. Which is why Ebon was looking at Criss like she was his whole world. But he was only half goblin.
I couldn’t let myself be distracted. I leaned towards the opening and searched the streets of Sing while the wind brushed its fingers over my cheeks, chilling my skin. Sashimi’s heat soaked into me, a contrast with the wind and the rush of the world around us. Souls started flickering into existence, millions of specks of light and energy that I sifted through, searching for that one soul, that one aura I’d only really looked at once. No wonder my mother thought I was crazy to try it.
My stomach started to turn and Mr. Raccoon burrowed his face in my belly, which somehow helped instead of sending me over the edge.
My head started throbbing as I stretched out my senses and the helicopter sped past thousands of people living their ordinary lives. Heat built up in me until the wind was icy and Sashimi wasn’t warm anymore.
“She’s burning up. She needs to stop,” Tarn said.
“I’m fine,” I whispered, digging my fingers into Sashimi’s hands. He gripped me back, tension filling him as I drew more and more of his strength and power into me, seeing further, clearer, pushing through every stacked soul in countless apartment buildings. Woah! This really was upper level magical stuff. It was so hard!
My ears were ringing, every particle of my skin feeling pulled apart when I saw a flicker in my periphery.
I pointed a shaky finger in the direction of the soul, but the helicopter turned, so it fell behind. “Go back! I saw her!”
“Impossible!” my mother muttered, not very quietly.
