Plenty was unmoored. With Gwen gone, he could barely think. He wanted to react. He wanted to tear into Winchester’s throat with his fangs, but Plenty wasn’t a seal, and Winchester had left already. Plenty wanted to flee into the ocean and float until he forgot himself and his worries. He wanted a lot of things, but he had work to do.

  It was just after sundown. He and Hinata were dressed and ready, holding hands against the world, or so the world couldn’t tear them apart. On the way to Strangers, they stopped at a purveyor for a bowl of stew and toast. Hinata fidgeted, scratched, and was generally uncommunicative, but Plenty understood. She needed blood soon, and they were both under severe stress.

  A line outside Strangers hadn’t formed yet, so Damon in the front box waved them through with a cordial nod. The lights were still at full brightness, and Sergio was fetching supplies in lacy black skivvies. They planted themselves on stools at the bar and waited for Candy to appear.

  It was Plenty’s third time at Strangers, and he was growing accustomed to the space. He looked around the room with different eyes than the ones that first beheld it. It looked empty before. Now, it looked hollow. Without the crowd of people dancing, mingling, and surrounding the bar, the room was lifeless. Then again, without the crowd, he could better appreciate the little details all around him. The thick, red carpet. The bold, abstract art on the walls. The shade and placement of each aetherlight, beside them, crystals that refracted the light. Even the walls were expertly carved, made of the same polished dark hematite material that comprised almost all of Nightlife District. The craftsmanship was extraordinary.

  But even as he grew accustomed to the space, it felt alien. Or perhaps Plenty was the alien. A seal out of water, in a strange box, surrounded by apes. It was maddening to consider, so Plenty pushed the thought aside to focus on the task at hand: to find some way to contact Gwen, rescue her if possible. If he discovered something useful about the Gato family, great, but Win’s little investigation was at the back of Plenty’s mind.

  A hidden door opened along the back wall, and Candy walked into the room. She looked casual in a white button blouse and short shorts. She smiled upon seeing them sitting at the bar.

  “Plenty! Hinata! I’m glad you’re both here,” she said. “Plenty, the cooling mist works. And Hinata, you did good last night. There’s a job for you here, if you want it. You’re both welcome to join the team.”

  Plenty sighed in grateful relief, then said, “Thank you. Who else is on the team?”

  Candy answered, “It’s a small crew. You already know me and Sergio, Damon at the door, and last night, Hinata, you met Xavier. You haven’t met Cotton or Penny. Cotton is the other bartender. She covers for me some nights. Penny is the other bar support.

  “Plenty, you’ll be covering for Penny tonight. Every now and again, walk around the room, pick up empty glasses, and bring them here.” She slapped her hand on the bar. “Don’t step behind the bar unless instructed. You’ll meet others in time. The bands rotate. You’ll get to know them if you stick around long enough.

  “Hinata, your job will be to man that door I came in from. No one unaccompanied by Xavier is allowed through that door. Whatever you need, food, drinks, a chair, it’s yours, so long as no one goes through that door that shouldn’t.”

  Hinata furrowed her brows. “When I asked you what happens behind that door, you said, ‘Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to.’ Now you’re asking me to guard that same door, but I don’t want to know what happens behind it?”

  Candy nodded. “Look, Strangers was built on secrecy. That’s the foundation we stand on. This is the one place in all of Garden where familiars aren’t allowed. That makes this the only place in the city, possibly the world, where you’re out from under the eye of God. In this place, Adam can’t see us. He can’t hear us. And that is a powerful thing. The bar, the dance floor, the band, it’s all nice and well, but what we really offer is privacy. I don’t know what happens downstairs, and if I were to tell you, our reputation would be ruined, and you would probably be in mortal danger.”

  Candy made a short exhale and put her hands on her hips. “So, that’s the offer. What will it be?”

  Plenty said, “It’s a yes.”

  Hinata nodded. “Okay. But I don’t need food or drinks. I need blood, and I need it daily. Now, if you can manage it.”

