“Come up?” he concluded. His face was even redder now. He still pretty much avoided looking at Grendel, resolutely looking at me instead. Despite this, I thought that in some way he was attending Grendel—and this perception caused a new idea to form in my head. As if he was aware of what I was thinking, Grendel now said, “Mr. G-man, why will you not look at me when you address me?”
The G-man’s face, which had been red, now went quite pale. Fear? It seemed the only possibility. But even that—
I watched as the G-man as he turned his head slowly, unwillingly, and shifted his gaze, to look directly at Grendel. Their gazes locked for perhaps a dozen heartbeats, after which the G-man made a strangled noise in his throat and managed to croak, “Okay?” he said. “I did ask you, right?”
“You appea
