Vista smiled. “Doesn’t it? I tried to reach out, get her in on the reuniting thing. Offered my hand in friendship, and she went straight for the jugular. She seems happy being a villain. Same type as Shadow Stalker, I think.”

I shrugged. There were a hundred things I could say to that, and figuring Tattletale out was something I could see a whole lot of merit in, if Vista ever wanted to get together and compare notes, do what she was talking about and getting answers. But that felt like a whole-day thing to unpack and figure out. Not a well-past-midnight thing.

But on the surface? I’d known Shadow Stalker briefly, and she had been kind of nice to be around when she’d had reason to be nice. I could believe that Tattletale was the same. But I knew just how shitty they could be when upset—Shadow Stalker broke faces, and Tattletale destroyed psyches. Shadow Stalker stuck relentlessly to a path and as shitty as she was at her core, however easily or excellently she could be a villain, she valued being a vigilante-type, and from what I knew about her, that wouldn’t change, however she was tempted. Being a vigilante served her ends, it served her ego, and it validated her at her core.

Tattletale had helped the city and in some twisted world where the chips had fallen down differently, she could have been a hero. There was a distinction, even, that she cared about shit that wasn’t herself a lot more than Shadow Stalker ever had. But being a villain served her ends, it served her ego, and it validated her at her core.

The others were chatting. Talking about the travel. Vista looked happy, and Sveta seemed very content.

Amusing to see that Theo was just a little bigger than Weld in physical dimensions. Weld was usually the heavyweight in the room. He still was, by a wide margin, but someone squinting their eyes wouldn’t have known it.

“Do you guys want to go somewhere warmer?” Crystal asked. “I bet we could find a place willing to serve us drinks—”

“I’m still too young,” Vista said.

“Coffee then? Anyone?”

I saw Sveta and Weld exchange a look.

“I’m looking forward to getting home,” Weld said. “Getting warm.”

“The cold bothers you?” Ava asked. “I didn’t think much did.”

“Slows me down,” Weld said. “A little stiff in the joints.”

“Let’s get you home to a heated mattress. I got everything out that we set up last winter, tested it, made sure there were no shorts in the wiring,” Sveta said, breaking away from the hug, taking one of Weld’s hands in hers and swaying a bit. “Some heated blankets with metal plates, music.”

“Please. You’ve got to catch me up on what I missed.”