Karri

She stood at his side as what appeared to be every police vehicle in Cloud Lake arrived at the foot of the embassy. Nervous-looking police officers in riot gear piled out of a special weapons and tactics truck, lining up in front of their more normally dressed comrades.

“I am officially confused,” Andrew said from next to her, his hand finding hers and giving it a squeeze. “Let me go talk to them, see if we can diffuse this situation, okay?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, striding forward. The police immediately leveled their guns at him. She watched as he paused, raising his hands palms open and to his sides, gesturing that he came in peace. Karri wanted to tell him to stay inside the embassy, that he would probably be safer there, since to her knowledge the police couldn’t enter a foreign embassy, but he didn’t seem to care. He walked outside and then stopped.

“I’m here,” he called. “Let’s talk. I’m not interested in any trouble.”

Karri watched as one of the officers came forward. She recognized the man, though she didn’t remember his name. Even in a small town like Cloud Lake, there were still ten thousand residents, more than she could ever memorize. He carried himself more calmly than the rest, and didn’t have a weapon pointed at Andrew either. Both of those were points in her book.

“Captain Gardiner,” Andrew said, obviously recognizing the other man. “Can you tell me what’s going on? I’m no threat to you; you should know that.”

The police captain looked disdainful, shaking his head. “No, I don’t know that.”

Karri saw the way Andrew’s body language shifted as the captain spoke. It was tough to explain how she knew, but it was obvious to her that Andrew had seen the man as a friend, but now he was seeing him as a potential enemy instead, simply based on what he’d said.

Or perhaps how he’d said it. Something tipped Andrew off that the situation is changed. Just what the hell is going on here?

Andrew spoke again. “You don’t?”

“I didn’t think so. But you’ve racked up quite an impressive list of things in the past twenty-four hours. I have no choice but to arrest you for them.”

“Such as?”

“Resisting arrest, for starters.”

Andrew looked around. “I haven’t resisted. What are you talking about?”

Captain Gardiner gestured past him, toward where Karri was staying mostly hidden behind one of the marble columns, peering out just enough to be able to see. “That man in there was sent on our behalf, with a message asking you to come peacefully to the station. As you are a representative of Cadia, we asked one of your own citizens to request you come in of your own accord. You went and killed him. Sends a pretty powerful message, don’t you think?”

Karri’s jaw dropped open at the twisting of the facts, but before she could say anything Andrew spoke once more.

“This man kidnapped a human woman, and then came here to fight me,” Andrew said, but Karri felt a sinking sensation in her stomach. This was too well coordinated to be random. There had to be more than that.

“Nevertheless, my point still stands,” the police captain said. “Then on top of that, we have video footage of you breaking into a private residence and kidnapping a human woman from within.”

“That’s so incredibly inaccurate I can’t even laugh at the ridiculousness of your statement,” Andrew said. “I was rescuing her from him. Hell, she’s right here, she’ll tell you.”

He gestured and Karri walked out. “It’s true, Captain. Andrew brought me here to save me. I was being held at that house against my will.”

The captain didn’t seem to even slow down. “There is additional footage of you shifting in city limits. Twice. Can you explain that?”

Andrew hesitated. “Yes. Time was of the essence. Karri’s life was in jeopardy and I needed to get to her quickly, and get out of there, before any more threats to her life were made.”

The captain nodded. “Speaking of threats to her life, I also have a missing persons report that was filed by the girl’s father late last night. He alleges that you forced her to run off with you against her will.” The policeman shrugged. “This is a lot of evidence piling up against you. Enough that I unfortunately am forced to place you under arrest. Whether you’re telling the truth about the woman or not, you’ve shifted inside our town limits. We have it on video. That’s a major felony.”

Karri hadn’t said a word through the whole thing, too stunned as the hits kept coming against Andrew. This, she realized. This was Al’s plan all along. He’d known Andrew would never resign, so he’d plotted it out to ensure that the gryphon would be disgraced and forced from the position.

And her father. Could he have been working with them? That seemed preposterous given her father’s feelings toward shifters. It just had to be a coincidence, but one that had put the final nail in the coffin. All of the above offenses and perhaps some money into the captain’s pocket, and all of a sudden they had a seemingly airtight case against Andrew.

“What happens now?” she asked as Andrew stood there silent.

“Now?” he asked, and she heard the defeat in his voice. “Now I go peacefully with them, until they can arrange for an escort to take me back to Cadia I suppose. Someone will be appointed to replace me as ambassador, and life will continue on.”

She heard the way he’d talked about someone replacing him. It was clear that Andrew understood what was going on as well. They had been played masterfully, used like marionettes without even knowing that the entire time they’d been digging their own graves.

“Unbelievable,” she muttered. “How did we let this happen?”

“We got cocky,” he replied, folding his hands behind his back as several officers in riot gear approached. “I’m sorry, Karri,” he said, looking over his shoulder. “We should have had that talk long ago. Now I fear we’ll never be able to.”

She watched him go, unable to respond, for once at a complete loss of words. Victory had seemed at hand when he’d won the fight against Myles. Now it had all come crashing down around them as their enemy played his true hand.

The police filtered away once Andrew hopped in the back of the captain’s squad car and was whisked away to the station. She could sense the relief coming off of them in palpable waves. None of them had wanted to do this, she suspected.

“Hey,” she said, calling out and catching the attention of one of the nearer officers.

“Yes, miss?” he responded politely.

“How come nobody is calling this out for the big farce that it is?” she asked, unloading all of her suspicions without preamble.

The officer looked distinctly uncomfortable. “Well, because it’s not a farce, ma’am,” he said, looking pained. “After all, there is footage of Andrew shifting inside the town. That can’t be faked.” He paused, looking away, but Karri didn’t miss the anger that flashed in his eyes. “I suppose one could interpret him going into the house to be seen as him kidnapping you. It’s technically possible to see it that way.”

“But you don’t agree.”

“I follow orders, ma’am,” he said, fixing her with a look that said she was right, but he couldn’t come out and say it.

“As do the rest of the force,” she said, tilting her head in acknowledgment. “Would you say that the majority of your fellow officers agree that technically the footage could be interpreted that way?”

There was a pause as he thought about it. “Yes. The captain is, unfortunately, positive about it, as are several others. They see things differently than the rest. They can see things that we sometimes miss,” he said.

“Ah, I think I understand. They’ve been exposed to things that allow them to see this way?”

The officer nodded. Although they hadn’t come out and said it, Karri had all but confirmed that the captain and some of his underlings were being bribed to act on Al’s behalf.

“Thank you for the chat, officer. It’s been very eye-opening.”

“Sorry I couldn’t do more to be of assistance.”

“You’ve done plenty,” she said, heading back inside to where Gray waited.

Her brain was already spinning. The captain was deep in Al’s pockets. Nothing was going to change that really. Andrew was going to be forced to resign in disgrace and go back to Cadia. She would never see him again. That was unacceptable. What could she do, though? She had to get some of the charges against him dropped, enough that would make the case against him seem less clear-cut.

Almost immediately Karri knew what she had to do. It would mean she was giving up something she desperately wanted.

But in return, I’ll get something I think I need…