Black Wings, Gray Skies (Black Hat Bureau 4)

“Kitchen, breakfast nook, bathroom, bedroom, and living room. Our two have fireplaces. For ambiance.”

“Mmm-hmm.” I took Colby from him, purple beehive updo and all. “Meet back in thirty?”

“Sure.”

Asa, still in his head, didn’t say a word as he entered their suite then closed the door behind them.

“Any idea what that’s about?” I aimed for the table to set down the wig and begin extraction. “He was quiet the whole way here.”

“I dunno.” She climbed out and shook off her wings. “Where’s my laptop?”

Unsure what to do with the wig, I used a small trash bag from the kitchen to secure it for Clay.

“Hold your horses.” I carried her to the sink. “You’re taking a bath first.”

“Ugh.”

A bath for her involved a very gentle, very careful, very short sprinkle of water across her body while she was in her biggest form to give her wings the most stability.

To distract her, I asked, “Can you file the paperwork for me with the cleaners?”

“Sure.” She snorted. “It’s a waste of time, but protocol is protocol.”

Why the director didn’t bring Black Hat mainstream boggled my mind, given he held controlling interests in so many other organizations and collected patents on magi-tech advancements in the criminal justice field the way some folks collect trading cards.

We couldn’t remain a shadow organization forever. Not with modern technology making it near impossible to bluff your credentials. Used to be, you could flash a police badge or an FBI badge, and no one thought to question you. These days, you could buy either online, and no one believed you were who you said you were without first calling headquarters and having your badge number verified.

But he was the boss, and Colby didn’t mind the legwork. She had plenty of them, after all.

“Okay, smarty fuzz butt, not everyone has access to our resources. We have to play it cool.”

“Speaking of playing…” she flicked water in my face, “…I need to check in with my guild.”

The suite was decorated in soft blues and whites with a beachy vibe. The front wall must have been store windows at some point in the building’s history. It was easy for me to drag the small table into a thick ray of sunlight and plunk Colby down on a towel to air-dry while she chatted with her friends.

Soon fierce roars clashed with battle cries as orcs met their regularly scheduled doom.

With that familiar soundtrack in my ears, I began warding our floor to keep out uninvited guests.