Page 15

Chapter Fifteen

T he explosion was surprisingly low-impact, considering that it blew through the stone wall in almost the perfect oval shape for us to scramble through. It hadn’t even been very loud.

“Your bomb wasn’t very loud,” I said as I straightened on the other side of the hole, orienting myself according to the blueprint in the large vaulted hall. My ears weren’t even ringing, so I could still hear the crying.

I broke into a run, Sashimi beside me, keeping up effortlessly.

“Naturally. It wasn’t meant to be loud, or was it? Next time, you’ll have to let me know the specs before I set one off.”

“Next time, maybe I can set it off.”

His rumbled laugh almost distracted me from my panic. We hit the doors to the men’s room, and there was Lieutenant Joss holding a gun to his temple, tears running down his cheeks as he struggled against the compulsion.

My boss? What had he stepped into? That’s when I noticed the shadow behind his shoulder, a glint of red eyes, a flash of fangs. I pulled my taser and threw it at the hand that held the gun, right as my boss pulled the trigger.

The gun made no sound, but Joss jerked and fell to the floor, blood pooling around him from his neck wound. Neck, not head. I’d managed to throw off the demon-controlled Joss’s aim. By the amount of blood, he’d hit an artery, but wasn’t dead. Yet.

I was already moving as I cried, “Get the demon!” to Sashimi. I needed to stop the blood and call for an ambulance. I had my phone out of my suit’s pocket and was calling while I ripped up Joss’s shirt, wrapping it around his neck while I started on my best healing spell. Flickers of purple spilled from my hands and onto Joss’s wound like I’d seen other witches who performed real magic do, but that hadn’t ever happened to me. Right. I was more powerful than before. Good. I needed all the power I could get if I was going to keep my boss alive.

“I need an ambulance at the courthouse,” I said as clearly as possible while I pressed the wound, vaguely aware that Sashimi was fighting with the mostly incorporeal demonic creature.

A sink exploded, and water struck my back, knocking me over on top of my boss. I struggled before I regained my balance and the pressure I was keeping on his neck.

“What’s the problem?” the nasally operator asked.

“A demon and a man who got shot in the neck. Second floor. Men’s room.”

“Oh. You shouldn’t be in the men’s room.”

I hung up because I had no patience for stupidity at that moment. I wove the spell while I glanced up at Sashimi, who was struggling to contain the incorporeal creature. The demon flexed his red, shifting aura, while Sashimi held it in his grasp of bubbling energy waves. Now that was fancy magic. That took years of study as well as high levels of raw magical power. The demon flickered, and I saw the entire form of it, and then it turned to look at me.

The hatred in its eyes wasn’t surprising, and I tried not to take it personally. I was in its way. It smiled a creepy smile. But I wouldn’t be in its way for long. In the middle of that struggle of energy, it slipped something out of Sashimi’s suit and then tossed it my way. An explosive probably.

Sashimi released the creature and threw himself at me, so fast he hit me before the explosive. Everything went white hot and smelled like burning rubber. Then it was ringing ears and Sashimi’s weight over me who was over Joss. It was one of those hug sandwiches my parents used to give me when I was a kid. Only not remotely like that.

I struggled up, but Sashimi wasn’t moving. Perfect. Not perfect. This was a disaster, even worse than our first date.

I wriggled out from under him and touched his shoulder. His suit was shredded, along with most of his back. This hadn’t been a quiet cute bomb. His mask was open so I could see how still and pale his face was.

“Sashimi?” I whispered, while panic flooded through me. I grabbed his shoulder and shook him hard. “Sashimi! You aren’t allowed to die!”

His eyes flickered, then opened as he stared at me. “I’m not allowed to die? Such an imperious tone, like you’re the goblin queen already.” He narrowed his eyes like he was concentrating, then blue light sparked over him and he rolled to his feet, taking my shoulders while he turned me, examining me for injuries.

“I’m fine. You’re the one who took the whole force of the thing.”

“No. You got hit with a smattering of shrapnel here.” He brushed my shoulder, and I gasped at the pain. “We’ll need to get that out of you. Sounds like the perfect end to our perfect date.”

“Perfect?” I stared at him like he was a lunatic, because he was. But maybe he’d had some brain trauma from that last explosion.

