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Earl caught ot three more of us," he said "None of theh They were political enemies Sylvester wanted out of the way"

"Good job," I told hiround He wants to meet with the wizards"

That was potentially aard Then again, reviving Earl and getting him started on the others had been part of the official plan "You should tell Owen," I said "He’ll be in soon"

I went upstairs and hoped Florence didn’t pry too deeply into h Either she’d given up on getting anything interesting out ofit a rest She merely teased me a few times about Owen I wished I knehere she stood, but I couldn’t think of a way to probe without givingcoffee break rush, I looked up frouely faht be sonize in huave ured he wasn’t one of Perdita’s or Earl’s converts The tricky thing about recognizing people here was that not only were they likely disguised, but they were also out of context He could be someone I saw in the halls at work every day as a total stranger in an Upper West Side bookstore--and I’d have had the sa him in a real Upper West Side bookstore

While I h all the people I knew at MSI, and I still ca a fresh pot of coffee that I blurted, "Dan!"

Florence turned to me "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why?"

"You just blurted what for you is a pretty harsh curse Did you burn yourself?"

"No," I said Then I realized what she’d thought I said and decided to go with it to coverSorry"

"You don’t have to apologize I have no delicate sensibilities to offend, since I’m not from the Victorian era You can even say ‘daad!’" I joked But I was pretty sure that the guy who’d bought coffee was Dan, the new security guy who’d posed as a bicycle

After the rush, I took off er stuff I needed to do We had to at least pretend to keep the bookstore running so ouldn’t look suspicious, and that was a full-ti a prison break I couldn’t believe that not too long ago I’d been co bored in ot a spare moment to meet in his office As soon as ere alone, I asked, "Do you reuely He played the bicycle er, didn’t he?"

"Yeah He was here for coffee today, so I guess he got caught investigating--ht know more than we do I hope he comes back, but I don’t kno to break the spell on hi about hiht know him Our security and the enforcers work pretty closely" He paused, frowned, then said, "And speaking of Mac, Earl just toldwith him Well, technically, they want to e"

"What are you going to do?" I asked, trying to act like this was news to e Mac’s not going to like it, though He’ll see it as a challenge to his authority, and it is--probably one he’ll lose, since wizards are vastly outnu, I said, "They nized people and started breaking the spell"

He grinned "I guess she’s our wild card" The grin faded quickly, and he said much h and an atteaet back"

I was surprised that the look in his eyes said, "If we get back"

Chapter Fourteen

When Oent to talk to Mac, I ca for support I didn’t think Oould so much as say a snarky word in his own defense, so he needed backup I tried to feign interest in the gaot down to business, but uy nearby I couldn’t tell if he was ned post near the park and bookstore or if he was specifically watching us It was hard to see where his eyes focused when I had to keepon him