Page 8 of Goblins Don't Count
I grabbed a taser as well, easing towards the hall, glad the door was open so he wouldn’t hear me. Or her.
I heard another footstep, closer, and froze, then edged to the side of the doorway, out of the perp’s line of sight. Not that it wasn’t dark, but some things could see in the dark.
I waited, holding my breath, until I felt him moving right outside my door. I flung out one side of the handcuffs and heard the snick as they closed on his wrist. Then he yanked me out into the hall, testing the strength of my work. I followed that tug and had the other side ready to snap on the other wrist when he grabbed my throat. The snick was nice, but so was breathing, and I wasn’t doing a lot of it.
I kicked off the side of the hall, knocking him over, landing on top of him, but only for a moment, because he used my momentum to roll, until he was pinning me, using his legs more than his hands, because he was cuffed.
I jerked one of my hands free, grabbed the taser I’d dropped and hit him in the side with it.
He convulsed while I rolled him, and then I held the taser at his throat, pressing the tip lightly, but he froze once he could control himself.
“Who are you?” I demanded.
He inhaled a sharp breath and then laughed, a slight chuckle, but it was dangerous, so incredibly dangerous, wild, dark, and wicked.
“I’m caught. You should probably let me go quickly, before it’s too late. You know how it is with vermin, impossible to get rid of.” He spoke in Goblin. He wasn’t even trying to be subtle about who he was, the only goblin I really knew.
“Sashimi?” The wave of betrayal was entirely irrational. He was only a sushi customer, and had admitted to being an assassin. Still, he was a thief who broke into my office? How could he do that after all these years I’d known him?
“That’s not my real name, but it’ll do. Why do you smell like that?”
“What? The pine shampoo? I’m going to get something different.” I blinked in the dark at him, and his eyes glowed golden for a moment, before they went back into shadows. I bared my teeth at him and pressed the taser into his throat. “Don’t change the subject. What are you doing here?”
“Not the shampoo, earth magic. I’m here to check your security. It isn’t bad, particularly if you count the guard witch. These cuffs are giving me a seriously difficult time.”
“I thought that was the taser,” I bit out before I rolled off him, still holding the taser in place. “Get up and follow me. You’re going into lockdown.”
“Seriously? You think you can lock me up?”
“Seriously. If you come willingly, I won’t have to knock you unconscious. I’m not a goblin, so your head would be hitting every single step as I dragged you by the ankles.”
“Are you sure you aren’t a goblin? You smell…”
I leaned closer, jabbing the taser into his flesh. “This is the last time I’m going to say this. Come willingly, or be dragged.”
“If you really want me all that much, who am I to resist?” He slowly stood along with me while I held the taser to his throat. He was taller than me by almost an entire head. I didn’t remember Sashimi being so tall, but I guess he usually slouched and tried to look smaller than he was.
I swallowed hard. “Exactly. Who are you? What are you doing in the police station in the middle of the night?”
“I’m Corcarn, sometimes called Sashimi, the goblin, and I’m here to test the station’s security. I was hired by your boss, Lieutenant Joss—there’s a fancy rhyme—to test your station’s security.”
“Lies. Fine. If you won’t tell me, you can tell the judge.”
“Not the one that’s recently dead. What do you think about it?”
I pulled him down the hall, and he didn’t resist. When I got to the nearest switch, I flipped it on so I could glare at him more effectively. “I think your best bet is with the night court.”
“The judge’s death. You were at the crime scene instead of sleeping. You should have slept at least until Monday.”
I scowled at him. “You drugged me to sleep longer?”
He smiled slightly. “You know everything I put into that glass that you drank. I’m not the reason you were sleeping. There is something off about you. Almost…” His eyes narrowed as he studied me, and I got the idea that he was smelling me.
I wanted to taser him just so he’d stop looking at me. “I’m really going to enjoy throwing you in lockdown.”
“You didn’t happen to speak Goblin to the Magga, did you?”
“That’s none of your business.”
