Hinata racked her brain for an explanation, standing in the hallway, draped in shadow. Plenty stood in the daylight, holding the inert aetherstone. The house was dark and empty.

  “What if this stone is like the illusion crystals Gwen used on the feirm?” Hinata wondered aloud. “She had to recharge those crystals every month. Maybe this just needs recharging.”

  “That sounds likely,” Plenty admitted. He looked out the window. It was midday. Hinata would be trapped indoors until sundown. “I’ll go out and ask around.” He handed her the aetherstone, adding, “Probably best to leave this here until we figure out what to do with it. I’ll be back soon.” He got dressed in a hurry.

  Hinata felt stomach pangs, and she knew he was probably hungry, too. She would have to wait until sundown to get a drink at Strangers. No reason why both of them should stay hungry.

  “Get breakfast while you’re out,” she told him.

  He smirked, slipping a leg into his pants. “I was planning on it.”

  She kissed him sweetly and said, “Be careful.”

  He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her toward him firmly, kissing her softly, nuzzling her nose. Then he left, and Hinata went back to bed.

  She barely shut her eyes before a knock came from the door.

  Odd. Who could that be? she worried. Winchester, probably.

  She put on clothes and went to open the door, then remembered she couldn’t enter the living room due to the direct sunlight. More knocks came from the door as anxiety bloomed inside Hinata.

  She shouted from the hall, “I can’t come to the door right now. My husband will be back soon, if you don’t mind waiting.”

  She heard a dog bark once in response.

  The older guy with the red hair and the red setter, she realized. What was his name? Dana? Damn. What does he want?

  She paced the dark hall until Plenty returned. She heard him greet the man at the door, calling him Darragh, and inviting him inside. She recognized the tone of Plenty’s voice to be his most charming, disarming voice, reserved for tactical manipulation. She recognized it because it was so unusual for her to hear. He never spoke to her like that. It was like listening to the voice of another person, a person who repulsed her, but she couldn’t pull herself away. Like magnetism in sound.

  The door opened, and a short man with thinning red curls stepped inside, hardly acknowledging Hinata. He had a typical frame for an active man of his age and size. A small belly sagged at his belt, but he was otherwise in excellent shape. There was an overly formal air about him, like an unserious man desperate to be taken seriously. A shaggy red setter familiar walked beside him, sniffing the air.

  “It smells like sex in here,” the dog said, sounding miserable.

  Darragh joined, deigning to look at Hinata. "And your aetherstone is inert. You should have gone to Church this morning. Adam repowers everyone's aetherstone at the end of Service. Since you didn't attend Church, you'll be without power for the next seven days, or until you attend to your Holy Father."

  Hinata crossed her arms, feeling embarrassed and chastised.

  Darragh turned, ignoring her to face Plenty. “I’m here with a message and a gift from your benefactor. Winchester has seen your daughter. She’s been placed under the stewardship of Lucille Luxori, the matriarch of the Luxori clan. One could not wish for a higher honor, or a sweeter life. Gwen will want for nothing. Brother Winchester will check on her progress and report to you often. In the meantime, he is still very interested in the Gato family enterprise. What have you learned so far?”

  Plenty looked over at Hinata sympathetically. He signed, ‘Sorry.’

  She signed back, ‘It’s fine. Just give this asshole what he wants and get him out of here.’

  Darragh looked back and forth between them, but he missed the exchange, and he probably didn’t understand sign language. He looked red-faced with rage. “Well?!” he barked.

  Plenty answered in a friendly tone, “Xavier Gato runs Strangers and the Strangers Underground. Yesterday, someone tried to sneak a mouse familiar in. Xavier brought us both down there to interrogate us. He’s very well-connected. He found someone, a Whisper, to pry into our memories. It took no time at all. We didn’t see a look at any of the other rooms, but there was a long hallway with many doors.”

  Darragh became very formal again, very serious, almost comically so, but of course, he was exceedingly dangerous. “That is progress. I’m sure Winchester will be pleased with his investment in your family, Plenty. I’m sure you won’t let him down.”

  “Of course not,” said Plenty. “Was there anything else you needed? You mentioned a gift?”

  Darragh said, “Yes. In fact, several gifts. Though you’ll need to collect them yourself. Your illustrious benefactor has procured furniture, curtains, dishware, artwork, and so on. He expects you’ll repay this kindness soon by delivering some actionable intelligence on the Gatos and what’s really going on down there. Getting a view of the Underground was a good step. Keep digging.”

  Darragh handed Plenty a small card and said, “You’ll find everything stored at a warehouse near the Waterfront District. Consider it a housewarming gift. Welcome to Garden City.”

  Plenty accepted the card and asked, “Can you tell me specifically where to find the warehouse?”

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  Darragh’s nostrils flared with anger, his lips pressed shut, and he shook his head. “No. Red will show you the way. He’s to be a gift to you… for now.”

  “Red?” Plenty asked, confused.

  Darragh gestured toward his familiar. The dog was handsome and fuzzy. He sat like a good boy, listening closely, but of course, he was so much more than that. He was a spy. He was Win’s eyes and ears while Win was away. And Darragh didn’t seem too keen on the idea of giving up his familiar to keep tabs on Win’s extortion assets. But it didn’t look like any of them had much choice in the matter.

  Plenty’s brows furrowed with worry. “You’re… giving us your familiar?”

  Darragh swallowed hard. “For now. Red will accompany you for the foreseeable future. He will serve you, but he is mine. And I mean to collect him before long.”

  Plenty looked sympathetic. “I’m sorry you’re being asked to make this sacrifice.”

  Darragh shook his head and sighed. “It’s no sacrifice. Just treat him well. If you don’t, I’ll know, and you’ll have hell to pay, understood?”

