I closed my eyes as the conversation between me and Gregory came to a close, but the one between my Uncle Liu and the waiter at the door continued.

Taking my attention away from the averted conversation, I focused on the words outside over everything else. The whispers I'd heard about my appearance were back and even more widespread as people wondered if someone in my family had died.

Worry gnawed at my gut. Tagashin wouldn't, would she? No, it made little sense for her to go to murder from curses that, while utterly horrifying in concept, could still be fixed. And I liked to think better of her than that.

"Anything we should do?" Gregory asked me quietly.

"My usual method of preparing myself for family," I whispered back, and immediately drained half of my teacup, savoring the taste and trying to draw as much strength from it as I could.

"What was that about gulping never being the right way to drink tea?"

"I do not gulp. That was just a prolonged sip."

They were nearly at the door now, and I hushed Gregory's reply.

The door opened, and both were ushered in by the waiter. Uncle Liu was dressed the same as last time.

My aunt wore a widow's veil, only much darker than normal. You could barely see her face, only a vague silhouette that might be something solid or might be mesh tighter than the rest. She quickly settled into her seat, but my uncle stood in the doorway still, unmoving.

Uncle Liu blinked a few times, apparently at a complete loss for words.

"Uncle?" I asked, breaking him out of it.

"Sorry," he said, coming further into the booth, settling down opposite me. "I did not believe what I was told. Malvia, what changed you?"

I had told the aunts, but if he still didn't believe that after seeing the evidence, well. "I took to walking on the edge of the docks, Uncle, and in my hubris, slipped and fell into the Nover. This is the unfortunate result."

I kept on blaming the Nover, probably because the Nover was easy to blame for many woes, or at least for people to believe whatever weird things you might say about it.

"Not what you told your aunts," Liu said, then finally seemed to notice Gregory was sitting next to me. "Lord Montague! What a surprise it is to see you here!"

"Mr. Xang," Gregory said politely. "A pleasure as always."

"Aunt Jing," I said, inclining my head in greeting. "My condolences. Which of my cousins has passed?"

She and Uncle Liu traded looks, the latter clearly bemused.

"No one in our family has died," Uncle Liu said. "Your aunt's attempts to make that happen have so far failed, thankfully."

I nodded, pretending to agree with the fake sentiment of expressed foolishness over Diwei. Poisoned by knowing if I said anything like that, I'd be dealing with scowls and accusations of not respecting my elders despite their clear faults. And because I knew they'd been faking the entire thing as some convoluted attempt at testing me.

"If you don't mind me asking, why the veil then?" I asked.

Aunt Jing lifted her veil, revealing a face just as stained with soot as it had been last night, hair still chopped unevenly short.

"Ah," I said, setting my cup aside. "This is…well, not what I expected, to say the least."

"You seem honest about that," she said as she settled in her seat. "Diwei stated she believes you arranged this with that kitsune friend of yours."

"She is worse off than the others," Uncle Liu said. "They at least could change their clothing, while she is still in the same she was forced into."

I wrapped my tail tightly around the table leg, forcing myself not to chuckle, giggle, or smile.

"My sympathies to Aunt Diwei for her suffering," I said evenly.

"What exactly is she suffering from?" Gregory asked. "If it is anything too onerous, I can see if my temple can do anything to help cure her."

"She's suffering from an attempted change in occupation," I said, then quickly drank from my cup before I really started laughing.

My two relatives stared at me flatly, and then Uncle Liu answered Gregory.

"She is suffering from a curse, one that we believe would be beyond you," Uncle Liu said politely. "The offer is appreciated."

Gregory frowned. "A curse, but when and who-oh, this is Barnes' work, isn't it?"

Aunt Jing's eyes widened just a fraction. "You know a second entity capable of doing…that?"

"Same entity, different names," I told her. "Let's not use the other. While she might not prefer hiding who she is, Intelligence definitely does, and you don't want to cross them. I think Aunt Jing had already done enough to irritate this one."

Aunt Jing's eye twitched. "It was more your other two aunts than me. They were the ones who broke the deal."

She must really not like the role she'd been forced to play last night as part of Grandfather's plan, to be this obvious. Or perhaps it was just having to spend her time looking like she'd been burying her face in a pile of soot.

"They made a deal with Barnes'," I explained to Gregory. "Engaged her in games. Then they broke the deal."

"Say no more," he said. "I get the picture. Well, enough of it anyway."

"Excellent," I said, clapping my hands together and startling everyone in the booth.

I'd actually overheard the waiter approaching, and with a rap on the outside of the booth, he was let inside to take orders. After Aunt Jing got the veils back onto her face.

