“This is a bad idea,” Pavel told his wife. “Very bad.”

“We need the help, and not from those dead girls,” said Sonya. “A monster hunter is

the sort we need to keep an eye on things while we do the real work.”

“All right,” said Pavel. He took two more plates from a cabinet, and some silverware

from a drawer. “I don’t like it. We might have to protect them more than doing what

needs to be done.”

“This is not the first time we have used decoys,” reminded his wife.

“It didn’t go well for the decoys then either,” said Pavel. He paused to take a breath.

“Let us try to figure out what is really going on.”

“We will, husband,” said Sonya. “The soup is almost ready.”

“Let us begin our dinner and hear the tales of our guests,” said Pavel. He put on his

smile. “How bad could it really be?”

“Husband, why do you ask such questions in the face of atrocity?,” asked Sonya.

“You know better than that.”

“I know,” said Pavel. “I just couldn’t help myself.”

“Go while I get the food ready to serve,” said Sonya.

Pavel took the plates into the dining room and put them in front of his uninvited

guests. He put on the face of a good host as he did so. The monster hunter said thank

you with a smile, the other nodded.

Sonya came out of the kitchen with a pot for soup. She put it on a wooden platter in

the center of the table. She pulled the lid to reveal the ladle inside. She went back to

the kitchen for the rest of the food.

“All right,” said Pavel. “Let’s serve up the soup.”

“What if I don’t like soup?,” asked one of the girls.

“You don’t get a say in the matter,” said Pavel. “Plate, please.”

He dipped one spoon from the pot for her, and two for the rest of the table. He smiled

at her grimace.

Sonya arrived with a second pot of rice. She put that down next to the soup. She went

back to get more food for their guests. Pavel dipped the rice out on the soup, sniffing

the air as the two clouds of steam mixed together.

Sonya returned with a bowl of mixed vegetables, a stack of bowls and a bottle of

dressing for it. Pavel scooped the vegetables out into the bowls and passed them

around the table. He poured the dressing on his own salad and passed the bottle

around the table for anyone who wanted to use it to pour their own.

“Any other dressing?,” asked the soup complainer.

“No,” said Pavel. He put the stopper in when the bottle made its way back to him.

Sonya returned with an oven tray carried in an oven mitt. She sat that down on its

own spot. She handed Pavel a cake trowel before going back into the kitchen. He

used the trowel to cut the contents of the tray up and place a piece on the rice of each

guest. He nodded when he was done. He placed two pieces on his own plate.

“I think we are missing something,” said Pavel. He looked over the table. “Everyone

has tea, and food. What are we missing?”

“Bread, husband,” said Sonya. She held a plate of rolls and a small saucer of butter

with a knife. “We are missing bread.”

“Ah,” said Pavel. He took two of the rolls for himself and passed them down the

table. He passed the butter afterwards.

“Is everyone happy?,” asked Sonya.

There were a chorus of assents with the soup complainer saying no.

“No one cares about you, dead girl,” said Sonya. She made a sign with one hand, and

murmured something. “Now we can eat.”

Sonya took her place at the head of the table, Pavel sitting at her right. They began

to eat. Everyone else looked at their plates. Jason finally cut a piece of the baked meat

and rice out and tried it. He nodded at the taste.

“This is really good,” said Jason.

“It’s a recipe my mother handed down to me,” said Sonya. “She was an excellent

cook.”

“And so are you,” said Jason.

“So it’s not poisoned?,” asked the soup complainer.

“Why would I poison you?,” asked Sonya. “I have spent a lot of time cooking this

meal, and I am preparing to help you with your problem. Be a little more grateful,

dead girl.”

“I’m not dead,” said the complainer.

Sonya snapped her fingers. The complainer fell face forward in her dinner.

“I suggest the rest of you eat, and then we will talk,” said Sonya. “But my patience

is not infinite.”

“Did you kill her?,” asked Jason. He calculated how fast he could draw his sword and

throw before a finger snap reached him. It didn’t look good.

“No, Master Monster Hunter,” said Sonya. “All of these girls are dead, and have been

for a bit of time.”

She snapped her fingers. The complainer sat up, making a face at the food covering

her face and hair. She held up her hands. A sob escaped her.

Pavel stood and walked around the table. He shook his head as he wiped her face off

with a cloth. He folded it over and offered her the clean side.

“There is a bathroom down the hall so you can wash your hair off,” said Pavel. “It’s

the third door down. Don’t touch anything. We have a rude guard dog.”

The girl took the cloth and fled the room. Pavel shook his head. His expression said

the example was a bit much.

Jason looked at Rowena’s friends. They all looked at the complainer leaving the

room. He elbowed Tilda in the side. She looked at him, and then nodded. She stood

up and followed the crying girl.

“I had hoped that we could have a quiet dinner, and talk afterwards,” said Sonya. “Do

we put that aside, and go directly to business?”

“I’m eating,” said Jason. “We can talk later. But it will be a long talk.”

He looked at the girls, but they wouldn’t look at him.

Pavel bent down and whispered in his wife’s ear. She looked annoyed by the crook

of her lip. He frowned.

“I will be back in a moment,” said Sonya. She stood and left the room.

Jason dumped Tilda’s plate on his own and dug in.

“Your friend,” said Pavel.

“My apprentice can hunt and cook her own food,” said Jason. “Such is the way of the

wild.”

