Black Truth, White Lies (Black Hat Bureau 3)

“The trust Colby mentioned,” I began, “the one funding the sanctuary…” I struggled to locate my voice. “Amalthea Vonda Winterbourne was my mother.” Asa was the only one who hadn’t known. “I’ll have to talk to Megara to check the details, but Mom must have known about what’s in the cell. The ward was pure black magic. Dad might have cast the spell himself.”

And if that were so, I wanted another look at that sliver of his mastery over the dark arts.

“The spider was a warning.” I wet my lips. “For me.”

“How do you figure?” Clay scratched his cheek. “It was just a spider.”

“Just a spider?” Colby’s wings jittered. “You asked me to sleep with you because you were scared.”

“You just got demoted to third best friend,” he informed her with a sniff. “How could you?”

“The spider talked to me,” I cut in before the real bickering started. “It told me I wasn’t welcome.”

“It talked to you?” Colby’s horror set her antennae on end. “In your mind or what?”

That confirmed she hadn’t eavesdropped on our disturbing conversation.

“Good question.” Clay leaned closer. “I didn’t hear it.”

Asa threw his lot in with them. “Neither did I.”

“Why tell me to leave?” I rubbed the skin over my heart. “Why didn’t they want me there?”

“Whatever’s in that cell,” Clay said, thinking it through, “they didn’t want you near it.”

“Someone did.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Why else lead me here?”

Freeing the creatures in my neck of the woods guaranteed I took notice of the sanctuary.

The tie to my mom? It ensured I had to see it for myself. That I had to know. I had to understand.

Where did Black Hat fit in? Where did Delma?

“You sound just like her.”

Like who? Mom? Had Delma known her? Known about this place? Known its tie to me?

“I don’t know who or what brought you to this place,” Asa said, “but we’ll figure it out.”

I attempted to inch onto my own cushion, but his hands found my hips, and he held on.

“What he said.” Clay furrowed his brow. “We have to secure the sanctuary until we can get a witch in to test the wards. With the familial tie, Rue might muddy the waters if the spell reacts to her bloodline.”

“I agree.” Asa tightened his grip on me. “It might trigger another messenger.”

The sudden quiet shouted loud and clear no one wanted that.

“Why house a dangerous creature in an area where school groups and scientists visit?” The website laid the sanctuary’s mission out as one of preservation and education. That might or might not be what Mom or Dad intended. It might have evolved after their deaths, or it might be their original vision. “Think of the lawsuits, the potential for collateral damage.”

“Camouflage,” Asa suggested. “The safest place to hide what you don’t want found is in plain sight.”

“Maybe.” Another worry pressed in on me. “How is Delma involved? There’s a missing link between the aquatic fae turning up in central Alabama, Delma’s appearance in town, and the sanctuary the creatures were taken from.”

“She might have targeted a sanctuary out of convenience.” Clay mulled it over. “One stop shopping.”

“There are multiple lethal species on display,” Asa agreed. “It would make capture simpler.”

“That fits, practically, but it doesn’t explain the why.” I turned it over in my head. “The pretense of hunting down Aedan doesn’t hold water either. He challenged Asa. He was out of her hair. She’s after more.”