Professionalism broke again as the waiter had to reconcile with the fact that the four of us had come to a coffeehouse to drink tea instead of his flavored bean water. He seemed to shrink visibly as both Aunt Jing and Uncle Liu ordered tea instead. I took it as a sign of victory for the superior drink that the four of us had ventured deep into enemy territory only to withstand its assault. As was proper.

"Also, a slice of cake, please," I added at the end. "That Casenberg, if there's a slice available?"

There was to my delight, and I could even ignore how the price had miraculously gone up in the few days since my last visit. Revenge could wait for another day. Even better, the food and tea arrived quickly.

"I'd love to dig in," I said after he left. "But unfortunately, business first now that we're done taking in changes since we last talked. Which, how recently was that for the three of you?"

Uncle Liu looked at me with mild bemusement.

"She seems really interested in why you were asking questions about her," he told Gregory.

"Understandable," he replied. "If I found out people were asking my family questions about me? I'd be rather concerned."

"Your situation with your family is rather delicate," Aunt Jing offered, having removed her veils once again. "What we hear paints some of them as very difficult to get along with. A shame."

More tea, if only to keep my teeth from grinding against each other.

"If you don't wish to discuss that, we can move to the next topic of discussion," I offered mildly.

As much as I wanted to know exactly what stories about me they'd been telling others, I knew if it was anything truly offensive, they wouldn't tell me about it.

"No desire for small talk, niece?" Uncle Liu said before taking a sip of his tea.

"Unfortunately, my schedule is rather busy with things that must take priority," I said. "Besides, there is little to offer about the weather besides it being cold, miserable, and whoever decided it should be like this should be shot. Unless it's a member of the royal family, in which I will bow down to the clearly superior wisdom about having it snow so much."

"It is strange," Aunt Jing said, making a face as she tasted her own tea before continuing. "Far too early in the year for it. It's cold enough that we spotted the Nover freezing on the way over."

"Really?" Gregory asked. "I wonder if they're trying to freeze it completely. I know at least some archmage of a guild has suggested freezing it and lifting it out to try to clear some of it out."

"Wouldn't work," I said. "That river is far beyond just removing the pollution from it now. And also, I said I did not want to discuss small talk."

"I mean, if you want to discuss something else, we could talk about that undead's head in your family's home that swore undying vengeance on you," Gregory said. "Something about a firecracker?"

"Jonesy," I muttered, surrendering the idea of staying on a relevant topic for now. "You haven't thrown that thing out yet?

Gregory's eyebrows shot up. "Wait, it actually is Jonesy the Cutter's head?"

"It is," Aunt Jing said. "And no, we have not. It would be disrespectful to your Uncle Hao to remove the symbol of what he gave his life to achieve. And it was still a poor idea on your part to deface it."

"It constantly talked about wanting to chop me up, and given who his victims were? I'm glad I got banished from the house before I got too old. A firecracker in the mouth is the least of what that thing deserves, and I'm glad I blew its jaw off."

"They wired it back on," Gregory told me.

"Of course you did," I said, looking at my relatives. "Please tell me you put a gag on it. Or at least a silencing spell."

Neither was willing to answer me on that. I sighed, took another sip of tea.

"This great evil you were trying to bait your Aunt Diwei into chasing after," Uncle Liu said. "We would know more of it, if you're allowed to say. And assuming it is not just a trap for your aunt."

"Uncle," I said with a grin. "If I were to construct a trap for Aunt Diwei, I would like to think I'd think of a better one than this. Also, while I consider myself a rather formidable opponent, it's physically impossible for me to have done some of these killings, not without being in two places at once."

"Your not being the killer doesn't make your taunting of Diwei less of a trap," Liu said. "She may be difficult to get along with, but that doesn't mean she should be led into some scheme."

Then maybe they should make that clear to her, although I didn't doubt my aunt's bullheadedness made that difficult.

"It's not anything worse than hunting a Kitsune would involve," I told him. "If I were capable of killing the devils they are summoning, they lack anything that should provide her a challenge. Besides the main killer, who should provide a challenge? And I'd rather have Diwei hunt something that isn't likely to end with her accidentally beheading an employee of Her Majesty's Government. Or worse a citizen minding their own business."

Not really, but my dislike for my aunt didn't extend to wanting some poor innocent getting carved up to cause her downfall.

"It has been discussed with the entire family," Uncle Liu said. "And friends. Those around anyway. You probably know that many of us are not currently in the city."

"I did not," I said, and his expression didn't change a bit.

Let him believe I was busy spending time spying on them all. I didn't know where I could have found the time to spy on them even if I wanted to. I'd barely wanted anything to do with them, and even my recent decision to try to give this another shot was faltering in the face of last night's events.

