He sensed her turn at his call. A moment later, Leonie appeared to his normal vision as well, looking harassed. Frizzy wisps of blonde hair were escaping from her braid, curling around her face. She brushed them back behind her ears, clipboard tucked under her other arm.
“Conleth!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you. Why are you hiding in the woodshed?”
“Welcome to my new office,” Zephyr said. “Pull up a log.”
“Would someone please explain the whole office thing?” Honey said plaintively.
Conleth ignored the request, more concerned with Leonie. “What are you doing here? I told you to keep an eye on Paige.”
“I left her to get settled into her cabin.” Leonie jabbed him in the chest with her finger. “You promised me we’d discuss this later. Well, it’s later. I want some answers, and I want them right now. How dare you reassign one of my counselors to staff liaison without consulting me?”
“What’s a staff liaison?” Honey asked.
“I’m so glad you asked that, Honey,” Leonie said sweetly. Conleth could practically see a tufted tail lashing behind her. “Well, Conleth? Whatisa staff liaison? More to the point, why do we now have one?”
“It’s complicated. But I’m sure Paige will genuinely be useful in the role. We should have expanded the admin staff long before now, really. I can’t keep doing everything now that—” Conleth broke off as yet another interruption tugged at his attention. “Oh, for the love of little red apples, what now?”
“Let me guess,” Zephyr murmured. “More company?”
Conleth didn’t have to answer that one. Moira ducked into the woodshed, followed by her ever-present bodyguard, Ragvald. Everyone abruptly had much less space.
Moira blinked at the assembled gathering. “What in the Sea is everyone doing in the woodshed?”
“Having a senior staff meeting,” Zephyr replied. “Apparently.”
With a sigh, Conleth dropped his logs. “Dare I hope that you needed to speak with us on an urgent matter concerning the lifeguards or waterfront, Moira?”
“I’m afraid not,” the sea dragon princess replied. “Conleth, is it true that you met your mate?”
Conleth raked a hand through his hair. “Yes. But?—”
“This is the best of news, shield-brother!” Ragvald boomed before he could finish the sentence. The wyrm shifter flung his beefy arms wide, making Zephyr duck. “My breast swells at your good fortune! Come, let us embrace in shared joy!”
Conleth instinctively reached for his power, but with his pegasus still exhausted, he couldn’t evade the assault. Ragvald’s arms closed on him like an industrial car crusher.
“Ragvald,” Moira said wearily. “Ragvald, no. What have I said about hugging people without their explicit consent?”
“But this is a special occasion!” Ragvald protested, still attempting to lovingly break Conleth’s spine. “Such an event cannot be celebrated with mere words!”
“I would have been more than happy with a congratulatory email,” Conleth wheezed, with what was possibly his last breath. “Or a fruit basket.”
“Put him down, Ragvald,” Moira said. “That’s an order.”
Ragvald rumbled in disgruntlement, but released him. “Outlanders. I do not understand how people who live in such a sweltering climate can be so cold and formal.”
Conleth tugged his shirt straight, trying to recover some dignity. “Before anyone else feels the need to literally press me for details, yes, I met my mate. Yes, she’s Archie’s sister. Her name is Paige, and she’s not a shifter. For those who need things spelled out for them in very simple words, Buck, that means she doesn’t know I’m her mate.”
“But she must know,” Honey said. “Archie shouted it in front of half the camp.”
“Oh, no.” Moira’s expression said that she’d just connected the dots and didn’t like the resulting picture. “Conleth, please tell me you didn’t.”
“If you’re accusing me of lying to her, then no, I did not,” Conleth said sharply. “At no point did I ever tell Paige shewasn’tmy mate.”
Honey cast Buck a sidelong glance. “I remember someone else saying that, too.”
Buck grunted. “And I was also being a motherloving idiot.”
“Excuse me,” Conleth snapped. “You, for reasons that still escape me, were hell bent on rejecting the delightful and frankly long-suffering woman currently standing next to you. I, on the other hand, fully intend to tell Paige she’s my mate at the earliest possible opportunity.”
