“Why do people keep accusing me of making that up?” Joe asked the world in general.
“Because we know you,” Conleth grated out. “And what passes for your sense of humor.”
Joe shrugged, not looking the slightest bit repentant. “I just see the future, bro. I don’t make it.”
That was true.Conlethhad made it. Why couldn’t the sea dragon have stuck to the damn script?
Too late to do anything about it now. And Joe’s stunt hadn’t ruined the rest of his plan.
“Well, at least this solves our recruitment problem, Zephyr,” Conleth said, as though this had only just occurred to him rather than being the entire point of this whole cursed scheme. “If I just sit around waiting, I’ll go stark raving mad. I might as well take on the camp manager role, at least until I meet my mate.”
The director’s amused air faded. “Joe, do you have any idea when that might be?”
The sea dragon shook his head. “Sorry, bro. My visions don’t come date-stamped.”
Zephyr sighed. “Are you sure about this, Conleth? You might be waiting a long time.”
In all probability, he was going to be waiting forever. There was nothing he could do to influence fate, after all. Meeting his one true mate—assuming she even existed in the first place—was completely out of his control.
And he’d learned long ago not to put his faith in anything he couldn’t control.
“Then the camp will benefit from my skills and expertise for a long time.” Flinging a last glare at Joe, he stalked away. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go put on a suit.”
CHAPTER 2
“There’s the sign to camp!” Archie yelled, his nose plastered to the bus window. “Look, Paige, we’re nearly there!”
Paige wished she shared her little brother’s enthusiasm. For his sake, she forced a smile, while her stomach twisted into an even tighter knot.
“That’s great, Archie, but try not to get so excited. You don’t want to lose control and shift again.” She was already covered in russet fur, having spent the better part of the long, bumpy trip trying to restrain a hyperactive grizzly bear cub. “Take a deep breath and settle down, okay?”
“I don’t wanna settle down!” Archie bounced in his seat. “I wanna get to camp!”
He was fidgeting even more than usual, every part of his body in constant motion. That was usually the warning sign to bundle him away fast as possible. Out of reflex, Paige cast a nervous glance at their fellow passengers—but of course, none of the other camp counselors showed the slightest sign of curiosity.
They were all shifters themselves, after all. She was the odd one out here.
Still, she didn’t want Archie turning into a bear yet again. Camp Thunderbird was a safe place for shifters, but that didn’t mean the kids were supposed toconstantlyturn into their animal form. She needed her brother to be on his best behavior this summer.
Paige sharpened her voice, adopting her well-practiced ‘this is your last warning’ tone. “Calm down, Archie. Otherwise I’ll make you hold my hand when we get to camp.”
The terrible threat worked. Archie subsided, shooting her a mulish look.
“You’d better not,” he muttered, one foot kicking at the floor. “I don’t want anyone finding out that you’re my sister.”
Privately, Paige didn’t think there was much risk of that. Few people expected a ten-year-old to have a sister in her late twenties. And it wasn’t like there was much family resemblance between them. Though they’d both inherited their mom’s unruly chestnut hair and stubborn jawline, Archie took more after his dad.
Or at least, Paige assumed he did. It wasn’t like she’d ever met the man.
“I promise I won’t tell anyone we’re related,” she said. “Though you realize it’s not a secret, right? The director knows, and I expect he’ll have mentioned it to the other staff.”
“I don’t care about the grown-ups. I just don’t want the other kids figuring it out.” Archie drew up his legs, wrapping his arms around his knees. “It’s embarrassing, having to come to camp with my sister.”
“It’s not that unusual. I bet lots of the other kids have siblings at camp too.”
Archie picked at the frayed laces of his sneakers. “Yeah, but not working there.”
“It’s the only way we could afford to send you back to Camp Thunderbird this summer, Archie. You know that.”
