Knowledge of the black arts was a reason, not the reason, I had been hunted down and bribed to return. I had an inkling of what the other or others might be, but I had a contract to protect me from the worst of my suspicions.
“The processor was for show,” I decided. “A human skull, right? The fourth girl wasn’t transformed.”
“We won’t know until we receive the autopsy results.” Asa lifted his head. “Dr. Lennon has to determine if the remains were fae, then crosscheck the skull DNA against the ground meat. If it’s a match, she has to run tests to compare those results with the samples we have on file for the fourth girl.”
“This part of the job hasn’t changed while I was away, huh? It’s waiting, waiting, and more waiting.”
“The results come quicker now.” Clay chided my impatience. “There have been several breakthroughs in the last ten years on the magic side that allows faster processing and guarantees more accurate results.”
“I look forward to being amazed.”
One of the first skills a novice witch learned was how to sew. The talent lent itself to medical, ritual, and practical applications. I had taken to sewing a long, slender pocket into all my pants to store my wand on trips. The access point was no larger than a standard buttonhole, barely noticeable, and I learned how to sit just so in order to conceal the hard length running down my thigh. I reached for my wand now.
“I need three volunteers good for holding a hundred pounds on the hike back to the SUVs.”
“As if you had to ask,” Clay muttered then elbowed Asa. “We’ve got two covered.”
“Yes,” Asa said quietly. “We can transport two of the girls.”
Kidd splashed back to us when no one else budged to lend a hand.
“I can’t do it alone,” he said, eyeing my first two volunteers, “but Taylor over there can help me.”
Clay singled out the other junior agent. “Taylor looks ready to faint.”
“You sure he’s up for it?” He did seem pukey to me. “I don’t want her dropped when we hit the incline.”
“I’ll do it.”
Everyone on the shore turned to gawk at Asa.
“The girls will be safe with me.”
“Thanks.” I touched his arm then singled out the brave junior agent who had shown more backbone, or maybe more heart, than his peers combined. “When I break the spell, the girls will go limp. I don’t want the third one to fall in the water. Can you and your friend hold her steady until Asa can lift her?”
The crestfallen agent waved over his friend. “Absolutely.”
“You two brace the girl on the lowest rock.” It was the easiest job, but I didn’t want to ding their pride. “I worry about her sliding into the water the most.”
On his way to brace the middlest girl, Clay whispered in my ear, “Softie.”
For that, I briefly considered turning him into a frog, but I needed every ounce of magic at my disposal.
The final girl, the one placed at the highest and most difficult spot, fell to Asa due to his shifted height.
I joined the girls on the rocky outcropping since magic and running water didn’t play nice. Wand in hand, I began the counterspell to unravel the gossamer filaments holding them in place. Each word cost me to speak, a reminder I was not what I used to be, but I finished without faltering and felt the cords break.
I didn’t remember closing my eyes, but I opened them to find a familiar daemon across from me with his limp burden on one shoulder. I didn’t notice I was staring until Clay cleared his throat. I pretended not to catch his meaning and checked on the two junior agents. They were holding steady, but poor Taylor was pale as bleached bone. An oddly high-pitched noise escaped Taylor’s throat when Asa crouched next to us to make transferring the girl onto his empty shoulder easier.
A whine, I realized, making me wonder if he was a warg too. No wonder those two stuck together.
“You guys head on up.” I studied the empty rock. “I need to cleanse this place before we go.”
“You heard her.” Clay set out. “Come on, Ace.”
The daemon watched me until he was forced to break eye contact, but he showed his duty the respect it deserved. I was left alone with Kidd and… “What was your name again?”
The junior agent swayed on his feet. “David Taylor.”
“Rue Hollis.” I gave him a short nod then faced Kidd. “You better help your friend here to your ride.”
“Are you sure you want to be alone?” He scanned the bank. “I doubt the killer stuck around but…”
The killer was an exhibitionist. His audience gave him the thrill. His art meant nothing without patrons.
There was no doubt in my mind he had been here, somewhere, when the Black Hats first arrived to soak up their reactions. He would view them as a critique on his work, which could make him that much more dangerous if he felt we failed to show proper appreciation.
“I can take care of myself,” I assured him, though it was a lie. “I’ll be up in a minute.”
The longer the others believed I was a black witch, the safer I would be from those with a score to settle.
Once I was alone, I took a vial from my kit, unstoppered it, and sprinkled its contents on the rocks while I hummed a low song of mourning to cleanse the residual negative energies of the space. The running water would help the process along, but I didn’t want to risk another dryad incident from contaminating the area.
The whole process took maybe fifteen minutes, and it left me winded from the effort. Sweat ran into my eyes and glued my shirt to my spine. The others might think I had decided to go for a swim at this rate. It was one thing to go into this knowing I was less than I once was, but another to experience the shortfall.
“Are you finished?”
I didn’t startle at the voice. I was too tired for that. I think, maybe, I had expected to hear it.
“Yes,” I panted, sloshing toward Asa where he stood on the shore. “Can I ask you a question?”
“Ask,” he said, which guaranteed he would listen but didn’t promise me an answer.
