Dolly dipped the brush back into the bottle, starting on her right hand now.

  "And then he has the *nerve* to tell me I need to smile more during the morning briefings," Kelly was saying on the left side of the mirror. "Like, Brad, it's eight AM and you're talking about quarterly projections. Nobody's smiling."

  "Mm-hmm." Dolly dragged the polish across her thumbnail. Smooth, even stroke.

  On the right side of the mirror, something moved at the northern edge of the city view.

  Bck shapes. Lots of them.

  "So I told him..."

  "Hold on, Kel."

  The bck shapes resolved into vehicles. Vans. SUVs. The convoy. Finally. She'd been watching for it all morning.

  Dozens of them rolled across the pins toward the north gate. Fifty at least. Maybe more.

  The guards on the wall were pointing now. She could see them leaning over, trying to get a better look. Probably wondering what kind of caravan needed that many vehicles.

  "What's going on?"

  "Work. One sec." Dolly set the brush down, careful not to smudge.

  The convoy stopped just outside the gate. For a moment, nothing. The guards waited.

  Then the doors opened.

  Figures poured out in urban camoufge, gray and green, made for city fighting. Elves with rifles. Minotaurs in tactical vests. Bear-folk carrying heavy weapons. All of them armed. All of them moving with purpose.

  The guards on the wall jerked back. Even from this distance, Dolly could see the surprise.

  "Boss," she said. "It's happening."

  She waved her left hand and Kelly's view shrank to a tiny corner. The city view expanded across most of the mirror's surface.

  In the upper corner, the surface shimmered. Bck Sheep's face appeared, arrogantly handsome, sungsses pushed up onto his forehead, ocean visible behind him.

  Then the view pulled back.

  The tiger was bent over the yacht's railing. All she could see was his back, muscur, striped, gleaming with some type of oil or sunscreen. His buttocks, raised and taut. His tail curved to one side, out of the way.

  Bck Sheep stood behind him, completely naked, one hand gripping the tiger's hip. Already inside him from the look of it. The tiger's back was arched, his whole body tense.

  "*Seriously?*" Bck Sheep's voice was sharp. "*Right now?*"

  But there was something else in his tone too. Satisfaction, maybe. This was what he'd been waiting for.

  Dolly didn't blink. She'd seen worse. "North gate. They just arrived."

  On the main view, muzzle fshes erupted from the convoy. The guards on the wall dropped, some scrambling for cover, others just falling. Return fire came back focused and measured.

  Three SUVs sprouted weapon turrets from their roofs. They swiveled and opened fire on the wall itself. Stone exploded outward in chunks.

  Bck Sheep shifted slightly. She saw the tiger's cws dig into the railing, and a low sound came through the mirror. Deep. Guttural. Part growl, part groan. The kind of sound someone makes when they're being filled by something huge and can't help themselves.

  Bck Sheep smirked slightly but kept his eyes on Dolly. "They breaching?"

  "Working on it."

  The mercenaries advanced in formation. Shields up front, covering fire from behind. Professional. Disciplined. Exactly what Bck Sheep had paid for.

  City arm bells started ringing. More guards rushed to the walls.

  A bear-folk in the second line leveled a rocket uncher at the gate.

  "Good." Bck Sheep rolled his hips. Another involuntary sound from the tiger. He reached for something out of view with his free hand. "Keep watching. The *second* they're inside, you tell me. And if Jack shows his face anywhere, I want to know *immediately.*"

  "Got it."

  "Can't believe I'm paying a fortune for this and it has to interrupt my *one* afternoon off." But he was smiling now. Annoyed, yes, but pleased. This was going exactly as pnned.