"No." Her gaze came to mine. "Only to those who will save us."
"That's the second time you've said that, and it's no clearer now than it was before."
"I guess it isn't." Her gaze fell away as she leaned back in the seat. "I'll see you tomorrow."
It was a dismissal and a statement of fact, all in one. I frowned, but thrust open the door and climbed out. The night had grown colder in the brief time I'd been in the car, the breeze chill. Goose bumps ran across my skin. Thank God I wasn't actually sleeping on the streets tonight. I slammed the car door shut and watched Dia's black limo disappear into the night.
"So," I said, rubbing my bare arms as I looked around to see where I was. "You heard it all?"
"Yes. And I'm mighty disappointed you didn't tell me about the fluctuations in your telepathy strength."
"It's only just started happening, boss. With everything else that's been going on, it just slipped my mind."
"That's not good enough, Riley. We need to keep a close check on what is going on with your psi-abilities."
"So I'll try and remember to tell you the next time anything strange happens."
"Don't try. Do." He paused. "Why didn't you finish off those vamps?"
"You want them dead, you kill them."
"We have, but that's not the point."
No, the point was he wanted me to kill on order. I might have acknowledged the need to become a guardian - if only internally - but that didn't mean I had to happily dive straight into the killing bit.
"The card she gave me has her personal address, not that employment agency she and Starr have been using as a front." I looked left and right, then crossed the road, heading for the shops on the other side. Coffee and chocolate were in order - they might not actually ease the ache in my head, but they'd at least make me feel a little bit better.
"It's not a front, but a registered agency."
"Has she ever used her house before?"
"Given we've only been following her for six weeks, it's hard to say."
"So she could suspect something?"
"She didn't sound suspicious."
"No." I hesitated. "I've just got this feeling she knew more than what she was saying."
"She'd be naturally suspicious of anyone - which is why she does a check on them first."
"Maybe." I pushed open the door of the 7-Eleven, and helped myself to coffee - they didn't have hazelnut, so I compensated with a hazelnut chocolate bar - then I headed around to grab some Panadol. Off-the-shelf painkillers mightn't be the strongest available, but they were better than nothing. Once I'd paid the man, I headed back out.
"What did you make of her saying, 'You will save us'?"
"A slip of the tongue, perhaps?"
"She didn't seem the sort to do anything by mistake." I sipped my coffee, wincing a little at its bitter taste. "There's something going on here that we don't understand."
"It's natural to feel that, given we know so little about her or her relationship with Starr." He paused. "But be careful all the same."
Like I wasn't going to be? "How thorough a background search did you do?"
"Very. We don't send people into dangerous situations willy-nilly, you know."
I grinned. "I'm mighty glad to hear that. So what now?"
"You go find a room at an appropriate hotel and catch some sleep."