“Well, don’t.” She sniffed, folding her arms. “We’re notallrelying on fate to give our lives meaning, you know. Not that I wouldn’t like to find my mate one day, but I’m not going to be devastated if it doesn’t happen.”
“Truth.” Shan sounded relieved, possibly that he wasn’t now neck-deep in dirt. “Though many shifters would not feel the same way. I am glad you are not one of them. And I apologize.”
Her ruffled hackles settled. “Apology accepted. No, I don’t mean a mate. You can’t really miss someone you’ve never met. I was thinking of my sister, actually.”
Somewhat cautiously, Shan lowered his hands. “Your sister?”
“That’s right. Lola.” Just saying the name made the empty place in her chest hurt. “We’re twins. We were always very close, growing up. We shared everything with each other. But I don’t get to see her as much as I’d like these days.”
Shan ran his tongue along his upper lip. “Why not?”
“It’s just harder to spend time together now that we’re adults. My life is here, while she’s based in Alaska. She’s a smokejumper. It’s selfish of me, but I can’t help wishing she’d found a place on a crew closer to the camp.” She shrugged, smiling. “But there’s no point in yearning for what you can’t have, right?”
“True.” Shan looked away, staring into the fire. “Though it does not prevent us from doing so.”
She wondered whatheyearned for. It was clear there was something. It was written in every line of his body; the shadowed planes of his face.
She was dying to ask, but she held her tongue. He was here to solve a mystery, not to have a nosy co-counselor prying into his own secrets. Time to move the conversation to less personal matters.
“We should take the opportunity to discuss your real business here, while there’s no one else around to hear,” she said. “You told Zephyr that your first day was informative. What did you learn?”
She’d expected Shan to be relieved at the change of topic, but instead his shoulders tensed. “Perhaps nothing useful. Though I am now certain that Rufus is concealing whatever he knows from the other children.”
“Even Finley? Those two have been inseparable ever since they were born. I don’t get it, Shan. None of this makes any sense.”
“And that worries you,” Shan said quietly.
“Yes, it does. The ghost story, Rufus… even the way they behaved today, with you All the kids are acting out of character. I know they must be doing it for a reason, but I can’t figure it out.”
For a moment, Shan said nothing. A muscle in his face twitched a few times, as if he were engaged in some silent debate. If he’d been any other shifter, she would have assumed he was consulting his inner animal, but that didn’t seem likely. Maybe he was just deep in thought.
“Rufus and the others…” he said at last. “Were they at camp the first time I visited?”
“You mean a couple of weeks ago? I’m pretty sure they were around, yes. Why?”
Shan let out his breath. “I believe the children saw me talking to you and the other staff.”
“What?” She groaned, getting it. “Oh,crap. They know you’re from Shifter Affairs.”
“I think so. Though I am not sure how.”
“Archie’s dad is the local sheriff. He’s the one who asked Shifter Affairs to send someone to look into those weird reports in the first place. I guess Archie overheard enough to put two and two together.” She frowned. “But... Shan, that just makes all this weirder. If the kids recognized you, why stick to the silly ghost story? Even without knowing about your ability, they must have realized a Shifter Affairs agent would quickly discover they’re lying. They should have panicked and confessed the moment they saw you.”
“Unless,” Shan said, “they wanted a Shifter Affairs agent to investigate.”
“What? Why would they?—”
The answer hit her like a brick.
“Oh, no,” she breathed. It would never have occurred to her if they hadn’t just been discussing the topic. “Shan, the kids think we’re mates!”
“Yes.” Shan’s tone was as expressionless as his face. “I believe so.”
How on earth had the kids jumped tothatconclusion? They could only have seen her exchange a few words with the man. And she’d hardly been pining over him. Until Zephyr had told her Shan was coming back to camp, she hadn’t given him a second thought.
Still, it explained a lot. Even their strange obsession with trying to remove Shan’s sunglasses made sense now.
“Well, it’s easy enough to set them straight,” she said briskly. “We’ll just tell them that we’re not.”
