Page 100 of A Light in the Dark
“And it’s excellent reading time.”
I nodded. “Will they let him out without him being able to sign anything?”
“He can sign with his feet.”
“But then he’ll have ink on his feet!” I pointed at my shirt. “Then I’ll get ink on my clothes.”
“You can clean his little feet, I promise. Or you can sign for him as the reasonable adult responsible for him.”
“We better put him in that cage before he wakes up and gets ideas,” I muttered.
Laughing, she crouched, set the cage down, and removed the lid.
I worked my hand under Joel, placed him inside, and locked him in. “Can I buy this from you? This seems very convenient to put naughty luna moths into prison.”
“I’ll give it to you for free. It wasn’t expensive, and if I need to contain another luna moth, I’ll just get another.”
“Thank you.” With Joel suitably contained, I followed Coraline inside, and she angled for the hospital’s front desk, inquiring who was best to discuss the release of the luna moth from the hospital and into my custody. After a few calls, the nurse directed us to the sixth floor.
“That’s not the same floor we’re on,” I commented once we were on our way to the elevators.
“Shifters get somewhat special treatment because we’re a pain in the ass, and because we aren’t discharged on the same schedule as everyone else, we have to do a few extra steps to escape the hospital.” She heaved a sigh, pressed the up button, and tapped her foot while waiting. “Once you’re released, we’ll leave Joel with Calden, and we’ll go get something to eat, get our hair and nails done, and otherwise escape the men for a while.”
Ah. I understood. I was the scapegoat Coraline required to restore her flagging sanity in a world gone mad. “Sure. A few days out in the woods followed up with a trip to thehospital is terrible for my hair and my nails. I’m honestly not sure if either are salvageable.”
The wolf laughed. “We’ll go pick out some nice clothes for you, too. Calden gave me a budget. He’s feeling guilty because his father has put you in a tight spot.”
That damned election might do me in. “There isn’t really any chance of me being elected, right?”
“Oh, Valerie.”
I recognized when disaster loomed, barreling my way. Unlike the drunk driver in his weaponized vehicle, I wouldn’t be vaulting out of the way. “You’re serious.”
“You’re the best option of the lot, and reporters went wild finding out about what you do for work, how good you are at it, and your relationship with Joel. Your work is incredible, and your boss’s bosses were not shy about singing your praises, especially with your lack of education.”
“That should not be a benefit for this.”
“You’re just an everyday woman with a heart of gold doing an everyday job, and they’ve been controlled by someone willing to murder refugees. Sometimes, change is as simple as electing someone with a good heart rather than any political aspirations. You have the skills to do the job, earned through working. And everyone knows you don’t want the job. My father-in-law? Also doesn’t want the job. He keeps trying to get rid of it, and the people won’t let him resign. I thought he was spending every waking minute running the government, but then I learned the truth: he’s running Moonriver using two or three hours a day. The rest of his time is spent organizing the Hunters. The faction is actually more work than the entirety of the city-state, because the city-state has support staff. The only time hehas to work a lot as the leader is when something goes wrong.”
“Like with the refugees.”
“He’s been doing a lot of overtime running the city-state lately, but we’re due for some time off. I will rebel if I don’t get time off.” The woman sighed. “The situation in Stonecreek is creating a great deal of overtime for everyone, but it’s important. The fucker ex-mayor did a good job of hiding his activities from outsiders—and the insiders who weren’t in on it were literally murdered.”
“Or almost murdered. Like us.”
“Precisely.”
What a dick. “Can we shove strangleberry down his throat and toss him in a river to see how he likes it?”
“However satisfying that would be, I’m afraid not.”
“Well, that’s a bummer.”
“You’ll cope, I’m sure. And if you can’t cope, well, in a few weeks, we’ll have the gaming tournament, and there’s something to be said about killing off our friends and family in competition.”
“Assuming we don’t get offed right away.”
“Don’t worry. We’ll win.”
