Black Truth, White Lies (Black Hat Bureau 3)

“Good work, Ace.” Clay slid me a glance. “Hang on to that camera, Rue. It might come in handy.”

Only one reason came to mind, and I cocked an eyebrow at him. “For blackmailing the mayor?”

“You said it.” He grinned. “Not me.”

“I want to tell you I’m above such things, but I’m not. Asa, make sure you hold on to those bits until we get home and I can stash them.”

“Fan out.” Clay picked three directions. “Walk one mile, then regroup here to compare notes.”

They wouldn’t have cleaned far. Just enough to make the town sparkle again.

“Okay.” I placed my hand on my wand, through the material of my pants. “See you in, say, thirty.”

We couldn’t rush if we wanted to ensure we didn’t miss any traces of how the creature got here or where it had decided to den up for the day.

“Rue.”

I turned back to find Asa staring at me, his bright peridot eyes serious. “Yes?”

He swallowed whatever he had been about to say and tipped his chin. “Be careful.”

“Back at you.”

That the guys had included me, without fuss, meant they figured the creature would be too full to attack if I stumbled across it alone. Had Colby been here, they would have felt better. So would I. But she asked weeks ago for permission to stay home to raid, even at the cost of missing out on the open house. Many of her friends were leaving for extended holiday vacations soon, where their families would expect them to be present, and they had chosen tonight as their virtual feast night with raids galore.

I would rather peel off my fingernails than cost her a bonding experience with her peers, one that made her feel normal. Even for a little while. For that kid’s happiness, I could handle this sans familiar.

Forcing my mind on task, I blocked out everything but the hunt and let my senses unfurl.

Clay had no heartbeat, but I heard his heavy footsteps. Asa’s familiar rhythm soothed as he cut south. At best, the other blips I detected were rabbits or foxes. Nothing bigger than a cat. The creature, whatever it was, might not exactly be mammalian—the line blurred with fae creatures—but it ought to have a…

Ba-bum.

Ears straining to catch the sound again, I listened for a full minute with no luck.

Ba-bum.

Those beats were coming almost ninety seconds apart.

The hunter in me, that itch in the back of my throat that sensed an easy meal ahead, thrashed against its tether. There was no reason not to kill the creature, to plunge my taloned fingers into its chest and rip out its pulsing...

I swallowed the saliva pooling in my mouth and fixed a mental picture of Colby in my head.

If I came home smelling like black magic, she would be terrified of me.

And the loss of her trust, however deserved, would break my black heart.

The smart thing to do was text the guys and request backup now that I had a general location.

Ba-bum.

The slow beat caused my stomach to spasm in hunger.

Ba-bum.

Pretty sure that wasn’t ninety seconds.

Ba-bum. Ba-bum. Ba-bum.