  Plenty nodded. “Understood. Uh, he’ll have to wait here when we go to Strangers, of course. He can’t come inside.”

  Darragh nodded. “I anticipated that. And I’ll come by every day to check on him while you’re out. Like I said, I’ll know if you mistreat him.”

  Hinata wanted to object, but there would be no point. Winchester had all the power in this relationship. He set the terms, and she would have to live with them.

  For now…

  Darragh left without another word. Red the dog whined quietly when the door shut.

  Plenty and Hinata shared silent glances. They both seemed to be asking the same question: “What the hell do we do now?”

  “Could you two maybe open a window in here?” Red asked. “The air smells wet as a sauna. I refuse to pant because I know if I do, I’ll taste it.”

  Hinata flushed with embarrassment. “We weren’t expecting guests!”

  Red said nothing, instead dropping to the floor, crossing his paws, and resting his head on them. He looked wretched.

  Hinata felt a pang of sympathy for the creature. Of course, the dog was a victim in this situation, but he was also a threat to them. If this familiar witnessed Plenty’s transformation, or her unexplainable strength, or if it overheard their plans… Adam would surely learn of it, and they would all be killed. So Hinata’s sympathy was dwarfed by dread.

  What the hell do we do about this?

  Plenty opened a window.

  “Please wait here,” she asked Red. Then she gestured to Plenty to meet her in the bedroom. He followed her, and they switched to sign language.

  ‘Shit!’ he signed.

  ‘Fuck and damn it!’ she agreed.

  ‘Okay,’ Plenty calmed down. ‘We can handle this. We stay quiet at home and leave the dog when we go to work. We have nothing worth stealing, and we haven’t done anything suspicious. We’re fine.’

  Hinata held his hands and leaned into his chest, nuzzling his neck. She breathed in his scent and closed her eyes.

  “Thank you for being here with me,” she whispered.

  He brought a finger to her chin, lifting her face to look at him. His eyes smiled down at her. “Always. We will figure this out. You and me. In the meantime, I’m going to make the best of our situation. Darragh said there were curtains and furniture at the warehouse. I’ll take the dog and carry back what I can.”

  Hinata stifled a whine. He was right. She nodded. Then he took the dog and left her alone in a dark and empty house. She tried to sleep, but most of the day was spent staring at the ceiling, imagining the worst possible scenarios. She almost didn’t hear the scratching of claws on stone.

  With a jump, Hinata was out of bed and on her feet, then she dropped and crawled, searching for movement along the ground.

  “Who’s there?” she said.

  A tiny squirrel hopped into the doorway, her frame silhouetted. It stood on its haunches and put its hands in the air. A voice squeaked, “Don’t hurt me! I’m here with a message.” She sounded like a girl, and a scared one.

  Hinata relaxed and stood up. “Alright, let’s hear this message.”

  The squirrel cleared her throat and recited, “Be careful around the Gatos. They say they offer privacy. What they really offer is surveillance. They are the face of the resistance, but they report to Adam directly. Don’t believe anything they tell you. Don’t trust anything they give you.”

  Hinata bristled. “Who sent you?”

  “‘A friend,’ is all I’m at liberty to say,” she squeaked.

  “Not a very good friend, if they won’t give me their name,” Hinata said.

  The squirrel hopped closer. “He isn’t sure if it’s safe yet. But he’s been watching you ever since you arrived by boat under… mysterious circumstances. When the young Emote took an interest in you, my master knew you could be an asset. Now you find yourself in a precarious position; he doesn’t want to see you fall into a Gatos trap.”

  Hinata narrowed her eyes. “Was your master the vagrant who snuck that mouse familiar into that guy’s pocket?”

  The squirrel scratched behind her ear. Then she said, “The Gatos are the most powerful clan in Lower Garden. Since all the Upper Garden clans are on a tight leash, the Gatos are likely the most powerful clan on the planet. They are the face of privacy, resistance, and underground trade, but their real business is in secrets: espionage, blackmail, narcotics, infidelity, blasphemy, all of it. They gather intelligence, and they deliver it to Adam when it serves their interests. They’ve made many enemies.”

  “Including your master, I take it. So what does he want with me and my family?” Hinata asked.

  “He knows where you’re from. He knows what happened on Crescent forty years ago.”

  Hinata almost fell over. She whispered again, “So what does he want with me and my family?”

  “He wants to help you. Only to help. But he can’t help you if you’re dead or in the mines. So be careful around the Gatos, and don’t give them anything to report.”

  The little brown squirrel turned and hopped away, likely to leave out the window that Plenty had opened earlier.

  Hinata sat on the bed, stunned, trying to process the news but feeling too mentally exhausted to fully grasp the implications of it all. She stayed like that until Plenty came home, carrying a large box. Inside were thick curtains, which he installed at once so Hinata could freely wander the house. He also brought a few lanterns, so they wouldn’t be stuck in the dark anymore. He said there was a lot more in the storage, but he would need her help to carry much of it.

  As soon as she could without being obvious, Hinata pulled Plenty aside and told him about the message from the squirrel, signing so the dog familiar wouldn’t hear them.

  Plenty looked as shocked as she felt.

  ‘Do we tell Darragh and Winchester about this?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m not sure yet. I want to learn more about this mysterious messenger before we give away our only leverage,’ she signed.

  Plenty chewed on his thumbnail. ‘Xavier promised to help us communicate with Gwen. If what this squirrel says is true, his gift is a trap. And we can’t risk telling Gwen directly, or else the Gatos will know we know.’

  Hinata nodded sadly. Plenty pulled her in, hugged her tightly, and kissed her hair.

  “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get to work.”