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I stepped from a Way into the alleyway a few blocks down from the bar and looked about. Other than a few surprised looking rats there wasn't much else around. Given some of the other places I visited today this was an improvement.

I hurried through the maze of alleys and hoped it would be enough to lose anyone that may have managed to follow me. Depending on how fast news got around there could be quite a few people out in the streets hoping to collect any kind of bounty on my head. As I neared the mouth of the alley I wove a series of simple illusions over myself. They hid my horns, lightened my fur, changed my eye color to gold, and soften my facial features a bit. Satisfied that it would enough to keep anyone off my ass, as long as they didn't look too closely, I stepped out into the street. A few people gave me some rather odd looks as they noticed the flaws in my illusions but things held up well enough to avoid any serious issues.

I casually worked my way through the crowd and slipped down the bar's alley. About halfway down I started to hear what sounded like old school punk drifting up from the ground. Seemed Alice was in the mood for some easy listening. That or someone bewitched the stereo again, I remember one time when someone enchanted it to play nothing but soft jazz. Needless to say Alice wasn't too happy about that... neither was the person that cast the spell once she was done with them. I dropped my illusions as I worked my way down the metal stairs. I ducked through the door and was greeted by a very odd sight.

A feline, looked like one of the leopard tribes, was sitting on the floor and rubbing his cheek against Alice's leg. The albino wolfess herself looked rather annoyed and I could see several nasty gashes across his muzzle and face from where she had kicked him away. The rest of the bar was looking on and taking bets.

"Ross, keep him busy." Alice called.

The well-mannered elder spawn oozed through the bar and picked the leopard up by the scruff of the neck. Mumbling an apology, Ross dropped the poor bastard by the door, where he immediately latched on to my leg. Looking down I caught a glimpse of his eyes, they were almost completely black. Guess someone drugged his drink.

Alice went through the door leading down to her apartment and came up a few moments later with a length of rope. She pulled the leopard off me and quickly bound him, forcing him into a kneeling position. We dragged him to a corner where he'd be out of the way and he just sat there rocking back and forth with a moronic smile plastered across his face. With that done Alice finally met my gaze. I raised an eyebrow and glanced down at the leopard.

"Catnip." She explained as she returned to her usual place behind the bar. "Somehow I doubt they let you out for good behavior."

"'How'd you know?"

"Did you really think that news of your arrest wouldn't spread like wildfire?"

"Fair enough." I filled her in on the details of what happened the night before and by the time I finished she was giving me one of her trademarked grins. The dim light of the bar glittered off her steel fangs (half of her original teeth were knocked out in a brawl) and pure crimson eyes.

"What?" That grin was making me uneasy.

"How do I know you're not the shapeshifter?"

"You can ask me something only I would know."

"Where's the fun in that? I have a better idea." she purred and the sound sent shivers down my spine.

"What would tha..." the rest of what I was going to say was lost as she lunged across the bar.

When she was a child she lost her right arm and she's used various cybernetic replacements over the years. The latest one was some kind of custom military grade model. All matte black steel and carbon fiber with reinforced knuckle caps and razor sharp claws. Two of those claws buried themselves in my lower jaw. She slowly pulled me forward and down until her elbow rested on the bar. I stared up at her and fidgeted uncomfortably, a soft whine slipping from my throat.

"Oh shut up, this is light for you." She purred, running a finger down my muzzle and under my eye. She was careful to dig her nail in the whole way. Her natural nails were nowhere near as sharp as her cybernetic claws and didn't cut cleanly.

Just as my eyes began to grow wide and my breathing grew heavy she wrenched her claws free from my jaw and slugged me hard across the face. I fell back with a startled yelp and toppled off my bar stool. I crashed to the floor and Alice leaned over the bar to look me over.

"Yeah, you're you." she said, faint laughter coloring her words.

"You know that wouldn't have worked as well if I were still wearing clothes." I muttered, righting the stool.

"I'm sure I'd still notice." She teased. "So what are you going to do to sort shit out?"

"Same thing I usually do, start by trying to get some info I can work off of." I told her. "This shapeshifter was a pretty strong one. If it follows the usual rules then one that powerful should be pretty old. Which means there would be records of it somewhere."

