Maria liked Starbucks. By mid-afternoon, the morning office crowd had departed from the cafes and the hordes of gossiping teenagers were still in school, so getting a private booth was easy.
An afternoon coffee was one of the few luxuries she didn’t have to share with anyone. Olinda and Kristina were dears, but sometimes a woman needed time alone.
“Maria,” the barista called. “One grande cinnamon dolce latte with flavored whipped cream and caramel drizzle.”
Well. Time alone and lots of sweet, delicious coffee.
“That’s quite a combo,” commented an Asian-looking woman by the counter.
Maria favoured her with a slight smile. “I like the toppings.”
“Can’t blame you, they’re delicious. Ah, here comes mine.”
“Nina,” the barista announced, “one hot chocolate with cookie crumbles.”
“Thanks,” the woman collected her coffee. “So, Maria, where are you seated? We can compare coffee choices.”
“I’m sorry, do I know you?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. I thought we could continue our conversation.” The woman took a sip of her coffee. “The one you started last Sunday?”
Maria felt her knees go weak.
Nina - Agni - kept smiling as she sipped the coffee. “Mmm, this is good stuff.”
“My apologies,” Maria said. “I didn’t … recognize you.”
“Not your fault. But we should chat, shouldn’t we? Perhaps in that lovely booth you’ve got reserved. In private.” The ultra linked her arm with Maria’s and steered her towards the booth. “Smile, dear. We wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea.”
“Nanocloud’s watching me.”
“Yes, I know. It’s all right, I’m not going to hurt you.” Agni gently helped her into a seat at the booth, then turned to address what looked like empty air. “Hello, Nanocloud. I just want to have a quick chat with Maria. You have my word I won’t hurt her.”
Black letters formed on the wall.
YOU’D BETTER NOT.
“No need for threats. We’re just having some girl talk. You can listen in; heck, Maria here can walk out anytime she likes.”
Maria glanced towards the barista - he couldn’t see them from here. Even if he could, seeing Nanocloud’s letters - or knowing Agni was in his cafe - would probably send him screaming for the exit instead of helping.
IF YOU CROSS THE LINE, I’LL HAVE BELESSAR HERE IN MINUTES. YOU WON’T LIKE WHAT HAPPENS THEN.
“Relax. I gave you my word. I just want to ask Maria some questions about the Grunters and her journey.” The supervillainess dramatically placed her hand on her chest. “Cross my heart and hope to die, should I now tell a lie.”
“What questions?” asked Maria.
Agni grinned at her. “General information. About your captors, what you can remember of them. What Grumman looks like. Things that would help me find them.”
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“Why would you help us?”
“Because I help women like you, Maria. That’s how they got me in the first place. They told me they were from a group opposed to the Grunters, and that Belessar was mind-controlling their victims for his own purposes. I don’t really like it when a so-called ‘hero’ abuses his power.”
“Belessar’s never done that.”
“I know that now. They tricked me. Sure, you want to handle Jorge on your own, but what about the rest? Belessar killed Gravitic, but Grumman’s still alive and looking for vengeance. And his little rats are in the woodwork, trying all sorts of tricks to get Belessar killed.”
“Belessar’s too strong for the Grunters to kill him.”
“But not too strong for, say, Kesselthear. Or Vorsai. How long before Grumman plants another fake story to set him up?”
“Not every ultra would get tricked by the Grunters.”
Agni smiled dangerously. “Only the stupid ones like Agni, right?”
“My apologies, I didn’t mean to offend.”
“Not offended. It’s true, the Grunters fooled me. Thoroughly. So, naturally, I need to make an example of them.” Agni yawned. “You can answer my questions, and help me deal with them. Or you can walk out, and we’ll consider this conversation over. Your choice.”
Maria took a deep breath. “If you find the remaining Grunters, what will you do with them?”
“Make an example, of course.” Agni’s smile was chilling. “I can’t afford to have people think they can get away with fooling me.”
“You’d kill Grumman?”
“Yes.”
Maria sighed in relief. “Then I’ll help you. Of my own free will. But I can’t speak for the others.”
“Would they object?”
“To the deaths of Grunters, no. To helping you - maybe. You haven’t exactly won a lot of fans among us.”
“As long as I get the information I want, the fan club is unnecessary.”
“What do you want to know?”
“What did Grumman look like?”
“We never saw his face.”
Agni frowned. “He never - forced himself on any one of you?”
“He did, but he was very - controlling. Wore a mask and insisted on blindfolds throughout.”
“Kinky.”
“Chains and blindfolds weren’t our choices.”
“Sorry. I just need to know - did none of you ever see the ultras without their costumes?”
“If we did, we wouldn’t know for sure. Our friend Junie had a particularly brutal Grunter to worry about. He called himself Charles.” Careful, don’t think of the bad days. “Usually after a session with Charles, Junie would have bruises all over, black eyes…. There was one time Charles broke his leg. Everyone knew about Charles…”
“I don’t suppose anyone disciplined him?”
Maria smiled mirthlessly. “What do you think?”
“I trust he’s dead now.”
“Definitely. I was one of the girls who shot him with a laser.”
Agni frowned. “When was this?”
“When Belessar broke through Gravitic’s armor during the courthouse battle, we saw his face for the first time. Charles.”
“.... I see.”
“We took photos afterwards to show Junie. He still gets the shakes, you know? He’s terrified Charles is going to come for him one night.”
“There is a … debt of suffering to be laid at Grumman’s door. I intend to collect.”
“Collect if you can, but it’s hard to figure out who Grumman actually was. The few times a woman knew she was being sent to him, the blindfold and chains came out. Daisy is possibly the best person to describe him to you, though.”
“Daisy, huh? Was she his favorite?”
“We don’t know. We’ve worked with the police to create sketches of the men we remember from the Grunters. The cops have arrested most of the regulars - the ones who are alive, at least.”
“How many are still at large?”
“At least twenty. Not all the sketches were enough for a clear ID.”
“And you have no idea which of them was Grumman, then.”
Maria shook her head.
Agni drained the last of her coffee. “I’d like to speak to Daisy. Get her impressions.”
“I’ll ask, but I have a condition.”
“Oh? I’m not sure you’re in a position to demand anything from me.”
Maria bit her lip. “You owe us.”
“For what?”
“For attacking the man who saved us. For delaying him from acting against the Grunters.”
“What do you want?”
“We want you to help him. You’re strong; you can fight. Help him fight his battles, whether it’s against the Grunters or the aliens.”
Agni smirked. “And in return you’ll persuade Daisy to speak to me? Help find Grumman and eliminate your enemy?”
“Your enemy too, unless you count those who lie to you as friends.”
“Fine,” Agni said. “I’ll help the kid. You tell Daisy to meet me here tomorrow.” She stood up. “This has been fun, but I have to go. Good talk.”
Startled, Maria watched the supervillainess walk out of the Starbucks.
She had no doubt Daisy would meet the ultra, but one thing gnawed at her:
Why had Agni agreed so easily?