Despite being late Kass wasn’t the last to arrive.

The bar was just around the corner from the docks. It was made from top to bottom with well aged wood. It had no windows, which kept it warm and toasty inside all year round, not that it was a particularly cold evening tonight. Some people still strolled about in short sleeves, and a few kids down near the beach kicked a ball across the sand with bare feet. The sun was setting but it would take awhile for the light to fade yet. Give it a month or two and that beach might be covered in snow. Nothing quite like what Kass was used to in the far north but enough for a couple weeks of snowball fights.

The Rusty Nail was a common haunt for sailors, especially those who travelled through here often and those who were fond of the gambling rooms out the back. The place was neither packed nor empty. Tonight a steady stream of traffic filtered in and out at a slow pace.

Amanda, Sirius, and Wolf had already claimed a table. Sirius was sitting on a stool next to Wolf, neither one was talking much. Wolf didn’t look too happy to be there. He didn’t like coming in to town much. Amanda was up at the bar grabbing a jug of beer and a couple glasses, probably at a discount given she was a regular here and the barman often made money betting on Amanda’s poker skills.

In one corner of the room, Kass spied Cat, leaning forward over a table and flirting with a large bearish looking guy. Her black singlet was cut low and Kass figured the leaning forward was intentional. Kass had seen her talking to that guy before on and off, in between other short-lived relationships. She knew his name was Baz and that he was a backdoor medic and a bouncer at some of the edge of town clubs. Kass’s gaze found Cat’s belly, a inch of bare skin showed above her belt. Was Baz the father of that baby? She figured it would make sense, but with Cat, who really knew. She changed beds like some people changed socks. She wondered when Cat was planning on telling him, if at all. Her belly wasn’t going to stay that flat forever. She tried to remember when she’d started showing with her own three boys. Her eldest, Marc had been quite late, a difficult pregnancy and a difficult child. Theo, her youngest, had started to show earlier but still not before the second trimester. And Jesse, sweet Jesse, her only child left, she couldn’t remember with him. So much of her time then had been taken up by Marc. She shook her head, and chased the memories away.

As she took a seat at the table on Wolf’s other side she could see Zephyr a few tables away. He was sitting with the red-haired woman who had come by office earlier. They were chatting and laughing and she was leaning in close, giving him all of her attention. Evidently Zephyr had been working some suave charm and they were getting on well.

Amanda returned a moment later. “Beer?” she asked Kass, as she started pouring out a glass for Wolf, Sirius, and herself.

Kass shook her head. “I’m alright, thanks.” She wasn’t particularly partial to beer. She did glance briefly toward the bar and considered ordering something else but she wasn’t really in the mood for drinking and she wanted to go back to the office after this and get some more work done, not to mention check what was in that box.

“We’re just waiting for Indi and Falco,” Amanda explained. “Then I’ll grab those two.” She glanced once each toward Zephyr and Cat.

But it seemed Cat was done with her conversation anyway and she joined them a moment later with a bottle of water for the table while Baz headed off out into the night to go and do who knew what. Cat eyed Zephyr and Arianna’s table perhaps a little too long but said nothing about it.

They didn’t have to wait long for the others. Indi bounced in just ahead of Falco a minute or two later, making no attempt at the sort of skulking this type of place was used to. She practically jumped up onto her bar stool, proclaiming in a loud voice, “Oh my gods guys, you’ll never believe what I’ve found.”

Kass didn’t think much of that statement until she saw Falco’s eyebrows raise in agreement. Indi thought almost everything was exciting news but if Falco thought so too then it really was probably something interesting.

Kass didn’t ask though. They would get to the matter soon enough.

No one else had noticed Falco’s look. Amanda might have, it was the sort of thing she’d spot, but upon seeing Falco and Indi come through the door, she’d turned to get Zephyr’s attention.

Zephyr had nodded and held up two fingers.

Amanda turned back to the main table. “Beer?” she offered Indi and Falco.

Indi shook her head. “Thank you but I am definitely going to get a cocktail.” She looked to Falco, “What about you?”

Falco glanced at the nearly empty beer jug. “I might grab us another jug eh? You ladies want anything?” He looked at Cat and Kass.

Cat narrowed her eyes at the word ‘ladies’ but she didn’t comment. She just shook her head slightly.

Kass caved. “Maybe a wine?”

“Red or white?” Falco asked.

“White please. Thanks.”

Falco nodded.

“Tell him it’s for this table,” Amanda said to Falco as he and Indi started to make their way toward the bar and the barman who stood behind it and always seemed to be wiping a part of it down.

Falco nodded. She was probably getting him a discount.

Kass watched Zephyr say an extended goodbye to Arianna at the table behind Amanda. A subtle glance at Cat, who sat beside Kass suggested the woman appeared to be pointedly ignoring the pair. Her gaze was fixed a little too fiercely off toward a blank wall.

A moment later Zephyr slipped onto the stool between Amanda and Indi. He grinned like a dog who’d just had a good run and was ready for round two.

