I do every day I'm in your presence. His words stabbed deep, but he continued relentlessly. But it cannot alter my actions. It will not.
No, because what he truly wanted was to become a soul guide again. And nothing, not this quest, and certainly not whatever this thing between us was, would pert him from his path. He'd never made any secret of it, either, but it was beginning to rankle me more and more.
Because I cared, more and more.
I was, I decided, an idiot.
I crossed my arms and watched Quinn and Jak crawl through the gap. Quinn kept within the shadows of the building, even though the midday sun had passed. Habit more than necessity, I thought.
"Shall I meet you back at your place?"
"Yes," Quinn said.
"No," said Jak.
I glanced at him, surprised. He waved the notepad in his hand. "I took note of the numbers in that man's phone book, and I want to chase them down just in case our sorcerer starts covering his tracks again."
"Good idea." It also saved me the hassle of having to explain to Riley his reemergence in my life. "You'll call if you find anything?"
Jak snorted softly. "Like I have any other choice, given your uncle's threat."
I half smiled, and he gave me a sketchy farewell wave and headed back to his car. Once he was gone, I met Quinn's gaze. "What does he remember?"
"Nothing more than my arrival, and me rearranging the Razan's memories."
At least he hadn't rearranged all Jak's memories.
"I wouldn't," he said mildly; then, as shock shivered through me, he smiled. "The micro-cells do provide some measure of protection against most vampires—even the ones as strong as Madeline Hunter—but they create little more than a mild barrier for someone as telepathically strong as me."