“If they don’t sit down either, then I hope you brought good shoes,” Buck said. He hooked a chair away from the table with his foot. “You heard your counselor. Park your ass, kid.”
Archie sniggered. “Buck saidass.”
“I have a rich and varied vocabulary,” Buck said, still holding eye contact with Ignatius. “Consider it part of the many educational opportunities available to you at camp. You’ve made your point, Ignatius. We get it, you don’t want to be here. Believe me, the feeling is mutual. Suck it up and sit down.”
Ignatius bristled. “You can’t talk to me like that. My uncle—”
“Isn’t here,” Buck interrupted brutally. “And I am. Third and final chance. Sit. Down.”
Ignatius hesitated, then sank into a chair. He scowled at the tabletop, refusing to look at anyone.
Honey was dying to ask Buck what was up with Ignatius, but she couldn’t in front of the other kids.
“Let’s get back to the game,” she said. “Claire, would you like to go next?”
Claire shrank back as though Honey had asked her to stand up and give a rousing solo of the national anthem. “Um… that’s okay. Rufus can have the next turn.”
“Yeah!” Flora exclaimed. “Rufus, you go next. You literally haven’t said a word yet.”
Rufus shot Honey a silent appeal for help, as she mentally kicked herself. She’d intended to explain this to the kids quietly, one on one, but there hadn’t been an opportunity in all the confusion.
“Rufus prefers not to use his voice to talk,” she said, trying to make it sound as ordinary as a preference for chocolate ice cream over vanilla. “He can hear and understand you just fine, though, so you can talk to him. You’ll just need to pay a little more attention to figure out what he’s saying back.”
“Why can’t he talk?” Archie asked. “Did his tongue get ripped out in an accident? Is it gross? Can I see it?”
“There’s nothing wrong with Rufus!” Estelle bristled at the bear shifter. “And don’t talk about him like he isn’t here.”
Rufus glanced at Finley. The other boy nodded, turning to the other campers.
“Rufus says he wants to talk, but a lot of the time the words won’t come out,” he said. “But he can communicate telepathically, at least with other mythic shifters like myself. Archie and Flora, he can’t reach your minds, because your animals are too different to his. But you should be able to hear him, Ignatius, since you’re a dragon.”
Ignatius treated both Finley and Rufus to a freezing stare. “Why would I want to talk toanyof you?”
“Hey,” Buck said sharply. “That’s enough.”
Ignatius’s lip curled, but he subsided.
“Canyoutalk to Rufus, Honey?” Flora asked.
“Not like Finley and the others, I’m afraid,” Honey replied. “I hope you’ll be patient with me, Rufus.”
“So if you’re not a mythic shifter, what kind are you, then?” Archie said.
“Archie!” Beth yelped. “You can’t ask someone that!”
“Why not?” Archie looked genuinely baffled. “It’s not like it’s a secret. Honey’s our counselor, we’re gonna have to see her shift form sometime.”
They’d anticipated this question. Buck had coached her on how to answer. Honey still felt like Archie had just handed her an unexpected halibut.
“Er…” She cleared her throat. “Actually, you won’t. It’s a safety thing, you see. If I was in wolf form, I wouldn’t be able to talk to you all. I have to supervise you as a human.”
It wasn’tquitea lie, but she still stumbled over it. Most of the kids didn’t seem to notice, but Rufus flashed her a quick, puzzled glance. She did her best to look unconcerned, praying that the kids would drop the topic.
Beth frowned. “That’s not in the camp rulebook. I know it off by heart.”
Estelle looked crestfallen. “But how are you going to help us with our shifting, if you don’t shift yourself?”
“So you’re a wolf?” Flora said with interest. “What kind? Gray? Timber? Dire wolf?”
