by the Towers?”
Even though the dark elf had been killed three months ago, his death wasn’t common knowledge yet. There had been no grand announcement, news report, or celebration. To most, he’d simply disappeared—possibly returning to the bosom of his own people, the Svartálfar, but some knew the truth.
“Yeah, he’s gone,” I mumbled, leaving out the part about how I’d been the one to kill him at the request of the Towers’ council. Turning to look at Bronx, eager to forget about Reave, I asked, “Would they keep their supply here?”
Bronx frowned. I was treading carefully here. I didn’t want to get involved in the baby black market. Don’t get me wrong: I didn’t like the idea of babies being in the hands of goblins, but the upside was that these kids were going to people who couldn’t have children and didn’t have legal options. It had taken the world centuries to give same-sex couples the right to adopt. Vampires were still fucking years away, as well as a number of mixed couples. Who said a banshee and an incubus couldn’t be great parents? Or a were-bear and a leprechaun? Hell of a lot better than the Towers.
“Unlikely,” he said with a slight shake of his head. “They’d keep them separated from prospective parents in case negotiations went south. Why?”
“In case questioning goes south,” I said, turning toward the foyer at the sound of approaching footsteps. If things went bad, I didn’t want to worry about the safety of any children who might be on the premises. Even with Bronx’s assurances, I was still worried there was a baby hidden somewhere.
Of course, I would have to worry about that later, as footsteps thundered across the bare hardwood floor, sounding larger in number than what should be approaching us.
“Got any more ideas?” Serah asked, taking a couple steps away from me and reaching under her coat to her back. She pulled out the gun she had hidden in the back of her pants and flipped off the safety with her index finger.
“Keep that hidden for now,” I said, waving her behind me. “Let’s see if we can still talk our way out of this.”
That proved to be wishful thinking on my part. A six-foot-tall goblin strode in, surrounded by more than twenty goblins of all shapes and sizes. The leader’s orange eyes glowed like beady fires in his wrinkled face, and pointed at me. “You lie!” he shrieked.
“Whoa! Hold on a second!” I shouted back, holding my open hands out toward him while putting myself between my companions and the goblins. “We’re just here to talk. Nothing more.”
“You bring a troll and a cop into our nest and you say this is only talk? Lies,” he hissed, taking a step closer. Around him, the other goblins brandished knives and vicious claw-like weapons that would do incredible damage if sunk into the flesh.
“Pregnant women are being killed in Low Town by some maniac. We only wanted to ask you if you’ve seen anything. Have you heard anything?”
“The killer? The baby killer? You know of this person?” the leader demanded, sending a ripple of unease through the gathered goblins. They had stopped speaking English and were chattering amongst themselves in a guttural, sharp language that I couldn’t understand, but with each passing second the group was growing more excited.
I took a wary step backward as several started screaming and waving their weapons again. This was really bad. They weren’t listening and the situation was quickly slipping out of my control. Or rather, I was finally coming to the realization that I had never really been in control of this situation. I’d gone looking for a shortcut and I was about to pay the price. And in my recklessness, I’d dragged two innocent people along for the ride.
“Look, we’re just looking for some answers!” I shouted over the growing noise.
“Have you led the killer to us? Threaten us? Threaten our business?” the leader shrieked.
“No!” I screamed over the din, but no one was listening to me now. The horde of goblins charged, pouring over me to surge toward my companions and fill the room.
For a moment, there was just a tangle of teeth and claws converging on us. They scattered briefly when Serah fired her gun in the air once, but they hesitated for only a breath before convincing themselves that their overwhelming numbers would win in the end.
Dropping down into a crouch, I launched my first attacker over my shoulder, sending him crashing