The Darkest Kiss (Riley Jenson Guardian 6)

I raised my eyebrows. "I'm not very open, either, and yet you've been able to read me."

"That's because you're not unresponsive to psychic intrusion. You're just very well shielded against it."

"Oh."

She smiled and waved her spoon at my hand. "You want me to do a reading today?"

I snatched my hand out of her way. "No, thanks. I've had enough bad news to last me a lifetime."

She laughed softly. "One of these days I'm going to do another reading, and you're going to love me forever."

I raised my eyebrows. "Only if you see true love and kids in my future."

"And what did I say last time? You will gain what you want, Riley. It just won't be in the form you have dreamed of."

I rolled my eyes. "How can babies not be in the form I dream of?"

She grinned. "No one said the future was easy to understand."

"And you make a living out of this mumbo jumbo?"

"A very good living," she said solemnly, then chuckled. "I'm just glad most of my clients aren't as skeptical as you."

"I'm not skeptical of your talent - just what it's saying about my future." I took a sip of coffee, and licked away the froth from my lips. "Besides Alana, was there any other Trollop who might be on Cherry's hit list?"

Dia frowned. "For all Cherry's faults, she doesn't seem like the murdering kind."

"Many serial killers don't."

She acknowledged the point with a nod, but added, "Cherry wanted to be a part of their group. Destruction wasn't in her agenda."

"Well, it's in someone's agenda, and right now, she seems the most likely. Who else did she hate?"

She hesitated. "Enna Free would probably be next on any hate list."

I wondered if the body Kade had gone to check out today was Enna Free. If it wasn't - and she was still alive - then someone had to get to her before the killer cat did. I grabbed my phone and sent Jack a quick message, asking him to haul in both Enna and Cherry, then pulled a piece of banana cake toward me and scooped up a spoonful. It was, as usual, delicious. This had to be the one place in Melbourne where I'd choose banana over chocolate any day. "Don't suppose you'd know where Enna is today?"

"No, but there's an invitation-only charity fund-raiser happening over at Sparkies this evening, and I know some of the Trollops are attending that. Apparently, there's going to be some good man-meat there. Alana's words, not mine."

I snorted softly. "You know, if a man said that about a woman, there'd be an uproar."

"The world is warped," she agreed, then waved her spoon at me. "You want to get into that shindig?"

"If you can get me in, yes."

"Risa, can you get Mommy's phone out of her bag, please?"

The little girl leaned sideways, dug into the patent leather handbag sitting beside her, pulled out the phone, and handed it across. Then she gave me a cheeky grin and said, "Cake, please."

"Come here then, monster."

She scooted around, and I fed her cake while Dia made her call.

"Done," she said, after a few minutes. "And that's enough cake for you, little one."

Risa's pout lasted for all of two seconds, then she scooted back around the table again to finish off her Coke.

"The ticket will be waiting at the door. The cost is five hundred."