arboreal_priestess | The Freakshow YET AGAIN, Baltimore, Thursday Night

The dragon from the night before was no longer in the ticket booth. She had been replaced by a more familiar, less friendly face: Istas, who was sitting calmly behind the glass, stitching another layer of lace onto the edge of her parasol as she waited for a paying customer to demand her attention. Verity rapped on the edge of the booth. She lifted her head and frowned, eyes narrowing.

"Why are you on the ground?" she demanded. Her gaze flicked from Liam to Uncle Mike, who was standing behind Verity and trying politely not to loom. He wasn't doing a very good job of it. Verity was five-two, and when she was in flats almost any adult male wound up looming over her if he stood too close. "Who is this man?" Her expression brightened slightly, although the frown remained, which was a neat trick. "Are you being held against your will?"

"No," Verity said quickly, skipping pleasantries in favor of stopping Istas before she could decide to disembowel her uncle. "Istas, this is Mike Gucciard, a friend, associate, and honorary member of my family. Uncle Mike, this is Istas, one of my friends."

"It's a pleasure," said Mike, giving Istas a thoughtful look. Istas looked unflinchingly back. "Waheela?" he asked finally. Istas was clearly Inuit, but the frills from her Gothic Lolli attire were enough to throw anybody.

"Yes," replied Istas, without batting an eye. "Human?"

Waheela came from the upper reaches of Canada, where they normally spent their days running around in the shape of huge man-eating wolf-bear things, and view dried blood, unspecified muck, and the occasional half-tanned hide as perfectly acceptable wardrobe choices. They weren't very friendly, and no one really got too upset about that. As members of her species go, Istas was practically a social butterfly. There were days when she not only spoke to six whole people, but managed not to threaten any of them.

Uncle Mike nodded. "At least that’s what my parents tell me."

"We're going to go inside," Verity said, before the two of them could start comparing family trees. "Is Kitty in her office?"

"I believe so." Istas resumed stitching lace to her parasol. From a predator, that was a serious compliment. She didn't feel the need to watch Verity while they talked. Insisting on eye contact would have been a lot more worrisome. Sometimes, dealing with cryptids is all about understanding the social cues they don't share with the human race. "She has said that she will be remaining here as much as possible while she prepares for a siege. Angel is at the Costco, buying things."

"That makes sense," Verity said. "See you."

"Unless I decide I don't want you to," Istas agreed, and kept sewing.

On that unnerving note, Verity opened the door and headed inside. This was getting to be a habit.