"Several of your cousins would be for it, but that's because they feel restless not being out hunting," Aunt Jing said. "Yearning for the thrill of excitement. At least they are the proper age for it, unlike Diwei. I wonder, though, are you even allowed to tell us much of this supposed evil?"

"I'm allowed to bring you in on the broadest of details and under my boss's authority," I said. "I will no longer be on this case under Intelligence's purview soon, so I'll handle the introductions probably tonight, depending on other factors."

"You will be off the case soon?" Aunt Jing asked.

"I'll be off the case under Intelligence," I said. "Now, under whom I might worm my way back in, that I think I best keep to myself."

Gregory snorted, and I heavily resisted the urge to smack him in the back of the head with my tail. I really needed to train all of his tells out of him at some point.

"As for the introductions, I have other errands to run, as nice as it would be to just laze around eating cake all day," I said. "The priest killings are part of a ritual."

"A pity," Aunt Jing said. "It would be nice if it were simply a madman running amok. What is the aim? To summon devils like the one that attacked your home?"

"A little higher than that," I said, glancing at the booth entrance. "Again, speaking only in generalities. Details are best saved for less public places. And some of them require other people's involvement. Again, I can make the introductions later."

"We can agree to a meeting," Uncle Liu said. "Nothing more."

I nodded.

"So, now that we've got the more immediate concerns out of the way, why did grandfather have the three of you trying to provoke me?" I asked.

Silence from the both of them, although neither went entirely emotionless as I mentioned that, just a slow leeching from their faces as tea cups were put down.

"By trying to kill Barnes," I clarified, and Gregory's eyes widened next to me.

"What is it with everyone I meet trying to kill each other?" he whispered to himself, and I graciously pretended not to hear that.

"If such a thing were true," Uncle Liu finally said. "How would you happen to know it?"

"I overheard all three of my aunts talking about it," I confessed. "At some length before realizing such a conversation might be best saved for home."

"Diwei swore she'd blocked all magic forms of eavesdropping on us," Aunt Jing said, eyes narrowing. "How did you bypass that?"

Hrrm, was it worth hiding this? No, they'd be able to puzzle it out eventually, as soon as they ran across someone who could spot the loophole.

"All magical forms of eavesdropping," I said. "And you all pitched your voices low enough that it would be hard to overhear without being in plain sight of you. However, while magic itself could not overhear you, magic used to change one's existing biology to be capable of hearing at such a distance works well."

Uncle Liu frowned. "How would that not be a constant cacophony?"

"The same way it isn't for elves and other races with enhanced hearing," I replied. "You learn to tune out the most unnecessary bits when they aren't being focused on. Same way you go through a crowded market square and can listen to people right next to you or focus on a conversation even with all the other ones going on. It's amazing what you can focus on."

"Something to bring up to Diwei," Jing said with just the faintest hint of a smile. "It will be amusing to see her realize she was bested."

"We seem to have found ourselves off the topic," I said lightly. "Why did Grandfather order you to do this?"

The two looked to each other, something passing between them, and Uncle Liu spoke up first.

"It is very complicated," he said. "It might be best if-"

My tail lashed the table, making both of them jolt back, hands going inside their robes.

"Please don't," Gregory said coldly next to me, suddenly leaning forward with his hand outstretched. "I don't think anyone wants this to turn violent."

The prickle of divine magic in the air was doing more than making my skin itch. Burning along my cheek as his hands glowed brilliant white. I almost told him to turn it off, but it would ruin the effect and it was…an interesting turn from him.

Well, as that slight burn began to prick and feel like thousands of needles poking, I didn't have an option.

"Gregory is correct," I said. "I don't think anyone here wants any violence. Just answers. I think they get the point."

The light vanished, and Gregory leaned back, picking his tea cup off the table. That was currently a mess, courtesy of my tail slap, and I could hear the staff outside wondering if someone had finally taken offense at me enough to punch me.

Liu and Jing had regained their composure by now, serene once more. There was an underlying tension now, but hands weren't going for weapons anymore.

"No excuses or attempts to evade, please," I said. "No attempts to say it's complicated or needs to be explained later. Three of you attacked my friend, tried to kill her, to provoke a reaction out of me. The fact you failed doesn't change that; it just means I had to beg her not to ruin your lives because you played idiotic games with a kitsune."

"He wanted you evaluated," Uncle Liu said reluctantly, each word coming out like pulled teeth. Each one slower as I felt something inside me ignite. I kept most of it trapped down there. Most of it.

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"Really?" I said mildly. "He wanted me evaluated how? By Diwei acting slightly more like a lunatic than before?"