He smiled and brushed my cheek. “According to my sister’s specs, absolutely. And you saved a victim and saw the killer. He escaped, but that’s for the good, so that we can have another exciting date.”

The door burst open—strange that there was still a door—and the guard held his gun at us, eyes big.

“Put down the gun!” I snapped, gesturing at Joss. “I’ve already called for an ambulance. We saw the killer, but he got away. It’s me, detective Sato. Get over here and put pressure on Joss’s neck wound.”

“Oh.” He blinked a few times then slowly lowered his gun and walked towards Joss, although he kept glancing at Sashimi, who was fussing with my shoulder.

I winced as he pulled out a sliver of metal. “Ow.”

Sashimi murmured, “Yes, it’s going to hurt a lot more before it feels better. Hm. I’m going to lose consciousness fairly soon, so we should get back home, don’t you think?”

I looked at him. He looked fine, on his feet, expression slightly pleasant, but his eyes were overbright, glazed. His back was shredded with goblin shrapnel.

I grabbed his shoulders. “You’re not okay?”

He responded by grabbing my shoulders and bumping my helmet with his. “No. But I’m sure I will be. Eventually.”

The disks came through the doors, clipping the officers, and then Sashimi pulled me close and sat down on the disk, pulling me down on his lap.

“What are you doing?” I asked, but the electronic vines were already growing over his legs, and mine, even in that awkward position.

“Taking you home, Lady Justice.” He smiled a sleepy smile and brushed my cheek. “I almost forgot. Every date ends with a kiss.” He leaned forward, brushing my lips with his.

The guard made a weird sound, but I ignored him. I closed my eyes and kissed him, barely aware of the world rushing around us as his lips parted and he let me devour him. My panic mingled with my craving for him, so I pressed too hard against him, wrapped my arms around him over the wounds. I was starting to really freak out, but I couldn’t seem to let him go, or break the connection with our mouths until he went limp.

I broke away, staring at him in panic. Of course, we were also flying through the night at a speed that ripped the breath from my throat. Were we going to die? No one was steering anything, and the two disks were stacked. The disks maneuvered intelligently, dodging buildings and trees, headed back to where we’d come from, the gated park and the grass that looked so smooth and real, but opened to swallow us into the tunnel.

In the dark, I forced myself to focus. I had big magic these days. I needed to do something with it. I ripped off the suit’s glove with my teeth, and put my hand on Sashimi’s back, then winced at the prick of metal in my finger. I carefully pulled it out and dropped it, then felt out another one, and another, and another.

Finally, the disks slowed, the tunnel opened, and then the disks lowered themselves to park on the floor, withdrawing the vines that had held us in place. Perfect.

Mr. Raccoon came bounding over to me, followed by a stream of spider bots.

Did you bring snacks? I’ve eaten all the toilet paper.

Come to think of it, a trail of toilet paper was fluttering behind him. That’s what I needed. Raccoon fur in this ointment.

“Spider bots, listen to me!” I felt like a lunatic saying something like that, but they all stopped and turned to me, like they were listening. I gestured at Sashimi. “I need you to carry him to his bed. Face-down. Do you understand?”

They seemed to stare at me, creepy limbs twitching until, as one unit, they clicked over to Sashimi and then slowly pressed in on him, lifting him with their bodies until he was supported by thousands of the things. He took off, looking like he was hovering at a brisk pace. I followed, limping, but trying my best to hurry.

They took me to a room that was small, but with walls four feet thick, and a bed that looked soft and downy. How would I get him on the bed? The spiders didn’t pause, just extended their legs and rolled him onto the bed’s surface, then stopped, looking at me, like they were waiting for orders.

I cleared my throat. “Do you know how to take shrapnel out of someone?”

They stayed there, staring at me. That wasn’t the kind of question they could answer.

“Take the shrapnel out of him,” I ordered.

They immediately moved, using their tiny pincers to get at all the bits of metal. In a very short time, he seemed to be free of all metal, leaving nothing but hamburger skin behind. His back did not look great.

I nodded, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. “Thank you,” I told the bots, then focused on my magic. I wove every spell I knew over his skin, pulling deeper into my resources of magic than I ever had before. I felt the last of my magic go into him with a snap, and then I had a moment of buoyant clarity. I was going to pass out very soon.

