Chapter 6
“And you’re certain Rufus was lying?” Zephyr asked.
Shan nodded, phantom bitterness still lingering on his tongue. “The other children are lying when they claim to have seen a ghost. But Rufus lied when he said it did not exist.”
Uneasy silence followed this statement. The director had called an emergency meeting in the nature hut, gathering together the senior staff he felt could be trusted with the news.
Leonie was there, of course, along with the camp’s business manager, Conleth, and his mate Paige.
Shan had met them both before, though the latter only briefly.
He knew one other man present, too—though if Shan hadn’t been forewarned by his mission briefing, he would have been astonished to encounter him at a children’s summer camp.
Especially not one for shifters. But it seemed Buck Frazer had undergone more than a few changes since their last encounter.
The man’s power had Shan’s own monster on edge, fur bristling with the wariness of one predator recognizing another.
The remaining three people in the room, Shan knew only from reading personnel files.
Honey was a curvy, middle-aged woman with pleasant features shaped by smiles, and a clear, direct gaze that could have made a rabid wolverine roll over in submission.
If anything, his monster found her even more disconcerting than her mate.
Curiously, the same was not true of the most physically intimidating person present.
Broad, bearded Ragvald loomed over everyone like a concerned mountain, yet Shan didn’t get the least sense of danger from the enormous man.
Possibly Ragvald’s animal was simply too foreign to register as a potential threat to his own monster.
The wyrms had withdrawn to their hidden island centuries ago, closing their borders to everyone but their sea dragon cousins.
According to Ragvald’s file, he was the only one of his kind known to have ventured into the outside world in modern times.
What could have driven him to leave his homeland remained unknown.
The reason why Ragvald could be found at this particular place was less of a mystery—though her presence raised even further questions.
Shan had no idea why a sea dragon princess would spend her summers on land at all, let alone working as a lifeguard at a children’s camp.
Moira certainly didn’t seem to be any sort of iconoclastic rebel.
She was a tall, elegant woman with a rather reserved air.
Her long indigo braids were bound back in a traditional style, glittering with small golden charms.
Shan somewhat regretted that he couldn’t interpret the meaning bound up in those glinting tokens.
Apart from the bare facts of Moira’s name and parentage, he knew absolutely nothing about her.
When he’d tried to access the rest of her file in the Shifter Affairs records, he’d found only a single red, glaring word: RESTRICTED.
All in all, it made for a curious assemblage of individuals.
Their reactions to his report were equally diverse.
Zephyr was clearly troubled, a deep crease between his dark brows.
Conleth still wore the smooth, amused expression he’d had at the start, but his fingers tapped against a table in a rapid pattern.
Buck’s entire body radiated skepticism. Both Paige and Honey looked concerned, as did Ragvald.
Moira was harder to read, but he had the impression she was reserving judgement.
Shan deliberately kept his gaze from drifting to the final person in the room.
Not that it made any difference. Even without looking at Leonie, he was keenly aware of her exact position; her slightest movement, her every breath.
She was worried too, he knew. He could feel her agitation in his own body, a physical need as sharp as hunger, demanding action.
Calm. He remained still, hands clasped behind his back. He couldn’t let anyone suspect he might have more than a professional interest in this case, no matter how his monster snarled to stalk and savage whatever had dared to cause his mate the slightest distress.
“Well.” Zephyr pushed a hand through his dark hair. “This is unexpected. It seems we have to consider the possibility that there might be a very real threat to the camp.”
Buck let out a derisive snort. “Oh, come on. You’re actually buying this motherloving fairytale?”
“If it came from anyone else, no,” Zephyr replied. “But Rufus sees more than most people, and he’s not easily influenced. If he thinks there’s something out there, I’m inclined to take him seriously.”
“He can be very literal, though,” Honey said, frowning. “Leonie, could he have misinterpreted your question?”
“I don’t think so,” Leonie replied. “I asked him if he believed there’s a ghost in the woods, and he shook his head. That’s when Shan detected the lie. Right, Shan?”
So he was Shan to her now, rather than Agent Zhao. That wasn’t good. “Yes.”
Conleth tapped his fingers against the table. “Rufus doesn’t imagine things that aren’t there. And he wouldn’t believe something so far-fetched without solid evidence. Not that I’m saying there’s really a ghost. But he must have seen something.”
