Page 69 of Goblins Don't Count
I studied him, perplexed. I mean, family was always the priority, but protecting the city protected other families and ours. Was he really asking me if I was going to prioritize my career when he was only using me to stop the goblin king curse? Was there any way this was real to him? Could he care about me until the curse took him?
I hesitated then stood up and raised my glass. “I’d like to raise a toast to my grandfather, the sushi cook who’s been freed from the Magga.”
“Hear, hear,” Tarn said, quickly raising his glass. “Does that mean he’s going to move in with us?”
My mother gasped and looked horrified while my dad frowned and then slowly nodded. “Of course he’ll stay with us.”
“He can have my apartment,” I said, sitting down. “I’m getting a place closer to the station.” Yes. I needed my own new place with Sashimi that wasn’t his vault or my parent’s, something that was ours. Whatever we had, maybe it would work even better than the life I’d planned for myself. My plans for having a normal life and marriage hadn’t been working, anyway.
The old man studied me, probably incredibly overwhelmed from being rescued from slavery by the Goblin King and dumped on his unsuspecting family. Sashimi had meant for this to be a gift, and it was, but it was so inhuman. ‘I’m going to release a slave to you because he’s your relative.’ What about all the other slaves? He probably didn’t even think about it. Now I was thinking about it. It wasn’t my responsibility, not when I already had more than I could handle from my new job description. Lieutenant Sato? How was I going to manage all the fallout from this demon issue once it was resolved. Was she in custody?
“Is the Goblin King’s fortress closer to the station?” my father asked, sounding mildly interested, peaceful, calm.
Yes, that’s how I should be. No one was as steady and level-headed as my father. “No. It’s much further. I’m just staying there for a few days while I find a place. I mean we…” I glanced at Sashimi and felt my cheeks burn. We needed to talk about what we wanted to do going forward. I’d take the bodyguards and skip the vault. It was too long a commute, but I needed to be close to him regularly or I’d still turn into a goblin. And he needed me to stop the curse. “Tarn, do you know anyone who’s renting, who needs a roommate?” I asked. No way I was letting my mother know I was thinking about getting an apartment with Sashimi when we hadn’t discussed it yet. He probably wouldn’t want to actually live with me all the time.
Tarn shrugged. “Not in the Growl District. You know that neighborhood’s incredibly shifty. Oh, they do rent rooms at the hotel, you know, the one next to the club. The one owned by a demon where you used to park your car. Definitely not secure, though.”
My mother gasped while Sashimi tightened his grip on his fork.
She shook her finger at me. “You parked your car in a demon hotel? This is exactly what I’m talking about. Rynne, you’re not equipped to take on the darkness, not when your magic is slight and your sense is missing.”
“Her magic is strong enough,” Sashimi said, still gripping his fork and knife too tight as he cut his fish with precision. “And she has more sense than most. Still, we agree that she should not stay at the demon hotel.”
“Oh, come on,” I said, taking a glass of elixir and swirling it around while Mr. Raccoon sat in the middle of the table, eating fish heads. “Demons aren’t so bad. And I’m under the Goblin Authority’s protection. Who else is going to touch me?” I threw back the glass, draining it in one gulp, then grabbed the bottle to pour more. It was a nice elixir, softening the pain and making the world glow around the edges. No one else would ever touch me. And I was going to go slowly mad from wanting Sashimi to love me. I really had to stop kissing him. That was messing me up too much, getting my feelings involved, making everything more complicated than it needed to be. We weren’t going to get an apartment together, however hard he was trying to make this situation okay for me, what with family dinners and liberating grandfathers.
“Good point,” Sashimi said quietly, but everyone stilled, like he’d said something dangerous.
The elevator doors opened and out spilled a wide-eyed goblin, taller than most goblins, and moving with more intention and speed. This was someone high ranking. I’d bet my exploded purple hornet on it.
“The host escaped and the Coratta demon is at the courthouse, forcing the arrogant officer to kill himself.”
And that was the end of the most enchanting dinner party in my life.
ChapterNineteen
Everyone stood, talking, making everything whirl. Or maybe that was the elixir.
“Brannigan. He must have Brannigan. He’s always been corrupt.” I headed blindly for the elevator, but Sashimi stepped in front of me.
“It’s already too late. If the Gray Society can’t stop the demon, then neither can we.”
“But we know who the host is. Do they? I never called it in. I need to go.” I pulled out my phone, calling Gabby, but the number wasn’t working.
“What do you mean, you need to go?” my mother demanded. “You’re the lieutenant. That means that you call your men to go deal with things. You’re having an important family dinner.”
“It means that I’m responsible, not that I’m above anyone else!” Why couldn’t she see that? Why couldn’t she see me?
“Foolish! Corcarn, you aren’t going to let her throw her life away, are you?”
Everyone looked at Sashimi, who was still blocking my way to the elevator, come to think of it. I looked at him, searching his eyes. I could see his struggle. He wanted to lock me up, to keep me safe, to hide me away from the rest of the world. But he was clever, and he could think through his instincts, at least usually.
I stepped closer and grabbed his hand, staring into those glowing eyes. “I need to save the city. I know it will be inconvenient for you to find someone else to disrupt your curse, but millions of lives hang in the balance.”
“I don’t care about millions of lives, Rynne Sato. I care only for yours,” he said softly, but his eyes were not soft.
My heart pounded as I stared at him. “What?”
“You are his bride,” my grandfather said, like it was obvious. “Do you think he would have a family dinner, including me, if you weren’t?” He shook his head, baffled by my blindness. He continued, eying Sashimi with determination. “It’s best to face reality when dealing with goblins. They will play with your perceptions, allow you to think what makes you the most docile, but you will run into the truth eventually. You belong to the Goblin King. You are his human bride.”
