Page 73 of Goblins Don't Count
“Rynne’s right,” Tarn said, looking up from his phone. “Got a message from Winston. We have to exorcise her and then cast out the demon to a different dimension, but who knows how to do that? Killing her won’t get rid of the demon. It’ll just possess the closest corrupt person.”
“She’s taking off down the alley,” Criss the fairy lilted where she stood on the edge of the roof, indifferent to the height as she fluttered her wings. “Shall I try to distract her?”
“A trap,” I said, struggling to disentangle myself from Sashimi’s arms. “We lure her into a five-point star, summon the demon, and then send the demon back. We’ve got enough people, and the three of us know how to manage a circle.” I smiled at my dad and grandfather. They had identical frowns on their faces.
“Draw her in?” My father said slowly. “And who would we use as bait?”
I smiled wanly at the person who had played chess with me my whole life. “Well, the demon definitely hates me the most.”
“No.” Sashimi’s voice was firm. “You already used up all your strength with the aura search. You can’t run fast enough to get away from her.”
I looked up at him, smiling. “You know that, but she doesn’t. Someone else is going to be glamoured to look like me while I help with the circle. I’ve heard that the Goblin King can make a wicked glamour.”
His eyes narrowed and then he kissed my nose. “You heard right. I would be honored to wear a glamour of my girlfriend while she sets up an essential circle to trap the demon’s host.”
“She’s across the street,” the fairy said sweetly.
“Thanks, darling,” Ebon said, smiling at her softly. He couldn’t not smile when he looked at her. They were so adorable. If a half-goblin could love so much, why couldn’t Sashimi? He’d called me, ‘love.’ Maybe he meant it.
Sashimi gave me one last squeeze before he let me go. “I’m going to leap to the next roof carrying Rynne, or a person wearing her clothing. Trata?”
She grinned at him and started stripping.
Tarn cleared his throat and turned around while Sashimi started tugging off my jacket.
“Oh. Right. I mean, that’s a great idea to use her as a decoy, but…” I stared at him feeling seven kinds of weird while he unbuttoned my shirt until my mother was there, slapping his hands away and rushing me across the roof, turning me so I could undress. I was too slow, so she ended up taking over. My hands were still trembling, and when she saw my ripped blouse and still seeping bandage, she hissed her annoyance. She pulled Trata’s leather vest over me and zipped it up, then with the leather pants. We were not the same size, but I managed to cram myself into the outfit that left more of my stomach exposed than hers. I was apparently a bit taller than the goblin girl. Also a bit more soft and squishy, both hip and bust.
“Obscene,” my mother mumbled, then ushered me back to the group. I felt kind of weird when Sashimi glanced at me, sweeping over my bare skin with a blink of golden eyes before he nodded at Trata, who was rolling up the waistband of my pants.
I straightened my shoulders and smiled at Sashimi. “You’ll attack her and then fall back, leading her to this alley. We’ll set up the star behind the garbage can where we’ll capture her. Any questions?”
“How do we get down there?” my dad asked. “We can’t scale walls.”
“My brother and sister-in-law will see that everyone descends safely.” Sashimi gave Ebon a pointed look, and the goblin gave him a sober bow in return. Sashimi turned to me for a moment, cupping my cheeks and gazing into my eyes while he brushed his nose against mine and I grabbed his wrists, wanting more connection.
“Be careful,” I said.
He smiled slightly. “I’m more or less indestructible. You be careful. I’m counting on you to have a very long life.”
I nodded while my heart beat faster. “That’s the deal. I asked you to rescue me.”
“Or the city, but who’s keeping track of the details?” He hesitated and then bent his head to close the distance between our lips. I melted against him while his soft mouth promised something sweet and tantalizing. Love. It was a lie, and never trust a goblin, but it was the most delicious thing I’d ever wanted.
He pulled away and turned, grabbing Trata in his arms as he darted towards the edge of the building and then leapt off, launching so far and so fast, I could only gape after him. He caught the side of the building and slid down with Trata’s face hidden over his shoulder, my jacket ruffling in the wind.
I exhaled a breath when they landed on the ground and darted down that alley, disappearing from sight.
“All right. Who’s first?” Ebon asked, smiling politely.
I grabbed my mother and Tarn. “The three of us need to start the circle right away.”
The fairy grabbed my mother’s wrists and lifted her into the air with a shimmer of fairy dust, spinning off the side of the building while my mother kicked her legs and her mouth gaped open and closed while she tried not to scream and alert the host to our position.
Ebon gestured Tarn closer, then put my brother’s arms around his neck and picked me up.
I swallowed and gripped the large goblin’s shoulders. “Aren’t two people too heavy for you?”
He smiled, showing sharp teeth. “Witches are almost as light as humans.” He stepped off the side of the building, but he landed on the first sill, toes somehow finding the two-inch lip without struggling to balance my brother’s shifting weight or my awkward terror. He dropped again, down two floors, barely landing in time to release some of the energy of the fall before he was dropping again, like it was a game of leapfrog, hop, hop, hop, and then we were balanced on the edge of the garbage can. He unslung Tarn and then dropped me into his arms before he scrambled up the building, scaling the face as quickly as he’d gone down it.
