She nodded.
I sighed. "I have to see where it's imprisoned."
"You promised..."
"I promised not to tell the police, but you've just told me there's a giant-sized creature capable of mass destruction imprisoned near here. I have to see that it's secure, that it's not going to break out and start slaughtering people."
"I assure you, Ms. Blake, our family has managed for centuries. We know what we're doing."
"If I can't tell the cops, I have to see for myself."
She stood up, trying to use her height to intimidate me. She wasn't even close. "And you'll bring the police, right? Do you think I'm that stupid?"
"I won't bring the cops, Ms. Bouvier, but I have to see it. If it does break out and I didn't warn the cops, then it would be my fault that no one was prepared."
"You can't prepare for Bloody Bones," she said. "It is immortal, Ms. Blake, truly immortal. It cannot die. You could cut off its head and it would not die. The police can do nothing but make things worse."
She had a point. "I still need to see for myself."
"You are a stubborn woman."
"Yeah, I can be a real pain in the ass, Ms. Bouvier. Let's not dance, just take me to see the prison, and if it's secure I'll leave you to it."
"If it's not secure enough for you?" she asked.
"We contact a witch and see what she recommends."
She frowned. "You wouldn't just go to the police?"
"If my home was robbed, I'd call the cops. If I need help with magic, I call somebody who can do magic."
"You are a strange woman, Ms. Blake. I don't understand you."
"There's a lot of that going around," I said. "Do I get to see where Rawhead and Bloody Bones is buried, or not?"
"Alright, I'll show you."
"When?"
"Without Magnus we're shorthanded at the bar, so not today. Come to the bar around three tomorrow. I'll take you from there."
"I have a coworker that I'd like to bring along," I said.
"One of those in the bedroom?"
"No."
"Why do you want to bring him?"
"Because I'm training him, and when will he ever get to see fey magic again?" She seemed to think about it for a minute, then nodded. "Alright, you may bring one other person with you, but no more."
"Trust me, Ms. Bouvier, one is plenty."
"My friends call me Dorrie," she said. She held out her hand.
"I'm Anita." I shook her hand. She had a nice, firm grip for a woman. Sexist but true. Most women don't seem to know how to give a good handshake.
She held my hand longer than she had to. When she took her hand back, I remembered Magnus's clairvoyance. Dorrie turned those wide, eerie eyes to me. She held her hand to her chest like it hurt. "I see blood, and pain, and death. It follows you like a cloud, Anita Blake."