These people were planning to stay for a good long while.
Arden couldn’t really understand how a group of people like this had managed to come into possession of the town—unless they were squatters, but they didn’t act like it. She had assumed that the new owners were rich people or some kind of development company. Maybe these people were working for the developers?
“I think we should save this talk for tomorrow,” Fern said, evidently the self-appointed peacemaker of the group. “When we finish eating, does anyone want to go check out the creek?”
“Sounds like a good way to fall down a hole in the dark,” Declan said.
“Not if we shift. I haven’t stretched my legs in the woods in a while.”
Shift? Arden jerked upright in a mix of fascination and horror.
Were all these people shifters?
No wonder they had come to this town in the middle of nowhere. No wonder they seemed to have senses that most people did not, recognizing her presence in the cabin.
Suddenly Arden was very glad she hadn’t tried to come out and introduce herself. She retreated deeper into the shadows. What if they sensed her here? Would they be angry?
They can’t possibly know who you really are,she thought, writhing inwardly with shame and humiliation.
The one thing she didn’t feel, to her own surprise, was fear.
Shifters were dangerous, animalistic, feral. At least they were supposed to be. But these people just seemed normal. Approachable. Even Declan’s occasional prickly nature was more like normal peevishness than bestial fury.
Rather than being terrified, Arden found herself wondering what they shifted into.
She was positive, without being really sure why, that Bazmustbe some kind of large animal. A vision of a large, dark blond grizzly came into her head immediately, an image thatstartled her with its vivid clarity. It was as if she had already seen it, though she knew she hadn’t.
The others she wasn’t so sure about. She got the feeling that Brown Braids was related to Baz somehow; the two of them behaved like brother and sister. In fact, all of them had the relaxed attitude of people who knew each other intimately.
“Count me out of any shifting that’s going to be happening,” Declan said in a voice that was close to a growl. He ripped a little piece of bark off his marshmallow-toasting stick and tossed it into the flames. “I’m about ready for bed anyway.”
Fern patted his arm. “You can shift here, Deck. It’s just us. No one’s going to know.”
Uh-oh, Arden thought. They didn’t know they had an onlooker. And she had no desire to know too many secrets about these strangers. That would be yet another reason for them to be angry with her if they found her, perhaps violently so.
She couldn’t believe Baz would resort to any kind of violence. But Declan ... she could definitely see him acting to protect whatever his secret was.
“So who’s up for a little exploration?” Fern asked. She stretched her feet out and wiggled her bare toes in front of the fire.
“Hey, guys,” Brown Braids said quietly. She touched Baz’s arm.
Everyone fell silent. Startled, Arden looked where they were looking, but she couldn’t see. Everyone was looking down the street, in the direction of the woods.
What was there? A wild animal?
The hair on Arden’s arms stood up. She crept forward until she could see a human figure standing at the edge of the firelight.
Everyone was acting so strange that for a brief, horrible moment, Arden wondered if it might be a ghost. When the figuremoved suddenly, stepping forward, she nearly gave herself away with a scream. She had to cover her mouth.
Once she could see the person more clearly, shestillwasn’t entirely sure if it might not be a ghost.
This person looked as if he had stepped out of a history book, maybe time-traveled from the era of the ghost town itself. He wore clothes made of leather and furs, and he was bare to the waist, with breeches of tanned hide and fur-topped boots. His hair was loose and dark, long enough to reach his shoulders, with a silver streak at the temple even though he didn’t look old enough to be naturally turning gray.
When he spoke, Arden jumped. He spoke perfectly clearly, with perhaps a slight accent that she couldn’t place at all. His voice was rough and gravelly, as if he didn’t talk much.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
The small group looked at each other. For a moment, no one said anything. Then Baz stood up. The others followed suit, Fern at the very last, and she moved behind Declan somewhat.
