Feargus

  I was approximately eight shots of Hocks deep by the time I started stripping on stage, and I reckon Councilwoman Oranen could have shown up at that point, and I’d still be grooving the GusGus. But when I spotted Adeline, I hesitated for a beat, and then another—until she smiled, and then I smiled, too.

  I tossed her a playful salute.

  The crowd turned to identify who was getting my personal attention, and when they spotted Abby Blaze all dolled up, the people went feral again. She laughed and waved, and moved to one of the tables closer to the front. Her eyes were still tuned to the stage when she grabbed a chair, and nearly missed her mark when she sat. I pretended not to notice. Maybe she was distracted by the performance, or maybe she was eight shots of Hocks deep, too. Whatever the case, if the people wanted a show—and if the people included Adeline—who was I to deny?

  Fancy twirl, and I turned my back to the crowd.

  Butt wiggle, and I leaped up and performed a triple flip in the air. Then I sprung backward and landed on my hands. Meanwhile, I watched as Quinn made her way over to Adeline with one of the untouched whiskey shots still on the bar. I don’t know what they said to each other, but she drank it straightaway.

  From two hands to one, I balanced like that for five, seven, nine seconds before I flipped myself back over on to my feet. I raised my arms in the air and the crowd went wild. Adeline, with cat-ear Quinn still by her side, clapped and cheered the loudest.

  The notes were flying again. But as intoxicated as I was, I was still (unfortunately) aware that I had a few important decisions to make before tomorrow. So, in one final act of drunken debauchery and adrenaline-based strength, I tore my skivvies off at the same time I concealed myself as well as I could with a hand. Let me tell you, Strachan speed and agility made for some excellent party tricks. I flashed the crowd my best grin, and the room erupted.

  But still, the loudest sound in the room was Adeline’s joyful laughter.

  With one hand still strategically placed, I raised the other and lowered myself into a deep bow before exiting stage left.

  I grabbed my torn undies, my pants, and my boots on the way out.

  I didn’t have the heart to ask for my shirt back from the lass I'd tossed it to, but I reckoned I could borrow one from one of the Gander lads before leaving. So I got dressed in everything else for now, and made my way back out to the lounge. Quinn was behind the bar again, Adeline was still sitting where I’d last seen her, and Anne was looking mighty satisfied after returning from the private rooms with the shy fellow who, by the by, was looking a lot less shy.

  Adeline hadn’t spotted me yet, so I tiptoed my way over to her. I thought about surprising her, but considering she’d recently been assaulted from behind in an alley, that didn’t seem right. Instead, I grabbed a chair that wasn’t being used, and plopped it—and myself—down beside her. She matched my silly grin with one of her own.

  “That was incredible!” she squeaked. “You really are a natural.”

  Our eyes met for the duration of a whole heartbeat that never happened, and then I smiled again. “Aye, and not to mention, I’m extremely drunk,” I said. “But mate—I’m glad you enjoyed it. How was your date?”

  “Dinner was delicious and Captain Kavelin truly is a wonderful man.”

  Well, considering how good his soup generally was, I wasn’t surprised about the dinner. And aye, I knew Captain Kavelin was a wonderful man. No news there.

  “You reckon you’ll see him again?” I asked.

  “Yes, he’s taking me ice skating next time. He says his sister and I have the same size feet and that she most certainly wouldn’t have a problem lending me her ice shoes.”

  I smiled again, but not because she was going on another date with Kavelin, but because I reckoned they were called ice skates—too cute to correct.

  “I saw you met Quinn,” I mentioned, nudging my head toward the bar.

  “I did, and isn’t she just delightful?”

  That was one word. “I was thinking if things work out, she and Michael might hit it off.”

  Adeline’s eyes widened. “Whatever you do, I must be a part of it.”

  I promised she would be, and then I had a quick glance around the room. It was getting quite late so a few tables had cleared out, and Anne was back on stage finishing her set.

  The crowd was getting rowdy again, so I leaned in a bit toward Adeline when speaking. And even though I reckoned she didn’t have to, she leaned in a bit herself—any closer and we’d be touching heads. “I actually have so much to talk to you about,” I said, “and as much as I hate to say it, we have work to do. I’m gonna go find a shirt and try to sober up.”

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  She smiled and nodded. “I’ll be at the bar.”

  In the bunk room, Ben was getting ready for bed. But when he spotted me, he opened his nightstand and pulled out a stack of notes, handing them over.

  “You forgot your tips," he said.

  “Mate, I didn’t even see you pick them up—thanks.”

  “Well, I’m not surprised you didn’t notice, considering you couldn’t take your eyes off Abby.”

  “I mean, she looks great tonight, doesn’t she?”

