I rolled my eyes. It was a misdemeanor at most. Little more than a slap on the wrist.
I was more worried about news of this little escapade getting back to the master of the city. Now that would have serious consequences.
I could call someone else. Caroline, maybe. I discarded that option as soon as it occurred to me. Caroline might be my best friend, but she was also a werewolf.
If her alpha found out I was dragging her into another one of my dramas, he'd probably try to skin me. That or use me as two-legged bait during his next full moon hunt.
My family was also out. Things had been rocky since the showdown outside my niece's hospital room. I didn't want our first contact to be me asking to be bailed out of jail. It was better to let things lie for a while.
No, there was really only one person I could call. Someone who came with a whole bunch of strings attached—Liam. Vampire. Enforcer. Possible boyfriend.
The groan I made this time was heartfelt.
Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.
Why hadn't I taken the time to learn how to compel people?
This time my polite smile was more of a grimace. "I'd really like my phone call, now."
Nichols's look of disgust and resignation deepened. She had no choice but to give me my phone call, and we both knew it.
Shaking her head, she stood, tossing her pen on the table. "Fine, you can have your phone call."
As if to punctuate her mood, the lights flickered on and off before going dark.
Nichols looked up with a distracted frown. "Power must be out. Don't move. I'll see what's going on."
Like I could go anywhere in these cuffs. Well, I could, but that might be hard to explain. Normal humans couldn't snap chains like they were twigs.
Nichols opened the door, light from the offices outside spilling into the room. Against the wall, a shadow swelled into existence, massive with wings that brushed the ceiling.
"What the hell?" Nichols reached for the light switch, flicking it on and off several times as a strangled sound came from me. A frustrated growl left her. "Someone must have blown a fuse."
Nichols stepped outside, the door starting to close behind her.
"Wait! Don't—" The door finished slamming shut. "Leave me alone in here."
It wasn't that I thought Nichols could protect me from the shadow. I was pretty sure she couldn't. Most humans when up against spooks were woefully defenseless, but her presence might have deterred whatever was hiding in the shadows from attacking.
Spooks tended to avoid fighting each other when normals were around.
My gaze searched the darkness, settling on a piece that was blacker than the rest. "Nice, shadow creature. Let's not attack or do anything stupid."
While I talked, I moved my wrists, pulling at the cuffs and hearing the metal protest as they flexed and bent.
The shadow shifted, wings opening. Suddenly, it was a few feet closer than before, though I could swear it hadn't taken a single step.
I yanked harder at the cuffs. The humans would just have to come up with some wild explanation for why they were broken. I'd lived through one too many assassination attempts to let myself sit here and hope for the best.
The shadow extended one arm, its inky blackness coming closer and closer.
I made a small sound. This was not how I wanted to die.
The door to the interrogation room opened, the bright light from outside spilling into the dark room and dispelling the shadow creature as if it had never been.
I looked from where it had stood to Officer Nichols's pissed off expression, feeling something like relief. I didn't know what the shadow creature had wanted, but I was betting it wasn't good. Call me paranoid, but I'd survived one too many people trying to kill me to dismiss its presence here as anything but suspicious.
Nichols hesitated, looking around the room with an uneasy expression, almost as if she somehow sensed the monster’s presence.
