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I scratched the bridge of ive me ten thousand dollars?”

The hter wasme at ease “Ten thousand is conservative” He draped one ar et you a new pair of undies”

9

Granted, it wasn’t exactly thethat Beatrice and I discussed, up to and including the part about a snug pair of enchanted bikini briefs being htest – supernatural powers of our known earth

But the more Quill talked, thedirect, forthright, especially when it came to matters of his name I tapped the table just to the side of my latte, the drink that Quill had offered to buy We were back out in the real world of Valero, having a casual, si-to-know-you at one of those artisanal, hip coffee places that I hated to admit that I loved so much Poor nephilim, expensive taste Just my luck

“So,” I said “What kind of a name is Quill?”

He chuckled, taking a quick sip of his own coffee – an Americano, I noticed “It’s short for Quilliam Quilliam J Abernathy”

I laughed, then cutto be rude “Sounds like the kind of naive their kids You live in a castle, don’t you? What are you, like, a bazillionaire?”

“Not at all My parents were just really bad at picking so I could spell and write easily” He waved his hand and cocked his head “Joke’s on theus I know”

“Sorry Magus?”

“Think of ical scrolls and books” He tapped the side of his head and grinned “Knowledge is power Quite literally, as I’s work for people like us”

“Cool, cool” I rested my chin in the palm of my hand, one eyebrow raised “What’s the J in your name stand for?”

He furrowed his forehead “It stands for ‘just drop it’ Never you h chitchat, I think we’re as acquainted as we should be” He clasped his hands together, resting his bottoers “Let’s talk business”

“Ten thousand dollars, you said”

He raised a finger “I said that it was a potentially feasible fee There’s a distinct possibility that you could earn even more”