“Your imagination is getting out of hand, buddy,” I muttered.
Back at the dock, I heard Seri’s happy squeal as she caught another fish. The sound made my heart do a weird flip-flop in my chest, like it always did. Cas was probably still standing there like a statue, pretending he wasn’t melting inside, and Ko was likely giving her thatsoft smile he saved just for her. And here I was, belly-deep in lake muck, plotting to kidnap a duck just to make her happy.
Worth it.
My fellow agent and I closed in on our unsuspecting prey, my slides long gone in the mud and my shirt and shorts probably a lost cause. Brummy was having the time of his life.
“How’s the water temperature?” Ko called and, for a heart-stopping moment, I thought he was talking to us. Then I heard Seri reply.
“Perfect! Not too cold at all. I might want to go swimming.”
Swimming? That meant Seri in a swimsuit! Maybe this mission could wait…
No. Focus. We’re committed now. No turning back.
“Remember,” I instructed Brummy, “we just needoneduck. Don’t get greedy.”
He sent me a solemn image of himself holding a limp duck by the neck in his mouth, like a retriever with a freshly shot pheasant.
“That’s not exactly what I had in mind,” I said, slightly concerned. “MaybeI’llhandle the actual acquisition.”
From our new vantage point, I could see the dock clearly. Seri was sitting with her legs dangling in the water. Cas stood guard beside her, arms crossed over his chest, while Ko had returned to his book, although he kept glancing at her with heart eyes.
None of them were looking our way. Perfect.
Then the alpha drake, forever hereafter known as Commander Quack, whipped his head toward us.
“Bat’s bones,” I breathed. “We’ve been compromised, Fuzznuts.”
The duck let out a low, suspicious quack. Several of his compatriots turned to look our way.
“Stay down.” I tried to become one with the mud. “They can sense movement.”
The Brummeister showed me a picture of fire, maybe asking whether ducks had heat vision.
“No, but they’re crafty. Like tiny, feathered KGB agents.”
The ducks had drifted closer, almost as if they were daring us to make a move. Commander Quack continued to stare at us.
“The enemy grows wary, Fuzznuts. Recommend immediate action before they sound the alarm.”
The ducks paddled closer to the shore, putting us within optimal striking distance. It was now or never.
“On my mark.” I shifted into a crouch. “Three, two…”
I paused because Commander Quack had turned to stare directly at Cas, as if he knew something we didn’t. He quacked once, ominously.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Sure enough, Cas, sensing avian hostility, noticed. Duck and dhampir locked eyes across the water. Neither blinked.
“Cruor, Brums! Cas just made an enemy for life!”
Brummy showed me a picture of the big duck sprouting fangs.
“Exactly, buddy. He’s going for world domination.”
Cas narrowed his eyes at the duck. His posture shifted almost imperceptibly, the subtle change that happened when he felt the presence of a threat. Over the years, my brother had stared down demons, rogue vampires, and once an entire coven of Dark witches, but I’d never seen him engage in a staring contest with waterfowl before.
