43. Epilogue

NINE MONTHS LATER

“ C ome on, Archie!” Paige called. “I’ve got a staff meeting at ten. We need to get going.”

“Coming!” Her brother bounded down the stairs, shirtless, backpack clutched in his arms. “Mom, have you seen my camp t-shirt?”

“It just came out of the dryer.” Their mom handed him the garment. “Did you pack your meds?”

“Mooooooom!” Archie crammed the t-shirt into his bulging backpack. “Of course I did. You don’t have to keep reminding me.”

“Sorry. Force of habit.” Mom kissed the top of his head. “Have fun today. I’ll pick you up at seven.”

“Awwwwwwww.” Archie pulled a face. “Can’t I stay overnight?”

“You can’t, yet,” Paige said. “All the cabins have to be cleaned and checked before anyone can sleep over.”

“Then I’m gonna work twice as hard!” Giving their mom a brief, distracted hug, Archie dashed out the door. “Bye, Mom. Come on , Paige! Hurry up already!”

Her mom sighed. “I hope he’s not going to be too much underfoot. You sure it’s all right for him to help get the camp ready for the new season?”

“It’ll be fine. The wildfire crew kids will be there, and there are plenty of jobs to keep them out of mischief.” Paige kissed her mom’s cheek. “I’m going to be busy all morning, but do you want to drop by the camp later? I’d love to show you the new nature hut.”

“Another time.” A faint flush colored her mom’s cheeks. “Patrick’s shift finishes early today, so he’s coming home for lunch.”

Paige smirked. “And to take advantage of a child-free afternoon?”

“Oh hush, you.” Her mom shooed her out the door. “I’ll walk with you part of the way. Let’s get going before your brother explodes.”

Archie was already in bear form, his backpack around his neck. He huffed impatiently, herding them both across the backyard.

After a couple of embarrassing incidents, Patrick had put up a couple of screened, three-sided enclosures at the back of the yard, a bit like open-air shower cubicles. Paige ducked into one, grateful for the privacy as she wriggled out of her clothes. As used to shifting as she was by now, she drew the line at getting naked in front of her little brother.

Wish Conleth could teach me the trick of taking my clothes with me when I shift.

Unfortunately, since she wasn’t a mythic shifter, she was stuck with more mundane methods of avoiding public indecency. She put her clothes in her own bag, adjusting the strap so it would be long enough to loop around her neck. Dropped to all fours, she let her bear take over.

The fresh breeze changed to a glorious symphony of intriguing smells. She shook out her fur, relishing the smooth power of this body, then ambled out from the changing cubicle.

Mom and Archie were waiting at the edge of the forest. Her mother rumbled in greeting, dropping her huge, shaggy head to exchange affectionate sniffs. Archie danced from paw-to-paw, dashing in to nip impatiently at their hind legs.

*All right, all right,* Paige said in amusement. The combination of telepathy and body language seemed second nature now. *Keep your fur on. We’re coming.*

Together, they set off into the forest, heading up-slope. Paige stayed shoulder-to-shoulder with her mom, moving at an easy, rolling gait. Archie charged this way and that with a cub’s gleeful abandon, scaring squirrels and poking his nose under every fallen log.

After a while, Paige picked up the indefinable change of scent that meant they’d reached the border of the camp. With a parting huff, Mom turned back, leaving the two of them to continue alone.

The closer they got to the center of camp, the more scent-trails they encountered; some animal, others not. Picking up a waft of one particular fragrance, Paige hastened her steps, ears pricking in anticipation.

Sure enough, Conleth was waiting for them at the entrance to the camp. Smiling, he stretched his arms around her neck, leaning against her. Paige rested her muzzle on his shoulder, closing her eyes in contentment as her lungs filled with his familiar scent.

Mine.

Buried in her fur, Conleth cleared his throat. “Happy as I am to see you, you’re also somewhat crushing me.”

Paige grumbled, but released her mate. Ducking around the nearest building, she shifted back to human form, quickly scrambling into her clothes. By the time she got back, Archie was putting on his shoes, while Conleth was brushing fur off his suit jacket.

Taking in his attire, she raised her eyebrows. “Why so formal?”

“I’m meeting some of the investors later. I thought it best to maintain the image they’ve come to expect. Don’t want them thinking we’re going bankrupt because I’m suddenly wearing jeans to work.” He caught her wrist. “Now, where were we?”

