Black Wings, Gray Skies (Black Hat Bureau 4)

“Sorie.”

Confirmation wasn’t half as sweet as it ought to have been, given how I suspected he crossed the wards.

“Why are you here, Sorie?” Asa stood at my shoulder. “Who sent you?”

“Momma told me the light would make me strong. She said take little bites until it was all gone.”

Momma.

Marah claimed Sorie was Jilo’s offspring. Jilo claimed Sorie was Marah’s offspring.

Who was the mother? Split personality? Whatever.

“She left you in an empty suite, didn’t she?” I pressed. “You were hiding in one when we arrived.”

“He didn’t cross the wards,” Asa realized. “He was already within them.”

“She told you to stay in your room,” I kept going, putting it together, “until Colby fell asleep.”

Then he crept down the hall to feed on her, with none of us the wiser.

“Hungry,” he whined in a little-boy tone. “Momma will be mad you didn’t feed me.”

“Who is your momma?” Asa towered over Sorie’s temporary cell. “Who made you?”

“Momma,” he wailed in hiccupping sobs. “I want my momma.”

“This isn’t going to work.” I patted Asa’s chest. “Can you do another salt run?”

“No need.” Clay jerked a thumb toward the kitchen. “I had a shopper snag every shaker in five miles.”

“Excellent.” I pushed the red-tipped bangs on his black wig out of his eyes. “Good thinking.”

“Handsome and smart.” Clay struck a pose. “I’m a total package.”

“Mmm-hmm.” I had a thought and grabbed a whole bag. “Asa and I are going down together.”

“Language,”Clay whisper-screamed. “Keep it PG. There’s a kid present.”

A tingle in my cheeks warned me they wanted to flush, but I refused to give Clay the satisfaction.

“Do you mind doing the honors, Asa?” I indicated the pot with my chin. “We need to move fast.”

Sorie was growing more agitated as we interrogated him, and I got a funny feeling his momma wouldn’t be too far behind if she sensed her offspring in distress. Maybe now we would finally get some answers.

But to do that, we had to get Sorie outside the wards so his mewling could draw his mother to us.

“You’re on Colby detail,” I told Clay then eyed her. “You’re on Clay detail. Don’t let him get in trouble.”

“Rue?”

Her soft voice shot ice down my spine, and I couldn’t bring myself to look at her.

“We have to go.” I smiled in her general direction. “We can talk in a bit, okay?”

“Okay.”

With Asa holding the pot, and me loaded down with salt, we hit the elevators.