Never laughed.“He is a bit fussy for someone I just met.”
“Well, his whole clan is in an uproar after your demonstration yesterday.I have seen some of the clips.You were everything a shaman should be, and they don’t have one right now, so I think he is courting you.”
She blinked.“Interesting.Unexpected.”
“The Daring Claw are made up of a lot of mixed orcs.As you have met Tam-or, you would have guessed at it.”
She smiled.“There were indications.”
The minotaur and the monster were inside, securing Reins.The ambulance pulled up, and when he was strapped to a board, she returned his senses to his limbs.
He began to struggle immediately.
She laughed and bent to whisper in his ear.He stilled and looked at her.“No.”
“Oh, yes.You defied the law and preyed on the vulnerable.Now you get to be them.One foot outside of a supervised area until you complete your sentence and your limbs break.All of them.If you push it, I will extend it to fingers and toes.”
He froze.
“Do you understand?”
He nodded slowly.
“Good.I know you now.I can take the skin off your muscle and leave you screaming and alive in the streets.One step out of line, and you get to see how exposed muscle feels.Tell me you understand.”
“I understand.”
She patted his cheek.“Good.You may survive to be judged by the dwarf council for your attacks against their taller genetic throwbacks.They will get the final say.I hear they like to toss the guilty into piles of stones.Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
She got up and watched as he was carried out in full restraints.
She went to get her helmet, and Day-ek asked, “Why do you run around with the dark visor at night?”
“I was born blind, dumbass.As are most with these eyes.”
Day-ek nodded.“I did think it odd that you could drive.”
“I have a friend, and we share strengths.And then the most recent wave hit, and things changed again.”
She nodded.“Well, you do your thing.Jennel has the recording of the scrying today.Amy has the printed record.I am out.I will just tell Axa that we have him and that she wasn’t the only one.Have a good shift.”
Day-ek asked, “One more thing.Do you dance like Cora?”
“Oh.No.Not like Cora.”She chuckled.“If she’s drunk enough, she can dance a bit like me.”
She laughed and headed out, getting back on her bike outside the venue and returning to the hospital.
She held Axa as she learned of Rein’s twisted obsession with the dwarf descendants who could be controlled with simple medications available at any pharmacy.Removing the bracelet at the bar was the first step in his being able to get her into the back, and from there, anywhere he wanted to abuse her.Vaia’s presence messed that up but gave him the chance to volunteer to read and still live out his twisted fantasies.
Axa cried, but she asked what would happen to him.
“He will make a full confession, or he will suffer as you suffered.Losing the senses in his limbs and making him very popular in parts of the prison.”
Axa blinked.“Wow.You can do that?”
“Sure.Everybody has something that they are good at.That is my thing.Now get stronger, get your life back, and join your friend who seems to have enough room in her life and home for you and several like you.”She smiled.
Axa blinked rapidly.“I...”
