The snow was blowing in, now that the hangar door had opened fully. "Simple," Aries said lightly, and turned to walk out. "I get first pick of whatever you acquire for sale. You try selling to anyone else first, and I'll kill them and you."

"Oh," the man muttered. "That agreement."


Aries's truck was a plain white box-shaped vehicle with some writing on the side--it could have been a mail truck, or a delivery van. With it inside and the hangar door closed again, the snow only got in through the split in the wood covering the window above.

"See, this is why I do business with your branch, Kei," Aries said. He was kneeling on the concrete floor, checking the teeth of a small dog-headed child who was blindfolded and had his hands tied behind his back. The kid shied away as Aries released his jaws, but was otherwise quiet. "Y'all always have a good variety of ages and species, clean bones and pelts, good spell components, everything hygienic and tagged. Could be auction-floor ready straight off the truck."

The truck was partly full already of unmarked cartons and cages holding dark shapes shoved into the back. Along one side of the truck bed, a metal bar with leather straps reinforced by chains had been installed. One spot was already occupied by a horned figure who sat with their head on their knees, their long hair concealing their face. Kei was loading two more as Aries spoke--a red bird with a humanoid face, and a figure with long antennae who was covered in pale fur. They were both child-sized and stayed totally still as Kei bodily lifted them into the truck.

As he took the dog-headed kid from Aries, he gave a huge, stupid grin at the compliment. "Well, I was a wrangler, see. Before Anita's little accident." He tossed the dog-headed kid into the truck, causing the kid to sob softly. Immediately Kei whipped around, banging his fist into the side of the van. "Quit yer cryin'!!" he roared. The kid flinched, but went still.

Aries's animal, which was sitting next to him, tilted its head. "Quit yer cryin'," it whispered.

"It shows," Aries said dryly. "This place warded?"