"Oh man, I hate sewer clogs," Gilda said as she climbed back into the van.
"Not half as much as Ah do," Jessie said in a country drawl as she placed her tools in the van's racks.
Gilda stretched her muscular body. "Flip you for who gets the shower first."
"Any excuse to get me horizontal," Jessie grinned broadly.
The other woman laughed and ruffled the other woman's hair. "Come on. Let's get back to the office."
"See? Now you got it in mah hair."
The two women were a stark contrast. Gilda was beefy and big with short hair and an attitude that screamed 'I'm a dyke. Wanna make something of it?' Jessie was short and lean to the point of scrawniness, with long shaggy hair and a warm and disarming smile that could melt ice.
Gilda had been born a human. Jessie had been born a dog.
They were both Garou.
Their van had a picture of Rosie the Rivoter making a muscle. Beside the iconic image ran the text, "WATER PROBLEMS? GET A DYKE. DYKE PLUMBING." They drove the darkening streets of Ithaca back to the main office, pleased at a job well done. The trees were just budding and the air was freshening but the nights still were closed. They still drove with the windows rolled down.
Jessie sprawled in her seat. "Clean house that was."
"Not with that sewer backup."
"Ah mean clean house. Nothing weird or Wyrmy about it. Not like that apartment last week."
"The one with the banes in the basement? Gah." Gilda shivered. "That was a nasty cleanup."
The light was still on when they arrived back at the office. Jessie stolled in first and waved at the middle aged woman behind the desk. "Hey Maria! We'z all done. Jest don't get too close."
Maria van Dyke eyed them with a frown. She tapped her desk with the table. "One of your... people was here looking for you."
Gilda and Jessie glanced at each other. Maria was one of the few people who knew they were Garou. She was also one of the few humans who could stand up to one. "Who?" Jessie asked.
"Ray. The one from your band? I believe he's the one who thinks he can play keyboads."
Gilda chuckled deeply. "When was he here?"
"About half an hour ago. He said to meet him at his house. He said it was urgent. Although I'd best warn you - he looked worried."
The husky woman snorted. "I've never seen Ray look worried even when he should be."
Jessie was more subdued. "Thank ye fer the warnin'. See ya tomorrow."
They ran back to their apartment, took quick showers and changed before heading off to Ray's house. Looking for a parking space they couldn't help but notice an expensive car parked outside. Gilda whistled as they passed. "Look at. Heh, maybe it's some record company bigwig. Maybe we got a contract!"
"Yeah, like that's gonna happen," Jessie said doubtfully as she eyed the expensive car. "Ye know what BMW means to a BoneGnawer?"
"No."
"Break Mah Windows."
They parked their Toyota next to a rusty Ford. "The band's all here - right down to the roadie," Jessie observed.
Gilda nodded. The band that was their pack.
Jessie sniffed as they passed by the expensive car. "Garou," she whispered.
Gilda sighed as they walked up to the door. "Great. Probably some fancypants Fang wanting us to play free at his daughter's wedding." She banged on the door and walked into the long entranceway. A demo of one of their songs was playing on the stereo in the living room just beyond.
"Sorry we're late," she announced as they came down the hallway. "We had a tough job to finish."
The first person they saw was a tall man in an impressive suit. Gilda glared at him. "What do you want, Mr. Jones?"
The Silver Fang curled his lip. "I'm just the driver. It's not what I want, it's what HE wants." He pointed with his head into the living room.
In the room their pack members sat nervously in a clump by the sofa. A large man with thick blond hair sat sprawled in a chair. His head bobbed to the music causing the small crown on his head to sparkle. He looked up at them. "Hey there! You must be Gilda and Jessie. I'm Albrecht."
Gilda jaw dropped. "Morningkill?"
The lounging Silver Fang smiled. "How did you know? The crown give me away?"
"Hey, yer famous," Jessie interjected. She ran over to the chair and started digging into her long, baggy denim jacket. She pulled out a paper and pencil. "Kin Ah have your autograph?"
The Silver Fang laughed. "Certainly. If you'll give me yours along with a CD of your songs."
"Cool!"
"Won't you sit?" he asked. "This is an emergency so I won't stand on ceremony." He smiled winningly. "Not that I normally do."
He sat up looked at them all earnestly. "I've heard a lot about your group. I like it: a band and a pack named Deep Cold Water." He nodded to each one of them. "Ray Kills-With-Style on keyboards; Glasswalker Philodox. Crystal Kills-for-Peace on guitars and lead vocals; Child of Gaia Galliard. Eric Has-No-Patience on guitars; Child of Gaia Theurge. Gilda Harrows-the-Bane on drums; Black Fury Galliard. Jessie Smiles-of-Sunshine on bass; BoneGnawer Ragabash. And then there's your roadie Freddie Throws-the-Bomb; BoneGnawer Theurge. It's a good cover, travelling to odd places to play music and kill Wyrmlings."
