"That was a very foolish thing to do," said Paul angrily. "You're lucky Loomis was there to cover for

you."

"That was a very foolish thing to do," said Paul angrily. "You're lucky Loomis was there to cover for

you."

"That's just the trouble," Paul said. "Youdidn't consider all things. You didn't considermy feelings in this

matter. You're a guest in my own home and I've gone to a great deal of trouble to help you. Willingly, to

be sure, but then you pay me back by violating my trust. And to make matters worse, you've only

complicated things for both Loomis and myself with Agent Leary."

"She's a jerk," said Kira. "And what's worse, she's stupid."

"Be that as it may, I'm going to have to work with her," said Paul. "And frankly, I don't think I'd call

anyone who has attained the rank of ninth-level sorceress stupid. You should have at least pretended to

fall under her spell of compulsion, instead of allowing your ego to get in the way and challenging her."

"He's right, you know," said Wyrdrune. "Now she knows you're a lot more than you appear to be and

she won't let up until she finds out why. Your cover as Paul's 'girlfriend' is very thin, at best. If she starts

checking around, and you can bet she will, she'll find out that none of his friends or coworkers has ever

heard of you. That won't prove anything by itself, but it will make her even more suspicious."

"All right, so I screwed up," said Kira. "But at least I did find out two things. I found out that she sure as

hell isn't someone we can trust and I found out about the Bureau's undercover team."

"Only you didn't get the list," Wyrdrune reminded her. "And I don't suppose you happened to have

memorized it."

She looked down. "No. I didn't have a chance. But I might be able to remember a couple of the names."

"Terrific," Wyrdrune said.

"Damn it, I was only trying to help!" she said.

"I know," said Wyrdrune. "But you had us real worried."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, what's everybody looking so down at the mouth for?" Gomez said as he sauntered into the room.

"This thing hasn't got us licked yet."

"Gomez!" said Paul. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Out taking care of business, Paulie."

"Yes, I heard about your business," Paul replied. He sighed. "Look, old friend, it isn't that I don't

appreciate what you're trying to do, but you're only complicating things for us. Every person in this town

who owns a thaumagene is screaming that Joe and I have mobilized them for some kind of animal

vigilante force. I know you and your friends are only trying to help, but—"