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V iv and Tandri worked quietly and companionably, with no mention of the prior evening.

Viv worried it might become tense between the two of them, but it hadn’t.

The morning was calm and easy, and she allowed herself not to think about the Madrigal or the end of the month or how it would feel to take Blackblood in hand and cut any brewing problems off at the knee.

It was nice.

Pendry showed up again around midday, lute at the ready, and with less cringing dread about him, Viv thought.

She jerked her head toward the dining area with a smile, and he shuffled around the corner.

A slightly more energetic, but still folksy ballad arose shortly after, twinned with Pendry’s sweet, earnest voice.

Even nicer.

* * *

Later, Tandri nudged her and murmured, “He’s back.”

“Who is?”

“The mysterious chess player.”

The elderly gnome was indeed unfolding a wooden board onto the table out front. After carefully setting out the pieces, clearly reproducing a game in progress, he strolled into the shop.

He peered over the counter top, and in a voice like rumpled velvet said, “One latte, please, m’dears. And one of those delightful confections.” He pointed at the glass jar of Thimblets.

“You bet,” said Viv.

As Tandri was brewing his drink, her tail did a few quick back-and-forth slashes, which Viv was coming to recognize as one of her anxious gestures.

Eventually, the woman couldn’t stand it anymore, and asked with exaggerated casualness, “So… waiting for someone?” She indicated the chessboard through the window.

The little old man looked surprised. “Not at all,” he replied and took his drink and pastry, bobbed a nod, and returned to his table. Within moments, Amity had appeared as if by magic and curled up under his table again.

Tandri scrunched her mouth into a frown. “Damn it,” she said, under her breath.

Viv chuckled to herself, and with no customers waiting, brewed another coffee and strolled into the other room to watch Pendry play. He’d taken one of the outdoor chairs and moved it inside to sit on, which seemed a bold move for him. Viv approved.

Eyes closed, he lost himself in his playing, fingers flying, crooning another song that Viv didn’t think she’d ever heard before.

When the tune concluded and he took a brief break, she walked over and handed him the drink. “You’re good.” She glanced around. “No hat or box for coins?”

He looked surprised. “I, uh, hadn’t thought of it.”

“You should.”

“I… okay,” he stammered.

“So, that music you were playing the first day. It was… unusual.”

He winced and looked like he was going to apologize.

“Not bad,” she said quickly. “Just, different. Maybe you should give it another try, now that you’ve warmed them up a little.” She gestured with her head at the diners behind her.

“It’s something I was… experimenting with. But maybe it’s a bit much.” He still looked a little green around the gills.

“You weren’t always a musician, huh?” She pointed at his blunt and weathered fingers, so much different from the callused fingertips of a lifetime lute player.

“Uh, no. No. The, uh, family business was— is —a little different.”

“Well, keep at it. And maybe bring that other lute back when you feel like it.” She nodded and left him goggling after her.

* * *

“Hello again, Cal. Good to see you,” said Tandri.

Viv turned to find the hob on the other side of the counter, where he eyed the interior critically, as though fearing it might collapse at any moment.

“Place seems to be holdin’ up all right,” he declared.

She almost expected him to test a wall by kicking it. “Your usual?”

“Hm.” He nodded.

Tandri smiled with genuine warmth as she started the grinder. It grumbled for a moment, there was a sputter and a long whir, and she cut the switch. “Oh hells, the bean hopper is empty.”

“I’ll get a bag,” offered Viv.

“No, I’ll take care of it.” Tandri briefly touched Viv’s arm and headed for the pantry.

When Viv looked back at Cal, he flicked his gaze up from her arm to meet her eyes. She found his thoughtful look puzzling.

He cleared his throat. “Everythin’ seems to be goin’ along just fine, it appears,” he said, with more delicacy than usual.

Viv squinted at him. “Fine enough. Although I don’t mind saying I wish I saw more of you. Drinks are on the house any time you drop by.”

Cal snorted but couldn’t hide a smile. “Playin’ on my contrariness so I pay double?”

“Triple, if I can get it, you stubborn old goat.”

She managed to get a laugh out of him at that, but then caught him looking over her shoulder toward the pantry.

“Goin’ along just fine,” he repeated. “Make sure to stop an’ see it, hm?”

Viv started to ask what he meant when Tandri reappeared. “Sorry about that. Won’t be a minute,” she said, as she flipped the hatch and poured beans with a rattling hiss.

When Cal got his cup, Viv grudgingly accepted his copper, but then slid a roll in front of him with a triumphant smile. He grumbled good-naturedly but took both.

* * *

Gallina appeared in the late afternoon, alone.

“Was hopin’ to catch up some before we head out tomorrow,” she said, standing on tiptoe to fold her arms on the counter. “Just us two.”

“Sure! That would be good, honestly. Let me just close things up early here first.”

“It’s all right,” said Tandri. “No need to close. You go ahead.”

“You sure?”

“Absolutely. I’ll handle everything later. It’s not that busy.” Tandri shooed her off.

“Thanks,” said Viv, with a grateful smile.

As Viv and Gallina strolled away from the shop, Viv asked, “Anything you had in mind?”

Gallina looked up at her and cocked an eyebrow. “I’m hungry. You’re the local. What’s good?”

“Can’t say I’ve really taken in the sights . Although, maybe I do know a place.”

Viv led her to the fey café she and Tandri had once visited.

