It was uncomfortable, being in costume in a place like this, where just about everyone else was a mundane government employee. She’d argued for toning down her costume when everything had been under revision, but the PRT had balked at just how much she’d aimed to tone it down. They’d struck an uneasy compromise, with her wearing a costume with a hooded jacket, a visor, and a top with her icon on it, a stylized exclamation point. The same icon marked the shoulders and back of her jacket.

This wasn’t a place that welcomed capes, but she was still here every morning. It was the routine, but none of it felt routine. Edict dropped off Shiloh at daycare, changed to her costume, then headed to the town hall, with treats and coffee to share with Shandra every second day. Half the time, Licit would be around. The other half of the time, he would already be out, doing his thing so he could take more of the afternoon off. They’d get their marching orders, usually they would trade with one another to favor the kinds of jobs they each preferred, and then they’d go their separate ways.

No time this morning. She walked at a brisk pace, double checking her phone. No new replies. One-handed, she typed out a message to the neighbor’s daughter. In case of trouble, the girl could pick up Shiloh on the way home from school and babysit after.

In the worst-case scenario, she’d tap her aunt for an overnight babysit. She winced at the idea, and the thought of the questions that might invite. One day, her aunt would put two and two together.

Licit was standing in the hallway outside the office. The city had twenty-five thousand people and three capes. The PRT had a presence, but that presence could be summed up with two of the three capes in the city having the winged shield of the PRT on their sleeves, alongside their own icons, a similar icon on the glass of the door, and a lone employee in a one-desk office that worked to coordinate with them. Aaron.

Licit pressed a finger to his lips as Edict drew closer.

Edict drew her phone from her belt, and she texted him.

Edict: What is it?

The reply came back.

Licit: Boston on the phone.

Not too surprising. Boston had been cracking down on things. A lot of arrests. They’d anticipated a call with a request to go into the city and help with any of the tougher jobs.

Aaron wasn’t acting like this was that. He sounded stressed.

Licit typed more.

Licit: Shit is going down. Outsiders, itinerants, new players, old players. Blasto & Rotten, Orchard, some mastermind asshole, that militant villain group. Almost everyone.

Edict’s eyebrows went up over her visor.

Licit paused, frowning. He checked on Aaron, then led Edict a distance away.