How very fae of him.
“The junior agents were huddled together as far from the scene as they could get.” I hated to show what I considered weakness in that I had been clueless about the problem. “The scene was picturesque, if you didn’t know what you were looking at, so why the revulsion?”
A softening in his expression warned me I wouldn’t like what he had to say, but I needed to hear it.
“The black magic made them ill, mentally and physically.” He hesitated. “You didn’t notice?”
“No.” It sucked having my suspicions confirmed. “Not until I began the counterspell.”
The strands clung to my skin, tacky like cobwebs, rather than sliding off as they had back when I radiated the same negative energy. Then I had repelled black magic. Now it appeared I was vulnerable, to a degree, but not precisely sensitive to it. I had spent too long mired in darkness for it to register, and that was a dangerous liability to discover on my first day back.
The dryad must have been right about me. I still reeked of black magic. I should have known when Marty minded his manners instead of calling me out in front of everyone on my change in diet, and in power.
“How good is your poker face?” I watched for his reaction. “Did it bother you?”
“I was aware of it.” He helped me up onto the bank. “It reminds me of home.”
“You were raised…?” I checked behind us once more. “Or is that too personal?”
“I was raised by my fae mother.” He started walking. “After my daemon father raped her.”
The taste of foot soured my mouth as I fell in step with him. “I’m sorry.”
“That he abused her or that she kept me?”
This conversation had taken a nosedive, and I lacked the skills to right its trajectory.
“That was rude of me,” he said softly. “You’ve never treated me…”
…like a mons
ter.
“I get it.” I pushed out a sigh as we started to climb up to the SUV. “I didn’t know how to act today. Aloof and all-powerful or polite and reasonably sure I wouldn’t blow us all up unraveling that spell.”
He made a thoughtful sound low in his throat.
“I’m safer if the others think I’m still a badass, but I’m not.”
Though my actions would out me eventually, I considered cultivating my stink by wearing a few charms.
“You chose a path few witches in your position would have dared. Fewer still would be walking it ten or more years later with no signs of withdrawal.” He used a sapling to haul himself up the last few feet. “Be proud of who you’ve chosen to be. Not many people embrace change even after they acknowledge their wrongdoing.”
“Change is hard,” I confessed. “I almost caved, with the dryad.”
“I shouldn’t have tempted you.” He hesitated. “The daemon form you’ve seen is me at my most primal.” He helped me up to level ground. “We’re not separate, exactly, but we’re not the same either.”
“I wondered.”
I almost mentioned the smoothies, but he had confided things of a deeply personal nature just now. The last thing I wanted to do was draw attention to what might be instinctive behavior and step in it again so soon after my earlier faux pas. Working alongside a variety of different species required making concessions.
As much as I loved my smoothies, I was willing to share them now and then if it helped put him at ease.
“I was about to send out a search team,” Clay boomed as he strode over to us. “What took so long?”
“I’m out of practice.” I rubbed my arms, recalling the tacky sensation of webs. “Or out of juice.”
“You’ll get the hang of it.” He swung a heavy arm around my shoulders. “I’m proud of you.”
We walked to our SUV, the last one remaining, and I was grateful when Clay held the door open for me.
“I’m beat.” I slid down in my seat and shut my eyes. “I need to nap off that counterspell.”
Food worked best to replenish my power, but a raw steak on the hotel tab would raise eyebrows. Sleep was the next best cure. Weary as I was from the spells I had cast, I could face-plant in my pillows and not twitch until morning. Lunch on the flight was an eternity ago, but I wasn’t hungry. For food.
“We’ll head to the hotel,” Clay announced from the back, “eat dinner, and rest up for tomorrow.”
“I’m down for part one and three. I’m going to beg off dinner. I’m too tired to be good company.”
“We requested a connecting room.” Asa flicked his gaze toward me. “To make it easier for us to come and go for meetings in your room.” He smiled, just a little. “We gave you the suite.”
“Nice.” I settled in. “I haven’t had a good soak in ages.”
The tub and shower combo at my house barely covered my navel when I filled it to the top.
“Looks like it’s you and me, Ace.” Clay patted his partner on the shoulder. “Where do you want to eat?”
“I noticed a steakhouse past the airport,” he suggested. “Or a twenty-four-hour diner near the hotel.”
“The diner works for me.” Clay sat back and rubbed his stomach. “I love all-you-can-eat pancakes.”
Pretty sure he could eat them out of ingredients if he set his mind to it. Goddess knows he had plenty of times in the past. Once the free refills began to raise eyebrows, though, he tended to pay the bill, tip the waitress, and make his exit before management got involved while also hanging on to the receipt to remind himself not to hit the same place twice in one trip.
While the guys cemented their plans for the night, I let my thoughts drift and my power slumber.
I dreamed of counting sheep that leapt over stones and splashed down into a creek.
Somewhere along the line, the fluffy white sheep became sleek does with glossy eyes that didn’t blink.
8
Faint knocking lifted me out of my deep sleep, and I jerked awake to find myself in a hotel room.
“Colby called Clay,” Asa said through the door. “She’s worried about you.”
