Black Wings, Gray Skies (Black Hat Bureau 4)

“Yeah.” He propped his jaw in his palm and his elbow on the armrest. “But it makes you think.”

“We can’t wipe out an entire grume—subgrume?—without Black Hat authorization.” Asa ran his fingers through my hair. “Unless they move against us, or are connected to the case, they’re innocent in the eyes of the Bureau.”

As innocent as serial murderers could be, anyway.

Black Hat was fickle that way. The problem here was not that we had killers on the loose. That was every day that ended in Y. The issue was the targets were human, and children. A combo guaranteed to wreak havoc on the paranormal community if the situation wasn’t neutralized quickly.

“I don’t like it.” Clay shifted his weight, and the couch protested. “Jilo was too helpful, leading us right to Marah’s lair. And then, oh! I forgot. There’s also a community of future problems living under there too. You should kill them all. Just to be safe. Thanks.”

“I don’t like it either,” I admitted. “We aren’t authorized to use that kind of force willy-nilly.”

“We need to approach Marah with caution.” Asa twirled a wavy lock around his finger. “Jilo can communicate with us, even when she’s an animal, so there shouldn’t be a language barrier.”

“The choice of squirrel was interesting.” Clay kicked his feet up on the coffee table, which wobbled. “Was she trying to approach us in the least threatening—if creepiest—way possible?”

“Or—” I leaned into his theory, “—was she playing at being a vegetarian?”

There was a whole movie franchise about vegetarian vampires. The comparison wasn’t that off base.

“All we have is Jilo’s word that the others are responsible for the killings.” Asa gave my scalp a tug. “The story she spun is convincing, and it would explain the teacher, who didn’t fit the profile for the other victims, but it’s too easy.”

“Yeah.” I breathed in his green apple and cherry tobacco scent with a happy sigh. “None of us almost died, which means this is far from over.”

“Why don’t we call Marty with a hot tip and let him search the tunnels at dawn?” Clay laughed evilly. “He could report back on the structural integrity of the place, and if he got spiralized, it could only improve his personality.”

Snorting a laugh, I struggled to keep my eyes open. Must be a fascination thing. Snuggle your honey, and you pass out from bliss or something. Or, knowing daemons, the oils in our skin combined to create a supernatural melatonin.

The guys kept laughing, but the sound came from a great distance, their tinny voices echoing.

Adrenaline crashed through my brain, snapping it into overdrive, but my limbs hung, weighted and useless.

Asa was right there, but I couldn’t call out to him.

“Rue?” A heavy hand landed on my shoulder. “Dollface?”

“Did she fall asleep?” Asa tensed beneath me. “She never naps.”

“This isn’t natural,” Clay agreed then shifted his attention back to me. “Can you hear us?”

Locked behind my lids, my eyes darted with frantic messages they couldn’t read.

Nothing worked. Not my arms, my legs, fingers, toes.

I was paralyzed.

And then…a warm burst of magic seeped into my veins, growing hotter until the lassitude melted away.

Slowly, as if wading through molasses, I forced out a single word. “Colby.”

Sunlight glinted off the gleaming coffee table to stab me in the eye with its cheery brightness.

“Hey.” Asa cupped my face in his hands. “You’re awake.”

“Am I?” I cuddled nearer to him. “You’re on the floor.”

The rest of our surroundings filtered in, dust motes whirling through the beams of my waking mind.

I was stretched out under a blanket on the couch in the guys’ suite. Asa was sitting on the floor with his side pressed against the couch, a foot away from my face. He had, I realized, been standing guard while I slept, which was odd. I didn’t even remember…