Gray Witch (Black Hat Bureau 5)

People like I used to be.

Asa walked ahead, but I touched Clay’s arm to hold him back. “Thanks.”

“For what?” He ran his fingers through his hair. “My sudden urge to talk wigs? As if I need a reason?”

“For ensuring Colby doesn’t miss a thing.” I hooked my arm through his. “This is a big deal for her.”

Head resting on his shoulder, we strolled into the inn, and I set to work protecting us in our beds.

* * *

“Incoming,” Clay called, nineteen minutes on the dot later. “Moth at three o’clock.”

Since they were roomies now, Clay had left their window open to make it easier for Colby to return.

“Does that mean you’re heading down?” I crossed the hall. “Do you need help with anything?”

“You promised to chaperone, remember?” He held two wig boxes tucked against his chest. “Let’s go.”

Asa appeared in the doorway to our room, his shirt unbuttoned, and I heaved a sigh.

I might have sneaked in soundproofing while I was at it, but we wouldn’t get to use it yet.

Pity.

Heedless of the possibility of being spotted, Colby sailed through Clay’s window to smack me in the face.

“Oomph.” I staggered back, peeling her spastic body off me. “What’s wrong?”

“Rue.” She ducked into the neck of my shirt and hid there. “They did it.”

Cradling her through the fabric, I held on while approaching the window. “What did they do?”

Not since that first year had she been so shaken that she retreated into my shirt to hide from the world.

“Who are they?” Clay braced a hand on the sash and stared below us. “The LARPers?”

“Y-y-yes.” She quivered against me. “They s-s-summoned the undead, like in Mystic Realms, b-b-but the Boos came.”

“The Amherst kids,” I said slowly, making sure I understood, “summoned the Boo Brothers?”

With the sun overhead? How was that possible? It wasn’t, I decided, without a firm anchor.

Say, their bones.

“The Amhersts cast a spell, but it was a real spell, and the Boos showed up, and they played paper, rock, scissors, and the winner ate him.” Her feet tucked into the space between us, tickling my stomach. “He swallowed him. Whole. Like a snake with a mouse.” She sobbed against my chest. “It was supposed to be pretend, but it was real. It was all real. He’s dead, Rue.”

“Do you mean Markus?” I cast about for anyone else she might have meant. “Talk to me, sweetie.”

“Sam.” She peered out of my shirt. “His name was Sam.”

Sam.

Why did that ring a bell?

“As in Samuel Todd.” I pinned down the name. “The teen kidnapped from the Waffle Iron, the one the Boos claimed was a demon.”

“The Amhersts are on their way.” Her eyes pleaded with me. “We need to leave before they get back.”