"I only hope I wake up before I go stark raving mad!" Miss Twilley murmured. "Now he's answering before I say anything."
"You're not asleep," he said unreassuringly. "I merely read your mind." He grimaced distastefully. "And what a mass of fears, inhibitions, repressions, conventions and attitudes it is! Ugh! It's a good thing for your race that minds like yours are not in the majority. It would be disastrous. Or do you realize you're teetering on the verge of paranoia. You are badly in need of adjustment."
"I'm not! You're lying! You're the Father of Lies!" she snapped.
"And liars (he made it sound like "lawyers") so I'm told. Nevertheless I'm telling you the truth. I don't care to be confused with some anthropomorphic figment of your superstitious imagination. I'm as real as you are. I have a name—Lyf—just as yours is Enid Twilley. I'm the mardak of Gnoth, an important entity in my enclave. And I have no intention of seizing you and carrying you off to Hel. The Council would take an extremely dim view of such an action. Passing a human permanently across the hyperspatial gap that separates our worlds is a crime—unless consent in writing is obtained prior to such passage."
"Unless we have consent in writing, passing a human permanently across the hyperspatial gap that separates our worlds is a crime."
"I'll bet!"
"Are you calling me a liar?" Lyf asked softly.