She giggled at Hunter’s feeble attempts, and it dawned on me that the same fate that had befallen our victims could affect her too. Maybe the best thing for Shifters to do was isolate.
“Raven.” Niko greeted me as he entered the room from the hall ahead. “One of the children is missing. It’s bedtime, and she ran off while they were brushing their teeth.”
Hunter looked at me pleadingly, one finger over his lips. He knew Niko was blind, but Niko wasn’t so blind that he wouldn’t notice that girl’s energy at the top of the stairs once he turned around.
Did I really want to encourage Hunter to be deceptive? I’d probably regret it in the long run, so I said, “It’s time for you kids to say good night. You can play in the morning. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you can wake up to play.”
The little girl jogged down the steps, gave Hunter a big hug, and dashed past Niko and down the hall.
Niko had on his oversized drop-crotch pants he often wore to sleep, so it looked like everyone was winding down for the night.
“Would you like to join me in the kitchen for hot tea?” he asked.
“I need to see where we are with the case. If I get hungry, I’ll buy something from Wyatt’s vending machine with my retirement money.” I directed my attention to the boy. “Hunter, do you want us to walk you to bed? Where’s your dad?”
Niko swept his hair away from his face. “Shepherd’s guarding the hall while Switch and I search for the girl. Hunter, I think your father is a very sleepy old man. Can you help him to bed?”
Hunter slapped his hand over his mouth, covering his smile.
Shepherd strutted into the room, a five-o’clock shadow dusting his face. For some reason, he was wearing a green shirt and camouflage pants.
“What’s with the getup?” I asked since that wasn’t his usual style.
He stopped at the foot of the stairs and stretched his muscular arms. “The kids wanted to play war. Guess who was the enemy?”
I snorted. “Did they beat you up?”
“Fuck Wyatt and all his water balloons. Sorry, kid,” he said, shifting his focus to Hunter. “I’m trying not to say those words.”
“My dad said those words all my life,” I said, hands on my hips. “I turned out fine.”
He gave me a deliberate look before kneeling in front of Hunter.
I inched closer to Niko and lowered my voice. “What was that about?”
Niko canted his head toward me. “Some of the kids started repeating Shepherd’s vocabulary, and it upset Viktor. You missed a colorful dinner conversation.”
“I’ll bet.”
“He doesn’t worry about Hunter since Hunter doesn’t talk. But try convincing fifteen children.”
Shepherd held Hunter’s wrist. “Why are you covering your mouth?”
Hunter shrugged.
“Did someone hit you? Let me see.”
When he pulled Hunter’s hand away, everything looked normal. No bruising, no scrapes. Those were typical injuries you saw when kids got together.
“You had me worried, little man.” Shepherd poked Hunter in the belly, and Hunter giggled and smiled wide.
When he did, I barked out a laugh. “Looks like someone lost a tooth.”
Shepherd lightly held his chin and looked at it. “When did that happen?”
Hunter shrugged.
“Did he swallow it?” I asked.
