Rufus shook his head, though not quite as emphatically as before. His mouth pursed, struggling to form words. After a moment, he gave up. Instead, he made a vague, circling gesture, indicating the camp in general.
That meant Ignatius was somewhere nearby, she guessed. Watching to see if she headed for the woods, like she’d promised. He must have manipulated the other kids into asking her to shift, to see what she’d do.
“Thanks, Rufus,” she said, and got a slight, shy smile in reply. She handed him back the note. “You should go back to your cabin. Don’t worry about me.”
Rufus padded off, as silent on two feet as he was on four. Honey headed in the opposite direction, heart pounding at how close she’d come to disaster. If she’d left the camp as she’d planned, it would have been as good as a confession.
There were no lamps beyond the cabins, but the moon was bright enough to light her way. She strained her ears as she walked, listening for any hint of movement behind her, but the camp lay still and silent. Most of the other staff were on duty tonight, and she’d seen the few who weren’t heading down to the waterfront after dinner for some kind of party. She could only hope that they decided to stay there.
The woods looked a lot less welcoming in the dark. Honey gulped, wishing that she had shifter eyesight. Still, she knew the area around the camp by now, thanks to Buck. Surely she couldn’t getthatlost.
It’ll be fine,she tried to tell herself. I just have to head down one of the trails, and go far enough to lose Ignatius. He’ll never know that I didn’t actually shift.
Except he would, she realized with a lurch. There was a flaw in her plan. One thing that would be a dead giveaway…
Her gaze fell on a nearby building, right next to the trail head. There were a few of them scattered around the camp; simple, open-fronted sheds partitioned into individual private cubicles, with curtains across the front. Counselors jokingly called them the changing rooms.
Not all the counselors needed to use them, of course. Mythic shifters like Rufus or Beth didn’t. But she’d let the kids think that she was a wolf. Just a plain, ordinary wolf.
Honey hesitated, but there was no way around it. With a grimace, she went into a cubicle, drawing the curtain behind her.
Well,she thought as she pulled her t-shirt over her head.At least it’s a warm night.
CHAPTER28
“Where,” Buck growled, searching under his mattress, “are my motherloving handcuffs?”
They should have been easy to find. He kept them with his chains and dog collars, in a large metal box—locked, of course, because the camp was full of curious kids and he wasn’t a motherloving idiot. He distinctly remembered putting them away that morning, just as he always did.
Now there was no sign of them. Or, indeed, the whole damn box. Buck glared at the space where it should have been.
“Someone is not going to live to see their tenth birthday,” he muttered. “Possibly multiple someones.”
Straightening, he checked his pockets. He let out a breath of relief as he found he still had all his keys. It wasn’t exactly a secret that he had to chain himself up every night, but he still didn’t want to see his bondage gear flying from the flagpole.
“Hilarious, kids,” he grunted, levering himself back to his feet. “I’m supposed to be off the clock. I have to yell at you enough during working hours without making it a motherloving hobby as well.”
But if he didn’t want to wake up on the cabin roof tomorrow, he had to get his restraints back. The damn beast had been weirdly docile recently, but it was probably just lying low, waiting for him to relax his guard. The only way he was going to get a peaceful night’s sleep was with a logging chain around his neck and both ankles fastened to the bed frame.
Intent on recovering his stolen goods, he strode out of his cabin—or at least, he tried to. As he reached for the door handle, a crushing pain seized his arm, dragging him back.
“Motherlover!” In reflex, he snatched his hand away from the door.
The pain immediately disappeared.
Buck frowned. He put his hand out again, more slowly this time. A warning twinge shot through his arm. The closer his fingers got to the door handle, the deeper the pain bit.
“You have got to be kidding me,” he told his scar. “I spend weeks going nuts trying to figure out how to keep myself in my own damn bedroom, and now you won’t let me out?”
“Buck!”
He started. “Honey?”
“Oh, thank God.” Her voice didn’t come from the other side of the door, but from somewhere behind him. “Quick, open your window!”
“What? Why?”
“Buck, this is not the time for questions. Just open the window and turn around, okay?”
