Archie shook Hero’s hand. “Charmant,” she said, and to the surprise of everyone at the table, it sounded for all the world like she actually meant it.

“From what I’ve been told,” Houndstooth continued, “Hero there could blow up a bank vault using a pile of hippo dung and a cup of water, and they could make it look like an accident. Plus, they could poison a hummingbird and it would dip its beak twice before it dropped. They’re smarter than I am, which is saying something. And they’re—” He coughed, took a sip of his drink. “They’re, ah, they’re just a great team member.”

“What kind of a name is ‘Hero’?” Cal muttered around his mangled toothpick.

“It’s my name,” Hero responded.

Cal spat splinters into the sawdust on the floor, then selected a fresh toothpick to maim. Archie raised her eyebrows. “And who is this charming young man?”

“Calhoun Hotchkiss,” Houndstooth said archly. “He’s the fastest gun in the West.”

“I’m the fastest gun anywhere.” Cal responded with the speed of deep-seated bitterness over the title.

“He’s also the only one of us that’s ever dealt with ferals,” Houndstooth added. “Aside from Adelia Reyes, if we can find her. He’s spent years working on the Harriet. He knows everything there is to know about it. He’s stupider than he looks, but he shouldn’t hold us back too much.”

“And what about you?” Cal retorted. “What do you bring to the table, you smug fuck? Who made you the boss?”

Houndstooth was evidently ready for this question. His hand flicked, and before Calhoun could flinch, there was a tiny click on the table in front of him. All the eyes at the table fell on the sliver of wood that suddenly lay in the puddle of condensation left by Cal’s beer.

Cal reached up and felt for his toothpick, which had been sliced cleanly in half.

Houndstooth rested both his hands on the tabletop. One of them held the same stiletto blade he’d drawn on the riverboat.

“I’m the boss, Calhoun Hotchkiss, because I’m faster than you. I’m smarter than you. I’m better than you. And I’m the one who can send the telegram that will get you paid at the end of this. So here’s what’s going to happen: you’re going to get us into the places that only your reputation can get us into. You’re going to shoot fast and you’re going to shoot straight. You’re going to be helpful and respectful. If you don’t do those things, then you don’t get paid. Is that clear?”

Cal drew a fresh toothpick from his pocket and inserted it into his mouth, saying nothing.