Page 74 of Goblins Don't Count
“Goblins are so freaky,” Tarn said while we both stared up at Ebon, catching our breaths.
“Enough gawking,” my mother snapped. “We need to get this circle put together. How handy that I always have an emergency circle kit in my fanny pack.”
I needed a fanny pack. Tarn lowered me while we exchanged a look as old as time. Our mother was kooky, but she was always prepared to make an emergency circle.
We started working quickly. I drew chalk lines carefully, because my hands were still so shaky. We were halfway done by the time Ebon had brought my father and grandfather down. Criss was looking pale around the edges as she looked at the tall buildings around her.
“Criss, will you stay on the roof as a lookout?” I said, mostly to get her somewhere safe.
She shook her head no. “I’m here to protect you for Sashimi.” Her smile was a beautiful thing to see. “You brought him to life.”
My heart panged, but I shook my head and kept working on the summoning circle. Finally, we heard footsteps on the far side of the garbage can, slow clumsy steps that couldn’t possibly be Sashimi. When I came running around the garbage can, big eyes, determination written over my features, it struck me that I looked like an idiot without the slightest idea what I was doing.
I leapt surprisingly far over the circle, and right after my double was the maid, the woman infused with demonic power, who stumbled into the chalk and salt star with a gasp and a snarl.
A line of white light shot up as she reached past the markings, making her draw back her fingers, teeth bared as she glared at me.
“You,” she whispered, pointing at me while her fingers barely stopped short of the boundary that leapt up at the threat of her closeness. “I’m going to see your skin shredded from your body, slowly so your goblin abomination can soak in your agony.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to kill her?” Trata mumbled as my glamour melted off her.
I shook my head and took my father’s hand on one side and my grandfather’s on the other. They were only human, but they were strong, feeding the spell of holding as well as any witch, raising those white lines higher and higher until they bent in on her. With a flicker of red, the demon was there, in the containment circle with his host.
“He smells so bad,” Criss murmured. She was right. The scent of rotting potatoes mixed with sulphur and brimstone made me gag.
The demon snarled at her, then at every person in the circle, hesitating on Sashimi.
“I can’t possess someone already obsessed. You’re filled with too much to have room for more.” His voice was surprisingly clear and civil. He looked at me, eyes flickering with amusement. “Rynne Sato. The Incorruptible Lady Justice. There is so much in you that could be twisted, from the rage of injustice to the bitterness of unfulfilled dreams, but it would take more time than I have. Seems some of you know what you’re doing.”
He looked at my mother, his eyes flickered, and then with a scream that was like nails scraping down my soul, the maid convulsed and then fell to the ground, silent and still while the demon popped out of existence with a slight puff of pink smoke. The flaring binding went out, and so did all of us, collapsing like our strings had been cut.
Sashimi caught me before I hit the ground, cradling me against his chest while he caressed my cheek.
“She’ll get her trial, Lady Justice. It seems that you’ll always get your way.”
I smiled blearily and then went out like a streetlight smashed by a baseball bat.
ChapterTwenty
For some reason, when I woke up in the vault with Mr. Raccoon snuggled into my side, I didn’t expect Trata to be the one who brought me a tray of the most elaborate breakfast I’d ever seen in my life. I was so hungry. I ate the omelet, the cereal, the fruit salad, and the bagels as fast as I could, then went on to the stacks of pancakes drizzled in syrup with hashbrowns and eggs. She kept insisting I drink a glass of green sludge until I finally downed it, slamming it down on the tray with a satisfying thud.
I wiped my mouth on the fancy cloth napkin and then pushed it off me and stumbled got out of bed. “Where is he?”
She blinked her big golden eyes at me. “Who?”
I put my hands on my hips. “Your brother. What happened after I passed out? Why isn’t he here?” He’d called me love. He’d said that I should have a long life. He’d said that I’d always get my way. What was my way if not him?
She shrugged carelessly. “Oh, you know, he’s here and there. The Goblin King has a lot on his plate.”
I sputtered. “No. He can’t lock me in his vault without him. That wasn’t our deal.”
“Wasn’t it? Did you specifically ask him to be locked in the vault with you? I don’t think you did.”
I pushed past her, going through the narrow stone hall that would slide shut and seal me in if the exterior vault was compromised.
She laughed, following me into the broad living room with its wall of windows that weren’t windows, looking out on the city. “I mean, you aren’t going to be locked in his vault at all.”
I whirled around to frown at her. “What do you mean?”
