I shrugged. “You’re bigger than her and you’ve been wearing that belt. I’d understand if she was terrified enough to go along with your plans.”
The purple began to drain from his face. He was getting it now.
“I want a lawyer.”
I burst out laughing. “You’re lucky you’re not getting ripped apart. What do you think would happen if we released you to the seelie king?” I shivered. “He may be the ‘light’ fae king, but the guy’s not exactly known for being merciful. And that’s if the fae representative doesn’t make you beg for death first. You and your little friends made her look like an idiot.”
Bob swallowed. “Okay, no lawyer. I get it. I was scared, okay. You were there when that demon was left at the station. We had our memorieswiped,” he spat. “I told my cousin and he let me know about an organization. They were fighting back against the paranormals.”
“What organization?”
“Humans for Population Stabilization.”
“And what does that mean?”
“Portal control. Those freaks are streaming through every fucking day. Before long, humans are going to be the minority in our own fucking world.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “You’re no better than us just because you’re a witch. Luck of the draw gave you that power.”
“I never claimed to be,” I said mildly. If Bob knew I was half-demon, he’d probably have a stroke.
“Yeah, well we’re sick of it. These other groups, they talk a big game, but all they’re doing is writing letters to politicians.Humanpoliticians. As if they can do anything. HPS was actually willing to do something about it.”
I sat back in my chair. Now we were getting somewhere. “So you decided HPS could help you get rid of the paranormals.”
“Right,” Bob nodded, warming up now. His nose was broken, likely from my fist. From the way Bob winced when he talked, gently prodding the swelling around his eyes, I’d say he was regretting swinging at me.
“Look, if you don’t have power in this world, you’re screwed. Hard work doesn’t count for shit anymore. Humans are invisible to these paranormals— we’re only useful for cleaning up their fucking messes.”
I mean, he had a point. Bob must’ve seen agreement on my face because he gave me a vigorous nod.
“You get it right? You may be a witch, but at least you’re human. Can’t you see things from my point of view?”
His voice had turned into a high-pitched whine, but now I could hear traces of the man who’d attacked Gary. I think I’d hear his voice— and Gary’s choked moans— in my sleep for months.
“Pretend like I do see things from your point of view. No one else is going to. The best thing you can do for yourself is to spill everything you know.”
Bob was silent for a long moment. I rolled my shoulders and let him think. Finally, he heaved a sigh.
“Okay. Here’s how it went down. I joined HPS and went to a few meetings. For a while it looked like it was shaping up to be similar to the other groups— a lot of talk and no action. But then Cassie heard about this sword. At first we were disappointed, you know? There were rumors it was powerful, but it didn’t do anything when we tried to use it.”
“So Cassie got pissed.”
“The organization has money. Lots of secret donations from human politicians. But we paid a lot for the sword. Cassie told everyone that our new mission was to find as many fae artifacts as we could. She said it was our turn to have power, and once we were a threat to the paranormals, they could no longer ignore us.”
“Tell me about the belt.”
His gaze dropped to his waist as if he was expecting to see it. His face twisted in what looked like longing.
“One of the women works for this cleaning company.”
“Name.”
“Crystal Clear Cleaning.”
“Name of thewoman.”
“Oh. Ashley.”
I eyed the camera, well aware that the demons were listening in. I’d bet Albert was observing as well. Either way, someone would be locating Ashley.
