She picked up Beth Flierl’s scent as soon as she entered the diner. There was still monsters on it, but now she also smelled of cheap coffee, energy drinks, and gunpowder. Apparently, Beth had been too busy to shower since the fight against Franks. When she got closer, Heather could tell that she’d not slept yet either.

“You look tired.”

The Task Force monster wrangler waved one hand dismissively. “Lots of briefings . . . Mind if I sit?”

“Sure.” Heather was in no position to tell anyone from STFU no anyway, but she honestly liked the Flierls. They seemed like remarkably decent people for this line of work. “Want some pie? It’s pretty good.”

“No thanks. I just want to go home and crash. I got your message. Considering the last time I saw you there were bones sticking out and you were coughing up blood, you’re looking well.”

“There are some benefits to balance out the homicidal rage, like the best way to heal is to eat like a sumo wrestler.”

“Eat up. The full moon is soon. You’ll be going into an STFU-provided lockup for the duration. Show up on time or we’ll have to come get you.”

“No problem. Get me an address.” Heather knew exactly when the moon would call to her. She could always hear the hum. She could probably handle changing without hurting anyone, but it was better not to push her luck. “How are the others?”

“You actually care? You barely knew them.”

“I guess I’ve got a protective streak.”

“Sorry. That came out rude. I’m just tired. Well, you hadn’t met any of the Task Force normals, and I’m not even allowed to tell you their names anyway. They fared worse than we did. Hawxhurst can’t really die, so he’ll bounce back. The Biggest will heal. His kind are very resilient.”

“Putlack?”

Beth shook her head sadly. “It’s not looking good, but we’ve never dealt with a Go Dokkaebi in the states before. We’ve got his body on ice, but we don’t know if he’ll come back.”

“He seemed like a nice guy.”

“Considering his curse, he really is. You never saw that thing inside of him get really angry. I don’t know if he could have made the transition to normal life even if he had gotten his exemption.” She fell silent as the waitress came by to see if she wanted anything. Beth politely told her no and waited for her to leave before continuing. “That’s the hardest part of this job. You get to know people, and at the end you have to give an honest report about if you think they’re going to be a menace to society after we cut them loose. Maybe Putlack is better off.”

“Is that your way of warning me to be on my best behavior?”