Talia called at seven thirty the next morning.
I knew from the ring pattern alone that she had been awake for hours. Talia only called that early when she had found something, because she was not, by nature or preference, a morning person. She was the kind of person who greeted mornings with the specific hostility of someone who had been personally wronged by the concept of sunrise. The fact that she was calling before eight meant she had not slept.
I answered on the second ring.
"Sit down," she said.
"I'm already in bed."
"Then stay there. Actually, no, get up. Get coffee. I need you functional."
I got up. I made coffee. I stood in my kitchen in yesterday's pyjamas with Selene's card still in the inner pocket of my clutch on the counter where I had left it last night, and I waited.
