Part 7

Star wondered if her parents would figure out the truth, that she and Sati had left so she could tell Sati who she really was. Maybe it had been a mistake...she should have gone somewhere more private.

None of those other kids in the diner had looked remotely interesting. Nothing about them had struck her to say they were Night People. Then again, she couldn't be sure. God, how completely stupid had she been? She'd been blurting out Night World secrets and histories...

Anyone could have overheard. They couldn't all be like that waitress thinking they were planning some sort of Spielberg-like movie.

"It all depends on what *she* does with it, doesn't it."

Star frowned at the deep voice behind her. She turned around, frowning at the boy who stood there. He was only about two inches taller than she was. His hair was an odd blue-black that seemed to shimmer in the moonlight.

"Who are you? What do you know?" Star demanded, not sure if this person was someone who could be trusted.

The boy smiled, just one corner of his lip lifting up, making him almost irritatingly gorgeous. "Enough, Well, enough that Thierry trusted me to bring the girl to him."

Star eyed him with curiosity. This was one of the team Thierry had sent for Sati? "Who are you?" she wasn't going to be friendly until she was absolutely sure.

"Garret. Garret Redfern. Someone must have mentioned that my partner and I will be coming for Sati?"

Her mother had mentioned that. "So why not just approach her in the diner?" Star asked, folding her arms.

"Because I wasn't *in* the diner. I heard some people talking that *she* was here. And as far as I was aware there's only one person coming to town that could fit the description they're talking about."

Star wondered if she should be insulted. All this talk about Sati...It almost made her feel unnecessary and unimportant. "Oh. Shit. Were some of them..."

Garret gave one of his infuriatingly handsome half-smiles. "No. They were Daybreakers. Or the ones I overheard were, anyway."

"So...um...do you want to come and get her now or what?"

"I've got a personal issue to deal with first. I'll see her sometime in school tomorrow." And with that he was gone, as if he'd completely vanished. It was a well known vampire trick, where they got their 'disappear into darkness' phase from.

Star stared after him. What personal problem could be more important than the end of the world? Obviously something that had nothing to do with her.

She shouldn't have left Sati alone. Not when she didn't know who was about in town. Just because this person said his name was Garret Redfern, it didn't actually mean he *was* Garret Redfern.

And what did he mean, it all depended on how *she* took it? How Sati dealt with the knowledge of who she was, Star supposed. When she had been telling the story Sati clearly hadn't believed a word.

How could they convince her it was all really true?

"Hey, you new?"

It was kind of late, but Star guessed with the town being so small there wasn't much else to do but hang around the streets. "Yeah." She turned around, inspecting these two people who stood behind her. The one girl was small with shoulder length coppery-red hair, the other slightly taller with a larger build and raven hair. Her eyes were a penetrating, hawk-like yellow.

"I'm Star. And you are?"

"Chimaera," said the coppery-hared girl. "That's Talaria."

No surnames. Then again, obvious ones would give them away if they were trying to get information from her. Star waited for them to make some sort of conversation. They looked evenly back at her.

"So...um...is there actually anything to *do* in this town?" Nothing that should give away who she was.

"Hardly anything. The only decent club is about half an hours drive away," Talaria said with a snort, her hawk-like huntress eyes boring into Star's.

~She's trying to read my mind~ Star thought. "Look, I have to be getting home now." She didn't care if she sounded rude or unfriendly, she just wanted to get away. These girls gave her the creeps. She wanted to get out of their presence.

"We'll probably see you in school tomorrow," Chimaera called after Star as she walked away.

Damn. There was probably no way she could avoid that.

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