Strong arms yanked her to a standing position. She found herself blinking up into the faces of two tall men, one with dark skin and the other with light. They wore uniforms. She struggled for a moment, trying to place it… ah, they were policeman. Meant to protect and serve. Guardians of the peace, protectors of the innocent. She relaxed. She was safe.

"Claire, right?" asked the dark-skinned officer.

Glancing around at the dank, narrow passageway between the buildings, she nodded. Where had the Atrika gone?

"I'm Officer Adams and this is Officer Evans. We're going to take you in, get you some help." He began to draw her toward the street, but she dug her heels in. The officer stopped and turned toward her with a sigh. "We're going to make sure the demons don't get you, all right?"

His tone. She frowned. He sounded like she was his tenth crazy person that day and he was weary of all of them.

"How can you protect me from the demons when you don't believe in them?"

Officer Evans took out a pair of cuffs on a sigh. "Look, lady. We're almost off shift, you know? Why don't you let us bring you in nice and easy, without cuffs. I understand you were being chased by some man… was that your boyfriend, honey? There's another unit around front, dealing with him. You can press charges against him at the station. So, let's just go, okay?"

"I can't go to your station. If I go with you now, the demons will find me and kill me."

"That's it." He grabbed her and forced her arms behind her back. The snick of the cuffs around her wrists declared her truly in trouble. He mumbled a bunch of meaningless words at her while he secured her.

Officer Adams grabbed her by the arm and yanked her forward, toward the mouth of the narrow passageway. Claire could do nothing but follow, casting a long look over her shoulder.

No Atrika. That was something, at least.

She'd again been saved by the intervention of a human, though she had no delusions the Atrika wouldn't follow her to this station, whatever it was.

She allowed the men to lead her to their car. Lights flickered brightly on the top of it. How odd. On Eudae there was no need for such enforcers of the rules. Everyone stayed in line. If they didn't, they died. It was pretty much that simple.

They led her to sit in the back seat of the car, took off her cuffs, and gave her a blanket. A heavy grate separated her from the two officers in the front of the vehicle. She snuggled into the blanket and tried not to be alarmed at how trapped she felt. The darker-skinned officer rummaged through a bag in the front seat and pulled out a plastic baggie filled with two golden sponge cakes.