Black Wings, Gray Skies (Black Hat Bureau 4)

Each time she added to her ball, she was compelled to restart her counting.

“Stop shooting.” I waded into the center of the room. “Hey, you, put down that sword.” I flung my arm toward the furious creature. “Can’t you see you’re not winning?” I craned my neck to see Marty. “Where did you find these goons?”

“These goons are going to apprehend this beast, and then the director will sing my praises for a change.”

“Are you serious?” I kept picking and tossing the beads. “The director can’t carry a tune in a bucket.”

“Marty dumb,” the daemon told me behind his hand. “He not know better.”

“I heard that.” Marty curled his lip. “Keep hiding behind your girlfriend, daemon scum.”

Marty’s head snapped back before it registered I had thrown a punch. Cupping his bent nose, he toddled backward until he fell on his butt. Blood dripped down his jaw and soaked into his collar.

“Rue like me,” the daemon informed Marty. “She not like you.” He kicked Marty in the chest and sent him sailing across the floor into the wall. “I not like you either.”

Ignoring Marty’s howled promises of vengeance, I clapped my hands to gain everyone’s attention.

“You see what I did there? With the beads? Keep her counting. It’s the only way to trap her. If you can occupy her until dawn, she goes poof, and she’s no longer our problem.” I indicated the pot. “There’s another one trapped in there. I sealed it in. Leave it alone, and it will leave you alone. When the sun comes up, push it into the light, and it goes bye-bye.”

The argument could be made that Sorie was an innocent. That, in his own way, he really was a child.

But he had fed on Colby, almost killing her, and those mitigating factors? No longer mattered to me.

I was a better person than I used to be, but Colby was Colby, and deep down, I was still a black witch.

“Before we go—” I scanned their faces, “—any questions?”

“Did you really slaughter an entire coven for claiming you were one of theirs?”

The young male witch asking made my heart hurt with how much he wanted it to be true.

“They put my name on their roster and my face on T-shirts.” I stared him down. “What do you think?”

The same bleak hope that he had met a legend come to horrific life gleamed in his eyes. “Yes?”

The daemon cut me a very Asa-like look, as if he could guess where this was heading.

“They advertised their affiliation with me,” I said slowly, to make sure it sank in. “They basically drew a bull’s-eye on their backs then took out ads for people with good aim to fire at them. Eventually, someone did. I don’t know who. I don’t care. Not my problem if a group of people share a death wish.”

“Okay.” He bounced to a new topic. “What about—?”

“Does anyone have a question about this case? About the monster in this room? The one that almost killed you all?” I checked with the others, most too afraid to meet my eyes. “No? Good. Follow my instructions. Administer first aid to Marty, if you feel like it. Let him bleed out if you don’t. Otherwise, Asa and I have somewhere to be.”

Inches from the door, the witch stepped into my path. “Can I go with you?”

“Apologies, Elspeth.” A vampire I half recognized glided over to us. “He’s rather enthusiastic.”

“So I see.” I frowned at his trainee. “Maybe Black Hat will scuff his shine a bit.”

Otherwise, he would die rushing into battles he couldn’t win for the sake of writing his own legend in his head. One thing was for sure. No one here would be gripping a pen in his honor if he kicked the bucket.

“I worked my whole life to get here,” the witch told me with obvious pride. “I’m ready for this.”

A chill seeped into my marrow to think he had walked the fine line between recruitable and irredeemable with enough panache to get sworn in at such a young age. Though, with me as an idol, he had tried to beat my record of thirteen, I was sure.

Eager to ditch my fan club of one, I marched out the door. Behind me, the daemon ignited, caving to Asa between steps as he followed me out onto the street.

Hands smoothing his poor clothes into a semblance of order, he asked, “What did you have in mind?”