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"Oh?"

"Guy in there showed me the door faster than I could eat a slice of apple pie"

"That is an ireed

"And he smelled like black licorice"

"Which you do not like"

"Not at all" He’d always hated it The candy tasted of fear and deceit

"Shall we go talk to hiht you’d never ask"

They entered the thick air Five kilns roared, lassworkers who sat at benches and shaped the athered onto the end of their pontil irons Assistants scurried, fetching tools, cracking off pieces and filling the annealing ovens to cool the piping-hot glass slowly The open s did nothing to dispel the force of the heat

The older man Leif had spoken with earlier directed the traffic, but once he spotted them he hustled over with a scowl The spicy scent of red pepper burned the inside of Leif’s nostrils Anger had replaced the man’s fear

"Get out," he shooed "I’ve no time for your nonsense I’ve orders to fill"

"This will not take long" Devlen projected his voice through the noise "Your office" When the man hesitated, he leaned closer and said, "Now"

The man bolted for an open door to the left Nice And it’d been the reason Leif waited for Devlen before confronting the lying glassmaker They followed close behind Leif shut the door on the din

The neat and utilitarian office lacked personality No pictures hung on the walls No decorative glass lined the shelves

Devlen laid his square saer at it "I’ve told you--"

"Look again," Leif said "Closer this time"

Theto inspect the piece A fog of black licorice aled Leif The man was terrified

"The person who ordered those panels is no longer a threat," Leif said in his ic mix with the words "We’ve halted his operations and are in the process of deter how extensive it is"

"We who?" he asked

"Me, Leif Zaltana and ue, Devlen Sandseed"

The man’s fear eased only a fraction Leif would have been insulted, but unfortunately he’d dealt with Owen and understood just how ician could be And with the size of this operation, Owen couldn’t erase all the staff’s memories--too icians," Leif added