“You mean we’ll be waiting.” Colby fluttered her wings in annoyance. “I’m not hiding this time.”
“How about we don’t put all our cards on the table? You can be our ace in the hole.”
“I’ll never climb out of the hole if you don’t stop putting me in it.”
The kid was smart, and she was right, but she was also mine to protect.
“Once they know about you, I won’t be able to hide you from them.”
Their ignorance of her existence was the thin barrier keeping her safe.
“Good.” A tiny growl laced her voice. “I want them to see me.”
“I’ll allow this only if you promise to do what I say, when I say it.”
“Deal.” Her wings picked up speed until she fluttered at my eye level. “I’m going to patrol.”
“Stay inside the wards.” I pointed a warning finger at her. “We don’t know what we’re up against yet.”
After rolling her eyes at me, she zoomed out the window I cracked for her and began her rounds.
The sad thing about kids, even dead ones, is they have to grow up sometime.
* * *
By the timethe black SUV—because of course Black Hats drove black SUVs—turned onto the drive, I was on the porch in a rocker with a cup of ice-cold sweet tea in one hand and the improbable shifter romance in the other. I had three days left to finish it before the weekly book club meeting, not that I expected to attend under the circumstances, but I was hooked now.
Colby was in stealth mode, as in she was hiding behind the chimney, high on the roof.
To set the stage, I finished reading the chapter I was on before glancing up from the page. “Gentlemen.”
The simple happiness in Clay’s smile twisted a knife of regret in my gut. I really did miss the big lug.
“Rue, this is Asa Montenegro.” He handled introductions. “Ace, this is Rue Hollis.”
On the last line, Clay winked at me, as if Asa wasn’t fully aware it was an alias.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Asa rumbled. “Clay says nothing but good things about you.”
All I can say about setting eyes on Asa Montenegro for the first time was…
Goddess bless.
Had I not already been sitting, I worried my knees might have buckled. No wonder the girls had drooled over him. He was gorgeous. But then, beauty came with the predatory package. There was no finer lure than a pretty face, and his was breathtaking.
With Clay standing next to him, I pegged Asa at just shy of six feet. Lean muscle covered his frame, no amount of tailoring could conceal that, but he managed to hide his powerful body better than most. He wore his hair parted down the middle, in braids so long he could have tucked their ends into his waistband or even stuffed the tips in his pockets. An oval disc the color of moonlight hung from each ear, and a thick silver hoop pierced his septum.
The hair and the jewelry hinted at daemon heritage, but the sharpness of his features and his jewel-tone eyes, a bright peridot green, screamed fae.
A faint smile played around his full lips as he watched me cataloguing his features, as if he were used to enduring such inspections often and had decided to find the process amusing rather than insulting.
Embarrassed at being caught, I cut the niceties. “Why are you here?”
“The director wants you to consult on a case,” Clay answered for them. “We need an expert on…”
“…black magic,” I finished for him. “You can say it.”
There was no changing my past or anyone else’s. All we could do was live with the consequences.