His snort was disparaging. “What, to find your mother’s murderer? Do you honestly think she has any intention of allowing that? Or that she even cares, now that she has what she wants? You, in her pocket?”

My unease grew. Why the hell was he saying all this? I had no damn idea—but one thing was for sure. It couldn’t be for any good reason. “There are Cazadors working—”

“There was one. He found no clues, just as the Directorate found no clues. Your mother’s killer might as well be a ghost, for all the evidence he left behind.”

I flexed my fingers, trying to relax, but it didn’t help much. “I agreed to help her if she helped me. I cannot back out of that arrangement.”

Yet, I added silently.

“Not unless you have the help of someone strong enough to rival her.”

And there it was, I thought. The twist in the tale fate just loved applying to make my life even more interesting.

My smile was grim. “I may not know much about the inside workings of the high council, but I do know that if you thought yourself her match, you could challenge her anytime you wanted.”

“I could, but that would be playing by the rules. She doesn’t, so I see no reason for me to do so.”

Wonderful. Another schemer. Just what I needed in my life right now. “If you’re so powerful, how come you’re the daytime manager of a club like this?” I hesitated, then added rather hastily, “No offense meant.”

He waved a hand—an elegant gesture that nevertheless managed to highlight the muscular nature of his arms. “It amuses me to work here.”

And it had the advantage of keeping him out of Hunter’s eye, I suspected. Just as I suspected that this man was the reason for her warning about talking to anyone but the owner.

“Why are you saying all this to me?” I asked, a little hesitantly. “Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell Hunter? Or that she’ll pick the conversation out of my thoughts?”

“Do I fear the former? No.” He leaned forward and crossed his arms on the desk. “As to the latter, she is welcome to whatever remnants she can retrieve past those nano cells. She knows I plot, just as I know she plots. It is a game we have played for a very long time.”

“Well, it’s not one I want to be in the middle of.”

“And yet here you are, right in the middle.”

“Uh, no. I’m working for Hunter on a case, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Hunter intends to use you and the keys to become overlord of the council.”

“And you don’t?”

He smiled. It was quite a pleasant smile compared to Hunter’s, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t as cold-blooded and calculating as she was.

“No, actually, I don’t. I just believe that the council—and the world in general—would not only be better off if the gate situation remained as it is, but a hugely nicer place to live in without her polluting presence.”

A sentiment I could totally agree with—and I had to wonder if he was choosing his words to match whatever thoughts he might be catching.

“I see no point in falsehoods,” he commented, thereby confirming that he was, indeed, catching some of my thoughts. “Especially when Hunter herself is my greatest asset when it comes to convincing others she must go.”

Something else I could agree with. “Look, I’m really not interested in either your plans or Hunter’s. I just want to do what I have to do to get free.”

“Which you will not do without assistance.”

I couldn’t help smiling. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but I very much suspect asking for your help would simply mean jumping from the frying pan into the fire.”

“Oh, I am far more honorable than Hunter. And I, at least, am sane.”

“If she’s insane, then she’s doing a good job of hiding it.” I didn’t like her. I didn’t trust her. But she would hardly be head of the Directorate and a high-ranking member of the high vamp council if she was off her rocker. The vamps, at the very least, would not have stood for it.

“Oh, trust me, she long ago mastered the art of hiding what she truly is.”

“And you, of course, are a paragon of honesty.”

He conceded that point with a regal incline of his head and a half smile. “Well, you know where to find me if you change your mind. And I very much suspect you will.”

“Don’t swear off drinking blood until that happens,” I said, “because you might well starve.”

Amusement crinkled the corners of his brown eyes. “I’m tempted to ask if you’d like to bet on that, but I suspect you are not the betting kind.”

“Not on stuff like this.” I crossed my legs, and his gaze briefly dropped. It was only then I remembered I was wearing a short skirt. I cleared my throat softly, drawing his gaze upward again. “Can we get back to the reason I’m here now?”

“Indeed we can.” He leaned back in the chair again, his expression still amused. “What do you wish to know about our Ms. Jodie Summer?”