“We’ve been apart for less than an hour,” she pointed out as he pulled her into his arms.

“Mmm.” He kissed her, slow and deep. “Far too long.”

At the back of her mind, her bear rumbled assent. Paige found she didn’t disagree.

Behind them, Archie made gagging sounds. “Conleth! Paaaaaige! Gross!”

Paige pulled away to stick her tongue out at her little brother. “Don’t watch, then.”

“Beth and the others arrived a little while ago,” Conleth said to Archie. Hie eyes unfocused for a moment. “They’re in the dining hall, if you want to join them.”

Archie didn’t need telling twice. He dashed away eagerly, untied shoelaces flapping.

“I should get to work,” Paige said, reluctantly disentangling herself from her mate. “Did those posters I ordered for the nature hut arrive yet?”

“Yes, but stop by the office first.” He took her hand. “Zephyr has something for you.”

With nearly a full month until the camp opened, not many staff members were on site yet. Paige had expected to find Zephyr alone—but he wasn’t.

“Ragvald! Moira!” Paige hurried up the porch stairs to exchange hugs with the sea dragon. “I didn’t know you were coming this?—”

“Hush, shield-sister!” Ragvald interrupted in an ear-splitting whisper. He turned a reverent gaze back to the bundle strapped to Zephyr’s chest. “Still your tongue. The baby is sleeping. ”

“And she’ll sleep through a hurricane.” Zephyr adjusted the baby sling, propping his daughter more comfortably against his shoulder. “At least until she gets hungry.”

“And then we’ll all know it.” Conleth came up behind Paige, sliding an arm around her waist. “If you can persuade her to stick to a more regular schedule, Zephyr, we won’t need the camp bell this year.”

Moira studied the sleeping baby. “She looks a lot like her mother. Do you think she’ll take after her in other ways as well?”

“Too early to tell,” Zephyr replied. “Blaise hopes not, given her history. And I don’t know whether I can even pass down my own animal like other types of shifter. We’ll have to wait and see.”

“There is one thing she most certainly is, besides perfect!” Ragvald boomed, evidently forgetting his early demands for silence. He beamed down at the baby as if he’d gestated her himself. “Our youngest camper!”

Paige felt Conleth’s hand slide a little further across her lower belly. Smug anticipation sparkled down the mate bond.

*Don’t you dare,* she sent to him telepathically. *We agreed to tell my mom first.*

He pulled her back against him, fingers spreading over her still-flat abdomen. *We could have done that this morning, if you’d let me come with you.*

*It’s still too early. I don’t want to tempt fate. Besides, Archie was there.*

A slight tinge of worry entered his mental voice. *You think he might take it badly?*

*No.* She turned her head to kiss the silvery scar of his mate mark. *But I know he’s just going to be so excited about being an uncle, he’ll blurt it out to the entire world. Let’s keep it our secret for a little while longer.*

Zephyr politely cleared his throat.

Paige flushed, realizing that everyone else had been patiently waiting for her to finish her private conversation. “Sorry. I got distracted. Conleth said you had something for me?”

“Yes, though it’s really from Blaise.” Zephyr shifted his slumbering daughter, pulling out a feather that had been tucked under a strap of the baby sling. He handed it to her, smiling. “For your nature table.”

Paige ran her finger along the edge of the feather. It was over a foot long; soot-black at the base, shifting through dark blues and purples to a glowing, fiery orange at the tip. Warmth radiated from it, like heat from a banked campfire.

She shook her head in amazement. “Between this and the other donations, I’m going to have quite a display.”

“Leave a space for one of mine,” Conleth said. “I’ve got a primary almost ready to molt. It might not be quite as impressive, but you should still have a pegasus feather too.”

“I also have a gift for your new hoard, shield-sister!” Ragvald announced. He reached behind his back. “As both a small token of my unending respect, and for the benefit of the children. I am sure they will find it most educational.”

Paige had expected him to pull out a scale, or possibly a piece of shed skin (though she had no idea if wyrms were like snakes in that regard). Instead, Ragvald produced a sealed glass jar. It was the approximate size of a human torso, and filled with dark, murky liquid.

And also, apparently, tentacles.

“Uh,” Paige said cautiously. “What is it?”

“In wyrmish, it is a—” Ragvald made a noise like a cat horking up a hairball. “I think in your tongue, you call them cockroaches, yes?”

“No,” Conleth said. “No, we do not. Thankfully.”

