He nodded. "As I said before, using the Aedh skills has its consequences."
"Meaning it drains you?"
"Depending on how much I use, it can drain me to the point of unconsciousness. Luckily, that was not the case here."
Meaning he hadn't used full power and yet had still been able to pulverize that person…
The thought had another tremor running through me. It was scary to think that one person could contain so much power…
Jesus, Risa.
"Yes," Quinn said, before I could ask the question. "Risa will have the skill, which is why I so readily agreed to train her. If she doesn't know how to control it, she could be a threat to everyone around her."
"Maybe that's why Dia is so desperate to get your help. Maybe she saw something in her dreams." And hopefully, the death she'd seen for herself wasn't at the hands of her beautiful little girl. "Do you need to feed or something?"
He hesitated, then shook his head. "I do, but Jack will have my head if I drag you away from this investigation right now."
"You're older than Jack, and more dangerous besides. I don't think you're in any danger from him—metaphorically or otherwise."
"Jack is not someone you should brush aside so easily," Quinn said wryly. "Especially when he's probably listening."
"Hey, he knows I love and respect him. He just can't do what you just did." And thank God for that, I added silently. One and a half atom splitting beings in my little world was more than enough.
"I do not think I need to know the details of what Quinn just did," Jack said into my ear, confirming that he had indeed been listening. "But I agree with him that we need to start with Dante's and it's owner. Do you think Kye still has the place monitored?"
"I have no idea."
"Then find out and get back to me. If he hasn't, then we'll need put cameras and bugs in place."
"We could just go in and talk to Starke." Then the undercurrent in his words hit me, and I added, "You have him marked as a suspect, don't you?"
"Starke is the likely starting point, now that we're dealing with a flesh shifter. For all we know, the real Dante Starke is a rotting headless corpse in a cellar somewhere."
"Someone would have smelled him by now if that was the case." I hesitated, then added, "Would an emo vamp have the same sort of sexual allure that Starke has? Because the Starke I've been meeting is dynamite."
"If he is old enough, yes. And if he has refined his methods, you wouldn't even know he was feeding. All you would feel was lust."
Well, I'd certainly felt that around Starke. And if he was our wraith, then he'd also paid me a visit. Which presented another problem. "There's one sticky point in all this—neither Renatta Bailey nor Janette Crowley apparently had lovers, and yet Sal claims wraiths can only travel through mirrors they've physically seen. How did he drain them nightly then, if he's never been to their houses?" He'd certainly never been near mine.
"I don't know enough about wraiths to answer that question," Jack said heavily.
Quinn and I reached my car and stopped. "Where do you want me to go once I find out whether the bugs are still online or not?"
"Come into the office."
"Will do." I clicked the com-link off and caught Quinn's hands in mine. "Are you going to be okay to drive, or do you want me to drop you off somewhere?"
"And leave the Porsche sitting around here for the vandals? Bite your tongue, woman."
I grinned. "It's not like you can't afford another one. Or a hundred."
"I didn't get rich by being wasteful."
"No, you got rich through becoming a thief."
"Which I did for only for a very brief period in my life. Most of my money has been honestly gained."
"Hey, I've seen the prices your airline charges for tickets. There's nothing honest about that."
He smiled, then leaned forward and kissed me. His lips were light on mine, his kiss gentle and yet potent.
"Be careful when dealing with the spirit wraith," he said, his lips still so close that his breath warmed mine. "Have you still got that knife I gave you?"
"It's in the car's weapons stash."
"Then carry it. It works on more than just demons—and on more than those who inhabit flesh."
Then I'd be carrying it. Anything that gave me a slight advantage was a damn good thing right now. I ran my fingertips down his chin. "I do love you. You know that, don't you?"
He raised an eyebrow. "And what has bought about this sudden declaration?"
"I sometimes think I don't say it enough."
He smiled. "Well, it is nice to hear it said out loud every now and again, even if I do know it for a fact."
It didn't stop him fearing Kye, though, or what he might do to us. He might not have said it, but that darkness was there in his eyes. And there was nothing I could say to ease those fears, because they were mine as well.
I gave him another quick kiss. "I'll see you sometime tonight."
"Make sure that you do." He hesitated, his gaze sweeping my face, as if memorizing it. "Shoot to kill, Riley. Don't hesitate."
"Why do people keep telling me that?" I muttered, even as goose bumps ran across my flesh. It was almost as if everyone around me was having premonitions of impending doom. "I'm a guardian. I'll do what I'm paid to do. I think I've more than proven that."
"I know. It doesn't stop me from worrying, though."
At least he didn't try and stop me, or ask me to give up being a guardian. That made him a far better man than Kellen ever was.
"Go get yourself some sustenance." I hesitated, then grinned and added, "Just don't go enjoying the experience too much."
He laughed, touched my chin lightly—almost reverently—then walked over to his car. I waved him goodbye, then dug out my phone again.
"Well, this is an unexpected pleasure," Kye said, his golden eyes glowing on the vid-screen.
"For you, maybe," I said tartly. "For me, it's all business."
He laughed. The sound was so different to the one I'd heard only moments before and yet, in its own way, just as powerful. "That's what I like about you, Riley. You cut straight through the crap."
And yet there was still tons of it in my life. And I was currently talking to the primary source.
"Have you still got your bugs and cameras in Dante's?"
He hesitated. "No, I pulled them this morning. Why?"
I ignored the questions and said, "I hope that doesn't mean you've completed your mission, because if it does, I'm going to have to arrest your ass."
"What it means is the client's wife has moved onto greener pastures." He paused, and his voice lowered several octaves as he added, "Although I'd really like to see you try and arrest me. That could get interesting."
The way he emphasized 'interesting' sent a shudder racing down my spine, and it wasn't entirely the ice of fear.
"And I'd hate to make things interesting for you," I said tartly. "So maybe I'll send someone else." Someone he couldn't seduce.
"I refuse to be caught by anyone else but you." He paused. "I don't suppose you feel like handcuffing and interrogating me now, do you?"
"No," I said briskly. Though the usual stupid part of me wished I did. "I have far more important things to do with my time. And I thought you had a meeting with another client?"
"It's just finished." His smile flashed. "Don't suppose you want to know who it was?"
"No." Yes.