"I don't see any thieves around here, Janx. In fact, I don't see anybody at all. Where is everybody?"Margrit glanced at the windows overlooking the empty, darkened casino on the warehouse's bottom floor, then brushed the question off as she sat down again. "We've been through this. I trust you to keep your word, which doesn't mean I don't appreciate that you're dangerous. You were also annoyingly cryptic on the phone. What's going on?"

"How much do you know about us?" The question, put forth bluntly and with none of Janx's typical humor, made Margrit's shoulder blades pinch. She felt as if she'd been called on by a law professor whose expectations outstripped her knowledge of the subject.

"You mean the Old Races?" She hid an irritated moue, knowing she was stalling in order to come up with an adequate answer. Janx nodded, gesturing for her to continue with a fluid motion that sent smoke swirling around his head.

"There are five of you. Five left, anyway. Dragons and djinn, selkies and gargoyles, and the vampires." She listed them the way she'd first heard them named, with dragons and djinn woven together, wonderful to pronounce. "There used to be others. Mermaids, anyway, and Bigfoot."

Janx's mouth flattened with vague insult and resigned acceptance. " Siryns and yeti."

"Siryns and yeti. Sorry. Anyway, I know the dragons came from some volcanic area and spread out because they don't like company. I got the idea it was the Pacific ring of fire, but I don't know why." She wrinkled her eyebrows curiously, but Janx passed a hand across his chest, refusing the question.

Margrit shrugged disappointment, but went on. "Djinn are from the deserts and selkies are from the sea, if there are more than one or two left. Gargoyles came from the mountains." She hesitated, remembering Cara's reluctance to say more.