As if my name was the most important piece of information he’d ever lacked. “You said you’d play nice if we untied you. Please don’t give us a reason not to trust you.”
“I said I’d tell you what you need to know, but you don’t need to know my last name to know if I work for Tower.” I leaned forward, looking right into his blue-gray eyes. “I don’t work for Julia Tower. If you don’t believe me, consult your pet Reader.”
Anne bristled at being called a pet, but she nodded, confirming the truth in my statement.
Kori only rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair.
“That’s not specific enough. Do you now, or have you ever worked for the Tower syndicate in any capacity?”
“No.” I held Kris’s steady gaze, glad his sister’s question gave me no reason to be nervous.
Readers don’t function like so-called lie-detector tests. They don’t read changes in body temperature and blood pressure; they taste or scent the truth in a statement. Some are better than others. Some can tell you’re lying, but not what about. Some can tell you thought about lying. Some can tell that you’re hiding something, even if you never technically lied about it.
I had no idea how good Anne was. I hoped I wouldn’t have to find out.
Anne nodded, confirming my honesty again, and every gaze in the room centered on me once more.
“What were you doing there?” Kris asked, and I realized he hadn’t even glanced at Anne after my previous answer. Did he think he could read the truth for himself? Was he looking for a specific reaction from me? “Why were you in Julia Tower’s office?”
I hesitated.
I hesitated so long that people started looking at Anne again, even though I hadn’t said anything. But they didn’t need a Reader to tell them I was considering lying; my silence said that clearly enough.
Finally, I exhaled slowly and decided to tell them the truth. Most of it, anyway.
“I was trying to hire her. Well, her people, anyway.”
Kori leaned forward, obviously skeptical now. “Hire them to do what?”
It took me a second to understand her suspicion. I wasn’t the typical Tower client. I didn’t drive an expensive car or wear fancy clothes. I had no obvious wealth, power or authority. I had no discernible means with which to hire the Towers, other than a service agreement.
I met her gaze and held it. “The kind of thing the Towers do. You’d know that better than I would.”
She glanced at Anne, who shrugged. “Nothing yet.”
Their Reader wouldn’t scent any untruth from me. I couldn’t afford to let that happen.
“And you can pay for something like that?” Ian quietly voiced the question they were all thinking. No one looked at him. They were too busy watching me.
“I...” Don’t tell them more than they need to know. My strategy for dealing with Julia Tower had turned out to be just as useful with the Daniels family. Which did nothing to set me at ease. “Yes, I can pay.”
Anne frowned. “She’s not lying, but she’s not being straightforward, either. I don’t think she planned to pay in cash.”
“Blood?” Kori asked, and I understood that she didn’t mean my blood. People often paid with the blood of—and thus the means to control—someone else. Someone more important.
“Service?” From Vanessa.
“Information?” Kris held my gaze with an intense one of his own. “Do you have information Julia wants?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Are you going to sign with them?” Vanessa repeated, her forehead deeply lined. Kori hadn’t asked me if I would work for the Towers—only if I had. “Don’t sign with them.”
Before I could answer, Hadley spoke around a mouthful of noodles. “Sera won’t work for them.” The child chewed and swallowed, while every head in the room turned toward her. “She’ll work for herself.”
“What, she’s a Reader, too?” I couldn’t tear my gaze from the little girl, who seemed completely unaware of the seven sets of eyes staring at her. “What is she, five?” How could a child that young already have a Skill?
“Seven...” Anne mumbled. “But she’s not reading you.” The mother sank into a squat next to her daughter’s chair, one hand on the little girl’s denim-clad knee. “Hadley, honey, how do you know that?”
Hadley shrugged, digging another spoonful from her bowl. “Dunno.”
“Are you sure?” Anne asked, while everyone else seemed to be holding their breath, and I wasn’t sure if she was asking whether the child was sure about what she’d said, or about not knowing