“My lips are sealed.” Lola cocked her head, the movement sharp and birdlike. “Though why is it hopeless? From what I hear, he seems to be into you.”
“It’s… complicated.” If she told her sister about the whole fake mate thing, she’d never hear the end of it. “He doesn’t really feel that way about me. Trust me on that one.”
“If you say so,” Lola said, though she didn’t sound convinced. “Whydoyou have a secret agent pretending to be a counselor, anyway? Connor tried to give me some garbled story about ghosts, but that’s got to be bullshit. You can’t seriously think the camp is haunted.”
“Of course I don’t.” She was certain ofthatpoint, at least. “It’s true that we’ve got some rather odd reports from the kids. But I’m sure it will turn out to be something completely nor-”
A flicker of light caught her eye.
“Catbutt? Hey, can you hear me? You’ve frozen.”
She raised her phone, still staring out the window. “Birdbrain, I’m going to have to call you back.”
She ended the call, cutting off her sister’s half-formed protest. Then she just stared, trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
An indistinct, diaphanous shape floated at the edge of thewoods, framed between two trees. If it was aware of her presence, it didn’t seem alarmed. In fact, it bobbed a little higher, glow brightening as if to make sure she’d noticed it.
Then it disappeared.
“Okay,” Leonie said out loud, after a long, frozen moment. “There is a logical explanation for this.”
Someone knocked on her door. “Leonie?” Shan called from outside, his voice oddly sharp. “Is all well?”
“Good question.” Blinking to clear her vision, she opened the door. “I might be losing my mind. Did you see that?”
From the baffled look Shan gave her, he hadn’t. “See what?”
“I’m pretty sure I just saw our ghost.” She ducked under his arm. “Come on. Let’s check it out. ”
Shan followed her as she headed for the woods. “Which ghost, though?”
“I’m betting it was the fake one.” She glanced back at him, something else occurring to her. “Why did you come to my cabin, anyway? I thought you were working on the search plan.”
Shan hesitated. “I?—”
He stopped dead, staring past her. Pale, shimmering light reflected from his sunglasses.
Leonie whirled, but Shan was faster. A wall of striped orange fur surged past her, charging for the woods.
Too startled to call up her own animal, she pounded after him. Through the trees, she caught a glimpse of a glowing, fluttering shape, hovering between two trunks. As Shan tore through the undergrowth, it dropped like a puppet with cut strings, vanishing in a flash of light. At the same time, something small and white burst out of a bush like a startled deer, dashing away at top speed.
And she abruptly knew exactly how the kids were faking the ghost sightings.
“SHAN, NO!” she yelled.
The tiger was already leaping at the fleeing shape. At her shout, he twisted in mid-air, spreading his wings to turn his pounce into a spinning tumble. He crashed into a tree, leaves showering over his fur.
She rushed to his side, ghost temporarily forgotten. “Are you okay?”
The tiger pushed itself up, shaking its head groggily. It turned toward her—and Shan was back, sunglasses askew.
“I am fine.” He straightened his glasses, adjusting the strap. “Did you see where it went?”
“Not it. They.” She raised her voice. “Flash! Leaf! Come here, please.”
There was a long pause. Just as she was beginning to think they must have teleported away, two small, glimmering figures pushed through the undergrowth.
Next to her, Shan inhaled sharply. She put a hand on his chest, silently willing him to stay silent.
