Fucking telepathy. I told you, you can’t pull this long-distance shit on me. Holds me up. You wrecked my ride last time. I had to walk for—

Not your problem? I’m not part of your accursed hive. If I bite it mid-fight, it’s over. There’s no carbon copy around to fill these shoes. That’s what you get for yanking out your tongues. You—

Bullshit! Fuck purity of thought. Use a damn comm. I’m in the middle of—

Yes, I know I have everything under control here. Kid couldn’t be a threat to anything but my patience. He’s got an interesting history, though.

No. I don’t think I will. Not yet. It’s pretty rare that anyone escapes the mark. Even more rare that I get to speak with any of them. I’ll have to come back later to have a little chat with him.

What? How many? Where’s Caf—

Stop interrupting before I’m done. You already got me held up. Show some courtesy and let me finish a fucking thought.

Does Caffiel have the girl?

He what? That wasn’t part of the plan.

Of course I can still track her. I know how she thinks.

The horde is going to complicate things. How far away are they? Yeah, I know you won’t get here in time. I’ll handle it.

And don’t fuckin’ Pull on me again until I contact you. Can’t afford you holding me up if I’ve got to fight a whole legion from the horde on my own.

Thegn blinks, but holds still for a few slow breaths. He’s been doing this for ages. The Karui may be able to do a Pull and get into his head at a distance, but they don’t need to know how quickly his consciousness returns after they let go. A fun little loophole in the hive’s abilities. Their telepresence may allow them to see action really well, but they can’t get in his head over such a distance without holding him up.

Exhaling, the Reaper leers at the empty shirt and vest in his hand. The kid barkeep lies on the ground in front of him, unconscious.

“Idiot.”

Dropping the shirt, he strides to the front door, mumbling to himself. “That fucking rat. You had one job.”