Black Wings, Gray Skies (Black Hat Bureau 4)

18

Dismantle Black Hat?I saw Hiram’s mouth moving, but my brain was on vacation. Destroy the director?

Just two tiny little items on his to-do list, both waiting for a lazy pen to scratch them through.

He was a black witch of immeasurable power. I knew that. I knew it. But this was insanity. Even for him.

No stories about Hiram Nádasdy shied from the atrocities he committed, both before and after my mom stole his heart. (Not literally.) She was the delicate chain holding him back, acting as his conscience while he developed his own, but it snapped clean when she died. Now, goddess help us all, he was unleashed.

The faint brush of Asa’s lips on my skin yanked me to attention, and I noticed Hiram grimace at the PDA.

“I was kept chained in a cell beneath the manor,” Hiram continued. “Father released me a time or two, offering me freedom in exchange for loyalty. I was too far gone to comprehend the first attempt, but I almost killed him. I would have finished the job, if he hadn’t kept me weak. The second attempt failed as well. There might have been a third, but I can’t remember much of the first few decades, if I’m honest. I was grieving your mother, and you, too hard.”

The director’s choice to mix magic with water when he designed the Black Hat compound partially under the sea had always baffled me. But it made sense, if your son was half aquatic daemon, and you wanted him to flourish in his element.

“Why cooperate with the woman,” Asa asked, “but not your father?”

“She fed me, gave me water. She allowed me to regain my strength before she released me.” He raked a hand through his golden hair. “Her reasons didn’t matter half as much to me as her ability to unlock my cell, my chains.”

Much as I hated to admit it, in his shoes, I would have felt the same and damn the consequences.

“How did Luca gain access to you?” Asa studied Hiram. “Does she work for Black Hat?”

“She was in the compound, so she has ties to the Bureau. The way she dressed, and the times when she chose to visit, made me think she was posing as a guard, but I can’t swear to it.” He exhaled through his teeth. “I can’t verify how long she worked to gain my trust, but it must have been years.”

Anyone who risked working against the director right under his nose had a serious death wish.

Or good reason to believe they could handle the fallout if they got caught.

Like, say, a contingent of rogue black witches, ready to sacrifice themselves to the cause.

“Time held no meaning for me down in the dark.” Hiram’s expression shuttered. “I wanted to believe Luca could deliver on her promises, but I was convinced it would be too late. I felt certain when I got out, if I got out, you would be as much a slave to my father’s teachings as I had been at your age. That it would have all been for nothing.” He forced his gaze around the shop. “You weren’t what I expected, and if I believed in any god, I would have fallen to my knees and thanked them for your deliverance.”

“How long have you known where to find me?” I dredged up my voice. “How long have you been watching?”

“Your location was part of our bargain.” A faint smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “You left on a case the day before I arrived, so I toured your shop and got a feeling for your town.”

“I knew this day was coming, but I hate it arrived so soon.” I glanced over my shoulder at Asa. “The director unearthed me, and now every Tom, Dick, and Harry can find my address.”

“The director,” Hiram echoed. “That’s what you call him?”

“He didn’t want to acknowledge our familial tie, and neither did I.”

His first real smile broke across his face, subdued, yes, but there, and a knot formed in my chest.

“Your mother would be so proud.” He rubbed the spot over his heart. “You’re a remarkable woman.”

“Yes,” Asa agreed. “She is.”

“This Luca you mentioned,” I cut in, “she’s behind the rogue black witches we’ve been tracking?”

“Yes.”

“Then she was responsible for the Silver Stag copycat.”

“She placed demands on my release, and I agreed to her terms. That’s all I know.”

“The original Silver Stag case altered the course of Rue’s life. She left Black Hat, embraced white craft.” Smart man, Asa kept Colby out of it, not confirming or denying her existence. “The director used a copycat case to lure her back as a consultant.”