“For a start, have you used her before?”

“No. Whenever we need to cover a shift, we simply ring the agency.”

“And that agency is Classique?”

“Yes.” He reached to the left of his desk, picked up a business card, and handed it to me. It was the same card I’d gotten from the manager at the other venue. I flipped the card over, but there was nothing written on the back. “Have you got a contact there? I might have to talk to them.”

“Either James Parred or Catherine Moore should be able to help you. I’ve dealt with both.”

“Thanks.” I tucked the card into my handbag. “Is there anything you can tell me about Ms. Summer? Did you notice anything unusual about her?”

“Aside from the fact she was neither human, shifter, nor vampire, you mean?”

I half smiled. “Yeah, besides that.”

“No, because she had some sort of shield operating that I could not slip past.” He hesitated. “It was neither a nano shield such as the one you wear, nor one of magic.”

My eyebrows rose. “Meaning you have working knowledge of magic?”

“Those of us who have been around a very long time do tend to become proficient in all manner of things.”

Not just magic, then. And it did make me wonder what else Hunter had become proficient in. Beside killing and being a coldhearted bitch, that was.

He chuckled softly. “It is a wonder you’re still alive if you’re having those sorts of thoughts around Hunter. She can be somewhat highly strung when it comes to those who disrespect her.”

“Yeah, noticed that,” I muttered, then got back to the business at hand. “So there’s nothing else you can tell me?”

“I’m afraid not.”

Meaning I was at another dead end. Hunter was not going to be pleased. I hesitated, then said, “I don’t suppose you could pull a picture of Ms. Summer from your security cameras?”

“If you give us a couple of minutes, Jonathan will have a printout waiting for you at the bar.”

“Thanks.” I rose. “You’ve been most helpful.”

“But not as helpful as I could be,” he said, expression back to being amused. He opened a drawer and drew out another business card. It was a simple card—black background and white writing—and said Harold Stanford, manager, Hallowed Ground, with a cell phone number underneath. “Just in case you change your mind.”

I accepted it somewhat reluctantly. “I won’t, you know.”

He shrugged. “It never hurts to have an escape option, Ms. Jones. That is all I am offering.”

“Thanks for your time.” I tucked the card in the side pocket of my handbag and headed out. Once I’d collected the printout of our suspect, I walked back outside.

“Well, that was fun,” I said, making a beeline for the 7-Eleven several doors down from the club. I needed a Coke and chocolate fix to calm my still-quivering nerves.

Azriel fell in step beside me. “Interesting is more the term I would use.”

I glanced at him sharply. “You believed his bullshit?”

“I believe he intends to oust Hunter from the council. I also believe he desires your help to do it.”

A chime rang cheerfully as I entered the 7-Eleven. “That doesn’t mean I should trust him.”

“I never said you should. But it is certainly worthwhile keeping his offer in the back of your mind. Especially since I will not be around once the keys are found.”

Him not being around was something I did not want to think about. “I can hardly keep it in the front of my mind, given Hunter’s predisposition for picking up all the wrong types of thoughts.”

“She will be well aware that you have talked to Stanford.”

“Yeah, but I’m not going to rub her nose in it.” I plucked a can of Coke from the refrigerator, but there wasn’t a whole lot of choice when it came to smaller chocolate bars. After a couple of seconds’ deliberation, I grabbed a Mars bar, then paid for them both at the self-service scanners. “And I’m certainly not going to mention the fact that he made me a counteroffer.”

“If they are longtime foes, then she will guess what he will or will not have done.”

“You know, I really don’t want to be talking about Hunter right now.”

“Then what do you wish to talk about?” He opened the door and ushered me outside, one hand pressed lightly against my spine.

“Nothing. How about we just walk down to the gardens so I can eat my chocolate and enjoy the quiet?”

“You? Requesting silence? A rare moment indeed.”

I snorted and nudged him with an elbow. “No smart remarks from the peanut gallery, thanks.”

“And what, precisely, is a peanut gallery?”

I rolled my eyes. “Just escort me down to the park before I die of caffeine withdrawal.”