Leonie fidgeted with her clipboard. Despite his best efforts to keep his eyes away from her, she somehow kept edging into his field of view, without ever changing position. “I’m more worried about why he’d lie about it.”
“Perhaps he thought you wouldn’t believe him,” Moira suggested. “Especially right after the other children had already made such outlandish claims.”
Ragvald stroked his beard, making the golden beads braided into it clink together.
“Like the cradle-story of the boy who cries ulfr, ulfr, until the exasperated warband ignores his summons and leaves him to his fate. Only in this case, it is the boy’s companions who claim to have seen paw-prints in the woods, and the boy himself who may end up devoured. ”
“Your version doesn’t end with the kid getting eaten by the wolf?” Paige asked the wyrm.
“Of course not,” Ragvald said, sounding baffled.
“The great wolf-guardian hunts down the neglectful warband and strips the flesh from their bones, then drives their wailing spirits away from the great halls of the ancestors to be lost forever in the all-consuming dark. It is the greatest of sins to hear a child in distress, yet do nothing. That is the whole point of the story.”
Buck raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know about anyone else, but now I really want to hear the wyrm version of Little Red Riding Hood.”
“Another time,” Zephyr said. “In any case, if Rufus has seen something that makes him think the camp ghost is real, I could understand him keeping it to himself. Perhaps he’s worried we wouldn’t believe him. He doesn’t know about Shan’s ability, after all.”
“Unless he figured it out for himself.” Conleth cocked his head at Leonie. “Do you think he did?”
Leonie pursed her lips. “No. When Shan seemed to accept the kids’ story, Rufus did look worried.
I’m pretty sure he knew he hadn’t actually been fooled, and was scared his friends would get into trouble over it.
And it’s true that he was a bit on edge when I was talking to him afterward.
But he’s too smart to make such an obvious mistake.
If he’d known Shan could detect lies, he would have found a way to avoid telling one. ”
He'd already come to the same conclusion himself. “It would have been simple enough. He only had to continue speaking to you telepathically to ensure I could not overhear.”
Zephyr rubbed his chin. “So we can safely assume Rufus doesn’t know that we know he’s hiding something. The question is, how do we find out what it is?”
Buck shrugged. “Ask him.”
“That does seem the fastest way to get to the bottom of this,” Honey said.
“Normally, I’d agree,” Leonie said, her brows pinched in worry. “It’s just…Shan, how did Rufus’s answer taste to you? I mean, were you able to get any sense of why he lied?”
He shut his eyes, concentrating on the memory. The smokiness of the lie was there, yes…but underneath it lay something else, too.
“Fear,” he said, sorting through the complex layers of flavor. “But not for himself. He is protecting someone, I think. Someone very close to his heart.”
Leonie nodded, as though he’d confirmed her suspicions. “In that case, he won’t tell us. No matter how much we beg, or what we threaten.”
“How on earth could he be protecting someone by not telling us about a potential threat to the camp?” Paige asked.
“I don’t know.” Leonie looked round at the other senior staff. “But Rufus doesn’t betray people he loves. Not ever. If we ask him about this directly, he’ll just shut down.”
“Rufus wouldn’t stay silent if anyone was actually in danger, though,” Moira said. “Whatever he encountered, it can’t be a threat.”
“No, it just means he doesn’t think it’s a threat,” Conleth corrected. “And while I generally trust Rufus’s judgment, I’d prefer not to stake the safety of the camp on the opinion of an eleven-year-old boy.”
“Don’t you think you’re being a touch overdramatic?
” Buck said. “So maybe Rufus saw something in the woods that gave him the heebie-jeebies, and he doesn’t want to talk about it.
It’s one hell of a leap of logic to decide that means the whole motherloving camp’s about to get swarmed by demons.
And I’m saying that as someone who once punched one in the face. ”
“You don’t actually think there’s something supernatural going on, do you?” Honey asked Conleth.
The pegasus shifter spread his hands. “Just making sure we consider all potential risk factors before deciding on a plan. But I’m not the expert on demonic ghosts. Zephyr?”
“The Thunderbird would sense if its ancient foe had returned, and I do not feel it calling me to fight,” Zephyr replied. He hesitated, mouth tightening. “But my dreams have been troubled, of late.”