“Absolutely,” I said. “After I eat. Want me to order you something?”

Ivy shook her head, her gaze on the interstate. It was almost empty at this hour. “No. I’ll get something to go while you’re cleaning up.”

Moving with an uncharacteristic stiffness, Trent started for the cloudy pair of restaurant doors. Jenks took to the air as if unsure of who to follow. His new boots and jacket caught the light, shining brilliantly.

“Trent, you going to want a shower?” Ivy called.

“Yes,” he said, not turning. “Then I’m taking a nap.”

Jenks’s wings clattered in relief. “We’ll get a table,” he said quickly, then hummed heavily after Trent.

Ivy’s smile was faint but sincere. “Someone found a new friend,” she said dryly.

I chuckled, thinking Trent looked dead tired. It was weird seeing him like that, so far from the usual polished, put-together face he showed the world. “Can you believe where we are? It’s not fair. If I drove ten miles over the limit, I’d get pulled over.”

She made a sound of agreement, then glanced at Vivian, sleeping with her head propped up on the steering wheel. “You sure you don’t want to shower first?” she asked.

Grabbing my bag from the backseat, I flicked my lethal-magic detector. “Nah. I’m hungry. I’ll babysit Trent until you’re done. I don’t mind going last. Save me some water.”

Nodding, Ivy turned on her heel and headed for the faded OFFICE sign and the wilted flowers in the huge earthen pots decorated with Aztec-looking figures that reminded me of ley-line glyphs.

I pulled my suitcase to the front of the trunk to grab a new shirt, bra, panties, and socks. My jeans were okay for another day. I shoved everything in my shoulder bag, and slammed the trunk shut. Across the parking lot, Vivian jumped awake. Waving at her, I went in. Poor girl. You’d think they’d give her some help in spying on us. Maybe it was a punishment of some sort.

The windows fronting the road had been tinted, and only the barest glimmer of light and warmth made it inside. As soon as the milky glass doors shut behind me, I felt cold, as if I had stepped into a cave. My attention went to the cash register, hoping for a stand of sunglasses, but there was nothing. Maybe the next stop.

The few people were clustered in such a way that it was obvious they didn’t know one another. A pinball machine flashed silently, trying to attract a quarter, and the carpet was almost threadbare. It smelled like Were more than vampire in here, but they had an MPL posted on the door, so I knew it was a mixed-population restaurant. Not that humans ever drove much through the between places anymore. Entire human populations had died in small towns during the Turn, and the fear lingered. It was only in the cities that there had been enough of a support structure to keep them alive in any numbers.