“WHAT THE FUCK-” Both women shouted at each other in surprise simultaneously. Mira and Ness were less than a foot apart when their vision cleared enough to see; Ness stumbled back but hit what felt like a solid wall at her back. Mira stood her ground.

Ness was having a good day. She liked the face she saw in the mirror that morning; it felt like all the years of HRT — never mind the expensive and uncomfortable facial feminization surgery — had finally paid off. It wasn’t the first time, but she relished the feeling of warmth while she had it.

The first day of travel had been a nightmare. While they were following the bandits trail originally, Mira had used her magic to silence their footfalls and obscure them from sight while they moved, letting them cross the terrain as quickly as they were able, heedless of any potential interception.

The battle was nearly won- Mictlan, the strange dark-skinned swordsman, had proved his worth, keeping the four bandit swordsmen distracted and occupied single-handedly. Mira had hired him on in the last tavern she had passed through- he charged a steep cost, a full hundred gold, but she would not have been able to finish this job without him. It cut into her profit margin, but repaying the advance with interest after returning a failure would’ve ruined her, both financially and reputation-wise.

Eight pounds of sleek-furred black cat hurtled out of the shadows as Valerie stepped across the threshold; Sammy was already purring audibly as her little face collided with Valerie’s shin.

Valerie and Dana sat across from each other in the apartment’s small corner breakfast area, four walnut and leather-upholstered chairs around an elegant and modern wooden table. The floor-to-ceiling windows that made up the corner afforded a breathtaking view of the city. Valerie suspected the table and chairs cost more than her car. An untidy stack of paperwork sat to one side, and a few sheets were spread out between them, in front of Valerie. A cold mug of coffee sat off to the side, long forgotten, next to a half-eaten slice of toast.

“I have an apartment here in the city,” Dana explained. She had pulled the rented car out of the street space she had squeezed it into earlier, and into the morning traffic. “It’s more convenient after shows, and events, and .. " she paused, glancing aside at Valerie, who was staring out the window at the Friday bustle.

The door to Valerie’s apartment was not even closed when she and Dana finally stepped up to the threshold. Valerie pushed it open cautiously, but there was no sign that anyone else had been there since she was taken the evening before.

The pavement was uncomfortable against Valerie’s bare feet, but it felt better than the carpet of the trunk had. The sun was too low to warm the night’s chill out of the air, and she was still dressed only in the thin pajamas she’d been wearing. She shivered from the cold, and from the chaotic emotions swirling around in her head. It seemed like a week ago that she had been pacing around her apartment, agonizing over Dana’s contract; the events since then left her dizzy, and incapable of untangling the mess of emotions she was feeling.

Lucca flew north along the highway, just high enough to be safe but low enough that the cars were easy to make out. They didn’t spot very many; the roads out there that early in the morning were the next best thing to deserted.