“You help her with those documents?” Kass asked. A small part of her was a little jealous although she wasn’t sure if it was because of his envious mood or because she wanted to be the one he was flirting with. Perhaps it wasn’t even about him and she just wanted to be flirted with by someone, maybe someone else specific. She was, she felt, doing her very best to avoid looking at or even thinking about Sirius. There had been a time when her and Zephyr had nearly dated, if it hadn’t been for Cat. At first she’d been kind of bitter about that but as she’d gotten to know Zephyr better she’d realised it probably never would have worked out anyway. Zephyr was fun, a little too fun. He liked to make jokes, a lot, and even more so under the worst of circumstances. Kass didn’t always appreciate that kind of silliness. It could be a little disconcerting and she sometimes struggled to tell when someone was being playful versus disguising an insult. Even though she figured Zephyr was unlikely to be mean on purpose his lighthearted jokes still reminded her a little too much of high school hidden insults, sniggers behinds backs, and fake friendships. His next comment pretty much confirmed that it wasn’t his attention specifically that she longed for.

“Yeah, piece of cake. I’ll send you my fee later,” Zephyr quipped with a smile.

Even though she knew he was teasing, her instinct was to take the words at face value until her mind caught up. It barely took a fraction of a second but it was always a small rollercoaster of emotion. She hated it. But it wasn’t his fault and she also knew the socially acceptable thing to do was to play along or at least not object to it, so she returned him a small, quiet, smile.

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And as she’d expected, Zephyr read nothing more in her response than politeness.

“What documents?” Cat asked.

Zephyr sent Kass a questioning glance. She understood, he wanted to know if it was okay to share that information. Kass didn’t see a reason not to.

“That woman Zephyr was talking to is one of the Milton inheritors,” Kass answered.

“Poor her,” Wolf remarked.

“Poor who?” Falco asked as he returned to the table with a jug of beer and a glass of wine for Kass.

Indi took her seat next to him with her own colourful red-orange drink that looked something like a sunrise.

Amanda caught them up. Then she added. “Yeah, well she might not get as much as she hopes. Coal’s intent on emptying that place out in exchange for dealing with what’s inside.”

“Is that even legal?” Falco asked. He poured himself a beer.

He glanced briefly at Kass but it was Zephyr who answered.

Zephyr shook his head. “I don’t think any of that family care too much. Kass was right when she said they don’t want it. They seem almost afraid of it. Arianna gave me a run down of the extended family and history. And most of them are already well off as it is. Like serious money. They’re worried the old lady left the place rigged with booby traps and that any of her inheritance is cursed.”

“They’re probably not wrong,” replied Falco. “About the booby traps I mean. A curse seems a little excessive.”

“Can Coal legally claim any of it?” Wolf asked with a direct look at Kass.

“Doesn’t matter,” Sirius told him. “Coal will find a way to do what he wants, legal or otherwise.”

More eyes found Kass, seeking confirmation. She gave a half-shrug. “It’s complicated. Technically yes if it’s a health and safety hazard and the council agrees-”

Cat snorted.

Kass continued “-The family could file an objection or request certain oversights and they’re still potentially entitled to some of the profits from the sale but-”

“So that’s what we get them to do then,” Zephyr interrupted, “File an objection.”

“Wait a minute.” Indi put her drink down. “If they don’t want it and Coal does want it and he has a way to take care of the things inside then it seems like everybody wins no? Since they still get some profits not to mention the bonus of not dying to a creepy half goat man.”

“Pffft, by the time Coal’s done with it it will probably be listed as a net loss. And we never did figure out what that thing was.” Wolf started off with a growl and finished with a mumble.

“Isn’t that the point of this meeting?” Cat asked with a scowl. “Figuring out what to do about those creatures, whatever they are? Who cares who owns it, one rich fuck or the other rich fuck. It’s the same shit in a different truck.”

“What does that even mean-” Zephyr started.

Amanda who had been watching them debate, finally interjected. “Cat’s right.”

Cat shot Zephyr a triumphant look.

“Half right anyway,” Amanda added.

Cat scowled at her.

She continued unabated. “The pressing matter is what’s to be done about the creatures in that house. And Coal has a plan for better or worse. The team he’s called in is from Myst but they’re not associated with the sorcerers. They’re arriving tomorrow. I’m going to stop by in the morning and check on how they plan to handle things. If it looks like they’ve got things covered and they’re reasonably independent then, well I’m not too fussed about fighting Coal over this particular thing. If the family wants help, well then that’s a different matter.” She was looking directly at Kass now. There was a question there.

Indi interrupted with her own question. “What did the will say in the end? Did you get it translated?”

Kass nodded and casually fingered the stem of the glass she had yet to drink from. The others waited in silence. She had decided not to mention the box yet. She’d tell them about it once she’d had a chance to look inside.

“It’s weird. It was written in the Ruthenian language for starters. It’s an old human language. No one speaks it here. It may even be out of date by human standards. I couldn’t find any records of it being spoken in the old world.”

“How’d you know what it was then?” Zephyr asked.