"She is your elder," Uncle Liu said reproachfully.

"As established earlier, she wants me dead," I replied. "I can think of at least one person who has tried this last week with an actual reason. Not just because sharing blood with an Infernal is some grievous sin worthy of death. So even if it's in the service of some attempt at provoking me, I will take her behavior as reflecting on her. Now. Why are you provoking me?"

"Your grandfather should be the one to explain it," Uncle Liu said.

"My grandfather isn't here," I replied. "And I am not particularly in the mood anymore to venture to where he lives. Finding out that this was some ill-conceived evaluation of me has robbed me of what little willingness I had. Besides, too much chance he lets Diwei mount my head on her trophy wall."

"He wouldn't let her do that," Aunt Jing said, a note of irritation in her voice. "She can hold onto that idea as her perverse form of comfort to excuse her own prejudice, but it would not be allowed."

"Wait," Gregory said, frowning as he put his teacup to the table, looking at me. "I thought you were being metaphorical, your Aunt-"

"-really wants my head mounted on a wall?" I finished for him. "Yes."

His mouth tightened. "Ah. My condolences. My father also wanted my head off, but he at least stopped short of planning to have it displayed."

"Appreciated," I replied, tone softening, then turned my attention back to the other two. "If my grandfather should be the one to explain it, you know my address. I'd suggest a carriage of some kind. Too much risk of a desperate pickpocket if you go by foot."

"Your grandfather cannot travel," Uncle Liu said with a pained grimace. "He cannot even leave the house at the moment."

"Why can't he travel?" I asked them, frowning. Probably an injury, maybe a disease. Those were the first two possibilities my mind went to.

"Why can't you come up to see him?" Aunt Jing countered. "You know you will not be harmed in there. Yes, you were evaluated, but that is as much because you've kept your distance over many years."

There was a difference between evaluation and provoking a kitsune.

"I'll repeat what I said before," I replied. "I might have been willing to see him before. Now that it turns out you ran some kind of test on me that involved trying to kill my friend-"

"We were not to actually hurt the kitsune," Aunt Jing interrupted. "Just use it to see your reaction."

"Sorry, I was mistaken," I said before I let anger curdle my polite tone. "Pretending to kill my friend. You're right; that sounds much better. Aunt Jing, a question? If I were to bite Uncle Liu's throat out right now, do you think your reacting violently would somehow be a black mark on your character?"

To some mild credit on their behalf, neither of them protested the comparison.

"It was perhaps ill-conceived," Aunt Jing said.

"Everything about this is," I told them. "Perhaps a sign that being open might work better. Why can't Grandfather meet with me?"

Silence, as they looked at each other instead of me. Gregory sat awkwardly next to me, eyes flicking between me and them, probably not wanting to stick his hand in something that could bite it off.

He had met the Xangs before, so he probably knew the likelihood of that.

"I'm not so desperate for your help or your tolerance that my patience is endless," I told them.

Irritation, anger, and a bit of sorrow from both of them as they faced me. Masks or real? I was probably about to be fed some other deflection, and this time I would leave the room. I had other swords I could collect besides the Xangs, they were just the best ones I could think of. I rose from my seat, gesturing to Gregory to get the door.

"Your father came to visit our house," Liu said. "It is the reason your grandfather cannot visit you."

"It what?" I hissed.

My tail thrashed as I straightened up, fingernails digging into the table. I resisted the urge to look around. This was….impossible. What got summoned into the city was restricted to things well below it.

"In spirit, not in flesh," Jing clarified quickly. "Please sit down?"

It was only then that I realized my tail had gone for a dagger in my coat and was waving it about. I shoved it back into its sheath, forcing myself onto the bench.

"Spirit or not, that thing floating around the city is a danger to everyone inside it, especially given who else got spawned by it," I snapped, shoulders hunching.

Hells, if it was talking to Versalicci, if it could reach the material plane, if it knew where I was.

I forced my breathing to slow. "Why was it here?"

"We think it was looking for the location of your mother," Uncle Liu said.

I frowned. "That makes no sense. It's not really a secret where she is. And it's son knows as well. When did this take place?"

They traded a glance, and I resisted the urge to tap my nails on the table.

"Three months back," Aunt Jing said.

My brow furrowed. That timing was strange. Before my misadventure with the shape-changers. Before I'd inadvertently put a portal to its realm in for a moment during my escape from Lady Karsin's. Why?

"The entity attacked your grandfather's mind while he was sleeping," Uncle Liu said. "We aren't sure how it pierced the estate's magic, but it left him wounded. And it is probably after your mother for the same reason you need to see him."

