Swallowing Darkness by Laurell K. Hamilton Read Free Book Online

Apparently, it was a “him,” which implied a her out there somewhere. I’d assumed that this was the same tentacled creature that Sholto had brought to Los Angeles to fetch me, but maybe that had been the girl? Maybe I was still in shock, but I just couldn’t think of what I was looking at as a girl.
    “I am sorry that your beast was injured when all you were doing was trying to protect the princess.” Doyle walked toward the policemen, staying one side of the tentacles. He spoke to the cops as they dangled.
    “Officers, I am sorry that there was a misunderstanding. The tentacles that hold you came to rescue the princess, not to harm her. When the creature saw you with guns, it assumed that you were here to harm Princess Meredith, just as you would have assumed the same if strangers rushed in with pulled guns.”
    One of the cops looked at the other one. It was hard to tell what expression they shared, with their faces still mottled from being held too long by the tentacles, but it was almost a “do you believe this?” look.
    The other cop, a little older, managed to say, “You’re saying that this…thing is on your side?”
    “I am,” Doyle said.
    I spoke from the bed. “Gentlemen, it’s as if you came into my room and started shooting my dog, because he scared you.”
    The older cop said, his hands still tugging at the tentacle at his throat, “Lady, Princess, this ain’t no dog.”
    “The hospital wouldn’t let my real dogs in,” I said.
    Dr. Mason spoke from the floor, where she was still crouched behind Galen. “If we let you have your dogs, will this never come inside the building again?”
    Doyle nodded at Galen, and it was enough. He helped the doctor to her feet, but her wide eyes remained on the huge tentacles still pinning the policemen, or maybe it was the nightflyers clinging to the ceiling just above them. So many interesting things to look at it, it was hard to tell exactly where her gaze was.
    “I will keep my people outside the princess’ window,” Sholto said, “until we are certain the danger is past.”
    “So, this, these, have been outside the window all this time?” the doctor asked in a voice that was a little shaky.
    “Yes,” Sholto said.
    “What would attack me with these as my guards?” I asked, and let the question include as many or as few of the fey in my room as the doctor wished to include.
    The older cop said, “No one told us that you’d have…” He seemed to search for a word, and not find one.
    His partner said, “Nonhumanoid.” The young officer frowned at the word, as if it sounded wrong even to him, but he didn’t try to pick a different word. It wasn’t a bad word, and it was strangely appropriate.
    “We are not required to inform the human police of all our precautions regarding the safety of Princess Meredith,” Doyle said.
    “If we are on the door, we should have a list of things that are on your side,” the older cop said. It was a good point. It proved that he was recovering from being attacked by giant, bodiless tentacles and flying nightmares. Tough cop, or maybe just cop. You don’t last on the job if you aren’t tough. The older officer looked like he was past the ten-year mark. He was tough. His partner was young, and he kept giving nervous glances to the nightflyers on the ceiling. But he seemed to take heart or courage from the blasé attitude of his older partner. I’d seen it before when I’d worked on cases with the police at Gray’s Detective Agency. The older steadied the younger, if it was a good pair-up.
    The younger cop asked, “Can we have our guns back?”
    The older cop gave him a look that said clearly that you don’t ask for your weapon back. They were probably each carrying at least one hidden gun, or the older cop would be. Regulations can say what they want, but I don’t know many police officers who don’t double up. Your life too often depends on being armed.
    “If you promise not to shoot any of our