Black Wings, Gray Skies (Black Hat Bureau 4)

“Godsdamn your red hide.” A yowl ripped from her throat. “What do you want from me?”

“Your word that you will assist us in solving this case—”

Paw twitching in frantic taps, she spat, “You already had it.”

“—and your vow you won’t kill us after the fact.”

Fury vibrated the beast until its strips of fur slid off to puddle like overdone noodles on the pavement.

Beneath it pulsed a creature so red it was black. No skin. All raw meat. Which put the whole spiralizing thing into perspective. Wisps of black magic curled from it, rendering it translucent in places.

And the smell…

Even my stomach briefly considered emptying itself before it remembered this wasn’t the worst thing I had ever seen.

Top ten? Yes. Top five? Eh. Not quite that emotionally scarring, but still plenty traumatic.

“You’re questioning my honor?” Jilo was not amused. “What does a daemon know about honor?”

“I would ask the same of any unknown entity,” Asa said, and it was true. “We’re here to perform a service to the community. We want to fix this problem and then go home. Preferably, all wearing the skins we arrived in.”

“Fine,” she spat, “but you’re making me regret my Southern hospitality.”

Finewasn’t the same as I won’t kill you horribly, but Asa didn’t force her to revise her statement.

A text chime on my phone drew my attention to a message from Clay.

>>Where are you guys?

>We’re making new friends and bad decisions.

>>Double standard much? You can make new friends, but I can’t?

>Yours was more like a quadruple, if I recall correctly, and I’m not naked.

>>Ah. That explains why you’re texting. You’re not having any fun.

>Ha. Ha. We’re wrapping up now. See you back at the rental.

With that mature exchange over, I pocketed the phone and returned my full attention to Jilo. Even that short break from looking at her head-on had me jolting when I saw her again. I was definitely not having any fun with her. But I could play nice if it got us one step closer to our killer.