"Ah, yes," I said mildly. "I forgot that part of what I'd overheard. I don't think we need my grandfather for this. What did my mother do? You know, the thing where you threatened my life to force her into compliance?"

"It is…difficult for us to explain," Aunt Jing said.

I didn't hesitate, even though I desperately needed to know what it was, what had been the root of all this, but it was a poisoned chalice.

"Gregory, the door," I said. "We are done here."

"Wait," Uncle Liu said, rising. "We didn't witness it. But your mother was using diabolism again, and for purposes even worse than the foolishness of last time."

I should take offense at that, since 'last time' would include my conception, but summoning a noble devil was foolishness. I supposed.

"Using it for what, precisely?" I said. "Best guess or just a general idea if you don't know the specifics."

"Your grandfather witnessed it directly," Liu said. "Others did too, but you would trust them even less."

Ah, meaning Aunt Diwei and her children. Some of my other cousins. Aunt Fang's husband. Most of the family, really.

"You have some idea, surely," I said. "It's been years? No one talked? Explained? Discussed the finer details, along with whether to slit my throat? Discussed over whatever child-sized coffin was being considered?"

"That was entirely Diwei's idea," Aunt Jing said furiously, and Uncle Liu was moving to the door. "We would never have allowed it."

I glared at her, and she met my gaze evenly, then turned my attention to Uncle Liu.

"Honored relative, please move yourself from the door before I start getting most uncharitable ideas about us getting out of here," I told him. "The diabolism?"

"She was trying to summon that thing again," Liu said flatly. "And with less caution than last time."

"Hrrm," I said. "Well, I hope my grandfather has some very convincing evidence. Assuming we ever meet."

"You will not come?" Uncle Liu said.

"I'm not saying yes or no," I told him. "After this case is done, then I'll make a decision."

Perhaps a bit cruel, implying that their help with it might be payment for a yes. Strangely, I couldn't find any sympathy inside myself over that.

"What is his condition?" I continued.

"He will not die, but he is recovering slowly," Uncle Liu said. "We've had doctors take a look, as well as several mages who are trusted. He bears no clear wound in the arcane, and nothing modern medicine can detect, but something still claws at him and hampers his health's return."

"You should have told me," I muttered.

Aunt Jing clears her throat, looking uncomfortable as she spoke. "There were…concerns about if you might be in contact with the Devil. And you have made clear your thoughts on contact in general with us."

I frowned. That was fair, I supposed. Of course, being fair was hardly how they had been, had it?

I could leave. Forget any plans of involving them as muscle in this case. Forget any lingering questions I had about my mother, or the thing they called my father. Forget even the resolution I'd made to myself in that fey realm. I could just cut it here, more than justified by everything that they'd done.

I wanted to, as I glanced back at the door. Gregory was already up, hand on the handle, glaring at Uncle Liu. It would be so easy.

No. Not yet. But when we met, it would be on my terms. Which meant getting the old man healthy.

"True. However, I meant that I know a much more experienced diabolist than myself. And she might be able to find any poison or wound on his soul that could be hampering his recovery. She'll probably charge for it, but she would probably be willing to take a look."

The two glanced at each other, silently debating for a few moments before Aunt Jing nodded slightly.

"Her name and residence?" Uncle Liu asked.

I wrote both down on some paper and passed it over. "Be a bit gentle, though; she and her family have had a rough morning. And tell her I sent you."

Rough might be exaggerating things, but I'd rather they be cautious and not offend Alberta. I had enough headaches without Xangs getting in a feud with another powerful ally of mine.

Uncle Liu nodded stiffly. "Thank you. We will take our leave now. The meeting with your superior?"

"I'll send word once it's arranged."

They tarried long enough for Aunt Jing to get her veil back in place, then they both hurried out. Once they were gone, I let myself slump to the table. Shite. It could be here. It could be anywhere. Why? How? If it could why bother having it only be contacted through ritual? Worse, what was it plotting?

And the Xangs. The Xangs.

"Malvia, are you okay?" Gregory asked, not trying to get any closer, giving me my space.

In return, I kept my tail away from him as it coiled and ripped through the air like a whip. Somehow, I'd gotten everything I wanted and come off still unsettled, and still absolutely furious. They should have mentioned sooner. Irregardless of any suspicions…no, the suspicions were fair. As much as it pained me to give anything to them, I'd been gone for years, come back to deliver my mother, and disappeared again, only to resurface a final time, wielding diabolism as a weapon.

It was fair to suspect. It was just so damn inconvenient that they had.

"Not really," I muttered, forcing my tail to still. "Finding out that thing had been here, even if only in spirit, is disturbing. And a problem. But not one for today."

