Jared sat slumped over in a chair near the bar, his chest heaving. A streak of dark blood ran from his brow, dripping onto the flagstones beside his shattered spectacles. His fists were clenched, every muscle straining against the chair’s arms, but no visible bonds held his wrists or ankles. The Goat stepped to Jared’s side, a glowing rock curled in one finger. That hideous horned mask twitched toward Anji as she followed Kit down the steps, then shifted to Kit herself and watched her clear the final step and creep into the common room, the spherical vial held high in one hand. Jared let out a sob. One eye was closed in a nasty purple bruise. The other swiveled to Berip, struggling despite the vise grip the Bear had on his upper arms. Kit took a step forward, and the Bear slipped a slender dagger from her belt.

“That’s far enough!” she said, moving the knife’s edge to Berip’s skinny neck. “You try anything and by the One’s radiance I will open the boy’s throat right here.”

“Kit,” breathed Jared, his voice weak. “Don’t let them—”

“Keep him silent!”

The Goat sank a gloved fist into Jared’s cheek, spraying a fount of blood in a wide arc. Jared moaned again, but said no more. The Bear rounded on Kit, her breath coming in sharp spurts behind her mask. Her neck muscles were strained, the sliver of her jaw tight and blooming red.

“Goat, I will interrogate the Hawk. For every hesitation, for every answer I mislike, you rip out one of the bartender’s impious teeth.”

“My pleasure, boss,” said the Goat. The Bear’s stoic white mask contrasted with the shaking rage of the voice beneath it.

“You will answer my questions, Hawk. Then you will give up your charge. You are no longer beholden to Menagerie tenets.”

Kit said nothing, and enough time passed that Anji wondered if the woman had heard the Bear. She was about to speak herself when Kit’s voice rang out from behind the mask.

“The girl is my charge by right of conquest and acquisition.”

“Now she remembers the tenets,” said the Goat. Let’s get on with it, Bear. I didn’t come here for a lecture.”

“You didn’t come here to die either,” said Kit, her eyes not leaving the Bear. She hefted the vial above her head. “But you’ll choke on your own blood in thirty seconds if you don’t release that boy. Decide.”

“Dabbling in maxia now, Hawk?” said the Goat, jerking his head at the vial. “How much will that piece set you back?”

The Hawk said nothing.