she asked , dropping the change in her coin purse . he told me to take care of it . she could n't bear thinking about what would happen when ruby figured out the truth . i recalled , still half-asleep , that he 'd been vampire and had the strength of that race . a fine black panther hit man you are . his life seemed to exist in shades of gray , but at least here he was speaking god 's honest truth . and something told her that the time of her vision was still in the future . 