“Oooh, this is fancy,” said Gallina, with a twinkle in her eye.

“Oh, I’m pretty cosmopolitan, now.” Viv snorted, remembering what Tandri had said.

They ordered and ate and talked about old times. Viv began to feel like they’d sailed back into the easy waters of friendship again.

As they picked at the crumbs of their meal, Gallina’s expression grew speculative. “You know what I think of all this,” she said, circling her hand, her tone sharp.

“You think I should knife them in their beds,” said Viv, smiling a little.

“I do,” replied Gallina seriously. “Before they decide they wanna take more from you than they planned. And I don’t care what Taivus says, meetin’ this Madrigal, you’re gonna go and stake yourself out like a goat in front of a cave.”

“Worse comes to worst, I can take care of myself.”

“I know you can . I just wanna make sure you do .” She produced four slim knives like magic, and slid them across the table toward Viv. “I want you to take these with you. Fine, leave Blackblood wrapped up in flowers or whatever, but don’t be dumb.”

Viv was simultaneously touched and a little exasperated.

She put one big hand over the weapons and pushed them back toward Gallina. “If I give myself that breathing room, I might just take advantage of it. I don’t want to have the excuse.”

“Oh, eight hells, Viv.” Gallina crossed her arms and pouted. Then she whisked the knives away.

“Not going to stab me with one of those?”

“Maybe later.” She sighed hugely. “Whatever, I guess. But now you owe me somethin’ sweet for bruisin’ my feelin’s so bad.”

“I’ll see if they’ve got a dessert menu.”

* * *

Gallina walked Viv back to the shop.

“So, what’s a girl gotta do to get a sack of those sweet rolls?” she asked.

“Didn’t I just buy you dessert?”

“Thing about gnomes, we got the metabolism of hummingbirds,” said Gallina, with a huge grin.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Tandri was in the middle of shutting things down and waved at them both.

Viv wrapped the last three rolls in wax paper, tied them with some string, and grandly handed the packet to Gallina.

“Should last me the walk to my room,” she said, with a nod and a wink. Then she sobered. “Look, I don’t know if I should say it, ’cause I don’t want to set you jumpin’ at shadows, but Fennus….”

“What about him?”

“I think you should just keep an eye out.”

“Did he say something?”

“No, not exactly, but… I don’t know if you had some arrangement with him or somethin’, but… he’s been strange lately. So maybe it’s nothin’. But. I gotta listen to my little voice, I guess.”

“I’ll be careful,” said Viv, remembering Fennus’s visit and his parting remarks.

It does indeed have the ring of fortune about it.

* * *

Viv helped Tandri finish closing up. As she washed and dried the last mug, Tandri leaned on the counter. “Good visit?”

“It was,” said Viv. “I’ve known Gallina for years. Not my finest moment, leaving the way I did. But I think that’s smoothed over now.”

“That’s good.”

Tandri’s tail did its side-to-side lash.

“But?” prompted Viv, knowing there was more.

“You should be careful. When you take the meeting.”

Viv chuckled. “You don’t live as long as I have, doing what I did, without taking precautions.”

“I think that’s what worries me. Precautions.”

Viv stared at her levelly. “Gallina offered me knives. I made her keep them.”

“I… that’s good. I mean, it’s not my place to… ah, shit .” Tandri hung her head, and her glossy hair fell forward. She looked up again. “You know, part of what I am— who I am—I have a… sense about things.”

“A sense?”

“As a succubus. We pick up more of intentions, emotions. And also… secrets.”

Viv had a sinking feeling that she knew where this was going.

“Look, I know that there’s more to all this than what you’ll say. And that’s okay! Again, it’s not my place, but…. It makes me think this is more dangerous than just some crime boss wringing out protection money.”

Viv thought about the Scalvert’s Stone, but she hadn’t gotten any sense from Lack or his goons that they knew about it. And why would they? The Stone’s lore was obscure, and it was hardly sitting out for all to see. She’d been careful.

“I… do have something I’m playing close to the vest,” admitted Viv. “But I can’t figure any way that the Madrigal could know about it, and even if he did, the odds he’d care are low, I think.”

“Like I said,” said Tandri, “I can sense things. From you. And from all of them yesterday, something unsaid. And I have a bad feeling.”

Viv thought about Gallina’s warning about Fennus and wondered exactly what he had said to the rest of the crew.

“I’ll be careful,” said Viv. “That’s all I know to do, at this point.”

“I hope that’s enough.”

The shop was fully squared away, and after glancing around, Tandri nodded to herself and, after a long silence, said, “Well… good night.”

As she turned to go, Viv blurted, “Hey, so, you want a walk home? What with that Kellin guy, and your… sense of things, maybe it’d feel safer?”

Tandri thought about it for a moment, then replied, “That’d be nice.”

* * *

The night was dark and cool, and the smell of the river had a fresher, earthy flavor that was pleasant. The street lanterns cast yellow pools in the blue of the evening shadows.

They strolled in a relaxed silence, with Tandri leading the way, until they came to a building on the north side that was clearly a grocer’s on the bottom story.

“Up there,” said Tandri, gesturing to a side stairway. “I’m sure I’ll be fine the last few steps.”

“Of course,” said Viv, suddenly awkward. “See you tomorrow, then?”

“Tomorrow.”

After watching her ascend and slip into the building, Viv walked around Thune for several hours before returning to the darkened shop, where the last embers in the stove had gone cold.