“Was that him? Right. Well, speak of the devil and he’ll appear.”

Barfbat winged his way down. Tumorous, fluid-filled growths deflated and his wings retracted.

“Hi Barfbat,” Jeanne said.

“It’s nice to see you, Jeanne. This is really it, Number Man? I’m done?”

“This will be the last favor we ask of you, and your contract from June 1998 will be considered finished,” Kurt said.

“It’s about time,” Barfbat said. “Decades of my life spent keeping a phone nearby.”

“We’ve helped you out along the way, as payment for having you in reserve. But time is of the essence. Can you sniff out our man? I think he’ll be scared.”

Barfbat nodded. A slit appeared down the center of his face, and then it parted in layers, each layer adding to a flower-like bloom that was a comprehensive nose that obscured eyes and ears both. Tumors swelled and filled with fluid around his neck and shoulders, stretching out until the skin was transparent, veins standing out where the light hit them.

He broke into a run, arms extending until he could use them to help run, and Jeanne and Kurt both followed. As they reached the outskirts of the little town, they caught up with Kurt’s younger ‘brothers’.

Barfbat had an augmented body, but Kurt and his brothers had efficient movement. Jeanne was fit, she exercised and ran every day, and she could use her power to help traverse obstacles or reduce wind resistance, but it was still an effort to keep up.

They caught up with the thief. It didn’t take long. The terrain was hilly, and that slowed their quarry more than it slowed any of them.

‘The thief’ was a middle-aged eastern Indian man, forehead creased in concern. He’d grown out a beard and his hair was long, tied into a knot at the back. He dressed simply, ready for the outdoors.

“Balminder,” Kurt said.

The thief, Jeanne thought. The Dealer. He absconded with as many vials as he could take. Kurt had said that along with Manton’s defection, it was one of a series of betrayals that led to Cauldron keeping their roster small and disconnected.

Kurt waved the others back. Barfbat and the two boys backed off, keeping a respectful distance, so the conversation would be quiet.

“I make one mistake,” Balminder said. “Less than an hour later, you’re here.”

“We’ve always known where you were and what you were doing, Balminder,” Kurt said. “The time has come. You have a fair amount left. Give it to us.”

“You’ve hunted me for half a decade.”

“We kept tabs on you for three years and hunted you for the last two.”

“Why not take me right away, if I was so easy to find?”