“It would have been too risky to send her anywhere else,” Nuri commented. “Especially as we don’t know who else might be involved in this crime.”
I pushed the cutlery container toward Jonas. “What hours is she supposed to be working tonight?”
“From ten to six.” Nuri hesitated. “Did you pick up much information from her?”
Surprise rippled through me. “You didn’t?”
“No, but I’ve always found it more difficult to read those who are psychically gifted, even if those skills were latent.”
“And yet you can read me.” Both my ability to see the ghosts and to create a shield out of sunshine were psychic abilities, even if the latter had been enhanced in the lab.
She smiled. “Not as well as I would like.”
And probably a whole lot more than I’d like. “Whatever her psi skills are, they made the connection stronger than anything I’ve experienced via that sort of touch. As lo
ng as you managed to download her RFID information, we should be set.”
“We did. And the bioscanners in the foyer shouldn’t be a problem—they check the external digital markers that are scanned in when everyone is first employed. The guards will only pull someone up if there’s a marked difference from what is on record.”
Meaning I’d better be very precise when I took on Sharran’s shape. “And will there be a problem if I am pulled up?”
“Probably.” Nuri reached for the bread and broke off a chunk. “If what Kendra told you holds true, you’ll be attacked tonight.”
Meaning she didn’t want to elaborate any further on what might happen if the bioscanner did raise the alarms. Or maybe she simply didn’t know. Even a witch and a seeker of extreme power couldn’t see every thread of the future. “Did you manage to track down any of the favori?”
Nuri shook her head. “We have a list of names, of course, but none of them remain in their homes.”
I frowned. “Then where are they now living?”
“In Winter Halo.”
“Why would they do that?”
“That I don’t know. But their families are being well compensated for their absence and aren’t complaining.”
I snorted. “Because money always compensates for absence, doesn’t it?”
“It’s all very well to be critical of such a decision,” Jonas murmured. “But you do not live in Central, and you have no experience of trying to exist in a city that basically worships the almighty dollar.”
“But I do have experience of living without it.”
“You are able to conceal or alter your appearance, which means theft is not such a problem for you,” Jonas said. “Those in Central don’t have those sorts of skills to fall back on. And it’s not like they can choose to live elsewhere, because there are few who could cope with life beyond the walls these days.”
Because of the vampires. And because most of them could no longer see in the dark, thanks to their cities of endless light.
“It does mean,” Nuri said, “that if you do become one of the favori, we may lose contact.”
“Only if I can’t find a way to get out unseen.” I hesitated, remembering my initial impressions of Kendra. “Could latent psychic skills be one of the things they’re after? Maybe the first attack is nothing more than an investigation, and if the target passes that, they’re then blood-tested.”
It would also explain why some guards weren’t attacked a second time.
Nuri frowned. “You can’t confirm the existence of psychic skills through blood.”
“No, but maybe once they confirm the existence of psychic skills, they’re testing for something else in the blood work.”
Nuri’s frown deepened. “It’s possible, but I can’t see what benefit it would be to them. It’s not as if you can inject psychic skills as you would a virus.”
“No, but the cells responsible for their existence can be grown and enhanced in a tube. I’m evidence enough of that.” I pushed my empty plate away and leaned back in the chair. “What if they’re doing what the humans did during the war? What if they’re creating not just a means of providing a sunlight immunity for vampires and wraiths, but a whole new race—one whose DNA is not only psi-enhanced but is a combination of wraith, vampire, and shifter?”