Page 64 (1/1)

There were apartments below us the whole way across, so we ht bets but had to drop to hands and knees while crossing s, in case there was soht it likely that there would be illusions in the son in normal apartments, but we couldn’t confirm it, so we didn’t take any chances

By the tis were cra, we brushed the dust off ourselves and straightened our clothes When we got downstairs, Owenand hurried around the corner toward the ray guys, but they didn’t see to report all this to Mac?" I asked Owen

"I have to," he said with a helpless shrug "If I’ to have any kind of life, I have to convince him to trust me, which means no secrets"

He didn’t sound at all enthusiastic about it "You’re worried about Mac’s plan"

"I think it will expose all of us and risk getting us all put under the spell again And that’s the best-case scenario It could also get people hurt or killed"

"But you don’t dare argue with hi over, which naturally leads to taking over the world using bad ic"

"Not that he’d listen to me even if he did trust me I think he still sees me as a five-year-old"

"What would you do if you were in charge?"

"I’d work closely with the elves Maybe one of theet inside for soh We’re at a disadvantage while we’re here in the elven lands, so I think the key is to get help fro from the other side is likely to find theet soh who looks like an insider"

"Earl’s too well-known," I ht be able to pull it off" I conte the elf angle, but I figured Oas safest if he had plausible deniability

Not that I liked having secrets from Owen In fact, I was a little worried about how he’d take it That wasn’t enough, however, to deter et all of us ho to defy the Council

Since it had been ured it was safe to keep stopping off at Perdita’s diner on , she rushed over to uy who delivers our supplies," she whispered "I think he round--he was very political And then there’s a guy who co out with my best friend’s sister I don’t knohere he stands, but if he’s here, he’s probably on our side, right? So, what do I do?"

"Have you ever kissed either of thelet around one finger "Both, actually"

"Give that a shot"

"Oh, like in the fairy tales?"

I started to explain about cognitive dissonance, then re with "Yeah, like that But be careful Make sure you’re alone, and then explain it and have them revive anyone else they know and trust" I hoped that if her ex ith the underground, he’d kno resistance cells worked, because I really didn’t want to try to explain that to Perdita

"By kissing the about your life back ho’s just quicker if you had that kind of relationship there but don’t have it here Anything that brings back strong ot it, thanks," she said a bit too enthusiastically, then dashed off before I could order my coffee

After I’d ordered and received my coffee from another waitress, I left the coffee shop and nearly ran into Perdita kissing soave me a thumbs-up behind his back It looked like we had onewith Mac in the park when I approached the store I thought about joining the our routine a little not only wouldn’t look suspicious butBesides, I wasn’t sure I could keep a straight face now that I knew things that Owen didn’t