Saliva flooded his mouth.
He breathed out, fighting down the sickening wash of hunger. Perhaps he could avoid her entirely. And if he couldn’t…well, he had his sunglasses. As long as she never saw his eyes, things would be all right. Not for him—never for him—but for her, at least.
Demonic eyes gleamed at the back of his mind.Lie.
Shan clenched his teeth, refusing to listen. Itwouldbe all right. Surely it couldn’t take that long to uncover the truth behind this so-called ghost. He’d only be at the camp for a few hours.
And his mate would never know.
CHAPTER 2
Leonie took a deep, deliberate breath, reminding herself that as the head counselor, she had to set a good example for the rest of the staff. Therefore, she could not beat the camp director over the head with her clipboard.
Much as she might like to.
“Zephyr,” she said in her best calm, professional, definitely-not-restraining-a-scream voice. “The ghost is just a silly campfire story. It doesn’t exist.”
Zephyr spread his hands, taking care not to disturb his infant daughter, fast asleep in the baby sling strapped to his chest. “I’m not saying it was actually a ghost. But the kids insist they saw something.”
“Well, whatever it was, it certainly wasn’t the Soul-Sucking Ghost of Thunder Mountain!”
Leonie knew that for a fact. Every camp needed a scary local legend, after all. Back in the camp’s very first season, she’d invented a suitably terrifying tale about a demonic entity that haunted Thunder Mountain, hungry to devour the inner animal of any shifter unlucky enough to cross its path. By now, the story had taken on a life of its own,gleefully passed down by the older kids to each wide-eyed batch of new campers.
Leonie was beginning to think she might have been a little too inventive.
“The camp site can seem eerie at dusk, especially when none of the other campers are here yet,” she continued. “The kids just let their imaginations run away with them.”
“If they were any other children, I’d agree with you,” Zephyr replied. “But we’re talking about Finley and Beth. They’re hardly prone to wild flights of fancy.”
“And Beth hates appearing childish,” Conleth put in from his desk on the other side of the office. As usual, he was on his laptop, tapping away at one of his endless spreadsheets. “She wouldn’t come to us with a seemingly ridiculous story like this without very good reason.”
“Then some of the other local kids are playing a joke on them. Archie, or Estelle. Or both, most likely.”
Zephyr shook his head. “That was my first thought, too. But I’ve already spoken with them, and they swear they didn’t prank Beth and Finley. I don’t deny it’s the sort of thing they’d find hilarious, but I’m certain they’d come clean once they realized the joke had gone too far. They wouldn’t want to genuinely frighten their friends.”
That was true, she had to admit. “None of the kids have said anything to me about seeing something lurking near the camp. Not even Rufus.”
“Perhaps they were concerned you wouldn’t take them seriously.” Zephyr’s daughter made a small, sleepy noise. He patted her back, settling her. “In any event, Shifter Affairs did request that we report anything unusual in the area, in light of the sporadic strange sightings recorded by the local sheriff. I thought there was no harm in passing the details on to them, just in case.”
“I can’t believe Shifter Affairs took this seriously,” Leoniemuttered. “They’re supposed to handle actual threats to shifter safety. They should have laughed in your face.”
“To be honest, I’m somewhat surprised too,” Zephyr said. “I wasn’t expecting them to immediately send an agent to investigate.”
“I suspect you can thank Lord Golden for that,” Conleth said, eyes on his screen. “He’s been blowing up my inbox for days, demanding to know what we’re doing to ensure camp security. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s been putting pressure on Shifter Affairs as well.”
“Lord Golden?” Leonie wrinkled her nose at the mention of the camp’s most significant—and least loved—financial backer. “How on earth did he hear about this nonsense?”
“There’s this marvelous new technology,” Conleth said dryly, still typing. “I believe it’s called ‘a phone.’ So simple, even a child can use one.”
“Thank you, I do know the local kids keep in touch with their friends from camp throughout the rest of the year,” Leonie retorted. “Of course they’d tell Ignatius about this so-called ghost, if they really believe they saw something. I’m just surprised he’d mention it to his uncle. Or that Golden would act on it. The man’s a massive drama queen, but calling Shifter Affairs over some second-hand childish gossip sounds extreme even for him.”
Zephyr shrugged as best he could without waking the baby. “Lord Golden is hugely protective of Ignatius. I doubt he believes there’s an actual ghost, but I can understand him being concerned about the kids seeing someone lurking near the camp.”
“For once, I’m in agreement with Lord Golden,” Conleth said. “Which are not words I ever thought I’d say. Any potential threat to the camp warrants investigation.”
“Yes, but not by a secret agent!” Was she the only personin the room who possessed a thimbleful of common sense? “I wish you’d consulted me about this earlier, Zephyr.”
“I didn’t want to bother you if it turned out to be nothing.” Zephyr frowned a little. “And I have to admit, I didn’t think you’d have any objections.”