The band members nodded. Gilda crossed her arms. "I suppose you have a gig for us?"
"Yes. What I'm about to tell you is top secret. I've been approached by a group of people who would like to be allies in our fight against the Wyrm. They're... unusual. They are a collection of Mages and Fae."
The pack looked at each other in confusion.
"There has been a secret organization of Fae and Mages for some time now. They have workshops in Europe and North America. There's one up the hill in Cornell."
"See?" Jessie bounced in her seat and turned to her packmates. "Ah told ya there was something goin' on up there!"
"Jessie! Be quiet!" half her pack shouted.
Albrecht chuckled and pointed to Jessie. "You, young lady, have some explaining to do."
Her eyes widened. "What?"
"Your pet vampire..."
"Jessica!" Gilda yelled.
Jessie cringed; then put her back up. "He's my Ugly! Ah found him!" She gave Gilda a nasty look. "And don't call me Jessica!" She frowned. "Look, Ah rescued him from them other vampires so he owes me. He's jest a youngen - jest turned. And he smelled of books. Old books. Ah wanted them."
Albrecht gave her a sharp look. "So you cut a deal."
She looked down. "Ah promised him Ah won't hurt him if he gave me the books."
"And you would have kept your word and not killed him?" Albrecht probed.
"Of course Ah wouldn't have killed him," she remarked fiercely and thumbed towards her pack. "That's what they're fer. Anyways," she sighed, "Ah was savin' him fer Gilda's birthday next month."
Gilda's jaw dropped. Crystal giggled. Freddie snorted out a laugh. Gilda looked hopelessly at Albrecht. "See what I put up with?"
"You don't have to... live together," he commented lightly.
"It's a Fury thing," she shot back.
He held his hands up. "A tribe I have great respect for."
"Good!"
Albrecht turned his attention back to the Ragabash. His tone was gentle. "Jessie, you know he wasn't going to fulfill his part of the bargain. He was just buying time to move the books."
"To that tunnel under the Hanger. Ah know."
The Silver Fang cocked his head. "You knew?"
"Ah could smell 'em. Nothing smells like old books," Jessie said nodding. "If he screwed me then... well I was gonna wait for the birthday party."
"We knew about him too. Let us handle him from now, Jessie," Albrecht said soothingly.
The BoneGnawer shrugged. "Okay."
He cleared his throat. "I'm not here to discipline, or argue fine points of the Litany." He glanced the two Children of Gaia who were sitting together. "I'm sure there are points that we disagree on. I am here to offer you a chance to work with these new allies. Packs from around the Northeast, from nearly every tribe and sept are joining up with these new allies for a little demonstation project."
"Ladies and Gentlemen," he leaned back in his chair, "we're taking back Boston from the Wyrm. Not a sept, not a park or a few acres of lost ground - but the whole city."
The stunned bandmates blinked at him. "The whole city?" Crystal asked.
"Your cover will be as participants in the Battle of the Bands in Boston."
"Hot damn!" Ray smiled and rubbed his hands together. "We're moving into the big time!"
"So you can slip in without causing much of a stir. Secrecy is highly important. Nothing of the Wyrm can get wind of this. Now I can only give you the briefest outlines of our allies and their plans. Know that the Fae have fighters of their own and strange magic. Of the Mages - we may not like them, but they can very helpful. Very. And they're both sick of the formori and the banes and leeches. They may not be Gaia's chosen, but I've seen some of what they can do. We can do this if we act together. It will be hard, it will be bloody, but it will be historic and our victory will be glorious." He grinned slyly at them. "Want a piece of the action?"
-----
An hour later Albrecht climbed into his car and laced his hands behind his back. "See? That's the way you handle things. No barking, no shouting. Put on a little charm, offer them glory and honor and rev them up a bit. They're a nice pack. An okay band. They'll have to be split up to do the most good in Boston. Kind of a shame..."
"They're not much of a replacement for the Pack of the Holy Howlers," the driver remarked.
"No. They were pretty far down my list too. But our best packs are already committed elsewhere. With our major pieces in play we'll have to shift around a few pawns. Anyways, it's time for some of these people to move into the Big Leagues. They'll do fine. And the Eisenreich will be happy to be rid of that nosey lupus for awhile. Boy did they bitch about her!" he laughed. "She would have found out eventually."
"She's just a dog," the driver sneered.
"She's a good dog, a good nose." Albrecht looked out the window at the lake the pack took their name from.
"Deep Cold Water," he mused. He took the CD out of his pocket and tapped it. "Oh well. Maybe when this is done the survivors will get back together." He popped it out of its jewel case and slid it into the car's player.
"Must you?"
"Yes. You just can't kill as well listening to Vivaldi as you can listening to Rock-n-Roll."
He rubbed his forehead. "Okay, get me back to the sept. I need to moonbridge to Albany next, then Plattsburg, then back to Scranton before daybreak. I've a lot of work left to do."