"God, he's mad enough at me as it is."
She laughed and patted my hand. "Let me handle Rhoan. You just promise me to keep calling one of us if things start getting hairy."
"Deal."
"Good." Her gaze flickered to Mom for a moment, and I knew then that Mom had asked her to plead for caution. And again it made me wonder just what she'd seen—and wouldn't admit to.
"What else do you know?" Riley asked.
"Well, we know Handberry appeared a year ago, too, when he turned up as owner of the Phoenix club. He's apparently a half-Aedh rather than human—although I didn't sense that when I was close to him." I paused to order another Coke, then added, "Did they run a DNA test on Handberry?"
She nodded. "His profile confirmed his Aedh–human origins."
"What about his background check? Or autopsy? Did either of those reveal anything?"
"Nothing. He is—was—perfectly healthy. No known cause for death, other than your witness report that his soul had been stolen."
I blinked. "Do I actually have to write up a witness report?"
She nodded. "Rhoan will help you once he gets around to the paperwork. There was one interesting connection between Handberry and Turner, though. Each man had the same tattoo on his left shoulder."
"Really," I said. "What sort of tattoo?"
She glanced down at my arm. "A similar but smaller version of the one you're almost hiding with the cardigan and long-sleeved T-shirt, only theirs have two swords crossed at the center."
"You have a tattoo?" Mom said, and again there was something in her voice that snagged at my concern. "Where?"
I pushed the sleeves up and revealed the bottom half of the dragon. In the half-light of the restaurant, she glowed fiercely, fanning violet light through the shadows. Mom might be blind, but she'd see it thanks to the Fravardin giving her sight. I could feel its presence hovering behind her.