Page 77 of Goblins Don't Count
“I’m sure, but the Goblin Authority has business to do. No time to play.”
He shot me a look. “You are playing a very dangerous game.”
I gave him a flat smile. “Am I? That does sound in character. I was the one who wrote to the Goblin King. In Goblin. Just think of all the dangerous playing I can do now that you’ve relinquished your claim on me. Only joking. I’m perfectly content being Singsong’s premier police officer. There’s way too much to do to get into trouble. Other than the fact that all the things I’m going to do are going to cause trouble for very dangerous people. I’m going to take classes with Gabby, you know, so I can use this amazing power the Magga gave me to do more than see auras from a helicopter. I need to learn assault magic.”
He grunted. “That sounds useful.”
“Yes. I need to raise money for the department. I’m absolutely holding a policeman’s ball, but that’s not going to be enough. That means we’ll be ticketing people who can afford it. Fining the people behind the pixie dust trade and the black market weapons dealers, which means I’ll have to set up a sting that actually…”
“You shouldn’t tell me the details,” he said, cutting me off. “I might be one of these people behind the city’s crime, particularly weapons dealing.”
I shrugged. “I don’t mind giving you a heads up. You were the best partner I ever had.” And now I wanted to cry. Or punch him again.
I wasn’t a crier, but my heart was aching so horribly, and he smelled so good. I wanted to taste his skin, cuddle on the couch, and never let him go. I wanted us to be on the same side forever. Maybe he’d realized that being a criminal was more interesting than being with me. Or maybe he’d found a sweet human girl who’d thrown herself on his mercy. Maybe that was why he was wearing that suit and had his hair fixed so nice, because he was courting a real human bride.
He froze, looking at me with narrowed eyes.
“What?” I asked.
He stared at me for a beat longer before he shook his head and gestured me forward. “I thought I smelled something.”
“A bomb? Infernal fire?” I sniffed, trying to smell what he’d smelled, but only metal and the slight hint of pine filled the hall.
He didn’t answer, just kept walking until he stopped at a door and placed his palm on the metal. “Sushi,” he said in his low voice. The door opened, and then we walked into a room where the maid was secured to the floor by chains of heavenly gold behind a metal table, looking tired.
“Hi,” I said, giving her an awkward wave. “I hope you’re comfortable.”
She smiled. “It’s Lady Justice here to personally see to my comfort.” She tugged on her hands. “I’d be more comfortable if I weren’t in chains.” She looked so normal, worn, human.
I licked my lips as I sat down in one of the chairs opposite her, a table between us. “You’ll be moved to a secure prison after your trial. You won’t have to wear chains in an establishment that neutralizes all magic and ties to heavenly or infernal. I’m sorry about what happened to your daughter.”
Her gray eyes burned with sudden rage. “You’re sorry? Of course you are. If you’d been in charge, you wouldn’t have taken the payout and buried the case. You would have brought them to justice. But my daughter would still be dead. Driven mad. Terrified that if she told me, I’d die too. She was too weak. She relied on the corrupt justice system instead of taking matters into her own hands. I didn’t make that same mistake.”
I swallowed hard. Her voice shook, but there was infernal fire in her veins. “You’re saying that you weren’t working with anyone? How was Brannigan involved?”
She flashed a sharp smile. “Brannigan, the son of the conglomerate my daughter worked for? He was there to watch and make sure no one found anything. You were the one he had to watch, to make sure that Lady Justice didn’t see too much.” She glanced at Sashimi. “No one wants you to see their ugly crimes.”
I took a shaky breath. “You’re saying that Brannigan was part of a corporate conspiracy that your daughter tried to blow open? Do you have proof?”
She shook her head. “Proof isn’t good enough. I don’t want justice. I want them to suffer a million times worse than she suffered. I want the city to pay!”
“And all those innocent people, the ones like your daughter who wanted justice, you want them to pay too? You want to become a monster even worse than these people you tried to take down?” I shook my head. “I don’t believe it. You didn’t want to summon a greater demon. You already had the power to destroy the ones who hurt your daughter.”
She laughed, a creepy sound that went down my spine like ice. “You don’t understand what it’s like to be a sheep surrounded by wolves. Singsong City is full of wolves that need culling. Like your goblin. Humans are nothing in our own world. Well, not for long. We’re taking it back. This is only the beginning.”
I stood up, my hands shaking as I smoothed them down my pants. “Thank you for your time.”
I headed for the door, Sashimi close behind me. As soon as we were in the empty hall, I whirled around and knocked him sideways, into the granite. I had him in a shoulder lock, pressing him against the stone while I tried to keep my teeth from chattering. She’d really wanted to kill everyone, even those who were doing their best to make a difference, like her daughter.
“What are you doing?” he asked for the millionth time today.
I pulled his shoulder until he grunted from pain. “What will it take to be your bride?” I demanded in his ear. I was messing up his hair. Good.
He sighed. “My bride must have the Goblin King’s child. You don’t want to have my child. You’ve mentioned it multiple times. I could seduce you into forgetting your abhorrence to children, but after you poured your magic into me, after you sacrificed yourself for your city, I owe you more than that.”
What? I relaxed my grip enough that he slipped out of my hold, sweeping my feet and knocking me down to the floor with his heavy body over my limbs, pressing me down while he pinned my wrists above my head.
I stared up at him, stomach twisting, heart aching. “That’s stupid,” I finally said.