Ragvald’s brow furrowed. “But I had assumed they were the same thing. Are not your cockroaches a common pest that infests dark spaces? Difficult to kill?”

“They are,” Paige said. “But our cockroaches are a lot smaller. With fewer…suckers.”

“How very odd.” Ragvald shook the jar, making the tentacles swirl. A taloned wing briefly drifted into view, along with a round, staring eye. “You are sure you do not have this creature here?”

Moira started back. “Did it just blink?”

Ragvald frowned at his specimen. “They are very difficult to kill.”

“Thank you, Ragvald,” Paige said as the lid of the jar rattled. She took a prudent step back. “Maybe you could keep hold of it for now? Until I, um, have a suitable place to display it.”

“Zephyr,” Conleth said suddenly. Along among all of them, his attention wasn’t fixed on Ragvald’s mysterious jar, but rather on the sky. “Look.”

Zephyr looked up too, and stiffened, one hand going protectively to his daughter. Paige tried to see what had caught their attention, but her eyesight was no match for either of theirs. All she could make out was a distant speck; a bird of prey, perhaps.

Then she realized it was much too large to be a mere bird.

“Is that who I think it is?” Zephyr murmured to Conleth.

Conleth nodded, still focussed on that remote form. “Did you call them?”

“No.” Zephyr turned to Ragvald and Moira. “It may be a coincidence, but please get that jar out of sight. And make sure it’s secure. I’d rather not show our visitor that we have an unknown crawling horror on site.”

“Who is it?” Paige asked as Moira hurried Ragvald away. She shaded her eyes, trying to make out any details of the rapidly approaching shape. “One of the camp investors?”

“No,” Conleth replied. She could feel from the mate bond that he wasn’t alarmed , precisely, but there was a tense readiness to his stance. “An old acquaintance. Let’s hope he’s not here on official business.”

Their visitor swooped down, back winging to land in the central square. From the huge wings and feline tail, at first Paige thought it must be a griffin—but its orange flanks were striped, and it didn’t have a beak.

A tiger, she realized. A winged tiger .

She’d had no idea that kind of shifter even existed. As she watched in awe, the tiger folded its wings. Its huge shape shimmered, stretching up into the shape of a man.

If anything, he was even more intimidating in this form. Power draped his bulky frame like a shadow. His short, sleek hair was as black as his stripes in animal form. There was something of the tiger in his blunt, impassive features, too.

Oddly, he was wearing a suit, though it wasn’t as well-cut as Conleth’s. Paige suspected there was more than muscle hidden under that boxy black jacket. Despite the warmth of the day, black leather gloves covered his powerful hands. When he turned his head to survey the area, Paige saw the wire of an earpiece running down one side of his neck.

“Are we being visited by the Men in Black?” she murmured to Conleth.

“Not exactly,” he muttered back. “Though you’re closer than you might think. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

Zephyr had already gone to greet their visitor. A little warily, Paige followed Conleth over as well.

“Special Agent Shan,” Zephyr said, holding out a hand. “It’s been a while.”

Agent Shan made no move to accept the handshake. It was hard to tell what he was thinking, or even where he was looking. Mirrored sunglasses covered his eyes, showing Paige nothing but her own reflection.

After a moment, Zephyr turned the spurned handshake into a gesture of introduction, motioning at Paige. “You already know Conleth, of course. And this is?—”

“Paige Brown.” Shan’s voice was a deep bass rumble. “I have read her file.”

Paige blinked. “I have a file?”

The special agent’s head turned very slightly in her direction. “We keep track of notable individuals.”

Paige felt her bear stir, ready to face down a threat. Conleth must have sensed her animal’s agitation too, because he sent a pulse of reassurance down the mate bond.

“Agent Shan works for the Federal Bureau of Shifter Affairs,” he said to her. “They’re a secret government organization responsible for maintaining the secrecy of shifterkind, and addressing significant threats to our safety.”

“I didn’t realize you were still a field agent,” Zephyr said to the agent. “Last I heard, you’d been promoted.”

“Circumstances change,” Shan said, somewhat shortly. “I have been reassigned to this region, given my previous experience with threats here.”

Zephyr’s eyebrows rose. “If this is about old history, I can assure you that particular threat is in no danger of reappearing. My mate disposed of it quite thoroughly.”

“That is not the purpose of this visit,” Shan replied. “The local sheriff has requested Shifter Affairs review some unsolved cases in this area. It seems that since learning of our existence, he is convinced a number of incidents may be due to shifter activity.”

