Conleth tapped his fingers against the table. “Rufus doesn’t imagine things that aren’t there. And he wouldn’t believe something so far-fetched without solid evidence. Not that I’m saying there’s really a ghost. But he must have seen something.”
Leonie fidgeted with her clipboard. Despite his best efforts to keep his eyes away from her, she somehow kept edging into his field of view, without ever changing position. “I’m more worried about why he’d lie about it.”
“Perhaps he thought you wouldn’t believe him,” Moira suggested. “Especially right after the other children had already made such outlandish claims.”
Ragvald stroked his beard, making the golden beads braided into it clink together. “Like the cradle-story of the boy who criesulfr, ulfr, until the exasperated warband ignores his summons and leaves him to his fate. Only in this case, it is the boy’s companions who claim to have seen paw-prints in the woods, and the boy himself who may end up devoured.”
“Your version doesn’t end with the kid getting eaten by the wolf?” Paige asked the wyrm.
“Of course not,” Ragvald said, sounding baffled. “The great wolf-guardian hunts down the neglectful warband and strips the flesh from their bones, then drives their wailing spirits away from the great halls of the ancestors to be lost forever in the all-consuming dark. It is the greatest of sins to hear a child in distress, yet do nothing. That is the whole point of the story.”
Buck raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know about anyone else, but now I really want to hear the wyrm version of Little Red Riding Hood.”
“Another time,” Zephyr said. “In any case, if Rufus has seen something that makes him think the camp ghost is real, I could understand him keeping it to himself. Perhaps he’sworried we wouldn’t believe him. He doesn’t know about Shan’s ability, after all.”
“Unless he figured it out for himself.” Conleth cocked his head at Leonie. “Do you think he did?”
Leonie pursed her lips. “No. When Shan seemed to accept the kids’ story, Rufus did look worried. I’m pretty sure he knew he hadn’t actually been fooled, and was scared his friends would get into trouble over it. And it’s true that he was a bit on edge when I was talking to him afterward. But he’s too smart to make such an obvious mistake. If he’d known Shan could detect lies, he would have found a way to avoid telling one.”
He'd already come to the same conclusion himself. “It would have been simple enough. He only had to continue speaking to you telepathically to ensure I could not overhear.”
Zephyr rubbed his chin. “So we can safely assume Rufus doesn’t know that we know he’s hiding something. The question is, how do we find out what it is?”
Buck shrugged. “Ask him.”
“That does seem the fastest way to get to the bottom of this,” Honey said.
“Normally, I’d agree,” Leonie said, her brows pinched in worry. “It’s just…Shan, how did Rufus’s answer taste to you? I mean, were you able to get any sense ofwhyhe lied?”
He shut his eyes, concentrating on the memory. The smokiness of the lie was there, yes…but underneath it lay something else, too.
“Fear,” he said, sorting through the complex layers of flavor. “But not for himself. He is protecting someone, I think. Someone very close to his heart.”
Leonie nodded, as though he’d confirmed her suspicions. “In that case, he won’t tell us. No matter how much we beg, or what we threaten.”
“How on earth could he be protecting someone bynottelling us about a potential threat to the camp?” Paige asked.
“I don’t know.” Leonie looked round at the other senior staff. “But Rufus doesn’t betray people he loves. Not ever. If we ask him about this directly, he’ll just shut down.”
“Rufus wouldn’t stay silent if anyone was actually in danger, though,” Moira said. “Whatever he encountered, it can’t be a threat.”
“No, it just means he doesn’tthinkit’s a threat,” Conleth corrected. “And while I generally trust Rufus’s judgment, I’d prefer not to stake the safety of the camp on the opinion of an eleven-year-old boy.”
“Don’t you think you’re being a touch overdramatic?” Buck said. “So maybe Rufus saw something in the woods that gave him the heebie-jeebies, and he doesn’t want to talk about it. It’s one hell of a leap of logic to decide that means the whole motherloving camp’s about to get swarmed by demons. And I’m saying that as someone who once punched one in the face.”
“You don’t actually think there’s something supernatural going on, do you?” Honey asked Conleth.
The pegasus shifter spread his hands. “Just making sure we consider all potential risk factors before deciding on a plan. But I’m not the expert on demonic ghosts. Zephyr?”
“The Thunderbird would sense if its ancient foe had returned, and I do not feel it calling me to fight,” Zephyr replied. He hesitated, mouth tightening. “But my dreams have been troubled, of late.”
“Not surprising,” Buck said dryly. “Seeing as you’re getting woken up by a screaming baby every few hours.”
“It’s possible sleep deprivation is making me paranoid, true.” Zephyr blew out his breath. “But I’ve learned to trust my intuition. And something tells me it would be unwise to dismiss this matter entirely.”
“There have been other odd reports recently,” Paige said. “Hikers feeling like they were being watched, and people seeing strange lights in the woods. Some peculiar petty thefts, too. That’s why my stepdad called Shifter Affairs for advice last month, just in case it could be something paranormal. You looked into that, right, Shan?”
“Not thoroughly enough, apparently.” He’d been too eager to escape Thunder Mountain to conduct more than a cursory interview with the local sheriff. At the time, a few wild tales from mundane humans hadn’t seemed worthy of further investigation.
