Compounding Traumas (Artemis University #6) - Erin R Flynn Page 0,116

as their guard, so they have no one to back their barking,” Zack stated, more for me so I wasn’t worried.

I appreciated that because it was damn hard to keep it all straight.

But right then, we had a situation, so I focused. “So you think you can drag me off to wherever—not identifying yourselves—about stealing something from someone and no specifics, and… I’ll just go?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Yes, when the police tell you to come in and answer questions, you come in and answer questions.”

I snorted. “Not for bullshit like this. If you had anything valid, I would absolutely work with you guys, and I have. But this is crap.” I held up my hand to hold him off. “When did this happen? Do you have a date or time so I can prove where I was?”

He ground his jaw. “Sometime last week.”

“You’re fucking kidding, right?” Zack snapped. “You weren’t even given a date and time, and you’re acting on it? This is bullshit. Have some integrity.”

Edelman moved and opened another temp portal, his phone in hand, so he must have called or been talking to someone. Sure enough, Geiger came through with Claudia, both looking ready to throw down.

“The reason the councilman won’t tell you what or when is because his hobgoblins were liberated,” Geiger announced loudly. “He will not officially document them as things, but sent you to try and trap my client into admitting she’s involved so he can recover his possessions. He wants them back before the hobgoblins file grievances against him, but he is too late as my office is already taking their statements.”

“And?” a policeman behind the leader asked.

“He beat them. Regularly,” Geiger spat, steam about coming out of the large dragon’s ears. “Kicked them, mostly. He treated fair folk like that, and he doesn’t want it common knowledge. He made it clear that the grievances will be filed in the garbage like the others, but there is no statute of limitations like in human laws, and they will pay their bill one day when the—”

“They aren’t ever coming back, Geiger,” that lead cop said gently, giving Geiger a look of pity.

“They are,” he argued, Zack, Ray, Mel, the hobgoblins in the cafeteria, and I all echoing him, but he continued. “My mate is coming back. I have always said that. I would know if he was gone for good. So would they.” He gestured to my two Alpha wolf guards. “Until they do, we will fight the corruption and have hit our limit on this madness. Fair folk are not slaves!”

I felt a pulse of power and swallowed down when I realized Geiger had a lot more juice than I’d thought. Nice.

“For the record, the fact you’d come here in the middle of dinner to humiliate me, but won’t even say his name to protect him, makes me not feel bad for you for one second that you’re stuck in the middle of this,” I said to the lead cop. “You’re just as guilty as they are.”

He shook his head. “I was ordered to come now, in public, as there was less of a chance you would fight us and risk injuring my people. It wasn’t to embarrass you at all, and I hate that I’m in the middle of this.”

I changed my answer when I heard in his mind that he didn’t fight the order because he thought doing it publicly would draw out people who could fight for me… And it had. Fine, he got a pass with me, as it was a tough position, and he did do a lot of good for supes. I nodded I knew what he’d been up to, and relief filled his eyes.

“I’m still not coming with you. The hobgoblins are not things and cannot be stolen. If you have viable proof of things being stolen from a man who will put his name on the record, along with a date and time that’s not a week, I will gladly answer your questions as I’m innocent. I have a lot of money, Officer, and I don’t need to steal. The rest is bullshit and they are using you, and the police, to do bad.”

“And as her attorney, I’m forbidding this questioning,” Geiger interjected. “You don’t have enough for an arrest warrant, which is why you want to bring her in for questioning only. However, they were going to use that and the magic dampeners you have at headquarters. We intercepted the call