"So you think you can find something about it at the library." She followed.

"Yeah, only thing is that with the police eager to get me back I doubt I'll be able to just walk in." Alice didn't bother to hide the grin crawling across her muzzle. "So I'm going to have to try and meet Todd at..." her grin grew wider. "...the club." I finished.

Todd runs the main desk at the Heart library but the effeminate wolfkin also has a fondness for cross-dressing and spends most of his time off in one of the more extreme drag clubs in the Heart. I'm also pretty sure he has a thing for me. A while ago Alice forced me to dress up in a mini-skirt and fishnet shirt and sent Todd a picture. Ever since he's been trying to get me back in that particular get up. Seems he was finally going to get his chance.

Alice was still giving me that wicked grin the whole way down to her apartment. She loves humiliation almost as much as she loves SM and bondage. Personally I wasn't as fond of it but I played things up for her, though she was better at it then some others I've met. She wasted no time in hurrying to her bedroom and rummaging about in her dresser. Within a few minutes she dug up several piles of clothes and lay them out on the bed.

"You have two minutes, then I pick for you." She purred.

"It takes me two minutes just to figure out how to put some of these things on..." I grumbled, holding up... something. It had a lot of straps and a few buckles, not much else.

I began searching through the piles, putting aside possible things and tossing the rest to the floor. I had barely gotten through half of it when Alice's hand clamped around my wrist.

"Time's up." She purred with a sly look glittering in her eye.

She pushed me down onto the bed and began to sort through the things I had put aside. Then she gathered up a bunch of the stuff that I had thrown away. I sighed as I saw the mini-skirt in her arms. Seems I'll never see the end of that damn thing. She proceeded to dress me much the way a parent dresses a stubborn child. I tried to protest and insist I could figure it out myself but that just made her pause long enough to muzzle me. That didn't stop me from trying but the heavy leather straps did their job well. By the time she finished my cheeks were burning and I was having difficulty getting the skirt to settle.

"Why do you have so many clothes in my size?" I asked as she finally removed the muzzle.

"For times like this." She giggled.

I sighed. Figures.

"We should do this more often, you look cute." She teased.

Taking the cue I got up and headed to the bathroom to see what she had done to me. She had managed to squeeze me into almost the same outfit as last time. Except this time around she swapped the fishnet shirt for a tube top.

"There's probably a few hours before he's at the club, any idea on what to do to kill time?" Alice asked, slipping up behind me and sliding her hands around my waist.

I just shrugged.

"It won't take me long to get that pole set up on the stage upstairs."

"I think I'll just have a few drinks."

"One thing leads to another." She chuckled.

We headed back upstairs and I got plenty of looks from just about everyone. Not that they made anything off it. Business as usual here in the Heart and most of them had probably seen things far stranger than me in drag on their way here. Ross saw us and immediately slid two glasses across the bar. I noticed mine was just a shot, filled with bright amber liquid that was burning. Demon's fire-water, a rare type of liqueur, its potent enough to burst into flames when poured. Good stuff but you have to drink it fast and not even I can have more than a shot at a time.

I tossed it back and it was like someone swung a sledgehammer into the back of my head. Once my eyes uncrossed I realized I was sprawled across the floor, again. I slowly climbed to my feet and the whole world seemed to swim. I steadied myself on a bar stool.

"I'm guessing that's an old bottle." I said. Did I mention the stuff gets stronger with age?

Alice cocked an ear and raised an eyebrow, Ross just looked puzzled. Guess I slurred a bit. I tried to say it again and this time even I couldn't make sense of what I was saying. Alice and Ross shrugged then chatted between themselves for a bit before checking the bottle. A small plume of black smoke rose from its mouth as Ross pulled the air tight stopper. Alice took a cautious sniff and let out a sharp yelp.

"Could probably run a car off that shit. Just toss the rest, we'll get a new bottle." She told him.

Ross nodded and carefully placed the bottle in the toxic waste barrel that sat on its own in the far corner of the bar.

"What about Mr. Derleth?" He rumbled, returning to his usual spot.

"He'll be fine." She said, pouring herself another glass of bourbon.

