Page 109 of Echo and the Homicidal Sea Panda

Echo screamed behind him. One of the other officers grabbed Echo while Mael’s focus was on the one who’d harmed his mate. The barrel of a gun was place against his temple again.

He felt it tremble and inwardly smiled. Had the man ever fired a weapon at anything but target practice before that moment? Mael sensed not.

“Let… him… go…” the officer said, a hitch in his tone.

Mael growled at the man who turned blood red in his hands, ignoring the one with the gun.

“Mael,”Echo pleaded behind him.“Please… don’t do this. It’ll only make things worse.”

“You’re killing him,” the other cop said, cocking the gun.“Let him go!”

“If I wanted him dead,” Mael said. “He’d be dead by now.” Mael released the man, watching as he slid down the wall to his bottom. He spun to the one with the gun. “And if you had any balls, I’d already have a half dozen bullets in me.” He yanked the gun from the officer’s hand, slid out the clip, and then bent the barrel as easily as he’d broken the chain. After handing it back to the officer, he spun to see who held his mate. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll unhand my mate.”

“Your mate?”the one holding Echo asked, wide eyed.

Mael advanced and the man let go. He drew his mate behind him, facing off against the four dolphins. He searched each one of their faces, glaring with menace on his mind. They would pay for hurting Echo. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll get out of this house before I break all four of you into pieces.”

The officer on the floor pulled himself to his feet, rubbing his neck with one hand. “The council demanded you both be jailed until your hearing,” he said, his voice raw and rough.

“If you think you can take me, try it,” Mael said, feeling Echo’s hands gripping his back.

The officers looked between themselves.

“Echo and I will face your council, but it won’t be in cuffs and chains. We’ll walk in of our own will, not prodded in like criminals,” Mael growled.

“You don’t get to set terms. We were told to pick you up and put you in holding, so that’s what we’re going to do.”

“You’ve got a death wish, don’t you?” Mael asked. “You’re going to have to kill me before you lay hands on Echo again, and I don’t see any of you coming up a winner in that fight.”

The cop who seemed to be the leader rubbed his neck again, a tick forming at the side of his eye. “Tomorrow. Council chambers. Ten a.m. If you don’t show up, wewillhunt you down—with prejudice. And this time, I’ll bring enough officers toensureyou comply.” He spun and stalked out the front door.

“Better bring an army, because four-on-one worked out so well for you, didn’t it?” Mael yelled out the door.

The others stared at Mael for a few seconds before they followed the first out.

Echo pressed his forehead against Mael’s back.

Joanna and Ed appeared in the doorframe, their eyes wide. As soon as Joanna looked down at Mael’s naked body, her eyes grew round, and she averted her gaze.

“What the hell is going on in here?” Ed asked, frowning.

Echo whipped around Mael. “You did this, didn’t you, Mom?”

Joanna’s gaze flew to Echo. “What did I do now?”

“Before you got here, Mael and I had no trouble. Now the council is sending the police here to drag us out of bed and take us to jail? They wouldn’t even let us put our clothes on!” Echo shook his head. “I should’ve known you’d do something like this.”

Joanna’s mouth dropped open. “I didnothingof the sort.” Tears shone in her eyes. “And I can’t believe you would think something like that of me.” She looked at Ed. “I’ll go pack up our belongings. We can sleep in an unclean house tonight since our son thinks so little of me.”

She marched up the stairs, wiping tears from her face.

“Can either of you explain what’s going on here?” Ed asked. He lifted a finger and walked into the living room. He brought back two of the throw blankets from the back of Echo’s couch and handed them both one. Once they were covered, he lifted his gaze. “Explain.”

“We were literally dragged out of bed, asleep, with no announcement they were police. No knock on the door,” Echo repeated. “They said we’d broken the treaty.”

“Which we haven’t,” Mael said, tucking the blanket around his waist like a towel. “There’s absolutely no mention of us being here and you being there. Not one single line. Just the boundary in the water and for us to remain on our sides of it. The water, not the towns. I reviewed that thing up and down before I came to see Echo the first time.”

“The council wanted us in jail for a meeting tomorrow at ten. I supposed it’s a command performance, and they weren’t going to let us get away with not showing up.”

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