Athena leaned forward until she was bent over Emily’s seat. “I say we sic Teddy on him until he gives us what we want.”

Emily shook her head. “N-no, two favors is fine. It’s not much besides and . . . and why aren’t you buckled in?”

“Ah,” Athena said. She fell back and Emily heard her belt clicking in place a moment later.

Taking a deep breath, Emily began again. “When we took out Small Package, I was near where he fell, and he mentioned something about the Cabal. That was my first clue, I guess. Then . . . a friend came to my place to hide. He was invited to join the Cabal, but his power told him that it would be a bad idea.”

“His power?” Handshake asked.

“Um, I think that would cost a lot more than two favors,” Emily said.

“My, my, for someone so new, you do make a lot of interesting friends, you know? Most people outside of a Heroic organization couldn’t boast about knowing so many powered individuals.”

“The Boss gets around,” Teddy said.

“T-Ted— Ursa Minor!” Emily said. “Don’t say that like that.”

The bear girl in the back blinked dumbly at her. She didn’t get the double meaning. Emily couldn’t blame her, but it was still a little embarrassing.

“I’ll explain later.” Way, way later.

“So are you happy with your remuneration?” Handshake said. “I’ll of course make sure that the remainder is available as soon as possible. We can arrange a dead drop, or I can have it sent to an address of your choosing. Perhaps a PO box? Though those are traceable if you don’t know what you’re doing.”

“It’s fine,” Emily said. She took the bills out of the envelope and tucked them away. “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Handshake said. He flashed her a smile, but she didn’t know if it was any more genuine than the one he always wore. “Was that all the involvement you’ve had with the Cabal?”

“Um. Just about, yeah,” Emily said. “I did ask someone else about them, but they told me to forget about it.”

“Hmm. If they’re in the know, then they’ll either let slip that you know more than you should, or they’re against the Cabal, or just neutral and they might keep the fact that you asked to themselves.”

Emily hoped that that was the case. Melaton had seemed nice . . . enough. More or less.

They pulled into the same alleyway where Handshake had picked them up and the man put the van in park. “Before you go,” he said.

Emily paused, hand on the handle to leave. “Yes?”

“If I ever need you again, for things similar to what happened today, would you happen to be available? I might have more work suitable for you and all your . . . companions, no matter how many there happen to be.”