Inga paused long enough to grab up Talina’s empty mug, take a swipe at the dented chabacho wood with her towel, and retreat back to the line of taps.

Down the line, Hofer was bellowing laughter at some joke Tyrell Lawson told him.

Tal was wondering if—given Hofer’s early verbosity—she was going to have to clock him one before the night was through.

“Yes, please,” Demon hissed.

She was fighting the urge to walk down and strangle the guy when she noticed Shig Mosadek descending the stairs. Tonight, Shig wore a quetzal-hide cape over his shoulders. A tunic-like claw-shrub-fiber shirt that Yvette Dushane had embroidered with squash flowers and patterns was belted at the waist. Loose trousers, tucked into brand-new quetzal-hide boots, completed the ensemble.

Shig called amiable greetings out to various patrons as he passed, stopped to share some words with Toby Montoya, and grinned as he spotted Talina.

Making his way over, he climbed onto the stool beside hers, gave her a pleasant smile, and motioned with his fingers to Inga, giving the big woman an “I’ll take one” gesture.

“Red or my new white?” Inga’s bellow even drowned the latest of Hofer’s garrulous guffaws.

“Red,” Shig tried to shout back, as if it would be heard over the din.

Inga—used to reading lips—nodded and turned back to where she was filling Tal’s mug with rich black stout.

Shig’s amiable gaze fixed on Talina, paused. “From your expression, I would say you were upset. Anything I need to know before you murder someone?”

“Just enraged with myself, Shig. Dek’s at my place while his leg heals. I think I just ruined the rest of his life. What really sucks toilet water is that I did it out of fear. That, and Demon pushed me into it.”

“How?”

“Okay, so the guy stopped breathing out at his claim. I gave him CPR, right? Now, he had already traded blood with Flute. So he was infected to start with. But Flute’s TriNA, we suspect, is benign. No telling how it affects humans yet. When I resuscitated the guy, he got a load of my TriNA.”

“And that’s a problem because . . . ?” Shig lifted a thick eyebrow.

“According to Dek, Demon was starting to manifest, which makes sense because his TriNA has an in-depth knowledge of human physiology. Now, that’s not to say that Flute’s TriNA wouldn’t have squelched Demon’s in the end, given that there’s more of it floating around in Dek’s body after the transfusion, but I sort of didn’t want to take the chance.”

Inga lumbered down the bar, the burly woman thumping Talina’s mug of stout down, and then carefully placing Shig’s half-glass of red wine before him. “Whose tab?”

“Mine,” Talina told her. “Shig’s a cheap date. Odds are he’s not going to finish that glass as it is.”