By the time I had sobered up enough to be thinking straight again it was time to go. I said my goodbyes and rose, taking a moment to make sure the world wasn't about to go all fuzzy again.

"If anything interesting happens I want to hear all the details." Alice called after me with a laugh. It sound like chips of ice being scattered across glass.

I stuck to the alleys and lesser roads as I wove my way through the Heart to the club district. Luckily it wasn't a long walk but I would rather play it safe. Along the way I kept my head down and hoped that the drag outfit would be enough to throw off anyone that might recognize me. Good thing I did too, I overheard a few people talking about my breakout and apparently there's a few rumors going about of there being a bounty on my head. It's been a while since I've had bounty hunters trying to kick my door down, I wonder how long it would last this time.

Just to be sure no one would catch on, I ducked back into the alleyways and used the same illusions as earlier to mask my appearance again. That done, I slipped back out to the streets and joined the crowd milling about the club district. People of all types drifted from club to club and party to party. There's something for everyone on this road and plenty more, at every corner and entry a barker shouted their den's appeal to the passing crowds. All in all it's a loud and rather in your face kind of place. Personally I like the quieter hole in the wall kind of places but there's a few spots around here that are pretty decent for a getting a few kicks.

Like so many others around here, the place I was looking for didn't have a name, you either knew where it was or you had no business there. Or you had to rely on the barkers to find your way around, and that was a good way to end up with a wicked headache. I joined the lined and struck up an idle chat with a drag king to pass the time. Not that there was much time to kill, the line was short and the bouncer was skilled. In just a few minutes he was looking me over and nodded me through the door.

The drag king gave me a hearty slap on the back and headed straight to the bar. Now that I didn't have to worry as much about being noticed I dispelled my illusions and turned my attention to the rests of the club. As usual for places in the Heart the club was huge on the inside. A long bar stretched the length of one wall and was staffed by three or four bartenders. A few lounge areas were scattered around the other wall while private rooms lined the back of the place. The rest of the club consisted of a massive dance floor; complete with live DJ, fancy lighting effects, and a fog machine. A staircase to the right of the entrance lead to a balcony. The annoying thing was that I had no idea if Todd was here and more importantly how to go about finding him in a place where the guys dressed as girls and the girls dressed as guys.

I did a quick skim around the edge of the club and cast a sharp eye over the dance floor. Between the number of people and the pounding music it was pretty hard to focus. Coming up blank I figured I might as well grab a drink before I stared searching proper. Aside from give me something to do with my hands when talking to people, the booze would help lessen the impact of the obnoxious dance music. Though it turned out I wouldn't be needing it. As I leaned against the counter to wait for one of the bartenders I felt a hand run down my back and give my ass a firm squeeze.

"The pictures hardly do you justice." Purred a rich warm voice.

I turned and smiled, well this just saved me a lot of time.

"Hello, June."

The young wolfkin woman in front of me was wearing a pair of capris that showed off her slender legs and pleasant hips while her simple tank top showed off a fair bit of her midriff. Her long mane was loose though I could see the waves left by her usually tight braid and her nails were painted a soft blue. Todd has had straight men hit on him when not in drag, something that he finds extremely amusing, seeing him in character just makes it more obvious why. She didn't have much for curves but she has a certain charm to her. Probably had to do with her warm face and graceful movements.

"Not dancing tonight?" I asked. Each of the lounges had their own pole and there were a few scattered along the length of the bar. Though most seemed to be occupied at the moment.

She shrugged, "It's my night off." Well that explains the tamer outfit. "So what brings you here? Come to tease or you calling in a favor?" Judging by the way she was leaning against me with her head on my arm it was obvious which one she was hoping for. It also answered the question of whether or not Todd had a thing for me.

"Here to call in a favor I'm afraid. I'm sure you've heard the news by now..." I didn't want to say too much out in the open.

June caught on fast and nodded, "Then I'm calling in one of mine." she purred, beckoning for me to follow.

She led me through the club, her tail wagging hard enough that I was afraid it would pop off. Unsurprisingly, she brought me to one of the private rooms. As we slipped through the door all the noise from the rest of the club vanished.

