“She said something insulting, I think,” Ahmed said.

“You think?”

“It was in Drucian.”

“You’re supposed to know Drucian.”

“All I caught was something about hunting.”

“Eskander?”

“She’s crazy,” Eskander said.

Nyx squatted beside the prone magician. She jabbed a finger at the bullet wound. Eskander screeched.

“What happened? I don’t mind letting you bleed out.”

Khatijah moved forward to protect her little magician.

Nyx pulled her scattergun and aimed it at Khatijah. “Hush now, kid. I’m in charge. I don’t plan on killing anyone unless I’m provoked. Eskander?”

“It was nothing. A joke. Fucking maggots can’t take a joke.”

“You call her that?”

“I just said she was a baby-eater, that’s all. I call all of them that.”

“Well, stop,” Nyx said.

Nyx glanced up at Kage. “And you—learn to deal with people slinging shit. I don’t care if you pull a gun on somebody on your own time, but while you work for me, you only shoot people I tell you to. Understood?”

Kage nodded again.

Nyx stood, taking Eskander’s empty gun with her.

“You can fix her?” Nyx asked Ahmed, nodding to Eskander’s bloody torso.

“I… well, I’m not sure. I haven’t before.”

“Fuck you both,” Eskander said. “It’s deadtech. I need somebody to pull the fucking bullet before it festers.”

“Just pull out the bullet, Ahmed,” Nyx said. “She can make sure it doesn’t fester on her own. Let’s get this done and get back on the road.”

Setting everyone into motion didn’t take long. Like most folks, they just wanted somebody to make a decision, and if nothing else, Nyx was good at that. Whether they were always the best decisions was a matter of contention.

Ahmed and Khatijah pulled Eskander up and off the road.

Nyx went over to the other bakkie and checked the fuel gauge. They would need to juice it up in two hours. She sat next to the bakkie and pulled out a wad of sen.

Eshe came over, hood pulled up. “You figure them for lovers?” Eshe asked.

She followed his gaze to Khatijah, who stood watch just outside the group huddled around her partner in deception, Eskander.

“No. The hand gestures are the same. They use the same tired sayings, mannerisms, that sort of thing. Partners mimic, sure, but there’s some stuff you just never pick up like you did when you were a kid.”

“Sisters? They’re too different.”

“You never met my sister Kine,” Nyx said. “There was stuff about us that was the same. Ways people stand, say things. It comes from growing up together.”

“Inaya says I’m like you.”

“Inaya doesn’t know me. I’d say she’s hardly in a place to judge how like me you are.”

“Do you think people can be different? Different from the way they learned to be?”