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I entered the coffee shop and placed ed , "Oh, is this seat taken?"

He turned to look at rinned "Now it is"

So far, this was going according to plan Too bad I didn’t have a plan for after I caught his attention I couldn’t break the spell in public, and I couldn’t think of a non-suspicious way to get hi I was some kind of hooker

I ordered a cup of coffee, then said, "You look familiar Have I seen you around?"

"I think I’d have relance up and downasto know you" He held his hand out to me "I’m Dan"

I took his hand and shook it "Victoria," I said, using the first nao with this illusion "I still think you look familiar You don’t have a bicycle, do you?" I asked "For soer"

He laughed "No, I don’t think so" Then he frowned, like heto remember whether he had a bike

"Or how about a security guard?" I asked, e the word "security"

He was still frowning, and his eyes had gone unfocused, so I felt like I was close, but I didn’t know much else about him He shook his head "Nope, not that, either What about you? What do you do?"

"Oh, I just work in an office, and oyle" That didn’t seeht not work The spell wouldn’t be very effective if it could be broken just by words related to a person’s real life co up in conversation I needed to find a way to put it all together in the right context, but that was going to be hard to do in public It would probably also work better coht be willing to chat with "Victoria" as a total stranger, but it would probably take Katie to break the spell Unfortunately, I didn’t dare drop an illusion in front of everyone, and I didn’t have the technique or control to specify who did or didn’t see an illusion, so I couldn’t revealas flirtatiously as I couldto go to this wonderful Italian place in et takeout, but I hate to eat alone Wanna join er out to dinner, but necessity uy who’d at least be intrigued

He raised his eyebrows and studied rinned and said, "Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever been picked up like that before Do you proood? I’m really picky about Italian"

"It’s the best, I swear" I sensed a vibe of o dutch It doesn’t have to be a date Just having dinner at the sa, he nodded and said, "Okay, you’re on"

We paid for our coffee, and I took his arht Owen’s eye as we passed and shookhim to keep his distance We turned onto a side street and walked by the building where I’d put on my illusion When we reached that spot, I pulled Dan into the niche and instantly dropped the illusion

"What is this? What’s going on?" Dan protested, trying to back away fro uring I had nothing to lose and very little tih to draw attention, I snapped, "Your undercover identity is as a bicycle oyles to foil an elf attack" It ht not have been a particularly vivid ht it should provide a significant level of cognitive dissonance With any luck, when combined with my presence, it would do the trick

He swayed for a moment He blinked, then his eyes widened as he took in his surroundings A ht up to hirabbed the lapels ofthrough an arrabbed his ar?" It probably wasn’t the best way to treat a guy who’d just snapped out of a spell, but I couldn’t help myself A littlethe portal for, to bring an army from the elven realms to our world?"