  Candy blinked in alarm. “Oh. Okay. Um, I have a little collected. Probably more by the time the shift is over, if you don’t mind waiting.”

  Hinata nodded, but the muscles in her neck were tense. “I can wait a bit. Where are you collecting it?”

  Candy blushed. “I and a few others are… uh… donating.”

  Plenty understood. Hinata seemed to understand, as she also blushed.

  “Oh,” Hinata said. “That’s… thank you.”

  Everybody broke eye contact for a bit until Candy finally said, “I’ll just go… Yeah, I’ll be right back.”

  Candy lifted a hatch and stepped down into the liquor supply room. When she came back up, she was carrying a box of booze and a small shot glass of blood between her pinkie and ring finger.

  Candy put the bloody shot glass on the bar and collected two empties, filling them with a brown fluid. She handed the bloody shot glass to Hinata and one of the brown shot glasses to Plenty. Then Candy raised her shot high and said, “To new beginnings and to teamwork.” They all clinked their drinks and slammed them back.

  -8-

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  The night started easy. The band arrived and set up. The lead singer was an illusionist of some sort, and he summoned beautiful images while he sang. The crowd was smaller than last night. Plenty and Candy were chatting at the bar.

  “Why aren’t there more people here tonight?” Plenty asked her. “This singer is so good.”

  “Church service is tomorrow,” Candy said. “So most everyone goes to bed early. Abelsday is our slowest night of the week. But Jackson requested this night. He prefers singing to a smaller crowd.”

  Plenty was only vaguely aware of the human framework for time and days. To a selkie, days all blend into each other. Only the phases of the moon are given names. But he understood today to be Abelsday. He wanted to ask about the other days, but he feared that would reveal the depths of his ignorance.

  Instead, Plenty asked about the singer. “Jackson, is he a Luxori?”

  “Good guess, but not exactly. He’s a bastard. Never went to the Tower, so he was never formally trained, and he never got the family name.”

  Plenty remembered Heathcliff’s advice. If they had followed his suggestion, Gwen wouldn’t have been abducted. Plenty clenched his fists and jaw. He could feel his anger rising, but he knew it was really fear for Gwen, and anger couldn’t help him here. He closed his eyes and inhaled slowly, held it in, and then slowly exhaled.

  “You alright?” Candy asked.

  Plenty looked at her and said, “Not entirely. I took my daughter to Admissions yesterday. They took her away and won’t let me see her. I’m told it’s for the best. I have to believe that. But I’m worried about her.”

  Candy reached over to grab his hand. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. You know, there are other ways to the Ivory Tower. Movers control Admissions. Eagle mounts are reserved for elite travel, but the Luxoris aren’t the only clan with hidden bastards. Get to know the crowd. Half these folks are from Upper Garden. Most are visiting legitimately, but a few of them sneak down. They don’t tell me specifics, and I don’t ask, but if you want my advice, make friends with the people in this room. Once Jackson finishes this set, get to know him.”

  Plenty nodded. “That’s a good idea. I’ll do that.”

  “Great. While you’re at it, go collect empty glasses.” Candy shoo’ed him away from the bar.

  Plenty moved through the crowd of gyrating bodies. Most people ignored him or moved aside. A few made eye contact. In the animal world, eye contact is a threat or a signal, but Plenty understood human eye contact to mean many complex things. He wasn’t fluent in human body language, so he politely smiled back at them and continued on his task.

  An odd smell struck Plenty as he moved through the crowd. Urine. Animal urine, like a mouse. Plenty’s sense of smell was acute. There was no doubt in his mind. He sniffed out the smell. It was fresh urine. It came from a healthy mouse on a diet of barley grain. Plenty was sure it was a mouse. He recognized the sharp, acrid scent from when he lived on the feirm. The barn always had mice.

  He followed the smell to a booth and table. It came from a jacket someone had tossed across the booth. Plenty knelt and closed his eyes. He sniffed the air and the ground. He caught a faint trail and followed his nose, walking along the back wall.

  There! Hiding motionless in a dark shadow behind Hinata was a small mouse. On its forehead, a tiny gemstone twinkled in the strobing lights. A familiar. It was waiting to sneak downstairs. Hinata hadn’t noticed it.

