“Damn. Fuck. Damn.”

Flock paced through her loft, going from ‘room’ to room. She tossed what would appear to the casual observer to be a squishy ball. However, she didn’t toss it up or to her other hand, but directly in front of her. Whenever it left her hand, it would fly around her in elaborate circles and patterns before landing in her other hand. It was a stress-drone of her own design, and for several years it had been her favourite. She hadn’t needed it in recent years, however. She ran a criminal empire the size of several cities, that spanned entire floors, and that wasn’t as stressful as dealing with her own damn feelings. 

She threw it hard at a wall, where it spun aside at the last possible second, shearing the wall before soaring across the ceiling and then back into her open hand. Thinking was hard, because she wasn’t sure what to think or how to think it. Her brain was bouncing off the walls while her heart sat in a corner of the ceiling, hissing at everyone like a scared cat. She bounced the ball off the ground several times and then flung it as hard as she could. The door opened, and Shakes walked in. The ball would have hit him square between the eyes if it hadn’t stopped in mid-flight, just a few inches from his face.

“Boss?” he asked. Flock sat down as she directed the drone back to its little cup on her desk. She steepled her fingers like she hadn’t just been caught in what was her equivalent of a kicking-and-screaming freakout. 

“Yes?” She knew Shakes wouldn’t just walk in if it wasn’t important, but it was hard to suppress the annoyance of being interrupted while she was actively busy feeling sorry for herself. It wasn’t like she had a lot of alone time to begin with. 

“Good n’ bad news, Boss.” Flock nodded. She wasn’t in the mood to play word games. Shakes stepped forward when she didn’t say anything. “So a couple weeks back we sent our feelers out for word o’ the merc, and a description.” Another nod. She was aware of this, so it had better be going somewhere. “We got a hit.” Her eyebrows went up. “Well, I mean, we got a hit in more ways ‘n one. Looks like our li’l APB sent up a lot of flags, and there was movement. Up. Like, way up. Suddenly, both of them show up on the radar, an’ then both of them fall off it. Person’ly I think the message made someone up there think those two are important, found ‘em an’ took ‘em.”

“You think they’ll be used as hostages?” Flock asked. She had eyes and ears everywhere, but depending on how high they’d gone, there was a lot they’d have to leave to speculation and conjecture. Shakes paced through her office. She’d once tried to get him to sit down. He’d looked so uncomfortable for all of ten minutes she’d begged him to find a way to be comfortable, so now  he just paced. Good man, if a bit particular sometimes.

“Could be, ma’am. I reckon they’ll be pumped for info first. They en’t been seen again, but neither’ve their corpses, so could go either way.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “That’s the good news. Happened only three days ago. We can prob’ly get a location in another couple days, but, again, it’ll be high up.” Flock sighed. It was good news, all things considered. No matter what, Ellis would either have their partner back, or he’d have closure. Her heart skipped a beat.

It was good news. She was still a little unfamiliar with the ideas he’d presented her the first time the subject had come up, but if she got this right, whether Tee was alive or not, Ellis was not an unattainable impossibility, but simply someone who needed to talk to his partner before she could… what? Fall dramatically in his arms. She gritted her teeth. She hadn’t felt this stupid since the day she woke up for the first time. Ellis had made her stupider than her oldest memory. Shaking her head, she looked back at Shakes.

“What’s the bad news?” Shakes held his hands behind his back, in an eerily perfect military stance. He wouldn’t have mentioned bad news if it wasn’t bad. He coughed and she saw a small light flicker near his collar that indicated he’d just sent a small message. Immediately, another guard came in with a man who was handcuffed, badly bruised, and bright pink. He’d clearly tried to swim across the moat. It was a simple deterrent, but anybody who tried to swim in would be… recognizable to say the least.

“Who’s this, then?” she asked, her voice as gentle and smooth as a razor wire. 

“Clever man,” Shakes said. “He tried to talk his way out, he did.” He explicitly didn’t smile. His face was devoid of smugness and satisfaction of any perceivable kind. 

“How did that work out for him?” The prisoner was pink from head to toe, and he wouldn’t have been dragged in here if he hadn’t already been thoroughly interrogated. She only did so herself for special cases, like Ellis. That he was still here meant he had something important to say. Also, the paint was dry, which she was happy to see. Last time, she’d had to replace the carpet, and she’d been fond of it.

“Not well, Ma’am.” Flock grinned just as the man looked at him. She had a good grin. She’d practiced it in front of the mirror a lot to make sure it had the right amount of intimidation and a little bit of implied sadism. He shivered. Good. Either her presentation had worked or her reputation had preceded her. Both worked for her. 

“So what did we learn?” she asked the room in general. The man mumbled something.

“We’ve got incoming,” Shakes said. “Heroes. Probably be here by tonight, maybe t’morrow.” Damn. It had been inevitable, of course, but she wished they’d had more of a heads up before. The man on the carpet smiled despite himself, something Flock desperately wanted to make sure he regretted.

“They’re coming for you, Queen. We know you’re grasping at straws.” Curious. Flock had no idea what he was talking about but she wasn’t going to let him know that. She got up from her desk and stopped in front of it, arms crossed. He continued his boasting, and she wasn’t interrupting him. “The merc ain’t coming to help you. Black-62 is finished.”

“Why do you care?” she asked, cocking her head. She was genuinely curious. 

“You lower Deckers have been living off us for too long. We’re not gonna put up with your little criminal venture anymore. The higher-ups are taking a stand against your corruption and filth.” He was practically spitting by the end of it. 