“What time is it?” I craned my neck until I spotted the alarm clock. “Midnight.”
“I thought you would want to know.”
Muffled steps retreated before I could thank him. Fumbling my muted phone out of my pocket, I dialed Colby, who hit video chat, bringing her adorable face into full view.
“You didn’t call,” she accused. “You didn’t return mine either.”
“I had a rough first day. I’m sorry.” I shoved upright. “I should have called you before I crashed.”
“You should have.” Her antennae stood on end. “I worried about you.”
“I’ll tell Clay if I ever wipe out on the job, it’s his duty to call you to let you know I’m okay.”
“I’m not happy with you.” She used her mocking tone, aka her impression of me. “You know better.”
“Okay, twerp, you’re pushing it.” I chuckled. “I said I was sorry, and I meant it.”
“It better not happen again.”
“It won’t.” I crossed my heart. “I have learned from my mistakes and vow never to repeat them.”
I gave her a second to enjoy calling me out, which was deserved, before I returned the favor.
“It’s midnight here.” I spied her computer screen blazing. “What time is it there?”
“I couldn’t sleep.” She made her eyes bigger and rounder. “I had to know you were okay first.”
“Aww.” I mimed wiping a tear. “Now go to bed.”
“This is the thanks I get for worrying.”
“Night-night.”
“Sleep tight.”
“Don’t let the bedbugs bite.”
The call was the exact medicine I needed to get back to one hundred percent. Feeling guilty, I texted Asa an apology for Colby bothering them. Clay didn’t sleep, but he zoned out to binge shows on his phone. It was my fault both of them were wide awake and plugged in at this hour.
>>You didn’t interrupt us. We’re going over the pictures from today.
>I’m wide awake now. Want to come over?
Rereading it—after I hit send, of course—I cringed.
>To work?
>>We’ll gather the files and join you.
The guys had left me in my clothes, which meant I only had to roll out of bed to be ready.
Clay, I wouldn’t have minded undressing me. Bodies were bodies. As far as he was concerned, I had nothing new or interesting to see. Plus, when we worked together, we often posed as a couple and shared a room. He had seen it all, many times, and didn’t give a fig.
But Asa…
He was complicated in a way I didn’t need or want right now. Maybe ever. He had baggage, a full set. Just like me. He probably had a history that would turn human hair white. Also like me. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be in Black Hat.
I didn’t understand Asa’s cultures well enough to grasp if his interest was reciprocal, or if his possessive tendencies came with the dominant daemon package.
And it was a nice package.
I really had to stop thinking about his package.
For a split second before the door between rooms swung open, I entertained taking a cold shower.
“Hey, Dollface.” Clay carried three black bags to the table. “How’s Shorty?”
Still fuzzy around the edges, I squinted at him. “Shorty?”
“Colby?” He snorted. “She needs a nickname, so I don’t slip up in front of the wrong people.”
Not a bad idea, and it warmed me that he hit her with a nickname so fast, whatever his reasons.
“Mad.” I rolled a shoulder. “I missed our chat time.”
We scheduled it before I left, to be sure we kept up with one another while I was away.
“I told her you had to be carried in.” Clay shook his head. “Guess that didn’t make a dent.”
“Nope.” I
claimed a chair. “Can I ask you a favor?”
“Name it.” He unpacked three laptops and shoved them into position. “What do you need?”
A pinch in my chest reminded me why I had missed this, missed him, so much.
Clay might not technically be a person, but he was good people.
“Can you call Colby if this happens again? Just let her know I’m okay, and I’ll be in touch later?”
“Is that all?” He snorted. “Done.”
Asa carried an armload of junk food and dumped it on the table. “I brought snacks.”
The crinkle of a potato chip bag set my stomach grumbling. “Bless you, kind sir.”
“I told him what you like.” Clay shot his partner a narrow-eyed stare. “You should thank me.”
“Thank you, other kind sir.” I swatted his arm. “What’s with the territoriality?”
“You know how it is.” Clay finished setting up and sat gingerly in his chair. “Daemons will be daemons.”
“I don’t know how it is or even what that means.” I selected a computer. “I assume that was the point?”
“There’s no denying my daemon side is intrigued by you,” Asa said smoothly. “It worries Clay.”
There was a world of difference between Asa telling me he was interested versus his daemon.
“You don’t sound concerned.” I opened a bag of chips and popped one in my mouth. “Should I be?”
“I won’t harm you, no.” He hesitated. “Neither will the daemon.”
If Clay had been sucking on a lemon, he couldn’t look sourer. “Just know I’m watching you, Ace.”
A slow smile spread Asa’s full lips, and he dipped his chin in an oddly respectful gesture. “I’m aware.”
“Unless you guys plan on getting less cryptic,” I griped and crunched, “we might as well get to work.”
The password on my computer of choice was the same one Clay always used, which was all kinds of bad. These laptops contained data that could rock the human world if one was discovered and hacked. As far as passwords go, 123ABC was downright pathetic. That prompted me to ask, “Is this one yours?”
“What’s mine is yours.” He laughed when my eyebrows slammed down. “It’s new, okay? It’s for you.”
Black Hat, White Witch Page 9