"He's a total asshole. But I'm sure you already know that."
She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you two were friends."
"Yeah, that's what I thought, too. But friends don't call the other friend a coward when they're just trying to be helpful. I'm not a coward."
"Of course you're not."
"Just because I ran away from my pack because I didn't want to get killed doesn't make me a damn coward."
Janie shook her head. "That's just being sensible, I think. So is he feeling better?"
"He says he feels great. You must have fantastic blood."
"Don't get any ideas."
"Don't worry. I prefer my steaks well done." He looked at Lenny. "You're quiet. What's up?"
"Nothing." He poked at his French fries. "Janie's in love with the vampire."
Barkley looked at her. "Really? With Quinn?"
She forced a smile. "I think I'm going back to my room now."
"Good idea. I did tell him that you looked like you needed a cold shower. I would have figured you for black lace lingerie. Since it was on the floor I was able to confirm it." He grinned at her.
Her cheeks flushed even more, which pissed her off, because she couldn't remember the last time someone had made her blush.
"Forget getting Lenny to do it—I think I'm going to kill you myself just out of principle."
She stood up from the table.
A smile curled up the side of the werewolf's mouth at her obvious embarrassment and he motioned toward the waitress that he wanted a coffee. "So, tomorrow what happens? Are you and Quinn going to find the Eye together and Lenny andme'll head to Vegas to look for your sister?"
Janie froze. "What did you just say?"
"The redhead from my visions. It's your sister, right? Didn't Quinn tell you I'd had the dream that pinpointed her location somewhere inLas Vegas ?"
She felt the color drain from her face. "It hadn't come up yet."
"Oh." Barkley looked nervous then.
"She's inLas Vegas ?" she repeated.
He nodded. "I got a really clear picture this time. Couldn't figure out exactly what casino she was in, but it was definitely Vegas. She's still wearing the same necklace as you." He explained why the necklace was vital to his visions. "You know, other than the hair color, you two look a lot alike. Do you know if she's single? Does she have an aversion to werewolves?"
She moistened her lips. Her mouth had gone suddenly bone dry. "She… she always used to love puppies."
"Close enough."
She looked at Lenny and narrowed her eyes. "Did you know about this, too?"
He looked sheepish. "Of course. I thought you did, too, or I would have brought it up earlier. We're going to find her, Janie. Don't worry."
Without thinking about it, she pulled the turquoise necklace from around her neck and handed it to
Barkley.
"Take this. If it helps you to find her, then I don't need it right now."
He nodded and took it from her. "It might."
"Good." She nodded back and turned away. "I'll see you in the morning."
She would have felt a sense of relief if she'd let herself. There was a chance she could find her sister and protect her before the Boss got his hands on her? And they weren't even that far away from Vegas. A few hours' drive and she'd be there.
Could she let herself believe that it was true? Barkley was a true psychic who had seen her sister and that she was okay? She felt tears well up in her eyes but fought them down. No time for that. There was never any time for tears. It just made everything blurry.
Angela had always been a real pain in the ass. Typical little sister. Always borrowing Janie's clothes,
makeup, magazines. One time even stealing Janie's boyfriend—a distant, meaningless memory now but at the time had been a huge deal. They got along like cats and dogs, but it didn't stop her from loving her little sister and protecting her with all of her might. Then and now.
She glanced at room sixteen as she passed it by. Quinn knew? He'd known for God only knows how long and he hadn't told her?
That son of a bitch. He must have laughed, keeping that information from her. It changed everything.
She realized right then and there that it was true what they said. There was a very thin line between love and hate. And she'd just jumped sides.
Quinn slept. At least he was pretty sure he did, since he had some bad dreams. When he opened his eyes, he was still on the floor of the motel. It wasn't as clean as he would have liked. He brushed the dust bunnies from his shirt and slowly got to his feet. It was now light outside, from what he could see past the cheap curtains covering the window that looked out on the parking lot. He grabbed his watch from the nightstand to see that it was a quarter after eight.
Good time to make his escape.
He changed clothes silently, pulling a fresh black T-shirt and a pair of khaki trousers out of the duffel bag he retrieved from the truck. He splashed some cold water on his face and ran a hand across his jaw,
feeling the roughness of the stubble that he couldn't see in the mirror.
No reflection. He couldn't even see the clothes he wore. It's as if anything that touched him became nothing. Just like him.
Neat trick.
He understood a lot about vampires. Wooden stakes, and the ability to infect others with vampirism through bites. He could even make sense of the blood drinking, but the reflection thing never made sense.
Some said it was because vampires lacked souls and silver didn't reflect a soulless being. But mirrors weren't made of silver anymore, so that blew that theory out of the water.
All it proved to him was that he was something different. Something bad. Something touched by evil magic. And something he didn't want to be anymore, reflection or not.
When he was human again, he'd try to make something of his life. Help people. Do things to make up for his past.