"You don't think he's involved?"

"I certainly hope so," I answered. "If it is, let's hope it doesn't have the energy for another stunt like it pulled on my grandfather. It's entirely possible it only faked heading back to the Hells, and the fact that it appeared here at all? Disturbing. It had to have help."

"Not the only thing I imagine is making you feel upset," he said.

Huh? What else was-oh.

"That," I struggled to find words for it. A shock? I suppose, but as time went on, more and more away from the Xang's, the fact it had been considered was just another offense added to an ever-growing pile. "It's fine. Diwei never hid what she thought. The others are a bit of a shock"

"Malvia, your family threatening to kill you is not a 'bit of a shock'," Gregory replied, sitting next to me.

"My apologies for bringing you to this," I said, staring at the slice of cake, not really able to look him in the eyes. "This was dragging you into what I knew was going to be drama."

"Don't be," he said. "And if you don't want to talk now? Fine, but you need to talk to someone Malvia."

I sighed. "I'm not trying to evade. Just disappointed in this. I wanted to give them a second chance, a fresh slate in terms of our relationship, and then this."

"Some family always finds a way to disappoint," Gregory said. "I suppose I have you beat there at least. Only one relative of mine has ever wanted me dead."

Delivered lightly, but there was a tenseness to his body, a jerkiness to his movements as he got up. Something about this had pulled at him.

"Are you okay?" I asked him.

He seems startled by the question, paused halfway out of his seat. He moved across from me in the booth, steepling his hands.

"Of course," he said. "Why would you think I wasn't?"

I raised an eyebrow, tail fishing for one of the deserted cups of tea. Whatever else their fault, they had excellent taste in tea, so it should be-no, wait, there were chimney ashes floating in the half-drunk cup my aunt had left. Damnit Tagashin. And I suppose it would have been unsanitary even without the ash.

Evading. Even inside my own head. I'd sworn I'd be better about this.

"You threatening my uncle and aunt," I said carefully. "That was..unexpected."

"Spontaneity is a virtue in some religions," he replied. "Bards need to think quick on their feet, whether it's adventuring or figuring if their performance is going to get them a spot in the stables or the muck."

A problem I think he'd never had, but now it was the other side of this conversation deflecting.

"It's not like you to threaten violence," I said. "Me, I understand, but I never would have expected it from you."

"I'm not a pacifist," he said lightly, but there was an edge under that.

"Well, if I talk to you about how much I don't care about the Xangs wanting me dead, you can talk to me about how much of a pacifist you aren't?"

A second, and he nodded, accepting the offer.

"After we handle our tail," I said. "And other issues."

"Of course," Gregory replied. "Someone should go tell those diabolists to stop killing people so we can just sit down and get our issues resolved, shouldn't they?"

"Definitely," I said, allowing myself another bite of cake before getting up.

"So," Gregory asked. "What do you want to do involving this tail?"

Well, the answer that came to mind was to have Gregory go out as bait and for me to go after the tail if he decided Gregory was more important, but thinking on what had gone on…let's change things a little.

"This is what we are going to do."

***

It was a very grateful and confused waiter who saw me out the front door.

Confused by what had been requested, grateful to see me out. I'd already set conversations going among their usual patrons with my changed appearance. None of those conversations had been favorable to me. Honestly, I needed to do something before they spread, because I could see Intelligence not caring if I'd been sacrificing infants in profane rituals to look more fitting as long as I was an effective soldier.

Also, more fitting? Really? Were fins in among the upper class? Sparkling scales? Blue, black, and silver? Another one of those passing fads, it had to be.

Minus my coat, the outside winter chill actually bit in as the wind blew past. Just a breeze, but carrying enough snow to make me shiver. Brilliant idea, seeing if the tracer was on my coat by giving it to Gregory. We were planning on capturing this one anyway. I pushed out into the following snow, making my way down the street.

After a second, the squeaky wheel started up once again. Well, whoever the tracker was on, clearly, I was the one they wanted to follow most. Good thing I hadn't sent Gregory out first. Also confirmed it wasn't my coat.

The snow was still going as I trudged forward, taking a left at the intersection and pushing against the wind. The way back to my home was to the right. To the left was nowhere anyone should suspect me to go.

No one else on the street as I trudged forward, although I could hear the sounds of other wheels, much better oiled than the cart tracking me. Smart people either stayed inside or did not go out on foot.

The squeaky cart paused at the intersection, then after a half second, the sound continued to stay the same in volume, not decreasing. Chosen to go left.

A tracer for certain on me, which probably meant on my current clothes. Well, I was hardly going to strip to get rid of it. Instead, we could interrogate whoever this was on where it had been put.

