Black Wings, Gray Skies (Black Hat Bureau 4)

“Pet.” The daemon thrust his hair at me. “Then tell story.”

“Brat.” I really had to quit caving to his demands. “I glossed over it the first time I heard it. It sounds…”

I rolled a hand to indicate Clay should fill in the blank for himself, since the daemon held a kind of innocence that wouldn’t extend to the sexual innuendo, and I wasn’t enlightening Colby either.

“Then I thought it must mean people who were spiralized,” I continued. “That the boo hag wore them.”

“You don’t think that now?” Clay wiped a smile off his face, but its imprint lingered. “What then?”

“Jilo mentioned stealing breath.” I kept stroking the daemon’s hair while he hummed low in his throat. “It’s called being ridden because a boo hag will straddle your chest while you’re asleep, lean down, and steal your breath. Except it’s not your breath, like she said, it’s your soul.”

“Colby is soul.” The daemon lowered his arms. “Boo hag eat Colby.”

With the Proctor grimoire still playing hard to get with information on Colby, I wasn’t sure how a loinnir was made. And yes, I realize that’s crazy talk since I had created one. But, in our case, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision made in desperate haste.

When I pondered her substance, I always pictured one of those handblown glass swans with the colored liquid in them. A fragile but beautiful exterior with an ethereal substance within. A beautiful creation that one careless move could shatter into a million pieces.

It was wrong of me, I know, when she was so much stronger than anyone gave her credit for.

But she was also my little moth girl, and on bad days, when cases dug under my skin, I looked at her and didn’t see the brave spirit but heard the broken sobs as she begged me to save her.

“Colby is safe within the wards.” I checked with her. “How are you hunger-wise?”

“I’m never going to eat again.” She sat back to show us her distended belly. “I’m ready to pop.”

“Can you make it three or four hours?”

“I don’t know.” She considered the rings flowing out from her. “I might die of boredom by then.”

“I’ve got an idea.” Clay held up a finger. “Gimme a minute.”

While he was gone, I negotiated with the daemon for Asa’s return.

All it cost me was the caramel apple, with nuts, he didn’t get last time.

Clay came back with the coffee table from the living room. He set it in front of the table, then placed a chair on top. On the seat, he propped her laptop open on Mystic Realms. Beside it, on his computer, he opened a YouTube channel on cheat codes and secrets then hit play.

“How about this?” He clicked a few keys. “You can talk to your friends and plan your next quest.”

“Epic.” She rubbed two sets of hands together. “Thanks.”

Hooking my arm through Asa’s, I tugged him closer. “Chopped liver and I are heading out.”

Clay shot us a hard stare. “So am I.”

“No.” I smiled, and it was predatory. “You’re going to wait right here for our uninvited guest to arrive.”

“Okay.” His answering grin promised violence. “Maybe I could use a few pointers too.”

For Colby to fade so fast, the boo hag must have been a nightly visitor since we arrived in Charleston. Or, at the very least, since we switched from the hotel to the rental. Yeah. That felt right. Fewer witnesses here. We occupied an entire floor, and the building under us was empty. As far as we knew.

That didn’t explain how a boo hag got past the wards, but I had an idea of where I made my mistake.

“Asa, we need to check the restaurant.” I tossed Clay a lavender sachet. “If you get in trouble, rip that open and toss the buds.”

“Sounds easy enough.” He eyed the pouch with curiosity. “What did you do to it?”

“Nothing.”