Epilogue
NEXT SUMMER
Danny
Lola
Stop leaving me on read
You’re both being very immature about this
Rory
What’s going on?
Skye
Danny
I don’t know, but I was at Ross’s pub last night, and Lola’s pic is up behind the bar now
On the banned board
Rory
Lola, what did you do
Birdbrain
nothing
Ross
YOU SET FIRE TO MY BAR
Birdbrain
IT WAS AN ACCIDENT OKAY
Rory
Lola, you set fire to Ross’s pub???
Birdbrain
…
…
lil bit
Ross
BANNED. FOR. LIFE.
Leonie sighed, scrolling through the increasingly heated chat. “Oh, dear.”
Shan looked up from clearing away the breakfast dishes. “Problem?”
“Not really.” She showed him her screen. “Just family drama.”
Shan frowned. “I thought Lola had her fire under control now.”
“She does. Mostly. I’ll call her later and find out what happened.” She checked the time. “I’ve got to get up to the camp. See you for dinner?”
“Actually, I’ll come with you.” Setting the last bowl aside to drain, Shan dried his hands. He slipped his wedding band back onto his finger, the gold gleaming against his skin. “I’m heading that way myself. Are we picking up Rufus?”
“Not today. I’ve got too much to do to have the kids underfoot just yet.” She passed him his suit jacket. “We’d better hurry. I’m supposed to be meeting Zephyr and Conleth in ten minutes.”
It still felt a little strange to have to commute to work, even if it was only a short flight from their new house to the camp.
Still, it had its advantages. She enjoyed having a reason to stretch her wings every day, especially with Shan at her side.
And she certainly appreciated the extra privacy.
Our nest. Her griffin purred in contentment. Our place. Our mate.
With a full month to go until the start of camp, most of the site was deserted, all the kids’ cabins still locked and shuttered.
There was a lot to do, but she rather liked this quiet, expectant time when it was just her and a few other senior staff.
In a few weeks, the first counselors would start arriving for training, and then she’d really be busy.
A warning growl rumbled down the mate bond. *Not too busy.*
*I didn’t say anything,* she sent back.
*No, but I know you.* He leaned into the wind, wingtip brushing against hers. *I could see you scanning the camp, making to do lists in your head. I will hunt you down and drag you home every evening, if I have to.*
She nipped at him playfully. *Is that a promise?*
Hunger flooded down the mate bond. *Yes.*
She was tempted to make him carry out his threat now. Unfortunately, she really did have to get to work, and so did he. There would be plenty of time for fun later.
Zephyr was sitting on the steps outside the office, while Ashley played in the dirt nearby. The toddler waved excitedly as they landed.
“An! An!” Ashley ran over, her steps still unsteady. Reaching Shan, she thrust both hands out imperiously. “Up!”
Shan gravely scooped her up, setting her on his shoulder. Ashley giggled in delight, flapping her arms like wings.
Leonie smiled, watching the softness in Shan’s expression. She enjoyed having this time when it was just the two of them, deepening their connection every day. But still…when the time was right…
One day, her griffin whispered, echoing her thought. We will have our own cubs, when we are ready. And they will fly high.
“Good morning,” Zephyr greeted her. He got to his feet, brushing off his pants. “Ready to go over the itinerary for today?”
“Whenever you are.” Leonie looked around. “No Conleth?”
“Not yet,” Zephyr replied. “Paige sent me a text to say he’d be a bit late. Apparently he was up with the baby most of the night, and she didn’t have the heart to wake him this morning.”
“Conleth, late to work?” She clasped a hand to her chest, pretending shock. “Fatherhood really has changed him.”
Zephyr laughed. “For the better, I think. Even if he’s currently in zombie mode. I wasn’t expecting to see you here this morning, Shan. Is this a personal visit, or a professional one?”
“Neither,” Shan replied, Ashley still bouncing on his shoulders. “Just stopping by. I’m on my way to the unicorn herd. I need to speak to Alder-in-Winter.”
Zephyr’s eyebrows rose a little. “What about? If I’m allowed to ask, that is.”
“It’s not classified. In fact, I planned to alert you, since it might affect the camp.” Shan disentangled Ashley’s hand from his ear. “The sheriff called. There’s been a spate of new thefts recently. Food, and basic clothing.”
“Just like last year,” Leonie said, Shan having already filled her in on the details. “Some people say they saw a floating light in the woods near their houses, too. It seems our ‘ghost’ is back.”
Zephyr frowned. “Alder-in-Winter said he’d put a stop to that.”
“Which is why I need to speak to him,” Shan said grimly. “Evidently, one of the young unicorns is slipping past his guard. At an increasing rate, too. I’m concerned they’re going to get hurt. One of the victims thought they saw the thief running into the woods and took a shot at them.”
Zephyr whistled. “Must have missed, since Alder-in-Winter hasn’t come storming down the mountain in an absolute fury. Well, I might be able to save you some time. I saw Flash and Leaf earlier, hanging around the obstacle course. If they’re still there, they could fetch him for you.”
“An!” Ashley kicked her heels against Shan’s chest as if he was a pony. “Fly, An!”
He shook his head, putting her down. “I’m sorry, little one. I can’t play right now. But I’ll come back when I can.”
“Come on, Ashley.” Zephyr held out his hand. “Shan has to go to work.”
“I’ll come with you,” Leonie said to Shan as Ashley toddled back to her father. “I want to talk to Alder-in-Winter, too. We don’t need another outbreak of ghost stories.”
They headed across the camp. The obstacle course was on the far side of the field, next to the woods. Most of the ropes and swings had been disassembled and stored over the winter, and some of the equipment was covered with tarps, but a few of the obstacles were still accessible.