“And Shifter Affairs sent you to investigate?” Conleth said. “Seems rather like hunting rats with a full artillery battery.”

Shan’s impassive expression didn’t flicker, yet Paige had the distinct impression the special agent was in whole-hearted agreement. “Given the sensitive nature of this camp, Shifter Affairs treats any reports of incidents in the vicinity with utmost gravity.”

Paige rifled through her memories of recent conversations over her mom’s dinner table. “I know the sheriff has been investigating some odd reports. People getting spooked by weird lights in the woods, or someone breaking into houses but only stealing a few pieces of clothing. That kind of thing. But I thought they sounded more like pranks than anything serious.”

Shan’s head dipped in a fractional nod. “That is my hypothesis as well. Could campers be responsible?”

“I don’t see how,” Zephyr said. “Our campers might prank each other or their counselors, but I don’t think any of them would do something that would threaten the secrecy of the camp. Besides which, we maintain very strict curfew rules, and have counselors patrolling the boundaries in their shift form at night. It would be difficult for campers to sneak all the way to town.”

Shan made a noncommittal sound deep in his throat. “I will need to review your security?—”

“Conleth! Zephyr!” Leonie called. She bustled over, head buried in her clipboard. “I need to talk to you both at once.”

“Whatever it is, it’ll have to wait.” Conleth pointedly pushed Leonie’s clipboard down, directing her attention to their visitor. “Little busy at the moment.”

“But,” Leonie started—and then noticed Shan. Her eyes widened. “Oh. Sorry.”

“No, stay,” Zephyr said, as Leonie turned to go again. “You should be part of this, too. Shan, this is Leonie MacCormick, our head counselor. Though I suspect you knew that. Leonie, this is Special Agent Shan, from Shifter Affairs. He wants to ask us some questions.”

Leonie frowned, looking Shan up and down. “What kind of questions?”

Shan didn’t say anything. In the short time Paige had known him, he hadn’t exactly seemed the expressive type. Now, however, he might as well have been carved from granite.

“Shifter Affairs seem to think our campers might be behind a terrible local crime wave of missing socks,” Conleth said dryly. He turned to Shan. “But we’re happy to go over our security protocols with you. Shall we go to the office?”

“No.” Shan’s voice sounded oddly rough. He cleared his throat, taking a step back. “That—will not be necessary. Thank you for your time. I will not trouble you further.”

Without another word, he shifted. As the winged tiger took flight, the rest of them were left blinking at each other in bemusement.

Leonie spoke first. “What was that all about?”

Estelle ducked down from the window of the dining hall. “Did you all see that?”

“Yeah, but what did it mean?” Archie said. “Who was that guy? Has anyone seen him before?”

Rufus and Finley both shook their heads. Beth, however, furrowed her brow in thought.

“I think I might know,” she said. “Winged tigers are really rare, but my dad knows one. He’s a special agent, from Shifter Affairs.”

“Cooooooooooooool,” Archie breathed. “But what would a secret agent be doing here at camp?”

Estelle peered over the windowsill. “Whatever he was doing, he’s gone now. And the grown-ups look pretty baffled about it too.”

“He certainly left in a hurry,” Finley said. “I wonder why?”

Rufus was still watching the adults. He frowned.

“What?” Archie asked as the other three kids all stared at the griffin shifter. “Oh, come on guys, you know I’m not a mythic shifter. What did Rufus say?”

“He said that the special agent took off as soon as Leonie arrived,” Finley said slowly. “Practically the moment he saw her.”

Archie’s eyes went round. “You don’t think…?”

Rufus nodded.

Beth bit her lip. “But Leonie didn’t seem to react.”

“He was wearing sunglasses,” Finley pointed out. “She couldn’t see his eyes.”

“I guess he left so fast because he freaked out,” Archie said. “But he’ll come back, right? He’ll have to. I mean, he can’t just take one look and nope over the horizon.”

The kids looked at each other.

Beth gave voice to the collective thought. “He did leave awfully fast.”

“Then we’ve gotta make sure he comes back,” Estelle said decisively. “We can’t leave this up to the grown-ups. Or fate.”

“Yes, but what can we do?” Finley asked. “How can a bunch of kids force a secret agent to spend time at a summer camp?”

Archie had been sitting quietly, thinking. A slow, evil grin spread over his face.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I have a plan.”