“Yes, I know, it’s shocking,” I told it. “He’s been body-snatched. Only explanation.”
Brumous, apparently deciding that no plan of mine was worth following at this point, bounded into the lake to join them and sent back an invitation:Water good! Come, Alpha Fun! Come, Alpha Boom!
“Well,” Koa heaved himself to his feet, still chuckling, “if you can’t beat ’em.”
He took a running start and launched himself into the lake with a whoop, curling into a cannonball that sent another wave of water crashing over the dock. I looked down at the duck, which was making increasingly agitated attempts to escape.
“I suppose this means our relationship is over before it begins. It’s not you, it’s me. I’mhorrible. Actually, no, it’s definitely you. Ilovehow horrible I am.”
After I set it free, it gave me one last withering look and waddled to the edge of the dock. With a final quack that definitely meant, “Screw you,” it slipped into the water and paddled away with affronted dignity.
“Mission FUBAR,” I announced to no one.
From the lake, Seri’s laughter rang out as she splashed water at Cas, who was retaliating with calculated strikes that somehow managed to drench her without getting water up her nose. Ko had submerged himself, likely planning a stealth attack from below, and Brummy paddled happy circles around them all, his joy radiating like sunlight.
I looked down at my mud-covered clothes and shrugged.
“If you can’t beat ’em.”
With a battle cry that would have made a berserker proud, I cannonballed into the lake, the last vestiges ofOperation: Duck and Coverdissolving in the splash.
MISSION LOG: DEBRIEF
TIME: Several beers later
LOCATION: Under the willows, safe from aerial bombardment and the fang-rotted sun
STATUS: Slightly embarrassed, mostly content, and unexpectedly sentimental
Cas and Koa reclined with Seri between them, cross-legged on the picnic blanket. I sprawled on the grass, one arm thrown over my eyes to block the occasional sunbeam that pierced the leafy canopy. Brumous, freshly brushed and looking pleased with himself, curled at Seri’s feet, occasionally sending me smugly satisfied images of the day’s adventures. Cold bottles sweated in our hands, iced tea for Seri, who’d wrinkled her nose at the beer.
“So, Zane,” Cas said, his tone casual in a way that instantly put me on alert, “what prompted today’s chaos?”
All eyes turned to me. I took a long sip of beer, buying time to formulate a response that wouldn’t sound completely idiotic. The cold liquid slid down my throat, failing to wash away the sudden self-consciousness I felt.
These quiet and unguarded moments when we weren’t fighting for our lives or navigating supernatural politics were still new for all of us. Three months of living with Seri had softened edges I hadn’t realized needed softening, created spaces for conversations that weren’t about strategy or survival.
“Mission was a failure.” I set down my bottle with a defeated sigh. “The enemy was stronger than anticipated. Intelligence was faulty. Extraction protocols inadequate.”
“Translation: He had a dumb idea, executed it poorly, and everything went to shit,” Koa snorted into his beer.
“Thank you, Agent Boom,” I retorted, flicking a bottle cap in his direction. “Your tactical analysis is, as always, invaluable.”
“Zane,” Seri murmured, “in normal human words?”
I looked at her, reallylookedat her. Her face was fuller now, the hollows filled in, her gray eyes clearer and brighter. She still had moments of fear, still flinched sometimes when we moved too quickly, still had scars, but there was joy in her now. Joy and laughter and life. And all I’d wanted was to give her more of that. More reasons to smile.
“Brum-Brum showed me your hens. The ones the rogues ate before you came here. He sent me this image of you petting one, looking all happy, and I thought ducks are chicken adjacent, right?”
“So Koko was right? You wanted to catch a duck for me to pet?” The smile spreading across her face made my heart squeeze.
“Seemed reasonable at the time,” I mumbled, running a hand through my still-damp hair. “Less reasonable when they formed an attack squadron, but hindsight’s twenty-twenty.”
“I don’t need to pet ducks. Just being here with all of you is enough to make me happy.”
I sometimes forgot how new this was for her, too. Having people who cared, who wanted to make her smile, who would make fools of themselves just to give her a moment of joy.
“So I reallyamtoo silly of a goose,” I muttered.
