Agent of Chaos (The X-Files: Origins #1)(38)

Mulder wanted to punch him in the smooth-talking mouth.

Sunlight joined Corinda, the psychic medium, near the door where they huddled in a private conversation.

“If you change your mind about what?” Mulder asked Phoebe now that the guy was gone.

She shoved him and stalked toward the coffee bar, where a line was already forming from a group of people coming out of the back room.

He slipped into line beside her. “Think they were having a séance back there to commune with Elvis?” She gave him a dirty look.

“What?” Mulder threw up his hands, playing innocent.

“You’re going to play dumb after that show you just put on?” She crossed her arms and stared straight ahead.

“I was looking out for you.” It was a lame excuse, but he couldn’t help being a little raw after their awkward conversation this morning. “That guy was probably thirty years old.”

“I doubt it.” She shrugged and moved forward as the line progressed.

“Why are you so mad? Were you interested in him or something?” Now he definitely sounded jealous.

Phoebe whipped around to face him. “Sunlight does private sessions, and he leads a new age group called Psychic Emergence. He was inviting me to their meeting.”

“Psychic Emergence?” Gimble strolled up to them. “That’s a stupid name. That guy should just start playing D and D. He’d learn a few things.”

“Maybe I could’ve gotten some information from him if you had kept your ego in check,” she snapped at Mulder.

“My ego?”

“Umm … sorry to interrupt,” said a Latino guy standing behind them. “But this is a peaceful space. You don’t want to argue in here.”

A skittish girl next to him nodded and whispered, “Sunlight wouldn’t like it.”

Mulder stared at them in disbelief.

Phoebe smiled at them. “We’re sorry.”

The girl behind the coffee counter waved at Mulder and his friends. “Can I get you something?”

Phoebe and Gimble ordered caffeinated drinks with goofy new age names while Mulder stood behind them and sulked. He was still pissed off about Sunlight, and now Phoebe was mad at him. But mostly, Mulder was angry with himself for blowing his chance with her.

If I ever had one.

Something caught his eye. A biker wearing a black leather jacket stood at the creamer station, at the end of the coffee bar. A dingy white patch with black Gothic lettering arced across the back of his jacket. The patch read THE ILLUMINATES OF THANATEROS.

Gimble noticed Mulder staring and craned his neck to see what he’d missed.

“Check out his jacket,” Mulder said, keeping his voice low. “What do you think it means?”

Gimble shrugged. “No clue. Maybe he’s in a band.”

Phoebe came up behind them. “Why are you whispering?”

Mulder tilted his head in the biker’s direction. “Ever heard of the Illuminates of Thanateros?”

“Nope,” she said.

Gimble removed the lid of his drink and took a sip. “It sounds occultish.”

Phoebe rolled her eyes. “Or Greek.”

“A second ago you thought it was the name of a band,” Mulder reminded him.

“I said maybe.”

“While you two argue, I’m going over there to find out.” Phoebe headed straight for the creamer station and slipped into the empty spot next to the biker.

“Does she go rogue like that all the time?” Gimble asked.

A smile tugged at the corners of Mulder’s lips. “Pretty much.”

They followed her but hung back a little.

“Excuse me,” Phoebe said to the biker as she poured milk in her coffee. “I love your jacket. I’ve never heard of the Illuminates of Thanateros.”

The biker took a sip of his drink. He was older than that slimeball, Sunlight, and he looked Phoebe in the eye instead of looking her up and down. “It’s a group I belong to. We meet in one of the back rooms.”

She acted interested. “What kind of group?”

“We practice chaos magick,” he said, as if it were something completely normal. “Have you heard of it?”

“No,” she admitted. “But it sounds cool.”

A line was beginning to form behind Phoebe and the biker, so they moved off to the side. The biker noticed Mulder and Gimble lurking and waved them over. “You’re all welcome to come to the meeting.”

“Thanks. I’m Phoebe, by the way.” Mulder and Gimble walked up beside her, and she added, “These are my friends.”

“Mulder.” He didn’t wait for an introduction.

“Sam.”

Gimble held up two fingers. “I’m Gimble.”

Sam did a double take. “Like from D and D?”

“You play?” Gimble could barely contain his excitement. The guy had just made his day. “I mean, of course you play if you recognized my name.”

Sam laughed. “I used to play all the time. I was a paladin. Level sixteen. Chaos evil.”

Chaos evil? Was this guy serious?

Phoebe leaned closer to Mulder. “He’s talking about his character’s alignment in the game,” she whispered, anticipating his question. “It determines the character’s ethics and morality.”