  Plenty thought fast. He had to act before Xavier brought someone over to Hinata, or she would be responsible for a security breach. He hurried over to the bar and said to Candy, “Give me a glass of ice, please, now!”

  Candy looked at him like he was acting crazy, but she gave him a glass full of ice. Plenty took it and hurried back to Hinata. She was sitting on a stool, looking bored and bit alarmed as Plenty ran up to her.

  “What’s wrong?” she said, but Plenty didn’t answer. He concentrated on the ice in the glass, and he tossed it at the mouse. Midair, the ice liquified, and as the water splashed on the mouse, Plenty froze it again, freezing the mouse in a small block of ice.

  Hinata looked stunned and confused as Plenty knelt to pick up the frozen mouse. The little thing had died almost instantly, encased in frozen water. He felt some pity for the little creature, used, enslaved, and discarded in this dangerous scheme.

  Who sent it? What were they hoping to discover?

  Plenty carried the frozen familiar to the bar and showed it to Candy. She looked confused at first, then shocked and disturbed. She hid the frozen mouse under the bar.

  “Where the fuck did this come from?” she asked.

  Plenty told her what happened.

  “You smelled it?” That wasn’t a question. Candy was incredulous. She squinted at him but said nothing else. Instead, she turned and pressed a switch behind the bar. A blue light above them turned to red.

  “Wait here,” she ordered, then she walked to the other side of the bar and talked to a man Plenty assumed was Xavier Gato. He was on the taller side of average height. His black facial hair was neatly trimmed and stylized. His complexion was a cinnamon brown, and his clothes were lush and sophisticated.

  Plenty watched nervously as Candy and Xavier talked. She showed him the mouse, and Xavier looked over at Plenty directly. It felt like being noticed by an orca whale. Plenty wanted to flee to high ground, but he stayed put. Even as Xavier walked toward him, held out his hand, and said, “Hello.”

  Plenty wasn’t fond of the human handshake gesture, but he understood it would be rude to refuse to grab Xavier’s hand, so he did what was expected.

  Xavier took Plenty’s hand firmly and held it for an unnerving amount of time, all the while searching Plenty’s face like it held secrets. Plenty felt like he was being examined under a magnifying glass, but he couldn’t determine the nature of the exam.

  “Candy told me what happened. Show me the coat you found,” Xavier said. His voice was friendly. He gave orders casually, like he’d been doing it his entire life. Plenty knew this was some kind of test, so he didn’t hesitate, leading Xavier across the room to the booth. He picked up the urine-wet coat and handed it to Xavier, who inspected it closely, holding it to his nose and sniffing repeatedly. When he found the wet spot, Xavier snorted in disgust. With a searching nod, he handed Plenty the coat.

  A man walked up to them and said, “Hey, what are you doing with my coat?”

  “Charlie?!” Xavier greeted the man with hostile disbelief. “This is your coat?”

  Charlie looked nervous. “Yes… What’s going on?”

  Xavier stared at Charlie like he was searching for cracks or any sign of stress. Then he grabbed Charlie by the bicep and said in a friendly tone, “Let’s chat. Come with me. You too, Plenty.”

  Xavier led them to the back, passed Hinata, and opened the back door.

  “What’s going on?” Hinata asked Plenty, alarmed.

  “No need to worry,” said Xavier. “We’re just going to a private room to talk.”

  “I don’t want to go down there,” said Charlie. He sounded afraid.

  “You’re welcome to leave at any time, but until we get this matter cleared up, you won’t be welcome at Strangers again. That goes for everyone here.” Xavier looked at Plenty and Hinata. “So, what’s it going to be?”

  Plenty patted Hinata’s arm to comfort her. “It’s okay.” He stepped forward, ready to follow.

  Charlie gulped and shifted his weight, but he said, “Okay. Let’s get whatever this is over with.”

  Xavier nodded and led them downstairs. Plenty squeezed Hinata’s hand before he left her to guard the door.