Gray Witch (Black Hat Bureau 5)

Mid-transition, he lunged, glee bright in his eyes, his clawed hands grabbing for me.

A clash of titans might have been fun to watch, had the titans not clashed in the living room.

With me stuck between them.

“Rue mine,” the daemon bellowed as Clay leapt to his feet and dodged his lunges. “Give back.”

“Rue was mine first.” He held me over his head like I was a surfboard. “You’ll have to take her.”

“Rue is going to murder you both,” I wheezed, “if you don’t put her down now.”

“Uh, guys.”

The guys paused their game of hot potato to crank their heads toward Colby.

“Aedan found a message in a bottle in the creek.” Her antennae quivered. “Can we open it?”

Behind her, on the monitors dedicated to property surveillance, Aedan waved to the camera.

“Yes.” I cradled the excuse with both hands. “That’s a great idea. Let’s go do that.”

The daemon slumped with disappointment, and Colby soon mirrored his posture when he told her game time had been postponed. I’m sure orcs the world over heaved a sigh of relief for a momentary reprieve. Good thing they bled pixels. Otherwise, the faction would be facing extinction via bloodthirsty moth-girl.

Clay, thankfully, had the sense to prop me up while feeling returned to my extremities.

“It’s like the new pirate expansion pack for Mystic Realms.” She fluttered. “What if it’s a treasure map?”

“Don’t think I didn’t hear the emphasis on new, smarty fuzz butt. Christmas was two months ago, and we don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day.” I sighed over Clay’s sharply indrawn breath. “What? We wait until the day after then stock up on cheap chocolate and cute plushies. We’re not total heathens.”

The reminder of the upcoming holiday broke me out in a cold sweat when it hit me that Asa was my first boyfriend/potential mate. He might have expectations for the day that were different than mine.

Thanks, fascination, for hitting me with a holiday tailored to emotional paranoia.

“Phew.” Clay clutched his chest. “There for a second, I thought you had forgotten all my teachings.”

“The point I was trying to make is this. You’re going to have to spend your coin if you want to upgrade.” I noticed her worrying her hands. Never a good sign. “What did you do?”

For her to be dropping hints so hard they crushed my toes, she must be in dire financial straits.

“There was this sale on dragon eggs…”

“Colby.”I swear my heart stopped a beat. “You spent hundreds of real dollars on virtual dragon eggs?”

Granted, I had given her most of the money, and I had agreed to let the guys give her the rest, but still.

Mystic Realms developers must be rolling in cash. Actual money they skipped to an actual bank to deposit.

“They’re a good investment,” she argued. “They just take time to mature.”

“She can resell them for four times what the eggs cost her.” Clay came to her rescue. “The catch is, it will take months to hatch them.” He offered her a commiserating glance. “Until then, her coin’s not liquid.”

As hard as it was for me, I put my foot down. “Then you’ll have to wait for it to liquify.”

Hands clasped in front of her, she turned her pitiful face toward Clay.

“No, ma’am.” I slapped a hand over his eyes. “You’re not suckering him into it either.”

Slowly, she turned her face toward the daemon, searching for an ally.