Uncle Mike	They stepped through the last doorway into the main club and Mike stopped, blinking. The dinner rush was over and the night crowd had yet to really gather; the people who were left were the truly devoted, the deeply bored, and the ones with no place better to go. A few waitresses circulated, but most of them were clustered near the bar, where Ryan and Angel were busily setting out the remains of the appetizers they'd over-prepared for the lunch crowd. An oread was eating a bowl of gravel with whipped cream and what looked like kitty litter on top. A Pliny's gorgon was taking mincing bites from a buffalo wing. She'd given several bones to her hair, and the tiny serpents were fighting over them. "Wow," he said, finally. "You know, Very, from what your mother told me, this isn’t what I was expecting." Verity winced. "It's not?" "No. This is amazing." He shook his head, turning toward his niece. "Lea would love this place."
Verity	"Well, once Baltimore is no longer being threatened by the Covenant, you'll have to bring her for a visit. I can even let you guys use my Price family discount. Come on." Verity started down the stairs, waving to the crowd at the bar. Most of them waved back, but kept eating. Breaks were rare, precious things in food service; breaks that came with free snacks were only to be surrendered if there was no other choice.
Ryan	Ryan cast a wary look toward Uncle Mike and raised his voice to call across the music, "Hey, Very. You need anything?"
Verity	"That's concerned friend-ese for 'do I need to break this guy's legs for you,'" Verity said, just loud enough for Uncle Mike to hear. Louder, she called, "No, I'm good. I'll come back for introductions in a sec. Is Kitty in her office?" A few of the patrons looked their way, and then turned disinterestedly back to their drinks or their perusal of the bored-looking dancers on the main stage. Verity made a mental note to talk to Kitty about punching up the quality of the midday entertainment.
Uncle Mike	"I think so," said Ryan, still watching Mike with suspicion. Mike watched him back, arms crossed, expression impassive. Wasn't the first time he'd been clocked just for walking in somewhere, wouldn't be the last.
Verity	Verity decided to cut this off before there could be some kind of 'emergency' that caused him to come charging in to Kitty's office while they were trying to explain what they needed from the dragons. She gestured for Mike to follow as she approached the bar. Once she was close enough that she no longer needed to raise her voice, she explained, "Ryan, this is my Uncle Mike, who is not with the Covenant, but is here to help me keep us all from getting killed. Also, he made me a pot roast, and stood over me while I ate a sandwich."
Ryan	"An entire sandwich?" asked Ryan, who knew far too much about Verity's occasionally spotty eating habits. It should be noted that he was asking Liam, not Verity, for confirmation.
Liam	"It's true," Liam informed Ryan solemnly. "I was a witness. Saw the whole thing go down." Pun intended.
Verity	Verity sighed, much to the amusement of all three of them, she was sure. "Uncle Mike, this is Ryan, our bartender and bouncer. He's also Istas' boyfriend, which means he's either insane or preternaturally patient, and he makes a mean cocktail."
Uncle Mike	"We'll have to trade tips some time." Mike extended his hand to Ryan, who took it, too surprised to do anything else. They shook. "Nice establishment you've got here. Now if you'll excuse us, my niece and I have to see a bogeyman about a room."
Carol	Carol gave another bone to her hair, which hissed happily and set about stripping off the last shreds of meat. "Your family's coming to town?” she asked. “Are things that serious?"
Verity	Verity realized that all the other waitresses were staring at her - and that none of them were human. She owed them the truth. "Not yet," she said. "Uncle Mike's our only backup so far, because we don't know that we're going to need any more than that. We just want to talk to Kitty about some tactical issues. I promise, nobody's going to start killing anybody else without me giving you a heads-up about things. Okay?" Carol and the other waitresses looked dubious, but finally she nodded, and the others followed suit. The only ones who didn't look unhappy about the situation were the snakes that made up Carol's hair. They kept stripping the meat off of chicken bones, entirely oblivious to the danger that we were all in. "Come on, guys," she said, and waved to Ryan before grabbing Mike's wrist and pulling him toward the door to the staff area. He'd stay if Verity let him, trying to put everyone at ease and get them all comfortable with the idea of his presence. That was just the kind of guy he was. It was part of what made him so good at his job, and why he and Lea could hold Chicago essentially on their own. The trouble was they didn't have time.
Kitty	It felt like everyone who worked in the Freakshow was in the building, even the ones who weren't supposed to be on duty for hours. Some of them were carrying backpacks, coolers, and even camping gear. They were settling in for the long haul. Verity didn't see any dragons, but everyone else seemed to be present, from the near-human to the barely-there. It was like walking through one of George Lucas’ fever dreams, only a little more coherent, and only slightly less prone to head-tentacles. Kitty was sitting at her desk with the door open when they reached her office. She didn't have her darks on, maybe because with this many people around, she would have just been turning them off every five seconds anyway. Verity knocked on the doorframe. She looked up, and blinked twice - first at the sight of Verity and Liam, and then at the sight of Uncle Mike. Unfamiliar humans weren't exactly what you'd call 'common' in the back halls of the Freakshow. "Can I help you with something?" she asked. There was a wary note in her voice, and she didn't stand up. One of her out-of-sight hands was on the panic button, ready to summon security if Verity looked even a little bit distressed.
Liam	"You can, actually," Liam said smoothly, giving Kitty a knowing look. He'd done this sort of thing long enough to figure that she had that panic button ready to go. "This is Verity's Uncle Mike. He came to town to give us a hand with the whole Covenant situation. We're here because we need to ask you for a favor."