“All right,” said Pavel. He took his own seat. “You are old enough to take the

consequences of your actions.”

Jason smiled. He continued to eat as he watched the table. The girls had pushed away

from the table. Apparently they hadn’t known they had a problem. He considered that

as he enjoyed his repast.

Pavel shook his head. He had thought dinner would be a problem, but he hadn’t

known how much of a problem it could be. He should have asked Sonya to meet with

them somewhere else so the girls would be more comfortable, and he didn’t have a

monster hunter sitting at his table.

Sonya came back into the room a few minutes later. She frowned at the untouched

food, raised an eyebrow at Jason cleaning his plate, and shook her head at Pavel

having half finished his own food. She took her seat as Tilda and the complainer

came in the room.

Tilda looked at her empty plate and punched Jason in the arm. She snarled at him.

“You can get seconds,” said Tilda.

“You said you didn’t want anything, so I took a liberty,” said Jason. He smiled at her.

“Any more liberties like that and you’re missing fingers, sirrah,” said Tilda. She

shook her head. “The nerve of some people. Are you going to eat theirs too?”

“Maybe not all of it, but the main treat is very good indeed,” said Jason.

“I am an excellent cook,” said Sonya.

The complainer’s hair had been cleaned and tied back from her face. She didn’t look

happy, but she never did as far as Jason could remember. They had spent the time

cleaning her up, and letting her cry but it hadn’t changed the problem.

“Do you mind?,” asked Tilda. She grabbed her plate and dipped more rice and soup

on it, reaching through the space where the girls had sat down. She grabbed the

remainder of the rolls. She eyed the empty casserole platter. “I can’t believe you.”

“It was very good,” said Jason. He wiped his mouth and chin. “I would love to eat

here again under more pleasant circumstances.”

“I would love to eat here when I didn’t have a greedy partner around to eat my share,”

said Tilda. She remained standing and ate out of Jason’s reach.

“We would love to have you with more notice,” said Pavel. “A lot more notice.”

“I know,” said Jason. “It was rude of me to insist on joining your gathering. There are

some strange things going on, and we have been hired to stop them. And I feel that

these girls are at the root of some of it.”

“They are,” said Pavel. “Is everyone done? I have to clear the table if you are. Wife?”

“Allow me a few more minutes,” said Sonya. “Please take our guests into the parlor.

I’ll put the food away at least before I join you.”

“Do you want help?,” asked Tilda.

“I think I can handle it,” said Sonya. She smiled. She waved at the group. “Go ahead.

I will be along shortly.”

“Come along,” said Pavel. “We can sit and relax before we have our talk.”

“Rowena?,” whispered one of the girls to Jason as they walked down to the parlor.

He thought she was Verne.

“Died,” whispered Jason. “She was killed by a monster impersonating a train. We did

for it when we found it.”

Verne nodded.

He wondered what she had seen to believe something like that.

Pavel looked the group over as he opened the door to the parlor. He ushered them into

a room that looked more like a patio in a wide lawn than a room in a house. He

frowned at the lack of chairs for his additional guests.

“Excuse me for a second,” he said. “I have to get some more chairs. I will be right

back.”

“Do you want help?,” asked Jason.

“I have it,” said Pavel. “The house gets fussy when things are moved around.”

Pavel returned with two chairs and put them at the end of the line that had already

been set up. He gestured for everyone to sit. A table with a pitcher and a stack

of glasses stood to one side for anyone to get something to drink while they talked.

“Who wants to start?,” asked Pavel.

“I think the girls should start,” said Jason. “And then we’ll explain why we followed

them here from their school.”

“Go ahead, Verne,” said the complainer.

Verne looked around. The other girls waved at her in encouragement. The strange

girl with the marks on her cheek stood with her arms crossed. Pavel sat in his own

chair, leaned back and looking relaxed. Jason tapped the hilt of his sword as it leaned

against his chair.

“This Alvas rescued me from this thing,” said Verne. “He was dressed like a beggar.

He said he needed people who could stand up and fight for the city. There was a

rogue in the city creating monsters. He needed someone he could empower to fight

back. I rescued the others from the witches and asked them to join me. We were going

to ask Rowena to join us when she disappeared.”

“What happened to Rowena?,” asked Pavel.

“She was killed by a monster on the North Side,” said Jason. “Have you talked to this

Alvas after this empowering event?”

“I called him when I asked the others to join,” said Verne. “I haven’t seen him since

he empowered Mo.”

She waved at the complainer.

“These witches,” said Jason. “How many are there?”

“We don’t know,” said Verne. “Two more show up after we kill one of them.”

“They are dead girls,” said Sonya. “And they are what happens at the end of the

process.”

“What process?,” asked Jason.

“This Alvas has turned each of these girls into incubators,” said Sonya. “Every time

they go out to hunt, there is a small chance they will turn into one of these false

witches. It is obvious he did it on purpose, but I have no idea why.”

She closed the door to the parlor and walked to the pitcher. She poured some

lemonade for herself before she sat down.

Jason tapped the hilt of his sword as he thought.

“This Alvas is keeping track of the girls,” said Jason. “We saw him following us

while we were following them.”

“If he is still there, I will have a talk with him,” said Sonya. “What else needs to be

known before we can act?”

Jason handed over the bag of files to Pavel. He gestured for Tilda to do the same.

“This is all the Guard knows at the moment,” he said.

“Let’s take a look then,” said Pavel.