“It’s not how you’re playing this,” the man replied. He was shorter than Moose, he wasn’t especially greater in size, but the massive horns of his helmet were as wide across as Moose’s musclebound brute shoulders, and his armor had to have added three hundred pounds of weight to a two hundred pound frame. “If they don’t want you and if you’re willing to play for keeps, Etna, I’ll take you.”

“No thanks,” Etna said.

“We’re in this together,” Moose said. “Let’s not ruin that.”

“No,” Beast of Burden said. “No we’re not.”

Disjoint had been the one on the roof. He went to Beast’s side. Nailbiter had stayed behind, for obvious reasons, Damsel hadn’t been invited onto the truck, and Sidepiece hadn’t made it on.

Snag was present, he’d been in the back of the truck too, but we’d heard his stance on the cliques and groupings. His glowering mask looked especially ominous in the moment, as he stared us down. He couldn’t have known his cluster-mate was part of this group, staring at him at the same time.

Either way, he wasn’t part of Beast’s clique. Love Lost might have gravitated in that direction, but she hadn’t come.

Still, the two members of Beast’s clique were standing apart, and Beast was breaking away.

“Do this again, and I’ll kill one of you,” Beast said. “You come to fight or take a stand, be prepared for a fight.”

“Stupid,” Prancer said.

Beast of Burden shaking his head was dramatic, with the horns on his helmet swinging. “Necessary. You can wrap this mess up yourself. Put a fucking bow on it for all I care, deer man.”

He turned to walk away, shaking his head. A nervous Disjoint followed.

Prancer looked between Beast of Burden and those of us who hadn’t ducked through the Capricorn’s wall.

Rain bent down and picked up Looksee’s camera, shaking it slightly, as if that would dislodge the cooling black glass that caked part of it.

“Cameras,” Prancer said.

Rain nodded.

Prancer raised a hand to his head, found hair that was sticking up after his tumble of a fall, and pressed it down, running fingers through it to try to set it in place. “How long?”

“Long enough,” I said. “We know you’re bleeding people of cash, when they don’t have enough. You’re using this place to run drugs to the rest of the city, and you’re—you were giving safe haven to crooks like Nailbiter. Who took a teenager away from her parents earlier today.”

“If you take me out, someone like Beast is going to take my place.”