Another five minutes of walking, and at the third intersection when the driver would realize he was being sent in a circle, the sound of rushing footsteps, the panicked braying of a donkey, and two men going toppling into the snow.

Turning around, I rushed to the sound of struggle until they came into sight.

Gregory was wrestling with an older man, on his way to the twilight of middle-age, white in his bushy brown beard and lines on his weathered pale face. Dirty clothes with dirt stains, rough, calloused hands. Gregory had him firmly in hand, helped by my borrowed revolver.

"It's Karsin's gardener, isn't it?" I said, exasperation creeping into my tone. It's what I should have expected, but damnit, I did not want to waste time on this.

"Don't let that thing near me!" The gardener in question yelled. "It's gonna spell me!"

I took that sudden rising tide of anger and forced it into the world's most beautiful, most perfect smile. The man's face paled as he witnessed it.

"It's amazing," I said with cheer. "My good sir, you possess the amazing talent of making me suddenly forget I should be sympathetic that your master has forced you into a task that is very dangerous for someone like you. Suicidal, some might say."

"Malvia, please don't give him a heart attack," Gregory said, now dealing with a suddenly compliant prisoner, albeit one trying to put Gregory between himself and me. "Jacovin, some advice? Shut up."

Lord Karsin's gardener was quick to comply, and I in return put the world's perfect smile away, along with the many sharp teeth within it.

"You knew it was him?" Gregory asked me.

"Unfortunately," I replied. "A wagon was what he was using last time to follow us, and an amateur would use one with a squeaky wheel when there's no one on the street to blend in with."

"Why even bother with catching him?"

"I was hoping I was wrong," I said as Gregory loosened his grip on the suddenly silent gardener. "I was hoping for something more germane and less of a distraction. Don't loosen it too-"

Too late, as the servant-turned-spy took advantage to slip out of Gregory's grasp, running into the swirling snow.

I was halfway to him when a star of shimmering white light blazed past me. My cheek burned uncomfortably as it streaked past, violin music following as it rammed into the fleeing gardener's back.

The servant shrieked as it exploded, flaring brightly. I closed my eyes just in time, but there were still spots there as I reopened them.

"Jacovin, don't run!" Gregory yelled. "You'll just make things harder for yourself!"

Jacovin chose not to, slumping in the snow as I continued running forward. That saved Gregory briefly from another lecture about yelling things like that. You didn't scream at people you were trying to kidnap in the middle of the street, no matter how snowy and empty it was!

"Did you intend to take his head off?" I asked as I got the gardener's arm behind his back.

"I was aiming for his knee!" Gregory protested. "I just meant to slow him down!"

"Get off me, you foul-blooded who-" Jacovin's head snapped to the side as my tail rammed into his cheek like a flail.

"You know, I'm many things, but not that," I said coldly as I forced the struggling man's face in the snow. Partially to shut him up, partially so the cold might numb his pain before he whined. Maybe freeze his mouth shut, too. "Although I've met many people who chose that as their profession with much less profane tongues in their skulls. If you want to hang on to yours, maybe consider your words."

"Malvia," Gregory said warningly.

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not actually going to do it, but he needs to learn a lesson on how to properly address a lady. Now, are you going to continue being profane, or try to run off? Or are you going to come quietly?"

The man beneath me struggled, hacking out a breath as my knee pressed into the small of his back. Finally, I got a weak 'yes' from him.

I yanked him back to his feet, shoving him against the side of his own cart. "See if he has a rope. If not, we're sacrificing a coat to keep him properly restrained, and since you have two-"

"Why not yours?" Gregory suggested. "You are handling the cold much better than the rest of us."

"What, so I can wander around in nothing but trousers and a shirt for the rest of today?"

"I don't see anything wrong with that."

"That master is right," Jacovin wheezed out. "This seductive thing has you wrapped around her fingers, doesn't she?"

Nothing but silence, only broken by the sound of Jacovin's head being shoved into the snow once more.

"I was going to deal with you right away, but now you get to wait, you lucky little duck. In my basement."

Gregory frowned. "Are you sure you want to stash him there?"

I unfortunately had to let Jacovin up out of the snow if only so he could breathe, and the mention of my basement took his skin past pale and towards milk.

"You're going to eat me," he whispered, then took in a breath to scream.

Back into the snow his head went.

"No, I am not eating you," I told him, as his muffled screams escaped the snow. "I don't eat people, and I resent the insinuation. I am putting you in my basement until we can resolve this misunderstanding with Lord Karsin, so he can't get you to stop following me."

