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Florian smiled, broadened his shoulders, and jabbed a thumb in his chest “Leave it to ” He nodded atslowly towards the home
“So he’s a dryad, you say?” Quill asked, one eyebrow raised He wasn’t wearing sunglasses this ti theuez “Must be a rare breed Never heard of male dryads”
“Me neither But listen, he’s good at his work I’ve seen his and rip people apart U to do that to Leonora”
The plan was for Florian to get as close to the facility as possible, then send one of his sentient tendrils to snake up the building’s walls and infiltrate Leonora’s room From my last visit with Quill, we already knew that she liked to keep hercracked open a little, which was just enough space for Florian to send in one of his vines Then he’d just need to poke around on her dresser and grab a hairbrush or one of those peinetas Monica talked about, and we’d be twenty thousand bucks richer
“It ht have been prudent for us to secure an invisibility cantrip for your dryad friend,” Quill said, rubbing his chin “This place is pricy, and I’m sure they’ve covered their bases with cameras, no blind spots But too late for that now”
I clapped Quill on the shoulder He looked at my hand with suspicion, and maybe a little horror, like he wasn’t co touched I retrieved my hand and cleared my throat
“Relax,” I said “You don’t worry about blind spots when you can blend into the foliage Florian can turn into his oalking ghillie suit Look”
I turned to the home to point Florian out to Quill when I realized that I couldn’t even pick hiarden plants any, Florian could very easily ca the shade of his skin, even sprouting leaves and there necessary
“Huh Well, I’ll be damned Can you see him?”
Quill squinted at the garden “Hmm No, actually That’s quite i up the walls”
It was the only sign that Florian was even out there Now, hearfrom the elderly? Not uez fa the truth didn’t matter anymore I just wanted my money
My heart thuht fro shiny, and the vine he’d sent up was racing down the walls, returning to – well, wherever the hell he was I kept my eyes open as I waited for him to reappear, and I marveled as his body materialized froo, then suddenly he was, dark jacket and jeans and everything Florian jogged towards the car, a huge grin on his face as the vine trailing behind hi his bounty in the palm of his hand
Cool air rushed into Quill’s car as Florian opened the door and slid in, beauys see? No sweat In and out, like a shadow”
Like taking candy froy that only made me feel worse But for coic to hex you to within an inch of your sorry life Florian reached over oods in my hand: one shiny, pearlescent peineta, complete with a few loose strands of Leonora’s hair
“Well done,” Quilliaratulatory “I must admit, you wildly surpassed my expectations”