I undid my helmet, dropping it to the floor with limp fingers, then curled up next to Sashimi, yanking the blanket over both of us, before I fell into darkness.

I woke up to a distant thumping. My head ached, my mouth was dry, but I felt mostly fine, other than a burning in my shoulder. That’s right, I’d been hit the night before.

I sat up, throwing back the blanket and looking at Sashimi. He was so still, his dark lashes on his pale green cheek. I put my hand on his forehead, and the skin was warm. The pulse of his neck beat under my fingertips, steady, even, and his back had regrown its skin in a pretty silvery green color tinged with pink.

I exhaled a long breath of relief. We hadn’t died! Still, that was the most stressful experience. I never wanted to go through that again. Was Joss okay? And the demon. How was I supposed to track down something that was more energy than flesh and bones?

I shook my head. Seeing the killer was progress. That had to be enough for now. The constant thumping had me moving. My suitcase was beside the bed, along with my briefcase. That was thoughtful of somebody. Probably spider bots. Had to admit they were interesting. Intimidating, but extremely useful. They weren’t waiting around, except for one that was watching Mr. Raccoon, who was snoring next to Sashimi. Couldn’t he hear the thumping? He was the kind of familiar with selective hearing. That’s why he kept eating the toilet paper.

I left the room, once again noticing the thickness of the walls. The door seemed to be a wall of stone that would slide into place. Should I close it for him? I had no idea how, and if I did, would he be able to open it again? Would I?

I shook my head and wandered around, trying to find the origin of the thumping noise. Finally, I reached the large living room with the blueprint wall overlooking the city. The thumping seemed to be on the other side of that.

I frowned at the window. “I can’t see anything. What’s the thumping?”

The view shifted until I was looking at a girl, Sashimi’s sister, who was swinging a hammer at the glass. No, not glass. These were cameras recording this, making it look like it was a window, or a door, but in reality… I squinted at the wall. Was it glass? What was behind it?

She stopped hammering and looked directly at me. “Oh, good, you aren’t dead. Is Corcarn there?”

“Yes, but he’s sleeping. He’s not dead, either.” I gave her a slight smile that she returned with teeth.

“Well, if he’s sleeping, you should let him rest while you deal with the fallout. That will irritate him so much.”

“What fallout?”

She gave me a look. “Seriously? You break into the courthouse, stop an assassination, put several holes in the building, and wonder about the fallout? You should because it’s actually your mother. She’s at the gates of Goblin town making a fuss, threatening to picket us until we give her back her daughter.”

“Oh.” My stomach clenched at the thought of my mother. “That’s embarrassing.” Also frustrating, because we’d had a huge fight and I’d moved out. If I wanted to run away to goblin town, that was my right. I was a grown up, after all. Apparently, I needed to explain that to her.

“Why don’t you shower, get into one of those professional suits, and I’ll grab you breakfast?”

“Do you want to come in?” I asked, not sure how to let her in, because I had no idea if there was a door.

She gave me another blinding, biting smile. “Oh, no. My brother wouldn’t like me stinking up his precious vault.”

“Oh. Is he sensitive about smells?” My raccoon had thrown up first thing. And I certainly didn’t smell the greatest.

She laughed. “He’s sensitive about his privacy. He’s never let me into his vault. He let you, so he must like the way you smell. I’ll be back in a few.” She turned and scampered off, leaving me to stare at the rock wall past the door where she’d been, like it was a stone courtyard outside of the door.

I shrugged and went back to Sashimi’s bedroom, checking to make sure he was still breathing before I grabbed my suitcase and hauled it into the bathroom.

I grinned when I saw his shampoo. Finally, I’d smell as good as him. My shoulder was raw and stung as I washed my hair, but the scent that wrapped around me was absolutely worth it.

I moved quickly, glad to find a first aid kit beneath the sink so I could stick a gauze pad over my wound. I dressed in my gray suit, French braided my hair away from my face and was ready to go. I marched back into the bedroom, checked to see that Sashimi was still breathing, curled up next to Mr. Raccoon. They were so cute. I took a picture of them and then frowned at the blood smeared all over my phone. Was Joss still alive? My phone didn’t have a signal, so I would have to find out later.

