Black Truth, White Lies (Black Hat Bureau 3)

“Confusing, yes.” I latched on to that common ground. “I have all these thoughts and feelings.”

“I have all these thoughts too,” he rumbled, the sound clenching my abdomen. “And urges.”

“What kind of urges?” Oh, yeah. I was definitely flirting with him. “And do they involve your horns?”

His groan met my ears and curled my toes in my socks. I was playing with fire, and I didn’t care if I got a burn or two or fifty if it meant I got to hear that low sound of need from him again. This was a different kind of power than what I was used to, but I enjoyed it humming under my skin all the same.

“Unless you want me at your door at dawn, we need a new topic.”

A flush spread down my body, and I had to force the mental picture of him in my bed away. I didn’t have a teacher kink that I was aware of, but it was dizzying to think Asa was entrusting so many of his firsts to me. I was equal parts afraid I would botch it and relieved he didn’t have a leg up on me. The mechanics, I could handle. It was linking emotion to action that worried me. Our mutual inexperience was a blessing.

Short of jumping under an icy showerhead, I had one surefire mood killer. “I told Aedan he could stay.”

“Stay?”

Yup.

The mood was dead as a doornail.

That was all it took to convince me horn play was the last thing on his mind now.

“We have a full house, so I’m going to pick up a tent, an inflatable mattress, and some camping supplies. He’ll be happier closer to a fresh source of water, I think, and he’ll be safe as long as he stays on my property.” It was a gamble, but I was trying to trust these new, more merciful instincts. “I also said I would help him find a job, just not at the shop.”

A flicker of worry struck me that Asa would forbid it, or try to, and that would cost him points with me.

“My only concern is for Colby.” He took care with his words. “The longer he stays on the property, the more likely he is to notice her and ask questions.”

That bit of caution I could respect, as it mirrored my own thoughts. “I’m debating how to handle it.”

“You trust him, and you’re a good judge of character.”

“But this is Colby,” I breathed. “I can’t risk her safety.”

“Did you know that when a daemon claims a territory, they’re allowed to bind other daemons to them with a blood oath, basically deputizing a select few to help maintain the peace and enforce the rules?”

“I did not know that.” A thread of tension wove through me. “Are you suggesting you claim Samford?”

“I’m not the daemon I had in mind.”

“Oh.” I got a headache from the very idea. “That would cause more problems than it solved.”

Despite not claiming me publicly as his granddaughter, the director felt he had every right to weigh in on my life and the choices I made. To come out as the quarter daemon we suspected I might be? It ensured he would never acknowledge me as family. Then again, that made the notion more, not less, tempting.

“You don’t want anyone to know you have daemon blood.”

Eyes slamming closed, I should have seen this coming. “I don’t know for certain that I do.”

Asa fell silent, and I had no idea how to restart the conversation without making it worse.

“I should go,” he said at last. “Clay and I have a few miles to cover at dawn.”

“Yeah.” I continued staring at the backs of my eyelids. “Of course.”

We made goodbye noises then ended the call, and I knew one recipe wouldn’t cut it tonight. This was a solid two-dessert night. Maybe a three.

Forcing my eyes open, I startled to find the grimoire resting inches from the tips of my fingers.

For curiosity’s sake, I flipped to the middle and read what it wanted to show me.