Scarper loves to tell you about how clever and devious he is, but he's moments from walking under a camera with a shapeshifting bag of black meat the size of a pony.
You run for them and catch Scarper's attention.
"Fuck you want, cub?" he snaps, but you grab one end of Clay—in the darkness you feel fur but can't see what you're holding—and pull them both down toward a frozen culvert that borders the parking lot. Scarper keeps complaining, but you don't need to be quiet, just to stay away from the camera. When you're satisfied that you're out of sight, you pull Scarper and Clay toward the van. Scarper rolls Clay inside, glares at you like you just spat on his mother, then turns.
"B.T.," he says, "come on! We need…what the fuck."
Black Tarn is standing over the mangled corpse of that trucker. Did he even have time to scream? Then the old theurge shifts into her human form and runs—naked and blood-smeared—right through the tracking field of the camera.
"Keys!" Scarper shouts. You reach into the pocket of your fleece, but Scarper is faster—he digs around with his clawed hand, wrenches the keys out, and shoves you into the door of the van in his haste. You hop into the passenger seat while Black Tarn joins Clay in the back. The van peels out of the parking lot.
"Why didn't you warn that guy?" Scarper asks.
"You and Clay were going to go right under that camera," you say.
"A fucking camera, are you stupid?" the other galliard snaps as he blows through the red and turns left. "B.T. tore that guy to pieces and you're worried about a camera? Well, she just walked under it ass-naked, so good work with opsec there, really fantastic. Now I have a dead guy to deal with tomorrow."
"Drop me off and I'll hide that dead trucker." Mortals are nothing but trouble and we need to stop an investigation before it starts.
"How's Clay?" I ask Black Tarn. We may not get along, but it hurts to see Clay suffer like this.
"Get off my back, Scarper. I did everything you wanted and Clay messed up." I'm sick of these old fools.
"Does anyone want to stop for breakfast? I'm buying if it's not horse." My elders are idiots and I'm enjoying this as I plan my way out of here.
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