Kitty	Kitty blinked again. Then she stood, revealing the bright yellow robe she'd put on over her Super Grover pajamas, and walked to the office door to offer Mike her hand. He took it and shook, not flinching at the strange way her fingers bent. Bogeymen had extra knuckles, the better to creep you right the hell out when they grabbed your ankles in the dark. It made shaking hands with them a little bit disturbing, since it feels like you're breaking fingers no matter how many times you adjust your grip. "Katherine Smith," she said. "You can call me 'Kitty,' everyone else does."
Uncle Mike	"Michael Gucciard," he responded, handling the handshake with as much aplomb as any human could. He had good relations with the bogeymen back in Chicago. "You can call me Mike. Thank you for having me here." She raised an eyebrow. "I had a choice?" Mike laughed, reclaiming his hand. "Well, ma'am, technically I suppose you could tell me that my services were not required at this time and follow it up by asking me to get the hell out of your city. But that might be a bad idea, given the rest of the situation. I don't think the Covenant of St. George is going to be that easy to get rid of."
Kitty	"If only," said Kitty. She turned to Verity. "What's the favor?"
Verity	"We can't afford to let the Covenant find out where we've been living,” Verity said, not bothering with prevarication. "We need to move someplace secure, where we won't be endangering anyone else - which means we can't stay here. Can you help us convince Candy to let us rent the old Nest for the duration?"
Kitty	"What?" Kitty stared at them, first Verity and then Liam to verify she was being serious. "This is your favor? You want me to help you negotiate with a dragon? Are you planning to sell a few kidneys to help finance this little plan?"
Liam	"Verity found them the first male any of them have seen in centuries," Liam pointed out. "We're hoping that's enough to keep interest rates down. As for the rest, that's where you come in. They'll give us a fairer deal if you're sitting in on the negotiations." Not that Liam was that concerned about the cost; his bank account could more than handle whatever number the dragons threw at them. But there was no sense in letting them know that up front.
Kitty	Kitty snorted. "Says you. I know bogeymen have a reputation for striking a hard bargain, but there's loan-sharking, and then there's whatever it is the dragons do."
Verity	And Verity didn't happen to know the size of Liam's bank account. That was a conversation they'd never had. "You employ most of the dragons in the city. If they piss you off enough, they don't get paid anymore. Besides which, if the Covenant catches me and starts putting me through information extraction, they might find out where the new Nest is. More importantly, they might find out about William." Verity bared her teeth in something that bore very little resemblance to a smile. "I think the dragons would really prefer that I not be that easy to catch, don't you?"
Kitty	"Remind me never to play poker with you," said Kitty. She turned and walked back to her desk, where she hit a button on her phone. "Angel? It's Kitty. Can you please find Candy and send her to my office? Verity's here, and we need to talk about something." "Sure thing, Kitty," said Angel. Kitty removed her finger from the phone. "All done," she said. "Now we just have to wait."
Candy	They didn't have to wait for long. Invoking Verity's name and the phrase 'we need to talk' in the same sentence had obviously been enough to light a fire under Candy, because she came speed walking down the hall toward Kitty's office less than five minutes later. She was wearing street clothes, rather than her waitressing gear: yoga pants, an Old Navy tank top, and a pair of scuffed sneakers that were probably bought off the back of a truck somewhere in the Garment District. Dragons didn't believe in spending money on things like brand name clothing. Not when they could be spending money on more important things, like gold. She was also, judging by the way her belly curved under her tank top, at least two months pregnant. Candy glared at Verity. From her, that was practically a warm welcome. "Who is this?" she demanded, jabbing a finger at Mike. Then she turned her glare on Kitty. "I'm not on duty yet. You have no right to claim my time."
Kitty	"I started paying you for today as soon as I called for you," Kitty smoothly replied. "And any time you spend talking to Verity is not coming out of your breaks or lunchtime. Talk long enough, you could get paid for hours of doing basically nothing. Don't you think that's worth coming on the clock a little early?"
Verity	"Normally, I would love to improve relations with the dragons by helping you get money for nothing and your kicks for free, but I don't have hours to do basically nothing," Verity said, flashing Kitty a grateful look. "Candy, this is Michael Gucciard, my uncle. He's here from Chicago to help me deal with the Covenant while they're in town. We'd like to get them out of town before anybody gets hurt. I need your help." Candy eyed them all suspiciously. "What kind of help did you have in mind?" "I want to rent the old Nest."
Candy	Whatever answer Candy had been expecting, it wasn't that: her eyes widened, genuine shock showing through before her expression hardened again and she snapped, "Absolutely not. It's out of the question." "Why?" "What if the Covenant follows you there? Then what?"
Verity	"It's not connected to your new Nest in any way. There's not even a tunnel between the two of them. You're not going to move back there, not with William stuck under the city, and you're not going to find a way to move William while the Covenant is in town." Verity looked at her earnestly. "If you want me to be here to fight the Covenant for you, I need a safe place to organize from. That means I need to be somewhere secure. Solid. I need the Nest."
Candy	"It's ours," Candy snapped.
Liam	"And we're not trying to convince you to give it up," Liam said, his tone gentle. "Not permanently. Just rent it to us, for a little while."
