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“Why do you keep gassing him up? He’s a wildlife veterinarian.” In fairness, dos Santos specialized in fragmentedpopulations, and flamingos in the Hudson Valley certainly qualified, but from what I’d seen, his chief contributions were poop-based or about obscure animal diseases. Also, he worked at a zoo, which was not very encouraging, as a human.

“He’s at the end of a five-year study out of Brazil,” Diane continued, and it dawned on me that if she’d been lurking around the support group, I was the only one who believed my PBS was in remission. “He’s also conducting a smaller study in the US, from his office. Funny coincidence...” She let out a wobbly laugh, and I groaned inside. Diane was about to say something awful. I could feel it. “He’s the new chief conservation expert at the San Diego Zoo, and—what luck!—last night, you were given a reason to be in town.”

It took me a beat to catch on. “Dad’s campaign?” I couldn’t believe my ears. “You’re suggesting I move to California? And get involved inpolitics? I’m not even registered to vote!”

“Oh, dear. I don’t like that at all.”

“I thought you agreed the whole plan was stupid?”

“I never saidstupid. But maybe it’s worth a shot? You could work for your dad’s campaign—it would make himsohappy—and be near the only PBS expert in the world.”

I gasped, loudly, to drive the point home. Why would I care about making my dadhappy? I mean, yes, I wanted him to thrive, live it up, et cetera, but not at the expense of my own mental health. How could my greatest champion suggest abandoning my life to work on Dad’s vanity project? What policies did he even have? They couldn’t be anything good.

Also, if I was symptomatic, the last place I should be was “around family.” When it came to PBS, they literally knew the half of it. I’d shielded them as best I could, coming clean only when it was unavoidable, like if a cop showed up at the door. Dad and Ustenya found the condition thoroughly vexing (on the days they deemed it legit), and Talia hated it, too.Just stop, she’d said once.Try not to think about it.

In fairness, itwasirritating to suddenly be faced with a screaming hairy armadillo or an infestation of capybaras, the world’s largest rodent, so I held space for their aggravation. Staying out of their way was half the reason I moved out to the farm, and I wasn’t looking to take my circus on the road. Not to mention, Dad wanted us to move to California rightnow, and I had a whole flamboyance to deal with.

Also, I understood something dos Santos did not. A medium-to-major disaster followed each flare, and I didn’t need some vet to tell me that PBS made me a harbinger of doom. Life had been good—normal—these past two years, but with the arrival of the flamingos, one thing was clear. This campaign would be a disaster, and I refused to get near it.

Chapter Seven

Ozzie

The Bestiary of Chaoswas glorious.

A courier brought it over late Monday afternoon, and now it sat on the entryway table as Ozzie contemplated how best to show it off to his seven million followers. Pictures? A video? Maybe Freja would pose next to it, in a bikini. Ozzie shook his head. Nah. He loved the girl but didn’t trust her to handle it properly. Like lots of models, she was gangly and awkward. It was part of her charm.

His phone buzzed from... somewhere. Ozzie glanced around before spotting it on the recently purchased $70,000 Hermès bench. Talia’s name flashed across the screen. She was downstairs. Could he let her up?

Ozzie’s first thought was,Did somebody die?Talia wasn’t the type to show up unannounced, especially not to see him. All the years gone by, and she’d never stopped thinking of him as a pesky toddler who left handprints on all her shiny things.

“Hey, girl,” Ozzie said when he opened the door two minutes later. “Nice fit.” He wasn’t used to seeing her in, like, business slacks or whatever. His sister loved a baseball hat and clogs, always with a full beat on, inexplicably. Why spend so much time on makeup but half-ass it with clothes? It couldn’t take that much extra effort to get a look off.

“They’re basic black pants,” Talia said, pushing past him intothe apartment. “Honestly, I’m not in the mood to be heckled right now.”

Ozzie twisted up his face. “Who’s heckling?” he said, and Talia flipped around.

“Can I borrow a car?”

That explained it. Talia needed something. It was nice to know she found him useful every once in a while. Ozzie was happy to help. “Sure. You bet,” he said. “What do you need it for? Is everything okay? You seem kinda... anxious.”

Then again, frazzled and high-strung was Talia’s general vibe. Freja called her “the hummingbird” because she flapped from one place to the next at a million miles per hour.Probably takes speed, Freja opined (neutral),to keep her weight down. Ozzie assumed she simply didn’t eat.

“I’m running some errands outside the city tomorrow,” she said, “and forgot to reserve a car. Figured I’d check with you on my way home from work.”

“Not a problem.” There was obviously more going on, not that she’d ever tell him. “Which car? Any preference?”

Talia rolled her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. Something with four wheels and an engine.”

“Got it, got it,” Ozzie said, nodding. “I have the perfect sled in mind.”

“Awesome. Thanks.” Talia exhaled. Her body visibly loosened, and she stood there for a second as if debating what to do next.

“Do you want to stick around?” Ozzie said, the idea popping into his brain. It’d be fun to chill, hang out, shoot the shit, all that. “Fray and I are staying in tonight. Gonna get a pizza and rot. You down?”

Talia chuckled, and Ozzie felt himself tense. “Thanks for the offer. Rotting sounds great, but I have work to do, especially since I’m taking tomorrow morning—” Talia froze. She blinked once, slowly, and peered around him, toward the hall table. “What isthat?”

Her eyes locked ontoThe Bestiary of Chaos, and Ozzie’s heart did an excited little hop. He knewBestiarywould be a statement piece.