Tempting Evil (Riley Jenson Guardian 3)

The living room turned out to be another filled with gold and creams. Though the room was huge, there wasn't a whole lot of furniture - just two large sofas, a marble coffee table and a matching, white marble fireplace. The chandelier that hung above all this elegance was smaller than the one in the entrance hall, but not by much. A bright, modernistic painting held pride of place above the fireplace, adding a much needed splash of color.

"Please, sit down." Dia waved a hand at one heavily brocaded sofa even as she felt for the sofa nearest her with the other. Odd, considering she'd seemed so sure of her movements last night.

I perched on the edge of the sofa, feeling more than a little out of place in all this richness. Which, given I'd had mates who were far wealthier than Dia, was weird. They'd never made me feel inadequate in any way when it came to money - or the lack of it - so why did this woman? Or did it have nothing to do wealth, and everything to do with the overwhelming sense of power I was getting from her?

But if she was so powerful, why was she doing Starr's bidding? It made no sense.

"I take it you are here about the job offer?"

I nodded. "The hotel I stayed in last night solidified the need for quick cash."

"And you wish to remain under the radar at the moment, thanks to the arrest warrant that's outstanding in Sydney?"

I gave her my best "outraged" look. Which, considering she was blind, was pretty dumb. But then, this woman was psychic, so who knew what other senses she relied on to help her "see"? "Is this what the invite was about? Hand me in and earn a quick couple of grand?"

Her smile was wry. "Look around you. I hardly think a mere couple of thousand is worth the effort of luring you here."

"Maybe that's how you got all this richness - trapping not only the suckers, but runaways."

"I always run background checks on people I'm about to employ. It's standard procedure."

"And having a warrant out on me make me undesirable?" I snorted and thrust to my feet. "Your loss, lady."

I swung my pack over my shoulder and headed for the door - hoping all the while I wasn't about to blow it. But Poppy was the indignant type who fired at the drop of a hat, so anything else might have been seen as odd behavior.

"It wasn't the warrant that caused the problem," she said.

I stopped and looked around. She wasn't even looking at me, but staring instead somewhere to my left. It was almost as if she wasn't sure of my exact whereabouts, and again, that ran against everything I'd seen last night.

"Then what is the problem?"

"The fact that Poppy Burns doesn't actually exist."

Fuck, So much for Jack's clever paperwork. "I don't? We'll, gee, thanks for the tip."

I forced my feet on. She hadn't locked the front door when I entered, so at least I could get out of the house. And it didn't matter if the gates were locked, because the fence was within a wolf's jumping range.

"I have a deal to offer you and the Directorate, Riley," she said softly.

"Stop," Jack said into my ear.

I mentally cursed him, but turned around and crossed my arms. Tension coiled through every muscle as I readied for action, readied to fight. Fight who, I had no idea, because Dia herself was offering no threat. No physical threat, anyway. "Why do you think I'm this Riley?"

"I touched your hand last night. It told me many secrets." She smiled. "You can drop the pretense. I know the truth."

How, when she hadn't actually read my mind? Did that mean her gift was some form of precognition that came online whenever she touched someone? "So why not mention something then?"

"Because I had to make sure I was right, that I didn't have the wrong name."

Meaning not all her predictions came true? That admission had to be first in the world of psychics. "And this is important because?"

"Because Riley Jenson is the only person known to have either escaped or frustrated Deshon Starr's plans."

Her words did little to ease the tension running through my limbs, and if wasn't for the fact that I could sense or smell no one else in the house, I might have run. Yes, I wanted an end to the madness, but that wasn't going to happen when I was standing here, far away from Starr.

"Ask her what she wants," Jack said.

If he'd been standing next to me rather than jabbering in my ear, I would have been tempted to kick him, boss or not. There were more important worries - like how much she might have told Starr, and whether or not Rhoan was in danger of discovery.