Kitty	"And you're going to rent it to her, Candy, for a reasonable amount," said Kitty suddenly. Both women turned to look at her. "It's a large building, entirely uninhabited - say five thousand a month? Would that be acceptable to the both of you?"
Verity	"Well..." Verity began, doing a quick mental review of her finances. She was supposed to be self-sufficient while she was in Baltimore, but this was the sort of thing where she could get money from her family if she needed it. The only question was how much, and how fast.
Uncle Mike	"It's fine," said Mike.
Verity	Verity felt a flash of resentment. She should be grateful that he was helping with her plan, but this was her city, and she didn't need him taking over. And then she forced the resentment down just as quickly as it came. Pride was for people who could afford it. "Apparently it's acceptable," she said.
Kitty	"Good," said Kitty. "Candy? You're the Nest-mother. Is five thousand a month acceptable?" Candy glowered. "She can't stay forever," she said. "Six-month lease with an option to renew if the Covenant is still in town at the end of that period," said Kitty.
Candy	If the Covenant was still in town in six months, there wouldn't be a Nest for Verity to rent. That kind of stay would mean that the purge was well and truly in progress. The dragons might survive, if they went underground fast enough, sealed all the doors and got lucky in every possible way—because they couldn't run, could they? Out of all the dragons in the world, the dragons of Baltimore were the ones with something they had to defend. “No," said Candy coldly. "No, she can't have our Nest. Six months is too long. Six hours is too long."
Verity	Something inside of Verity snapped. Without a safe place to go, she was as good as done - and while she wasn't quite arrogant enough to think that Baltimore was doomed without her, the cryptid population was going to be in a lot more trouble if they had to wait for the next wave of defense to arrive. Assuming the family even sent another team. Assuming they didn't just call one ally and one daughter a big enough price to pay, pull Sarah out, and wash their hands of the matter. They weren't heroes. They weren't gods, no matter what the mice may think. They're just people trying to do a job, and that sometimes means admitting that the job is too big to finish. She'd be added to the family history as one more soul they couldn't save, and the rest of them would go on trying to survive. That's what they did. That's what they've been doing since Alexander and Enid Healy walked away from the Covenant of St. George. Sometimes Verity got awfully tired of just surviving. "How far along are you, Candy?" she asked quietly. The dragon flinched. "I'm guessing you're about eight weeks. Nearing the end of your first trimester. Do dragons have trimesters?"
Candy	"We carry the eggs for six months, and then we incubate them for six more," she said, voice just above a whisper.
Verity	"Do you want the Covenant to find your eggs? I bet they'd be fascinated. They haven't had dragon eggs to play with in so long. Oh, and there's your sisters to think about. I mean, back in the day, there was no way to really tie you guys biologically to the males of your species. That level of sexual dimorphism is really unusual outside of deep sea fish. But science doesn't play favorites. The Covenant has science, too. They'll crack a couple of those eggs open, find some scaly little boys and pink-skinned little girls, and then they'll figure it out. You've survived because they haven't been hunting you. They haven't considered you worth hunting. How do you think the league of dragon hunters will take it when they find out that they've been ignoring their mission statement all these years? I think it'll be like Christmas for their twisted little hearts."
Kitty	Candy glanced frantically at Kitty, who shook her head. "You want me to tell her to stop being mean, I can tell," she said. "I'm not going to do that, because she's not being mean. Mean would be threatening to call the Covenant on you if you didn't do what she wants. She's just pointing out that being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn doesn't get you anything but killed."
Candy	"Why are you on her side?" demanded Candy.
Kitty	"Because, Candice, I'd like to live," said Kitty. She planted her hands on her hips and glared. Her Sesame Street pajamas undermined her intimidation factor a bit, but her gray skin and subtly inhuman bone structure balanced it. "I know you don't like the Prices, although I sort of thought we were getting past that, with the whole 'here, have your scaly Prince Charming' stunt they pulled last year. I don't care. You're going to let Verity use your Nest as long as she needs it, as long as the Covenant is here in town. I'm going to pay you five thousand dollars for every month that she's there. And you're not going to say one more bad word about it. You're just going to go back to your sisters and your husband and let them know that the Prices are moving in."
Candy	Candy stared at her. Then she stiffened, and said coldly, "I never thought you'd side with humans over your own kind, Kitty."
Kitty	Much to everyone's surprise, Kitty burst out laughing. "Seriously, Candy? Seriously? You're going to pull the cryptid solidarity card on me? Honey, you're not even a mammal. Verity is a closer relative of mine than you are, and frankly, I will side with whoever keeps me, and the rest of the city's bogey community, breathing. Understand me?"
Candy	"Yes," said Candy coldly. She turned to Verity. "I'll go get you the keys. It may take a while. I hope you don't shoot me for making you wait." Then she turned and stomped off down the hall, not looking back.
Liam	"Well," Liam said, after a beat of awkward silence. "That could've gone better."
Kitty	"I've done a lot of negotiating with dragons," said Kitty. "Trust me, no, it couldn't have. Besides, now you've got a place to go. That’s what you wanted, isn't it?"
Verity	"Yeah," Verity said, sighing. "Can you send Ryan over with the keys when Candy finally comes back? I need to go pack. And pick up the mice."
Uncle Mike	"And eat some more pot roast," Mike said. "Both of you."
Kitty	"Sounds like you've got a busy evening, then," said Kitty, highly-amused. "And Verity - trust me. It's going to be okay."
Verity	Verity laughed a little. "At least one of us thinks so."