Chapter Nine - I Moths Ask You a Question

"I don't like it," Jenny the gremlin said. She was shrugging deeper into her oversized coat, and from what I could see of her, she was regretting wearing so little.

Look, I was young once, with nice legs and all, but I'd gotten past the 'show off myself' phase real quick when it started to be too inconvenient. One could only pull off Famme Fatale for so long, after all. Now I was firmly in the old-person camp of looking down on anyone young and stupid who wore too little. Like these two brats here.

The mage, Aly, was at least wearing pants, but her entire midriff was exposed. Was she not aware of how many organs were there? And that pale skin would stand out in the dark. She was asking to get shot.

The girls whispered something to each other, the sound swallowed by the hum of the ventilation system hanging near the ceiling.

"Here goes," Sharp muttered.

"You've got this," I said. She might need a little encouragement, after all. No harm in giving her a little push.

Sharp adjusted her shoulders, then walked on over to the girls. I noticed that there was a third person with them, a middle-aged guy sitting in the van with a pair of headphones on. A driver? He didn't seem exactly interested in being here. It was worth noting though.

I wished I was free, then I'd have a better view of the area... actually... why not? These two had seen me before, and playing it as though I was hiding would stand out as non-catlike-behaviour.

I clawed my way up Sharp's side from inside her shirt, and she wriggled a bit as I exited out by her collar and settled onto her shoulder. "What are you doing?" Sharp asked.

"Acting natural. Which you should too. Yup, that's the right level of nervousness. Remember, deflect, distract, and distrust."

"Huh?"

Ah, right, I hadn't taught her all of my mnemonics yet. I had to get around to that, but the last few days had been rather busy. I really did have to draw up a proper lesson plan at some point. But I could worry about that latter.

"Hey," Jenny said. "You're almost late. You know we're on a schedule here?"

"Sorry!" Sharp said. "But I'm here now. Hi!"

"Hello," Aly said with a nod. "Give me a moment." She reached to her back, and I tensed. A weapon? I could probably make the leap from here to her face. A mage she might be, but she needed her eyes as much as anyone else.

Instead, she removed a small gauntlet from a pouch by her back and settled it onto her hand. It was golden, with a few grey bands around the forearm and what looked like a set of gems by the knuckles. The girl closed her now-armoured fist, and the air suddenly buzzed with a strange, static-y feel.

I shifted, trying to stop my fur from standing on end.

She snapped her fingers, and the shadows in her palm unfolded into a small cascade of moths that flitted out and started to fly in lazy circles around us. The sound of the air con was suddenly muffled.

"There," she said as she lowered her arm. She was trying very hard to look casual, but I caught that bit of sweat beading on her forehead. This had cost her something to cast.

I eyed the mage up and down, making note of a few things that I might have missed previously. She had a small silver clip in her hair in the shape of a moth, and her belt buckle had the same outline.

Not a mage then, a warlock. Similar, but entirely different. It wasn't a hard guess to determine that she worked with or for the Eidolon of the Moth. What would that mean? Moth warlocks weren't super common, but they weren't unheard of. She'd be practised with a lot of magic that helped her remain stealthy and unnoticed. Some magic having to do with light and darkness, and obviously some with sound. But nothing too strong, offensively.

I glanced back. The bouncer was staring off into space, his eyes glowing a bit. Definitely not paying as much attention as he could be.

Right, the moth mage... what else did I know about them? There was a strong assassin on the east coast that was a moth warlock for some time, but he'd died recently. The Death Moth. He grew famous, which was a death knell for any assassin worth their salt.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Still, that didn't bode well for us.

"Hi!" Sharp squeaked. "I mean, hello. I did the job."

"Yeah," Jenny said. "You sure did." She reached into a pocket of her coat, then pulled out a small envelope that she tossed over. Sharp fumbled it out of the air, and it smacked into the ground with a dull thwap. I had to cling on for dear life as she bent down to scoop it off the floor.

She opened it, revealing a tiny, emaciated stack of bills.

"That's your pay," Jenny said. "You did okay. Not that it was exactly complicated."

"Thank you!" Sharp said. "Uh... well, that's all, right? Have a nice day?"

"Nuh-uh," Jenny said, though she didn't make any moves to stop Sharp from actually leaving. "We gotta chat a lil' more."

"We do?" Sharp asked.

"I'd appreciate it," Aly said. She raked a hand through her hair, then let out a long sigh.

"Okay then!" Sharp said.

I... really had my work cut out for me with this goofball, didn't I?

"Are you a magic user?" Aly asked.

"Gosh, I wish," Sharp said wistfully. She shook her head. "Nope. Sorry. My magic stat is at a big fat zero." She made a small circle with her free hand. I'd have batted her ear for dropping that kind of hint if it wouldn't be out of character for a kitten.

Then again, why would anyone jump to the conclusion that she was being literal?

"I see," Aly said. She tilted her head a little, her bangs shifting enough to reveal a small tech tattoo marked on her forehead. "Well, I suppose that's that, then. We appreciate the help. It was kind of you."

"I appreciate the money!" Sharp said. "If you ever have anything else like that, I'd love to help more."

"We can handle ourselves," Jenny snapped.

"We can," Aly agreed. "But that doesn't mean we should be so quick to dismiss help when it's offered so freely."

Sharp agreed. "Yeah! Never say no to help! I sure never do."

I eyed her for a moment. For some reason that made me feel just a little guilty that I wasn't helping her more. But I couldn't just trust her so easily, could I? What if she was trying to trick me?

But if she was, then she probably deserved to get away with it on account of being such a good actress. Damn. I'd have to help her more, wouldn't I? It was that, or someone like these would help and her allegiance to me would crumble.

"We'll keep in touch," Aly said. "You're good for more delivery work?"

"Uh, yeah," Sharp said. "And anything else you might need help with! I'm flexible!"

"I'm sure," Aly replied.

"So... what are you guys up to?" Sharp asked.

Jenny snorted. "Cute. We won't be spilling nothing so easily," she said. "Come on, we're late already. No, not you," she said when Sharp took a small step forwards. "You stay here."

"Oh, right, I should get back to work. Um. It was nice seeing you again. Thanks for the money?"

Aly gestured, and the moths flying around us faded to nothing. "See you," she said simply before turning and climbing into the van.

Jenny stared at Sharp with narrowed eyes. "Keep that burner I gave you around. We'll call you if anything comes up."

"Oh, okay, bye!" Sharp said.

She stepped back as Jenny closed the van's side door and it took off, leaving a haze of unfiltered hydrocarbons in its wake that left us both coughing.

"That was... something," Sharp said.

"At least we got our pay. If we're lucky, we'll never have to see either of them again."

"I don't think I'd call that luck," Sharp said. She sighed again. "She's very pretty."

"Snap out of it," I suggested. "You're still on the clock, you know."

"Oh! Paris is going to be miffed! Back to work, quick quick!"

It wasn't before I was back in our rooms and Sharp was back to work. The envelope was sitting on her bedside table, more cash than Sharp had seen in her life, and yet barely enough for a decent meal at a good upper-end restaurant.

I sighed. Right. No matter what, I probably owed it to Sharp to invite her back to my place for real.

***