Black Wings, Gray Skies (Black Hat Bureau 4)

Of its own volition, the door swung open onto the dark hall, but a candle burned in my office.

Had there not been a power outage, I would have blamed it on black witches’ love of theatrics.

“We’re in here,” Aedan called. “We’re playing Monopoly.”

Wracking my brain, I combed over possible meanings if the board game was a code word, but nada.

Aedan smiled, tight and wary, when I arrived in the office. Then he gestured to my desk.

They really were playing Monopoly.

Weird.

I didn’t own any boardgames. Colby preferred to play online.

Aedan wasn’t restrained that I could tell. He wasn’t hurt. He was anxious, but that was understandable.

The man sitting opposite Aedan, his back to me, had perfect ringlet curls a cherub would envy.

A memory tickled the back of my mind when candlelight glinted off the golden locks.

The kidnapper played his turn then raised his hands where I could see them and stood slowly.

As he pivoted toward me, and I got a good look, I fought the cold sweat drenching my shirt.

Thanks to hours spent memorizing the photo Colby gifted me for Christmas, I recognized his face.

Hiram Nádasdy.

My father.

“No,” I breathed. “It’s not possible.”

“Hello, Cate.”

Cate.

Cate.

Cate.

The echo bouncing between my ears shook loose a certainty that quaked through my marrow.

Catheryn.

Cate.

Only two people had ever called me by my birthname, and they were both dead.

I killed them.

“Who are you?” I locked my knees to keep from bolting. “What are you?”

“Let me show you.”

Ink dribbled from his pores, masking his features in magic so dark and vile, I lost sight of him in its midst. A foul breeze stirred his hair, and fetid whispers breathed down my neck, hot and rank and putrid. What stood before me resembled a man dipped in tar, plump dollops dripping onto the floor, and the smell…

All those teas the director poured down my throat when I was a kid drowned me in memories, but I couldn’t trust them. I couldn’t trust him. Either of them. I had to remember caution, because I didn’t remember anything else. The director saw to that. I learned the history as he taught me, without ever questioning its authenticity.