. “I’ve already put everyone on high alert,” Shakes said. “Patrols are off the street, an’ people are bein’ warned to lock up and stay down. We don’ know who’s comin’, but I reckon’ they’ll have sent heavy hitters.” Flock raised a singular questioning eyebrow. “They know we been looking for Tore. Now they know she’s been captured, they ain’t gonna hesitate to attack. I reckon they think we’re vulnerable.”

The man on the floor frowned. He’d heard Shakes clearly. 

“That sounds like a reasonable assumption to make if you don’t have all the information, doesn’t it, Mister Shakes?” she asked, a little bit of venom in her voice.

“It does, Ma’am.” His face was a perfect poker face. Good man. Intimidation was better as a team game. 

“Are we vulnerable, mister Shakes?” She knelt down in front of the man.

“Never been stronger, ma’am. Just upgraded the perimeter cannons, an’ we can call in more mercs if we need to.” He paused for dramatic effect. Flock made a mental note to raise his pay when the prisoner was out of the room. “I don’t think we’ll have to, ma’am. We’re more than equipped to take ‘em on without any significant losses.” The crouched man’s expression had gone from defiant glee to a kind of crestfallen sadness that was usually reserved for children who’d just dropped their candy. Pure, unadulterated loss. There was more she could do there. She grinned widely, and several drones hidden in her clothing whirred to life and hung around her. His expression turned to fear and terror. Good, that’s what she’d been looking for. 

“Then I think we’ll be just fine. But thank you for the heads up, my good man,” she said, and stood upright. “Dust him off, give him five grand and a uniform jacket, then stuff him in a cab going up.” The prisoner looked at her with incomprehension. Why was she letting him go? Why indeed. Realization began to dawn on his face. Flock turned to Shakes. “How high do you think he’ll make it, mister Shakes?” 

Shakes looked at the man, and then straight ahead again. “The fifty-eighth floor is notoriously difficult to cross for traitors, Ma’am.” 

Flock nodded. “Do you think that’ll be enough?” she mused out loud, as she paced back and forth. “Or do you think we should slap a bounty on there as well? Spread the money around a bit, you know? Really give the people an opportunity to do some good and make some extra cash.” Shakes’ mask finally cracked into a grin. 

“Sounds like a good idea ma’am. I can keep an eye on any up and comers who want t’ prove themselves, might get some good recruits out of it.”

“Excellent idea, Mister Shakes. Please escort the good gentlemen out, I have some good news to spread.” The man was already stammering and begging for forgiveness, but those fell on deaf ears. He’d come in here to either spy or assassinate, and she didn’t have a lot of patience or forgiveness for either of those. He had put her people in danger, but he hadn’t actually hurt anyone, so he would have a chance -- an infinitesimally small one, but a chance nonetheless -- to get out and back to his masters. 

Flock walked out of her office to go find Ellis. She connected to her compound’s network and the display showed him close to the entrance, probably ready to intercept with the other guards in case the heroes arrived sooner than predicted. She’d tried to get him to accept less hazardous training posts, but he’d refused any attempts at nepotism. Wonderful bastard. She made her way into the main hall where her guards faced all possible points of entry. Not a single one saluted. Good. The ones facing her nodded to acknowledge her presence, but not a single one of them even wavered a little bit. 

Walking up to Ellis, she tapped him twice on the shoulder and he relaxed, turning to face her with that insufferably affable grin. She wanted to slap him or kiss him or, possibly, both. She took a deep breath. 

“We found them,” she said. “It’s going to take a while to find out exactly where they are before we can go and rescue them, but we found Tee.” The way Ellis’ face lit up was a treasure she wasn’t going to want to give up in the least, and a part of her really wanted him to look like that at the mention of her name some day. 

“Permission to express joy and gratitude, Boss?” he asked. She nodded with a little bit of a smile. She was curious what he was going to do, right up until he wrapped his arms around her and she was wrapped in a terrifying and uncomfortable and wonderful and amazing hug. “Thank you,” he whispered in her ear, and she nearly melted on the spot.

Flock was rescued by the chime of the front door’s bell being rung. Ellis immediately spun around and trained his weapon at the door again. His training had definitely paid off, and all of her other guards at least pretended not to have noticed that blatant display of affection. Was her face red? Her face was probably red. She shook her head and looked at the gate. She sent a little signal to open it, because she doubted the heroes would literally come knocking. With a groan, the heavy metal doors moved out of the way and revealed a single person. She was a wall of a woman, in full armor, with a massive hammer slung over her shoulder. Her white hair was gathered into a single, large braid, and her face was weathered with age and experience. 

“I heard you are having a hero problem,” Tore said.

Elamimax

They're gonna get it now >:3

If you like this story and want to know how it ends, All 34 chapters are up on my patreon! Subscribers will get access to every single chapter right now. Other than that, I will be posting a chapter (maybe even two) every other day (I don't think we'll get many more four-a-day like this :p). If you're in the mood to catch up on my other stories, feel free to check them out. Additionally, Horns in the Library 1 is now available as an ebook! 

I also want to point people at the discord server of the ever-prolific QuietValerie (right here) where you can find her wonderful stories, like Ryn of Avonside, Falling Over and The Trouble With Horns, as well as other authors' works, and talk about them with fellow fans, and even the authors themselves! I heartily recommend joining it and reading their works! (Also check out Walls of Anamoor. It's rad as heck.) 

Thanks again for reading, and I'll see you all in the next one. 

<3