There was no point asking Rufus why on earth his friends were lying. He never spilled other people's secrets.
She didn’t want to reveal Shan’s ability, but she also didn’t want the kids to think she’d just dismissed their story out of hand. Maybe there was a way she could get Rufus to admit just enough of the truth to excuse the adults not investigating any further.
“Do you think there’s really a ghost in the woods?” she asked her nephew. In a flash of inspiration, she added, “You don’t have to tell me in words, if that feels too much like betraying your friends. Just nod or shake your head.”
Rufus hesitated. After a long, drawn-out moment, he shook his head.
“Thank you for being honest, Rufus.” She gave him areassuring smile. “Don’t worry, the other kids won’t get in trouble. We just needed to make sure there wasn’t any real danger. You can go now, if you want.”
Rufus was all too eager to escape. With a final enigmatic glance at Shan, he slipped away.
Leonie waited until she was sure he’d left before turning to the agent. “Well, it looks like you can head off as well. No reason for you to stick around any longer, clearly.”
Shan didn’t respond, staring after Rufus. In the brief time she’d known the agent, he’d hardly been expressive. Now, however, he’d gone utterly still.
“Agent Zhao?” At the back of her head, her lioness stirred, tail flicking uneasily. “What is it?”
He didn’t look at her. “The children are lying.”
“Of course they are. I didn’t need special powers to tell that.”
“You misunderstand.” A muscle clenched in his jaw. “Allthe children are lying. Including Rufus.”
CHAPTER 6
“And you’re certain Rufus was lying?” Zephyr asked.
Shan nodded, phantom bitterness still lingering on his tongue. “The other children are lying when they claim to have seen a ghost. But Rufus lied when he said it did not exist.”
Uneasy silence followed this statement. The director had called an emergency meeting in the nature hut, gathering together the senior staff he felt could be trusted with the news. Leonie was there, of course, along with the camp’s business manager, Conleth, and his mate Paige. Shan had met them both before, though the latter only briefly.
He knew one other man present, too—though if Shan hadn’t been forewarned by his mission briefing, he would have been astonished to encounter him at a children’s summer camp. Especially not one for shifters. But it seemed Buck Frazer had undergone more than a few changes since their last encounter. The man’s power had Shan’s own monster on edge, fur bristling with the wariness of one predator recognizing another.
The remaining three people in the room, Shan knew onlyfrom reading personnel files. Honey was a curvy, middle-aged woman with pleasant features shaped by smiles, and a clear, direct gaze that could have made a rabid wolverine roll over in submission. If anything, his monster found her even more disconcerting than her mate.
Curiously, the same was not true of the most physically intimidating person present. Broad, bearded Ragvald loomed over everyone like a concerned mountain, yet Shan didn’t get the least sense of danger from the enormous man. Possibly Ragvald’s animal was simply too foreign to register as a potential threat to his own monster. The wyrms had withdrawn to their hidden island centuries ago, closing their borders to everyone but their sea dragon cousins. According to Ragvald’s file, he was the only one of his kind known to have ventured into the outside world in modern times. What could have driven him to leave his homeland remained unknown.
The reason why Ragvald could be found at this particular place was less of a mystery—thoughherpresence raised even further questions. Shan had no idea why a sea dragon princess would spend her summers on land at all, let alone working as a lifeguard at a children’s camp. Moira certainly didn’t seem to be any sort of iconoclastic rebel. She was a tall, elegant woman with a rather reserved air. Her long indigo braids were bound back in a traditional style, glittering with small golden charms.
Shan somewhat regretted that he couldn’t interpret the meaning bound up in those glinting tokens. Apart from the bare facts of Moira’s name and parentage, he knew absolutely nothing about her. When he’d tried to access the rest of her file in the Shifter Affairs records, he’d found only a single red, glaring word: RESTRICTED.
All in all, it made for a curious assemblage of individuals. Their reactions to his report were equally diverse. Zephyrwas clearly troubled, a deep crease between his dark brows. Conleth still wore the smooth, amused expression he’d had at the start, but his fingers tapped against a table in a rapid pattern. Buck’s entire body radiated skepticism. Both Paige and Honey looked concerned, as did Ragvald. Moira was harder to read, but he had the impression she was reserving judgement.
Shan deliberately kept his gaze from drifting to the final person in the room. Not that it made any difference. Even without looking at Leonie, he was keenly aware of her exact position; her slightest movement, her every breath. She was worried too, he knew. He could feel her agitation in his own body, a physical need as sharp as hunger, demanding action.
Calm. He remained still, hands clasped behind his back. He couldn’t let anyone suspect he might have more than a professional interest in this case, no matter how his monster snarled to stalk and savage whatever had dared to cause his mate the slightest distress.
“Well.” Zephyr pushed a hand through his dark hair. “This is unexpected. It seems we have to consider the possibility that there might be a very real threat to the camp.”
Buck let out a derisive snort. “Oh, come on. You’re actually buying this motherloving fairytale?”
“If it came from anyone else, no,” Zephyr replied. “But Rufus sees more than most people, and he’s not easily influenced. If he thinks there’s something out there, I’m inclined to take him seriously.”
“He can be very literal, though,” Honey said, frowning. “Leonie, could he have misinterpreted your question?”
“I don’t think so,” Leonie replied. “I asked him if he believed there’s a ghost in the woods, and he shook his head. That’s when Shan detected the lie. Right, Shan?”
So he wasShanto her now, rather thanAgent Zhao.That wasn’t good. “Yes.”