“One of the lawyers a few doors down is a polyglot. She speaks everything.”

“Speaking of,” Zephyr added, remembering his conversation with Margot. “Apparently that’s what Mrs Milton was too.”

Kass’s eyebrows shot up, along with a few other people’s. “A polyglot?” Kass confirmed.

Zephyr nodded.

“How do you know?” Amanda asked.

He smiled secretively. “I have my sources.”

He was met with a few eye rolls.

“One of my clients was friends with her and Arianna confirmed some stuff,” he admitted. “Both said she was real weird too. Some kind of artist, apparently quite well known, made a whole bunch of money from her paintings.”

“None of that explains why she’d write her will in Ruthenian.” Kass frowned and took a sip of her wine.

Amanda shook her head. “She had a bunch of papers in different languages. Maybe she wasn’t always in control of it.”

“So what did it say?” Indi asked impatiently. She’d almost finished her cocktail.

But before Kass could answer an arm reached between Indi and Zephyr and sat another two jugs of beer on the table. The arm was attached to the barman. He looked at Amanda. “You playing tonight?”

She nodded. “Of course.”

He smiled. “Good. Couple of freshers down there”—he nodded toward the end of the room—“think they’re the guardian’s gift to this world. Nothing would make me happier tonight than to see you wipe the smile off their faces and empty their pockets.”

Amanda raised and lowered her eyebrows in agreement and gave him a smile.

Satisfied, the barman returned to his station, leaving the free beer behind for their enjoyment. Amanda who had already finished the last of the first jug, poured herself another glass from the one Falco had bought earlier.

Zephyr looked at the 2 and a half jugs on the table. “I can’t imagine that the drinking helps the poker playing but I’m not complaining.” He poured himself a glass.

Amanda’s glance slid toward her shoulder but she resisted turning around to look at her future opponent just yet. “It helps if they think I’m drunk.”

“Except if you drink all that you will be drunk,” Falco pointed out.

“It’s best not to question her methods,” Wolf told him. Wolf had finished his one beer and had turned his glass upside down. Sirius wasn’t even half through his first one.

“You’re welcome to help,” Amanda replied to Falco.

Falco glanced at Indi. “Who’s driving home?”

Indi glanced down and her cocktail and then back up at him, wide-eyed and innocent looking.

Cat rolled her eyes and looked at the rest of them with a measure of disdain. She sighed. “I can give you both a ride, so long as you don’t vomit in my car.”

Zephyr leaned forward and with a hopeful grin asked, “Can I get a ride?”

Another eye roll but Cat nodded. She turned to Kass and asked, “You want a ride, Mouse?”

It was a redundant question. Kass lived in an apartment in town, only a several minutes walk away from The Rusty Nail. Cat knew this but from her tone it was obvious she was in a teasing mood.

Kass thought of a million suitable replies, each one a piercing blade of wit. But trading barbs with Cat was like wrestling a pig in the mud and Kass had little interest in a never ending war so she held her two-pronged tongue and simply replied as any little mouse would, “I don’t think I’d fit.”

She realised once she’d said it that there were about a million different sharp replies that Cat could respond with to that comment too. She’d left herself wide open for a reply, but if Cat thought of any, she kept them to herself.

Indi put her elbows up on the table and dropped her chin into her hands. She gave a poor attempt at a scowl but she just ended up looking slightly puzzled. “What, was, in, the, will?” She emphasized the words one at a time in a slightly whiny tone.

It prompted a few sniggers from the others.

“Patience, patience,” cooed Falco.

Indi tried to glare back at him but anyone could tell from looking at Falco’s expression that it was just making him think about kissing her.

“So what was in the will?” Amanda asked Kass.

Kass sighed. “Apart from the weird language it was in, it wasn’t really that interesting. It pretty much confirmed what we thought it did. The inheritor has to spend a certain period living inside the house in order to stake their claim on it. After several months, if there’s no suitable person or persons then the place is to be sold and the profits donated to a specific charitable foundation.”

“How long do they have to stay in it to get the inheritance?” Indi asked.

“One cycle of the sun,” Kass replied.

“What!?” Zephyr exclaimed.

“As in one day?” asked Wolf.

Falco gave a disbelieving laugh.

Amanda nearly choked on her beer.

Sirius frowned.

Cat shut one eye in a squint.

“Oooh but we did that! Can we inherit it?” Indi asked with a grin that made it clear she was just being silly.

Kass gave her a serious answer. “Technically it still has to be a blood relative and technically we didn’t spend a whole 24 hours in there, not by any measure.”

“I saw two sunsets without leaving the house though,” Indi replied, her smug grin not leaving her face.

“Still not a blood relative,” Kass replied.

“Maybe if you drank one of them though...” Zephyr started then trailed off at Indi’s reaction.

She screwed up her face. “Ew, gross!”

“Why one cycle of the sun?” Falco asked.

“How many people do you think could survive a night in that place?” Wolf asked with a slight smile that suggested he knew something they didn’t. While the others considered the question he turned to Kass and asked, “Do you know what happened to her body?”