Bound by Magic (The Baine Chronicles #2)(51)

“Brin Maxon and Nila Romana.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Annia can confirm.”

“I talked to them myself after the Royale was over,” Annia said. “They were the ones who told me that the shifters participating in the fights were being forced into indentured servitude to pay off debts.”

“This is unbelievable,” Captain Galling growled, his tanned cheeks turning a dark, ugly red. Scowling, he snatched up his phone, then dialed Foreman Vance, the Enforcer who was in charge of the Main Crew. “Vance? Are Maxon and Romana in the house today?” There was a pause. “Good. Send them up here. Yes, now.”

A tense silence filled the room as we waited for Brin and Nila to arrive. The tick in Captain Galling’s jaw told me that somebody was about to get an ass-kicking, and I smiled inwardly at the thought that Brin and Nila would finally be getting their comeuppance. It was about damned time. With the Mages Guild scrutinizing him more closely, Captain Galling was under pressure to clean up the Enforcer’s Guild, and he wouldn’t be able to tolerate Brin and Nila’s actions.

The two came in about five minutes later, confusion stamped across their faces. Brin’s eyes narrowed at the sight of Annia and I sitting there, and Nila’s went curiously blank. I wondered if they knew what was about to happen.

“What can we do for you, Captain?” Nila asked, her voice slightly breathy as she stepped forward. She was wearing a long-sleeved leather corset top that pushed her boobs up front and center, and I had no doubt she was hoping to distract Captain Galling with them. “Foreman Vance said you needed us urgently.”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Romana,” Captain Galling snapped. His dark eyes did indeed fix on her cleavage, but only for a split second – he was too angry to be swayed by a nice rack, it would seem. “These two are telling me you’re moonlighting for a company that runs an illegal fighting ring called the Shifter Royale, and that they both saw you there last night.”

Surprise flashed in Brin and Nila’s eyes as they glanced at me, and I knew they were wondering how we could have seen them if they hadn’t seen us. But they couldn’t very well point that out without incriminating themselves, so I simply folded my arms across my chest and smiled smugly at them.

“Sir, this is ridiculous,” Brin said stiffly. “Nila and I don’t have time to moonlight. We’ve got a pretty full docket, as part of the Main Crew.”

“Exactly.” Nila nodded decisively. “What reason would we have to moonlight?”

“Can either of you verify your whereabouts for yesterday evening?” Galling demanded.

“Sure. We were at Nila’s apartment last night.” Brin tossed an arm over Nila’s shoulder and pulled her close. “As we are most nights.”

Captain Galling rolled his eyes. “From someone other than yourselves?”

Another tense silence filled the room, which Annia broke. “Say, Brin, I notice you’ve got a bandage on your arm. What happened?”

“Sliced it in a sword fight,” Brin growled.

“Oh yeah?” Faster than a speeding steambike, I jumped up and yanked Brin forward by the arm. He yelped as I closed my arm around the wound, and I grabbed one end of the gauze and ripped it off before he could retaliate. “Oh, would you look at that. These look like bite marks! From a tiger shifter, perhaps?” I gave him a big smile.

“Get off me!” Brin swung for my head, but I ducked, then twisted him around by the arm and slammed him face-first against the wall.

“It’s about time I get the chance to arrest you,” I snarled in his ear, pulling a pair of restraints from one of my pouches and slapping them on his wrists. “Unless you have an objection, Captain Galling.”

“No, I don’t.”

“What?” Nila shrieked, her heart-shaped face purpling. “You can’t arrest Brin! You don’t have any real evidence!”

“I’m afraid the word of two Enforcers, plus the fact that Brin just lied about his wound, is more than enough,” Captain Galling said darkly as Annia cuffed Nila as well. He picked up the phone and called his deputy as she struggled against the restraints, but it was no use – Annia had her in a firm grip. A couple of minutes later, the Deputy Captain arrived with two other Enforcers to take Brin and Nila away.

My eyes narrowed as I studied the new Deputy – he was a step-up from Garius Talcon, his predecessor, who’d sexually harassed me, beaten me, and attempted to rape me a few months ago. Unlike Talcon, who was fat, thuggish and leery, the new deputy was clean cut and trim, with a square face and steady blue eyes that swept over us all as he entered the room. Handsome but militant was the first impression I got – a far cry from Talcon’s leers and waggling eyebrows.

Of course, looks could be deceiving – this guy could be just as depraved as Talcon. But I was really hoping he wasn’t.

“Captain Galling.” He inclined his head. “You want these two brought below for the night?” he asked, referring to the basement jail cells.

“Yes. We’re holding them until further notice.”

“You bitch!” Nila spat in Annia’s face, her eyes wild. “I won’t let you get away with this!”

“No, you’re the ones who won’t get away with this,” Annia snarled, wiping flecks of spittle from her cheek as she jumped to her feet. I was on my feet as well, my fists clenched at my sides – I wanted to deck Nila, just this once, but I knew that wasn’t going to win me any favors from Galling.