Black Wings, Gray Skies (Black Hat Bureau 4)

“Maybe.” I tapped my chin. “I’ll have to think about it.”

A growl revved up his throat, and it revved me up too, but Clay was waiting.

Okay, fine. I didn’t care so much about that as the fact I had no door on my room, and a little moth girl could flit through it at any moment.

“Hold still.” I lifted my wand. “This won’t hurt, but it might itch.”

Palms on my knees, he watched me work, as if I were his personal miracle.

Eyelids drifting shut, I drew a trickle of light from Colby, then tapped Asa’s horns. “Ta-da.”

“Thank you.” He smoothed a hand over his head. “I’m sure Aedan will appreciate it as well.”

“You won’t win over your students if you impale them on accident.”

His sudden growl left me squirming until I realized it wasn’t meant for me.

The grimoire sat on the windowsill, sunning, as if it had any right to be out of the safe.

“Son of a biscuit.” I jumped up and stalked over to it. “What do you think you’re doing?”

With a thump, it hurled itself onto the floor, its pages flung open on cosmetic uses for daemon…

“Eww.”I scuttled back from it. “No.” I kicked it shut. “Just no.”

Granted, I had smeared questionable substances on my face (and other places) for rituals’ sake, but I wasn’t going to use Asa like a walking, talking bottle of high-grade retinol with a handy built-in pump.

A crinkle in his brow, he joined me over the book. “What’s wrong?”

“The grimoire thinks it’s a comedian.”

As I was scooping it up, Clay bounded into the room with Colby on his head.

“Ready to go?” He clapped his hands. “This is going to be great.”

This would be the first time she and I had been alone since The Incident.

Greatwasn’t the word I would use to describe how I was feeling right about now.

“Ready.” Asa flicked a glance at Colby then back to me. “You’ve got this.”

“I hope so,” I murmured as they left then faced Colby. “Hey, smarty fuzz butt.”

“You will not believe the door prize I won.” She whirled. “A code for a saber tooth pterodactyl.”

“That’s only the coolest thing ever,” I crowed with excitement, as if I’d had a clue they existed before today.

Waving her into the living room, I gave her a minute to settle on the perch above her favorite chair.

That was when I noticed she wasn’t clutching a towel, but her missing blanket. “Hey, you found it.”

“An agent discovered it in the suite Sorie was using. They logged it as evidence, but Clay stole it back.”

“Jilo must have suspected it would offer you protection against boo hags if she had Sorie steal it.”

“How cool is that?” She flapped her blanket-covered wings. “I’m boo hag proof.”

“Very cool.”