“It heated up several times over the last month,” Brad says. “It’s not enough noise to bring Wolf’s Shadow back in, but enough to bother me.”
“And me,” I agree. “Can you imagine if my pack found out that Melanie was right, and I’ve been hiding it from them?”
“Yes,” Rex says. “Which is why we keep this quiet. Clover is beyond the blast radius. We need this place as our next line of defense if anything goes sideways.”
“Defense?” Brad asks.
Rex frowns. “Yeah, okay. You got me. It’s a refuge. If the thing blows, there’s no defense against it.”
“The people of Clover will think the exact same thing, anyway,” I say, sipping my beer. “That we’re using them. It doesn’t matter if they’re a refuge, a line of defense, or a crop of sacrifices. The only thing they’ll focus on is our lies.”
“Look,” Rex says, “we’ve improved their standard of living, and daily, we bring them into our plans a little bit more. I think, over time, we can reveal more, but it’s not just their trust we’re risking here.”
“Yeah, I know,” I say. “Jackson and Melanie knew too much.”
“That’s why we have to watch the rumors,” Brad says. “We can’t have more crazy people going after the power of the stone.”
Silence falls between us, and the cool air teases around our heads. The sun is finally beginning to set, leaving stripes of bright orange streaked across the sky. I finish my beer and stretch back, watching the sky darken and tiny points of stars come out.
“Uh-oh,” Rex mutters. “Your boss is coming, Shawn.”
“Oh, lord,” I say, sticking my head up. “Do I have time to run?”
“No,” Sara giggles, rushing up the hill to throw herself into my arms. I scream as we roll across the long grass, wrestling her as she tries to pin me.
“Don’t beat my ass in front of my boys,” I beg. “I’ll never live it down.”
“Oh, that’s alright, we’re leaving,” Rex says. “Go ahead and beat his ass, Sara.”
“Please!” I cry, pleading. “Don’t take the beer! Have mercy!”
“Okay, I’ll leave you one,” Brad says. “But that’s it.”
“Kind of you,” Sara calls, waving. “He’ll need it by the time I’m done with him.”
“Why, you—” I raise my hands and grapple with her, letting her win so she can pin me down and kiss me.
“That was too easy,” she says. “I feel like this might not be a fair fight.”
“It’s not,” I say. “It never is, to be honest, but on this particular day, I am literally fried.”
“Oh, come on,” she says. “It isn’t that bad.”
“Excuse me, I was out here in the heat, spinning up cotton candy onto sticks, while you were in the hall crushing ice for slushies.”
“Well,” she replies. “When you put it like that, it does sound kind of unfair.”
“Luckily, I have a secret weapon,” I say, grabbing her and rolling us over.
“Oh, no!” she laughs, wriggling under me. “Not the multi-use tool! How are you going to use it today?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” I whisper, kissing her. “But I’ll think of something torturous, don’t worry.”
“I can’t wait,” she giggles, writhing under me.
“Hey, I didn’t intend for this to get so serious so fast,” I laugh. “But when you’re sliding around like that, I can’t really control what my tool does.”
“Don’t worry,” she says coyly. “I’m just teasing. You aren’t getting lucky. It’s too crowded, and I’m too tired.”