"Again, perhaps not your basement," Gregory said. "Considering the last time there was that devil, and the ritual circle, and also I think it's becoming a bad habit to put people in there."

Jacovin's muffled screams reached a new pitch at the mention of a devil, and with a sigh, I started considering what piece of clothing I was about to sacrifice to make a gag.

"It's a basement," I said in annoyance. "It's there to put things you don't want people to see, including your kidnapping victims."

Gregory coughed. "Well, people rarely collect kidnapping victims, Malvia."

I glared at him. "I know that. I try not to. Unfortunately, life is rarely so kind as to let me not. Now, will you-"

As I was about to tell him to sacrifice a coat, I looked down at the weakly struggling Jacovin, and realized the obvious. "Actually, strip his coat off and cut a gag out of it. And if not my basement, your basement."

"I have a single-room apartment," Gregory replied. "It has a bed I put in the wall, a small table, and the bare essentials to cook. I don't have a basement."

I was at a loss for words for a few seconds. Somehow, things had turned around, so that I had a better place to live than he did?

"Well, at your church then?"

"Ah, yes, we could store him in front of the altar and have his screams be the accompaniment for tonight's duel," Gregory said sardonically.

I cocked my head to the side. "Duels?"

"Musical duels, not whatever you're thinking of," Gregory said as he started taking Jacovin's coat off. "We're not taking him to my church."

Jacovin whimpered. "I'll do whatever you say, just please don't eat me. At least let my face be intact so they can find my body for the burial."

I didn't even deign that with a reply, instead just staring at him.

"Jacovin, stop panicking," Gregory said. "Honestly, this is the best outcome for all of us, as opposed to you coming upon Miss Harrow and startling her. This way you don't get a panicked bullet in the gut."

I raised an eyebrow, resenting both the implication that I could be startled by incompetent snooping like his, and that I'd be panicked enough to flub a shot. Besides, you don't shoot people, even if you managed to nail an organ there was too much chance they could keep going and would only die later from blood loss. Better to nail them in the-

Perhaps not the best way for my thoughts to go, I thought in annoyance, pursing my lips while Gregory secured Jacovin's wrists. At least now I can recognize it as a problem that my mind went there. In most cases, knowing the right place to shoot someone was information universally useful.

"You sure she ain't going to eat me?" Jacovin asked fearfully.

"I can promise you she wouldn't hurt you at…well, I suppose unless you gave her a reason to," Gregory said, shrugging apologetically as I glared at him. "Let alone eat you."

"Do you have any idea where to keep him?" I asked a tad irritably.

"I have a rather large closet," Gregory offered. "We could put him there."

"Too much chance of noise that gets overheard, especially since you have neighbors only separated by walls from you," I said. "Take him back to Lord Karsin? You should have time before our next task."

Probably cutting it a little tight, but the Karsin's estate wasn't far from the specific church of Zaviel we needed to be at.

"And do what with him?" Gregory asked as he finished tying the gag. "Just turn him loose?"

"Talk to Desmond Karsin, and convince him to stop having us be followed?" I suggested. "You know him better than me, so I leave it up to you how to handle him but unless he wants his servants stumbling across us while there are devils around, he should stop having them follow us. "

Jacovin was going to disappear in all of the snow, the rate he was paling.

"I almost forgot," I said, hooking my finger around the gag and yanking it down. "The tracer. Where is it?"

Jacovin's eyes widened. "I don't know-"

"Mr. Jacovin, you tracked me through the snow, for many different streets, along turns I had no reason to make except to lose you. If it's not a tracer, how did you follow me?"

Jacovin refused to answer, keeping his lips shut, and I rolled my eyes.

"Gregory, what did he have in his pockets?"

"I don't know; I didn't check."

What? "You didn't frisk him?"

"No, I barely grabbed him before you were-"

I ignored the rest of the excuse, reaching into the gardener's pocket. Trowel, sharpened. Loose change I put back. A small strip of leather on a metal ring, with one end floating in mid-air. Got it. A few seconds to see where on me it was pointing. Trousers.

"How did you get this on me?" I asked Jacovin, straining to look behind me. A small patch, near the top, where the fabric had originally been ripped to let my tail through.

The gardener had lost his voice again, and I decided he probably wound't know anyway.

"Take him and get him to his master ," I said, trying to mask my disappointment. That sinking feeling in my stomach. Had to be because of the lack of connection to the case. No progress, just a reminder of another headache. "And give me my coat back, please?"

"Meet you at the church afterward?" Gregory asked me as he put the bound gardener in the back of his cart, then tossed me my coat.

"Yes," I said, and walked off into the still-falling snow. Time to see Alice off.

Maybe.

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