CHAPTER FIVE

The music was infernal.

Loki wrinkled his nose. As far as he recalled, the last time he was on Midgard, the music had been more…musical. If it weren't for the throngs of scantily clad girls and swaggering young men dancing (and he hesitated to call what they were doing "dancing"), he wouldn't have recognized the series of sounds thudding through his body as a song.

Dev didn't seem to care for it either. She wrinkled her nose and shouted something at him; even with his heightened senses, it was a strain to hear her.

"Ugh. I forgot how much I hated the DJs here."

He frowned. "What are DJs?" he bellowed.

Dev turned to squint at him. "WHAT?"

"I SAID…" He sighed. There was nothing for it. Trying not to wince, he reached out to touch the mortal's mind. A blinding wave of pain forced his eyes closed for a moment…and then it was gone.

He pursed his lips thoughtfully. It seemed that the barrier of pain was only a thin layer around the outermost edges of her consciousness…odd.

Dev was giving him a strange look. He realized that he must look very strange standing there, pursing his lips, to someone expecting a reply. He tightened his mental grip upon the girl's thoughts.

I said, 'what are DJs?'

Her eyes went as wide as saucers.

"What the fu—"

Calm yourself. It's me. I felt that this was a more convenient mode of conversation than attempting to speak over this blasted—

She crossed her arms and glared at him.

Hip-hop.

What?

She rolled her eyes.

The music. It's called hip-hop.

So this is supposed to be music? That wasn't an unreasonable conjecture on my part?

You know, this really isn't helping your case as far as the whole 'not a hallucination' thing goes.

I don't expect it would. However, your friend over there might.

She glanced over at a soft-featured man with sandy hair who kept looking out over the crowd of dancers as though searching for someone, his blue eyes crinkled up with concern.

We'll just have to see—wait a minute. How did you know that was him?

You just looked at him.

The image of rolling her eyes rippled through Dev's mind and into Loki, but apparently she decided a subtle gesture would be futile in such poor lighting. Her eyes twitched, but did not move.

But how did you know he was at the bar? Or were you bluffing?

Loki considered telling the girl he had read her mind, but it was much more difficult to lie believably when the target of the falsehood was connected to his thoughts.

There are a lot of men at that bar, looking for someone to spend the night with. Your friend seemed to be looking for someone specific. He was also the only one looking at women's faces, rather than just their figures.

Charming. Another eye-rolling impulse floated across her thoughts.

Since you are the expert on modern customs, I defer to you: which do you think would go over better: a psychic link or audible conversation?

Real conversation. The audible part might be a problem, though. If we talk at the bar we'll either be unable to hear each other or we'll be overheard by others. Which could be a problem, given the whole 'escaped from prison' thing.

Mm. The 'alien with magical powers' aspect might prove a tad problematic as well.

Her lip curled slightly. You'd be surprised how much can be explained away by techno-babble when stupid people are involved.

Techno—?

Never mind. I'll explain later. How do we talk to Ben?

Leave it to me. Be warned, I will have to let go of your mind momentarily for this to work at a distance.

You'll wha—?

The sound of her voice was cut off abruptly. He let out a breath he had been subconsciously holding in. He loathed telepathic connections. They were so disgustingly personal. It made his skin crawl. With a final shudder to shake away the last of his distaste for mental connections, he reached out to touch the young man's mind. He braced himself for another blaze of pain. It never came. He discreetly sighed with relief. The girl's mind had been a razor blade. First contact with the young man's mind was like touching a cloud by comparison.

As he pushed his way through the soft exterior of the young man's thoughts, the fluff began to melt away. He felt the young man's thoughts take shape until…

Where is she? She's supposed to be here by now. God, I hope she's okay. If she got hurt...

Loki tried not to gag. No wonder the young man's outermost thoughts had been so easy to push through; he was practically floating off the ground every time the image of the mortal girl crossed his mind. Loki could have sworn he could taste sugar in the back of his mouth. It was positively revolting.

She's here, Loki said brusquely.

What the—?

Before the young man could reject Loki's connection, he forced himself deeper into the mind, pushing consciousness aside and taking the reins of the young man's actions.

I should go through the back door and climb up the fire escape to the roof.

The young man's eyes glazed over.

I should go through the back door and climb up the fire escape to the roof.

Loki smirked: all too easy. Retreating as quickly as he could—the sugary taste was beginning to make him quite nauseous—he snapped back into his own body and mind. Across the room, the young man jolted slightly as though he had touched a live wire. He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced at the back door, looking very confused.

Loki felt a poke at his shoulder. He turned around.

Dev was shouting something at him. He couldn't hear a word over the music.

He sighed.

What?

—just do what I think you did? You sicko! You just Jedi-mind-screwed Ben. That is not okay! These are not the droids you're looking for!

Are you quite finished?

No, I am not finished. You can't just go messing around, controlling people's—

Loki snapped his fingers. Dev made a series of very strange faces as she continued to mentally scream at him, gesticulating with her face. After a few seconds, her expression turned to one of shock and horror as she realized that Loki wasn't hearing her protests.

She punched him in the chest.

He raised an eyebrow at her sternly.

Don't do that again.

She glowered at him, but she did not attempt to hit him again.

Good girl.

She held up her hand in a gesture that he imagined must be an insult in her culture.

Do you wish to meet with your friend, or not?

Dev crossed her arms and continued scowling at him. Finally, she relented. Her shoulders slumped. Loki snapped his fingers again.

Fine. She narrowed her eyes. But if you ever try to pull that mind-control stuff on me, I'll kick your ass.

I have no doubt you will try to. Follow me.