See you in a little bit.
As soon as I hit send, a comm dings and I flinch.
Is he here?
Looking toward the sound, but trying not to look like I’m looking toward the sound, I see Markoban pull his comm out of a pocket.
No.That is absolutelynotpossible.
First of all, Phantom wouldn’t lie to me about his name. Secondly, Phantom wouldn’t lethimlie to me… right?
Markoban’s job is part time. Half of his friends—and he definitely has friends—joke that he lives like a trust fund kid without any money.
He taps out a response to whatever came to him and my comm doesn’t ping when he sends it.
But… the concern lingers longer than I’d like it to.
I watch him out of the corner of my eye, not trusting what I think I know. I barely pay attention to the conversation, just enough to know if I need to add anything—I don’t.
And when my coffee comes, I let Kita drag me away, immediately.
“Tomorrow, we are going to the Juice Box instead. I will blackmail them into getting a coffee machine if they don’t already have one.”
Her irritation makes me smile, but it doesn’t set my mind at ease at all.
“What’s Markoban’s full name?”
“Markoban.”
“No, I mean… What is his second name.”
“Oh, thatishis full name, we just squish it together, it’s Mar,” she slices through the air with a tentacle to make sure I understand the break. “Koban.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“I thought I might have accidentally been texting him through Phantom’s.”
“That’s a thing?”
“Yep.” I explain the set up and then briefly touch on my conversations with Sirin.
“His privacy is just as important as mine,” I say… ignoring the hypocrisy in trying to figure out if Markoban was actually Sirin.
“Sure, but also… you be safe.”
“I will.”
“And maybe don’t fuck any Opodeans unless you know who they are?”
I stick my tongue out at her. “Can’t make any promises.”
She laughs at me and I almost wish I could laugh too.
But I have an appointment, and I’m not going to give Sirin up unless I absolutely have to.
CHAPTER 5