  “Uh huh,” Ben answered, rolling his eyes. “Anyway, need to borrow a shirt?”

  “Might make for an awkward conversation showing up at home without one.”

  Ben chuckled and tossed me a dark blue tunic he fished out of the wardrobe.

  It was a bit big, but it’d do.

  I thanked him again, and I popped the shirt over my head and stuffed the notes in my pocket. After that, I moseyed over to the wash basin and splashed some cold water on my face. While I wiped it dry, I looked at myself in the mirror. It had been a while, and I really did look terrible, mates. But oh well—the wad of notes in my pants told me that didn’t matter much.

  I gave my cheeks a few pats to wake up Super Serious Secret Spy Gus, and I rolled my eyes at myself. After saying bye to Ben, I returned to the lounge.

  Back at the bar, Quinn was leaning across, chatting casually with Adeline who was smiling and gesturing animatedly. I joined them, where there were three glasses of water waiting for me. I wondered why they didn’t just pour me one and refill it when I was done, but Super Serious Secret Spy Gus wasn’t fully awake yet, and Still Drunk Gus decided he didn’t care.

  “You’ll thank us tomorrow,” Quinn said.

  I downed the first glass in four gulps, and then I did the same with the next. I sipped the third one more slowly, though, seeing as I could feel the liquid sloshing around in my gut already. I really hoped I didn’t vomit. Not only would it be incredibly embarrassing, but I hadn’t gotten sick from drinking since I was thirteen.

  With Quinn distracted by end of night logistics, and with my third glass of water still in hand, I invited Adeline to join me in the broom closet. I wasn’t going to have time to do anything more at the base besides drop her off, so we had to make our plans now.

  I offered her a sit on the step ladder.

  “I can’t believe I’ve been offered the infamous step ladder,” she said, smoothing down her dress before sitting.

  Look, that step ladder’s seen some things—the least of which was sitting.

  I smiled and rubbed my beard.

  Adeline flashed her dimples. “So, what’s the scoop?”

  “All right, you know how the original plan was to intercept Quinn’s fake letter from Tag at the secret drop, and leave a taunt for your mother with the two bracelets?”

  Addie bobbed her head.

  “I reckon that might be too bold without hearing from Faust first about alerting your mother. So, I’m thinking: I could intercept the letter, and then I could kill the mail man.”

  “Well, that’s an option! But let me think about it for a moment—although I do agree, we should probably wait to hear from Councilwoman Faust before involving my mother.”

  I nodded. “I’m on the fence, honestly. There are some downsides to delaying. One, we’re screwing Quinn who’s expecting us to deliver her death proof. Two, if we kill the mail man, Quinn thinks they’ll send at least one or two reserves to investigate. And unless we catch them on their arrival, they’ll be loose ends wandering around the board. We just dealt with our two loose ends in Quinn and Tag. On the upside, this time we’d be expecting them, and at least we’re not jumping before Faust says jump.”

  Adeline hummed thoughtfully. “Actually, we may want to rush things, Agent Finlay.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “Well, if my mother receives the letter from Captain Kavelin telling her he’s seen us alive, and she receives evidence that Quinn and Tag are dead, that might be all the more encouraging toward her coming to Amalia herself. I’m not sure what it takes to borrow Partisans from the reserve, but my mother is nothing if not prideful, and I’m not certain she’d want to confess to the Six that she got two of their people killed.”

  I took a sip of my water. I won’t lie: I liked where this conversation was going. Usually, I’d have these sorts of talks with Rhian, or with myself, but now—

  “All right,” I said. “You might be right, but we'll let that one simmer. We’ll decide on the way home, because there’s something else you ought to know.”

  The step ladder scraped against the stone floor when Adeline scooted closer. I took another sip of water before leaning in.

  “If we reunite Zack and Sebastian, Quinn says the Six will respond by ending the world again.”

  Adeline squeaked, reaching for my glass.

  I handed it over, and she took a generous gulp before passing it back.

  “That’s not good,” she said. “That’s everything you’ve been working on for months!”

  “I know, and plus the world ending.”

  “But we just have to reunite them,” she added. “Zacharias is your best friend, we all like Sebastian, and what about Jakob? And what about Avis?”

  “I know.”

  Adeline spun a spiral of her hair around a finger, and I sat on the floor beside the step ladder.

  It was quiet for a time while we considered the predicament, and mates, I couldn’t have been more relieved when she spoke up first. Not because I didn’t know what to say, but because I wasn’t the one who had to say it.

  After scampering over and quickly checking to make sure Quinn wasn’t standing behind the door, Adeline crouched beside me, leaning in and lowering her voice anyhow.

  “Then perhaps, Agent Finlay,” she said, “instead of bringing the end of the world to them, we let them bring the end of the world to us.”