Mind Control 7

“Just a goddamn minute!” the fellow snarled, reaching across the table. “You’re at least gonna do me the courtesy of listening to what I’ve got to …” And again he stopped, his hand mere inches from her wrist. Liliana looked back, startled despite herself to see the fellow suddenly straighten up and clear his throat.

“Well, this is awkward,” he said, and though his voice was the same, his tone, his inflection, were those of another man entirely. “I mean, here you are trying to enjoy your lunch, and I have to barge over and ruin it for you. I really must apologize.”

She stared, utterly bewildered.

“It’s got to be particularly awkward for your friend,” he continued. “I mean, he doesn’t know you very well. Would you want him to stay out of it, trusting you to handle it? Or to leap in and beat the crap out of me, even though I’ve got about fifty pounds on him? He’s got to be frantic, trying to figure out the right choice.”

Liliana felt a grin stretching over her face, so wide she was sure it had to reach all the way to her ears. She craned her neck, peering around the newcomer, to see Jace halfway between the table and the bar, his eyes locked on the red-bearded man, his brow furrowed in deep concentration. And she laughed, a throaty, musical sound of pure delight.

“I think,” she told the nearby fellow, though her eyes remained on Jace, “that he’s done just fine.”

Jace and his “spokesman” grinned as one; the latter wandered away, shaking his head in puzzlement, while the former returned to the table, two platters of food in hand.

***

Agents of Artifice, Chapter 20