I went back out to the main room with the screen, and there was the girl, still in the courtyard, like she was waiting.

She smiled when she saw me. “Good, you’re ready to go. And he’s still sleeping?”

I nodded. “But I’m not sure how to get out of the door.”

“Well, tell the door to open and see what happens.”

“But I don’t see a door.”

“Hm. Can you ask his helpers to show you?”

I looked around. There were no visible bots, but they seemed to come out of nowhere. “Spiders,” I said, loudly. “Show me the door.”

One tiny creature crawled out of a crack and walked up to me, and then turned and headed to the side where there was no screen. I followed, then stopped when it got to the wall. It kept going into the crack at the base, leaving me standing there, feeling like an idiot. “Okay. This is the door? How do I open it?”

A thousand tiny spiders came out of the crack, flowing up the wall until they outlined a door-sized rectangle. They left one hand-sized print bare, so, hesitating, I pressed my palm into that space. A light ran over my hand and then the door announced, “Sealed for your protection, Rynne Sato,” in a calm and light female voice.

“I need to go to work, and see my mom,” I told the door, feeling like an idiot.

“Your safety comes first.”

“Actually, if I don’t leave, my safety will be violated. My employment will be terminated, I’ll be fired, and lose my benefits. Also, I work to protect the city, and I need to stop my mother from raising an army who will attack and make me much less safe.”

The door was quiet for a moment, and then with a click, it slid open, leaving a narrow passage for me to take. I went quickly while the door kept talking.

“Rynne Sato must wait for the proper code to unlock the door. Your security is…”

Her voice was drowned out as a green hand grabbed my wrist, yanking me to the side, and into the courtyard. I’d barely gotten there when the stone wall slammed closed behind me. I looked back at the impenetrable stone and the tiny screen looking back at me.

“So,” she said, linking my arm and tugging me towards the other side of the courtyard, lit by the glowing stone. “What are you going to say to your mother? I tried to explain things, you know, how it was normal for people to spend the night with their boyfriends, but she kept getting stuck on the fact that Corcarn’s the Goblin King who steals away humans. She’s convinced that you’re stolen away.” She tsked and shook her head at the obvious confusion, thinking that I was some human Sashimi couldn’t live without.

“Did you open the door?” I asked.

“Only because you confused the monitor long enough for me to hack it. Well done.”

“And you’re concerned about my mother picketing Goblin Town. Why?”

She gave me a wide-eyed look. “It makes goblins look uncivilized. You had noticed the effort my brother puts into looking civilized, didn’t you?”

I shrugged and then winced. My shoulder wasn’t the best.

“Did you get hurt?” she asked, sounding sympathetic, but her eyes danced. Of course, because it had been the kind of date she could appreciate.

“A bit. The demon threw a bomb while I was trying to keep my boss from bleeding out, and most of the force hit Sashimi. That’s why he’s still sleeping, although I am pretty sure I got out all the shrapnel.”

“Sashimi? You call my brother sushi? That’s so cute!”

I squinted at her as she continued to drag me down a narrow pass between boulders into the darkness beyond. “You’re acting too perky. What’s your real deal?”

“Real deal? You don’t want to know. Also, I’m sworn to secrecy. Also, my brother would kill me if I revealed my true motives to an outsider.”

I stopped, yanking my arm out of hers, and took a defensive stance. “I’ve been told not to trust goblins.”

“Good. You shouldn’t.” She clicked on her watch and held out the screen so I could see my mother in a purple cloud of magical haze holding a sign and yelling about goblins being the bane of all civilized societies, corrupting the neutral witches that weren’t nearly as bad as goblins, and in general causing a ruckus.

“She thinks that if she puts the blame on Sashimi, it will diffuse the growing hatred against witches? That’s actually brilliant.”

Sashimi’s sister gave me a look.

I shrugged. Ow. “It’s not right, but it is a good idea. I still need to give a speech about the ball. I’ll have that nice reporter take it at the same time Joss gives a statement about…”

I started moving more quickly, brushing past the goblin girl as I broke into a comfortable jog.

“What happened to not trusting me?” she asked, easily keeping up.

“I’ll worry about not trusting you later. Right now, I have things to do.”