It was just as well Paige couldn’t turn into a bear like her brother. If she’d been a shifter, he would have been in several pieces on the floor right now.
Though Paige was going to murder him, she might have to take a ticket and form an orderly line. Leonie looked justas ready to beat him to death with his own liver, and shewasa shifter. Conleth was beginning to wish the staff uniform included body armor.
“Conleth,” Leonie growled—literally. That was never a good sign. “What did you do?”
“Filled a critical staff vacancy.” He spread his hands, affecting nonchalance. “One of the counselors had a personal emergency which meant he had to leave camp immediately.”
Leonie fixed him with a predatory glare. “What kind of personal emergency?”
Conleth gazed at the ceiling in an exaggerated—and wholly fictitious—show of unconcern. “I believe it was ten thousand dollars in urgent need of spending.”
“Ten thousand dollars?” Paige’s voice shot up an octave. “You bribed my co-counselorten thousand dollars?”
“He was a very poor negotiator. My next offer would have been considerably higher.” As far as Conleth was concerned, it would have been a bargain at any price. “In the spirit of full disclosure, I should probably warn you I am, by most people’s standards, obscenely rich. In case that changes anything.”
From Paige’s expression, it absolutely did not.
Buck, on the other hand, looked like he was having a religious experience. Conleth didn’t think he’d even blinked yet.
“Conleth,” Buck announced, “is wearing a staff t-shirt.”
“Thank you for that observation,” Conleth snapped. “Does anyone else want to point out the blatantly obvious?”
“Conleth is wearing a staff t-shirt,” Buck repeated. “Did I fall asleep without realizing? Is this a wonderful dream? Nobody wake me up.”
“You’re not helping,” Honey muttered out of the side of her mouth.
“Conleth,” Moira said, in the careful tones of someone addressing a man merrily lighting matches while up to his ankles in gasoline. “Are you certain you’ve thought this through?”
“Of course I have. When have I ever not thoroughly planned for every possible outcome?” Conleth folded his arms, meeting the mass stares with sham equanimity. “I don’t know why you’re all gaping at me like that. I expected you to be pleased, Moira. You and Leonie have nagged me about doing a stint as a counselor ever since our very first year.”
“It is theday before the start of camp,” Leonie snarled. “I’ve been planning the staff assignments for weeks. Do you expect me to re-write all the counselor schedules inone evening?”
“Of course not,” Conleth said calmly. “I already did it. You’ll find them waiting for you in the office, collated and color coded. You’re welcome.”
“But this is a most wonderful turn of events!” Alone among the group, Ragvald seemed genuinely delighted. “An inspired plan, friend Conleth! Such a display of intrepid daring cannot fail to thaw your mate’s heart!”
Ragvald thinks this is a good idea.
Oh, shit.
“Not thawing at all over here,” Paige gritted out. “Entirely the reverse, in fact.”
“But you do not understand what a grand gesture friend Conleth makes by taking his place at your side in such a fashion!” Ragvald leaned down to Paige, dropping his voice to a conspiratorial whisper that could probably have been heard from the other end of the camp. “You see, it is well known by all here that friend Conleth, while cunning and true, has always avoided involvement with the younglings of this steading. Why, I have heard he has sworn a mighty oath that he would sooner be a cold corpse in the icy ground than a camp counselor!”
“Thank you for that, Ragvald,” Conleth said. “Also, do you perhaps recall what I said about you attempting to help me?”
“Tell him he can’t do this,” Paige entreated Leonie. “He can’t be my co-counselor. He just can’t.”
“Oh, I am not letting Conleth get away with this.” Leonie began flipping through her clipboard. “I’m all for romance, Conleth, but not when it interferes with my team. I’m promoting one of the back-up counselors.”
“Ah,” Conleth said. “About that.”
Leonie stopped turning pages. Very slowly, she lifted her head.
We should run now,his pegasus advised.
“Conleth,” Leonie said, in deceptively level tones. “Precisely how many ‘personal emergencies’ have there been among my counselors in the last few hours?”
