I squeezed my temples. “So his plan was to steal this valuable artifact from Cerberus and store it in the vault? Wasn’t he planning to sell the artifact? That’s the Rigel thing to do, and it wouldn’t require an unassailable vault.”

“I don’t know. As soon as he told me the vault’s purpose, and that he wanted my help with the theft, I walked away.” She studied the contents of her mug. “Rigel had no right to such an artifact. It belongs in the hands of someone who isn’t driven by greed.”

I switched from temple squeezing to rubbing my hands over my face, debating what to ask next. I didn’t strictly need this information, but I wanted to cover all my bases before I began Phase Two.

“Strange …”

I jerked my hands down to find Maggie squinting at something over my shoulder. Shit, shit, shit. Had I let part of the hallucination slip? There were a lot of pieces to keep track of and my mental energy was flagging.

“What?” I asked cautiously.

“Something feels off about this place.” Her eyes resumed their paranoid dance around the room. “Are you doing something?”

Maggie knew what my abilities were. If she sensed something wasn’t right, I couldn’t fault her for suspecting me.

Unfortunately, her inside knowledge meant I had to work even harder to fool her. When I get distracted or fatigued, my hallucinations start to go a bit wonky, uncanny-valley style. Most people don’t notice anything more than an unsettling itch in their subconscious—but those who know why they might be feeling that way can spot the incongruities way faster.

She pierced me with a worried stare. “Kit, what’s going on?”

According to the plan I’d proposed to Blythe, this was the point where I should give Lienna and Agent Cutter the signal to move in and arrest Maggie.

But Maggie was kind, compassionate, and generous—three things that were hard to come by in this city. She might redefine the word “quirky,” and she might operate on the shadier side of the law once in a while, but she was also the woman who’d invited me into her home for Christmas after finding out I had no plans and hadn’t celebrated a holiday in years.

Even if I hadn’t had an alternate plan from the start, I wouldn’t have delivered her into the world of holding cells and gray jumpsuits that had entrapped me.

Leaning closer, I whispered, “I’m going to show you something, and I need you to stay calm.”

She nodded nervously. I gave her a hard look, ensuring she was prepared.

Then I let the café hallucination die.

Chapter Twelve

Maggie’s eyes widened as the vision of a cozy, kitschy café faded to reveal the cold, modern reality. With so much mental space freed, I redirected my focus to where I needed it far more.

Sucking in a sharp breath, she pressed her hands to the table as though to stand.

“Don’t react,” I hissed urgently. “We’re being watched.”

She settled back into her seat. “What’s going on? What did you do?”

“Don’t look, but did you notice those two tense-looking people in the corner?”

“Yes, yes. Who are they?”

“MPD agents.”

Fear washed over Maggie’s face. “What? Why? Are you working for the MPD?”

“I’m just trying to survive.”

“We’re all trying to survive,” she countered angrily. “Don’t forget that. We’re all trying to keep our heads above water.”

I squashed my guilt down. “I didn’t get away, Maggie. They caught me, and they’ve got sixty-one charges piled on my head.”

“So you’re throwing me to the wolves to save yourself?”

“Not even close,” I growled. “You told me once that an anti-telethesian potion is a staple in your emergency kit. Please tell me you have that with you.”

“Is one of those agents a telethesian?” She shook her head sharply. “Of course I have a potion, but evading them won’t work when they’re watching.”

My hand clenched around the necklace. “I’ll handle that part for us.”

“Us?”

“I’m coming with you.”

Her eyes widened, then she nodded.

“Go to the restroom and stay there until I call you. Have that potion ready.”

She gave me a twitchy, humorless smile, then pushed back from the table. Lienna and Agent Cutter tensed, then relaxed again when she headed for the ladies’ room. They already knew there was no way out of the building from that direction.

My heart drummed a nervous beat against my ribs.

There are three basic hallucination tricks I’ve mastered. The Redecorator was the first one—altering bits and pieces of a space to suit my needs. One of my favorite pranks growing up was targeting a classroom bully or asshole foster parent and moving a curb or a chair a few inches. I can’t tell you how many sprained ankles and bruised butts I’m personally responsible for.

People, however, have a presence in the minds of others in a way that white paint and a gumball machine don’t. Changing the color of someone’s sweater, sure, no problem. But creating a hallucination of a person speaking, moving, or emoting differently while the real deal is in plain view? The human brain resists hard when I try anything like that.

Which was why I needed the real Maggie out of sight before attempting this next part.

I counted to one hundred in my head, then concentrated on the Maggie I knew—which, by the way, was a big help. Knowing her, I mean. Made the hallucination way more convincing.

The bathroom door swung open and Maggie walked out with that same nervous skitter, her attention darting around as it had when she’d entered the café. She walked to our table and stopped beside her chair, fidgeting with a snap on her overalls.

Or so it appeared.

Now for the even harder part.

I stood up from my chair, bent my head toward Maggie, and whispered to her. She nodded, then marched for the door.

Agent Cutter and Lienna lurched to their feet, and I canted my head toward them, giving a quick thumbs-up and a “follow me” gesture. All part of the plan, my smile said.

Lienna lifted the chain of her necklace enough to peer at the cat’s eye. Reassured that her anti-psychic spell was in place, she waited as I joined Maggie at the exit. After the door swung shut behind us, the two agents rushed into motion, hurrying out onto the sidewalk in stealthy pursuit.

I watched them go, still sitting in my chair.

Creating a fake-Maggie wouldn’t work if she was in view because I couldn’t completely disguise the real version. But that limitation? It doesn’t apply to me. Faking myself—or even erasing myself—was a piece of halluci-cake.

Keeping my gaze trained out the window, I navigated the vision of me and Maggie across the street and into a busy all-you-can-eat sushi joint. Like the good trackers they were, Lienna and Agent Cutter followed.

The moment they disappeared inside, I dropped the hallucination and yelled, “Maggie!”

The handful of customers and the barista jumped in surprise, but I didn’t care. We had no time to waste.

Maggie burst out of the bathroom, her cell phone in one hand and a small vial in the other. As she rushed toward me, I shoved up from my seat and tossed the necklace down.