"His copy?"

He looks away.

Fenris does not mention the part about three other mageborns. Instead he asks. "Jessica, is your driver at all capable of dealing with this?"

"My driver is a baseline human with martial arts and various sorts of gun training. I don't think so."

"I... I should turn myself in."

"Don't. Ar- Don't do it. ...What is she? A witch-queen?"

"I have no clue. Arthur-or-whatever-your-name-is, do you wanna explain?—the other mageborn is me, for the record. Shapeshifting. Except I'm not born I got it from a—I'll explain it later."

"Is it working?" Fenris asks.

"I-it-it..." His breathing is unsteady and he's actually crying. "It can't be true. It's impossible!" He buries his face in his hands.

—she hugs Arthur. "It's—it's not. I tried."

He hugs her. "I'm sorry."

<Unhand him, shapeshifter scum!>

"He's hugging me back, you racist bitch," she calls.

She sighs angrily. <Stop the deception. I know they are coming- Okay, everyone out of the car now.>

"Um, no? You're pointing a thing at us, the limo is bulletproof?"

<Good thing I'm not planning to use bullets.>

"Still safer here than outside by any reasonable measure!"

<Incorrect. I can zap the energy out of you regardless of physical barriers, using it a third time will knock out everyone already exposed and make carrying my rescuee more awkward.>

"And so because of that we should make it easier for you by just walking out of the car and being standing targets?"

"What do you think is going on here?"

"I actually would like to know that too. You seem to think that they're conspiring against me or something and..." He closes his eyes.

<Arthur's uncle sent reptoid shapeshifters after you and his other uncle. This group decided to take you to them tonight, there are dozens of them in the road up ahead and around your house. I don't know how the skymages fit in.>

"Lady I've been dating Ar—him for over a month, if I wanted to kidnap him I'd have had lots of other situations to do it. If someone else wants to kidnap him though I want to avoid that as much as you do, stop being so antagonistic on so little information."

"She is right."

They can actually feel the telepathic ellipses.