Sure enough, they found little Leaf playing on the balance beams, hopping from log to log like a mountain goat. Flash loitered nearby with the sullen air of a teen tasked with watching over a younger sibling. Catching sight of them approaching, she whinnied in alarm.
“It’s all right, kids,” Leonie said. “We’re not here to send you home. Though I’m surprised to see you. I thought you weren’t supposed to hang around near the camp.”
Leaf pranced over, tail high. Leonie got a confused blur of telepathic images, along with a general impression of smugness. She wasn’t quite sure what the unicorn was trying to convey, but Leaf was definitely pleased about something.
“I’m glad you’re here,” Shan said to the two unicorns. He crouched, putting himself more on eye-level with the young fillies. “I need to speak with you about an important matter. I promise you won’t get in trouble, but I have to know the truth. Have either of you been entering human houses?”
Both unicorns blinked at him. Flash’s horn brightened for a moment. An image of a room flickered through Leonie’s mind, along with a sense of a question.
“No, not Buck and Honey’s house,” Shan said, evidently having received the same mental picture. “I mean, places you are not supposed to go. Have you been sneaking into houses occupied by non-shifters? Or heard of any of the other unicorns doing so?”
From Flash and Leaf’s wide-eyed stares, this was a level of naughtiness beyond even their imaginations. They both shook their heads.
“Truth,” Shan said under his breath. He straightened, brow creasing. “In that case, would you mind teleporting back to the herd to fetch Alder-in-Winter? I need to speak with him right away.”
Flash snorted, flicking her tail. Her sister bounced up and down, and another barrage of images hit Leonie’s brain.
“Slow down, sweetie,” she said, struggling to make sense of the rapidly changing pictures. “Talk to me like I’m a baby, okay? One thing at a time.”
Leaf seemed to concentrate. Leonie got a sharp, detailed picture of Alder-in-Winter standing in a clearing. Then, the image flickered. The trees and plants stayed, but Alder was gone.
Shan frowned. “Alder-in-Winter is missing?”
Both unicorns nodded enthusiastically.
“How long has he been gone?” Leonie asked.
Flash answered this time, sending a telepathic image of a moon changing phase. Leonie wasn’t sure precisely how much time the unicorn meant, but it had clearly been a while.
She glanced at Shan. “Does a missing unicorn fall under your jurisdiction?”
“I can’t say it’s ever come up before.” He ran a hand through his hair, looking somewhat at a loss. “He’s not a shifter, but it’s certainly a matter of interest to my department. Thank you, Flash, Leaf. Tell your mother I’ll look into it.”
Flash flicked an ear, as if to say she didn’t see why anyone would want to look for Alder. Still, she nodded agreement. In a flash of light, both unicorns teleported away.
“We should tell Zephyr,” Leonie said to Shan.
He nodded, gaze abstracted. She could tell he was already making plans to track down the missing unicorn; who to ask, where to look.
“I’ll need to alert the rest of my team as well.
We’ll have to alert the local shifter community.
If something’s happened to Alder-in-Winter, it could be a threat to us all. ”
If they’d taken the same route back to the office, she would have missed it. Later, she would wonder what would have happened if she had. How much would have been different.
But they were in a hurry, and it was faster to cut past the kids’ cabins than follow the winding footpath back to the central area. Leonie was leading the way, Shan at her heels, when her griffin suddenly surged up, tugging at her mind.
Stop. Something is wrong.
Shan almost walked straight into her back. “Leonie? What is it?”
“I’m…not sure.” She rotated on the spot, trying to figure out what had caught her animal’s attention. “Just…something seems out of place, somehow.”
Shan looked around. “I do not see anything amiss.”
She sucked in a breath, staring. “I do.”
It was just a faint impression in the dirt, right in front of one of the cabins. Without griffin eyes, she would have walked right past it. But once she’d spotted it, the shape was unmistakable; a heel, five toes.
A bare human footprint.
In summer, it would have meant nothing. Counselors walked around barefoot all the time, especially if they weren’t mythic shifters.
But there weren’t any other staff on site now.
And the footprint was fresh.
She grabbed Shan’s arm, pointing. He inhaled sharply as well, claws sliding out. They didn’t need to exchange words; not even telepathically. In perfect unison, they approached the cabin.
The door should have been locked, yet it swung open at her touch. Shan went in, soundless as a hunting tiger. Leonie stayed outside, guarding the exit.
A pause. Down the mate bond, she could feel Shan’s intense focus. A sudden surge, a pounce—
A man yelled in pain and shock. It wasn’t Shan.
Leonie charged into the cabin. Shan was in the main dorm room, which should have been empty of everything except bare bunk beds. He had a tall, ragged figure pinned to the wall, a clawed hand around his throat.
The man struggled, choking. He looked to be in his late twenties, and also like he’d been living in a cave for years.
His dark hair fell past his shoulders, tangled with twigs and leaves.
His ripped Camp Thunderbird T-shirt was several sizes too small, tight across his muscled chest. Apart from heart-covered boxers and a blood-stained rag around one arm, he wore nothing else.
And she’d never seen him before in her life.
Shan was snarling in the stranger’s face, yellow-on-black eyes glowing with protective rage. Most people would have passed out in utter terror, yet the man seemed more indignant than alarmed.
The man prized at Shan’s hand, glaring. Despite his unkempt appearance, he didn’t smell bad; just a faint trace of moss and leaves. He had a pale, silvery mark right in the middle of his forehead, like an old scar.
“Release me,” the man managed to choke out. “Release me this instant, Mountain!”
Shan’s grip went slack. So did Leonie’s jaw.
“Alder?” she exclaimed.
“Alder-in-Winter,” the former unicorn corrected. He slumped against the wall, rubbing his throat. “And you cannot tell anyone about this.”
Camp chaos will continue in Unicorn Summer…