"Sound proofing spells." She explained as she shut and latched the door.

I took a look around, the room was bigger than my whole apartment. A large round bed filled most of it while a handful of chairs were grouped around a pole on a raised platform. The bed sheets were satin and the place smelt of some kind of exotic perfume which didn't cover up the underlying smell of sweat and sex. No sooner did I sit down on one of the chairs then June sat across my lap and threw her arms around my neck. Did I forget to mention that Todd gets much flirtier when in character?

I explained what had happened from the time the business party ended to the time I arrived here. By the time I finished June was giving me a wary look.

"How do I know you not the shapeshifter?" Something told me I'm going to get really tired of that question.

"You're not dead yet." I pointed out. "Or you could just ask me something only I would know."

Luckily for me, June was much more conventional then Alice. She spent the following twenty minutes or so grilling me over every tiny detail of the various jobs I did for both the Library and Todd. I ended up explaining everything from the kinds of tracking spells the library uses to the proper way to contain some of the more unpleasant books that had gotten loose over the years. Then there were the questions about herself and Todd. Questions such as what case I was working on when I found out about his hobby and how many times I've worked with Todd versus how many times I worked with June. Finally satisfied she smiled and gave me a quick kiss on the side of my muzzle.

"Let me guess, you want some books on shapeshifters to see if you can get any info on this one, right?"

"Yeah, going to be hard though, other than that pouch hung around its neck there aren't any other consistent details between either of the two forms I saw it in. Or at least none that I noticed."

June nodded and gave me a thoughtful look. "Didn't you say it was wielding a copy of your sword but the police only found yours? Probably not many shapeshifters that can hold together a construct like that and still be able to maintain their form perfectly." Sometimes I swear that Todd has read most of the books in the Library.

"That's a fair point."

She smiled. "I'll tell Todd to bring the books around during his lunch break tomorrow."

"Thanks..." I was about to say something else but she put a finger to my muzzle.

She shook her head and her smile grew outright predatory as she rose, pulling me towards the bed. "Your turn." She purred.

A few hours later we were both sprawled across the bed, out clothes scattered shamelessly about the room. I'll give Todd/June credit they sure knew how to get the most out of a favor. He lay beside me with his head on my chest and his arms around me. His eyes were glazed over and his tail thumped lazily against the mattress. I carefully untangled myself from him so I could gather my clothes. Once I was sure everything was back in place I settled onto one of the chairs and started to run through things in my head. I had gone through everything I knew of this mess two or three times before Todd stretched and stumbled around the room searching for his clothes. Once he found everything it took him only a few minutes to dress and clear his head.

June pulled a small mirror from somewhere and made sure her hair and what not was in order before we left the room. On the way out she hung a small card off the door knob and hit a call button on the wall. As we walked back out into the club proper a few of the club staff were already heading to the room with fresh sheets and air freshener.

We headed to the bar and I bought her a drink. We killed time with idle chatter before we decided to call it a night. It was all convincing enough, two friends meeting at a club and sharing a drink, but at the same time I didn't want to stick around and risk attracting any kind of unwanted attention. After a second drink we left. June gave me a tight hug and a kiss before disappearing into the crowd that still filled the street. I watched her go then turned down an alley.

I was about halfway down it when four dragonkin appeared in a ring around me. Impressive, the one that cast the veil did it well, no excess energy bleeding off to give them away. The other thing I noticed right away was their weapons. The thug in front of me was laden with all manner of talismans and charms while the other three all carried high powered rifles.

"Hello Derleth. Our boss wants a chat." Hissed the battle-mage.

"He can pick a number and join the line." I answered.

"Not gonna happen." Rasped the one behind me.

Before I could react he broke a bat across the back of my head. I hit the ground and everything went dark as I felt something sliding over my face. Well this was all a bit embarrassing, it's been a long time since I was kidnapped. They snapped a pair of thorn manacles around my wrists to keep me from casting spells. It was obvious these guys knew their stuff, thorn manacles are pretty rare and only a professional would be able to get a pair and know to use them on someone like me. The worst part was that I knew who they worked for and I doubted he wanted to have me over for tea and cookies.