It turned out Husk knew a whole lot of card tricks, some of which were genuinely impressive, but after the first hour Claire made a quick excuse and went to look for Angel. It wasn't technically an excuse, he was late as usual and that meant he might be passed out somewhere in the hotel or trapped in a doomscrolling loop.

"Angel?" she called out as she passed down the hallway, passing a partially open door where a bunch of musical instruments were being stored. She stopped and backed up, peering inside. That was definitely a cello or a string bass, a trombone had nearly fallen over but was being propped up by a bunch of music stands, and an upright piano was partially draped by a dust cover.

Glancing up and down the hall, Claire slipped into the room, flipping the dust cover off the piano and having a seat at the bench. It was probably out of tune. She lifted the fall board off the keys and pressed one. A pure, clear note rang out.

Claire put the fall board back down and drummed her fingers on it. Ever since she got here there was this hum in the background. She couldn't tell if it was something in the frequency of Hell itself or if it was just in her mind, but the way most people burst into song and dance at the slightest sign of adversity made her think she wasn't the only one to hear it. Maybe the only one who hadn't given into it yet. Singing her deepest feelings and secrets just wasn't something she was interested in doing in front of a bunch of strangers. Usually when that started up, she made it a point to have something else to do far, far away.

Yet here she was, in an empty room with a piano. The fall board snapped up again. "Might as well get it out of my system," Claire sighed with resignation, fingers settling on the keys. The slow, mournful notes of a ballad began to echo in the small room.

"I've never questioned my life choices, always known I'd walk alone," Claire sang, expression sour though her voice rang out as clear as the notes, "A path of shadow and silent voices, there's nothing that I would atone."

She played a quick melody, swaying a bit to the beat and getting into it a little more, "I know exactly who—"

"Is someone singing in here?" A voice came from outside the doorway. Claire slammed the fall board back down immediately, the last notes still ringing in the air.

"Nope!" She called out, standing up and hurrying towards the door that Angel stood outside of.

"Good, 'cause we gotta go if we're gonna meet my contact and I have not stretched if there's going to be dancing," Angel made a dismissive motion with one hand, the three others on his hips, as Claire quickly walked past him avoiding eye contact. "Hey, wait up!"

The meeting point wasn't that far, on a random corner only a few blocks away from the hotel. Angel lounged against the wall as Claire kept a lookout, even though she wasn't sure exactly who she was looking for. "I really appreciate you making this introduction, Angel."

"I don't know why you're still on about that Orkas asshole," Angel shook his head and eyed her, "If you're bored, there's plenty of things to do around here other than beat a dead horse."

Angel leaned in close to the side of her face, continuing, "Though that can also be arranged. I know a place that caters to just about every kink no matter how shamey it should be."

"I'm good," Claire assured him, as a man in a trench coat approached. "Thank you."

"Here he is now," Angel straightened up, giving the man a winning smile, "Ted, this is Claire. She has some questions about that dead overlord you knew."

Ted appeared to be mostly armadillo and Claire eyed him warily in case he decided to weaponize that trench coat. Thankfully he kept it closed, glancing up and down the street, "If we can make this quick, I've got a dope drop in ten minutes."

Angel perked up, "Ooooh, anything good?"

"Focus, Angel," Claire said flatly, before asking Ted, "Did you know of anyone that might've wanted Orkas dead?"

The look he gave her wasn't kind, "Look, lady, overlords are always vying for territory and Orkas had plenty of enemies," he explained as if she'd asked the stupidest question he'd ever heard, "You don't set up a protection racket without stepping on toes. Things like that lead to a lot of resentment. The kind those groups like the LLA feed on. They had a real hard-on for Orkas since he was snapping up the newbies."

"The LLA?" Claire asked, giving Angel a questioning look. He merely shrugged in response.

"Lilith's Liberation Army," Ted said in the same tone. He gave a sigh, adjusting his coat and starting as someone walked by, "Look, I don't want any part of this shit-show, but they crawl the gutters in patch seven for idiots who don't know any better. Start there."

Angel sauntered forward, draping his arms around Ted's shoulder, one hand sliding down the front of his shirt,"Thanks, Ted. And you know if you ever need someone to test your product—"

Ted shoved him hard and turned to walk away, "Fuck off, Angel! I gotta go."

"Thank you!" Claire called out after him, "And thank you, Angel, that was actually pretty helpful."

Angel gave her a wink, "Hey, I told you, I know everyone," he pulled out some dark glasses and put them on. "I gotta get to the studio, you okay to head back to the hotel on your own?" Even though the glasses hid his eyes, the concern was clear.

"I know the way," she assured him, "Thanks again, Angel."

"Anytime!" he started to head off then looked back over his shoulder, "You head right back there, ok? Shouldn't be wandering around here on your own."

"Now you sound like Alastor," Claire grinned, turning to walk the opposite way, ignoring the indignant 'hmph' behind her as he headed off as well. She had no intention of heading back to the hotel, but he didn't need to know that. It was time to go find some real answers.