Once again, she looked from one face to another, even as her own features tightened with disgust. A few of the cops had enough guilt and shame to lower their heads, rather than meet her angry gaze.

Finally, Bria focused her attention on Dobson again. “You’re not going to get away with this.” She spat out the words as if each and every one were an icicle shooting out of her lips and stabbing into his smug smile.

“It seems to me like I already have, Coolidge,” he sneered.

Bria stepped forward and tilted her head back so that she was staring directly into his face. “This is bullshit, and we all know it, Dobson. You’ve never liked me because I actually try to do my job, because I actually try to help people, protect them. Not hurt them like you do. You’ve been looking for an excuse to get rid of me for a long time now.”

He bent down and smiled right in her face. “Well, it looks like I finally have one, doesn’t it?”

Xavier stepped up beside my sister. “Bria’s a good cop. Everybody knows that. And everybody knows that you’re just a thug who likes to hide behind his badge and the power you think it gives you.”

Dobson straightened up and gave Xavier a hostile look. “And you should be grateful that I’m going to let you keep working here. But, for the record, as of this moment, you’re being busted back down to patrol, Xavier. The graveyard shift over in Southtown. Good luck with that.”

A muscle twitched in Xavier’s jaw as he ground his teeth together. That was the worst possible shift in the worst possible part of town. Xavier would be lucky if he made it a week without getting shot at—or worse. But even more than that, it was a proverbial slap in the face after all his years of working his way up through the ranks, especially when all he was guilty of was doing the right thing and standing up for his partner.

But Bria wasn’t afraid of Dobson and his threats. She moved even closer to him, her eyes colder than I’d ever seen them before, even when she was fully embracing her magic.

“You’re not going to get away with this,” she said in a voice that was pure ice. “I don’t know what Madeline Monroe paid, promised, or plied you with to set all this up, but I hope that you enjoyed it. Because she’s going to burn you alive with her acid magic the second you are no longer useful to her. The next time you’re in the station, they’ll be carrying you in on a stretcher, with what’s left of you stuffed into a black body bag.”

Every part of Dobson bristled at her harsh words, even his already spiky, salt-and-pepper hair. “You know what? I’ve had enough of you two and your empty threats. Pack up your shit, get out, and don’t ever come back. That’s an order, Coolidge.”

He whirled around to stomp away, but Bria reached out and latched onto his arm. Dobson shook her off as hard as he could. Given his giant strength, Bria went flying back five feet into her desk, bouncing off the side of the sleek, shiny chrome and falling on her ass. But my sister scrambled right back up onto her feet. She started to throw herself at Dobson, but Xavier held his hand out, stopping her.

But Dobson had had enough because he let out a low growl and drew back his massive fist. He was actually going to hit Bria in front of everyone. His murderous brown gaze locked onto my sister’s face, and I knew that he was going to punch her as hard as he could—and that he could easily break her neck with that one blow.

I didn’t think—I just acted.

I stepped in front of my sister and shoved her back toward Xavier, out of the way of Dobson and his killing strike. Even as I pushed Bria back, I whirled around to face the captain. I wasn’t strong enough to catch his fist in my hand, so I ducked his punch, slammed my elbow into his potbelly, hooked my foot around his ankle, and used his own forward momentum to trip him and send his smug ass crashing down to the floor.

Loud, shocked gasps rang out, rippling through the crowd, but they vanished just as quickly, and silence fell over the entire station again.

One . . . two . . . three . . .

Five . . . ten . . . fifteen . . .

The seconds ticked by, but the only sound was Dobson’s heavy rasps as he lay on the floor and tried to get his breath back.

Then a small scrape-scrape sounded, as one of the hookers got up off the bench, making it slide back. The hooker gave me two thumbs-ups, then started clapping her hands together.

“Woo!” she called out. “You go, girl! You put that freeloading bastard in his place!”

The second hooker got to her feet and joined in. So did the third one, until they were all clapping and cackling with glee, along with Sophia, who let out an earsplitting whistle of approval. Their chuckles were contagious, and they surged throughout the station, spreading from one cluster of people to the next until everyone was laughing at Dobson.

His face turned from red to purple to almost black with rage as he sprawled on the floor, and he had another goose egg on his forehead to match the one he’d gotten from the freezer at the Pork Pit. He tried to scramble to his feet, but his wing tips slipped on the slick marble, and he fell back down onto his knees again. His clumsy effort only made everyone laugh louder.

This time, Dobson grabbed hold of one of the drawer handles on Bria’s desk and carefully hoisted himself upright. He turned first one way, then the other, and the chuckles stopped, the air thick and heavy with tension and silence again. Even the three hookers sank back down onto the bench and ducked their heads, although Sophia remained standing, her arms crossed over her chest, the words Kiss off showing on her T-shirt again.

Dobson stalked over to me and drew his fist back. I tilted my chin up and stood there, waiting for him to sock me in the jaw, or at least try to.

But at the last second, he thought better of it and stabbed his finger at me instead. “Arrest that bitch,” he snarled. “For assaulting an officer.”

“That seems to be a popular excuse with you,” I drawled. “And that was hardly an assault. Trust me. If I assaulted you, then you would be crying to your mama about it.”

“Take her away,” he growled. “Right fucking now.”

Rough hands grabbed me, pulling me away from Bria and Xavier. My sister reached for me, but Dobson stepped in front of her, blocking her path. Bria glared at him, her hand dropping to the gun holstered on her black leather belt, as if she was thinking about doing something violent and stupid, just like I had.

“It’s okay, Bria,” I called out. “He’s not worth it. I’ll be fine.”