She giggled at Hunter’s feeble attempts, and it dawned on me that the same fate that had befallen our victims could affect her too. Maybe the best thing for Shifters to do was isolate.
“Raven.” Niko greeted me as he entered the room from the hall ahead. “One of the children is missing. It’s bedtime, and she ran off while they were brushing their teeth.”
Hunter looked at me pleadingly, one finger over his lips. He knew Niko was blind, but Niko wasn’t so blind that he wouldn’t notice that girl’s energy at the top of the stairs once he turned around.
Did I really want to encourage Hunter to be deceptive? I’d probably regret it in the long run, so I said, “It’s time for you kids to say good night. You can play in the morning. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you can wake up to play.”
The little girl jogged down the steps, gave Hunter a big hug, and dashed past Niko and down the hall.
Niko had on his oversized drop-crotch pants he often wore to sleep, so it looked like everyone was winding down for the night.
“Would you like to join me in the kitchen for hot tea?” he asked.
“I need to see where we are with the case. If I get hungry, I’ll buy something from Wyatt’s vending machine with my retirement money.” I directed my attention to the boy. “Hunter, do you want us to walk you to bed? Where’s your dad?”
Niko swept his hair away from his face. “Shepherd’s guarding the hall while Switch and I search for the girl. Hunter, I think your father is a very sleepy old man. Can you help him to bed?”
Hunter slapped his hand over his mouth, covering his smile.
Shepherd strutted into the room, a five-o’clock shadow dusting his face. For some reason, he was wearing a green shirt and camouflage pants.
“What’s with the getup?” I asked since that wasn’t his usual style.
He stopped at the foot of the stairs and stretched his muscular arms. “The kids wanted to play war. Guess who was the enemy?”
I snorted. “Did they beat you up?”
“Fuck Wyatt and all his water balloons. Sorry, kid,” he said, shifting his focus to Hunter. “I’m trying not to say those words.”
“My dad said those words all my life,” I said, hands on my hips. “I turned out fine.”
He gave me a deliberate look before kneeling in front of Hunter.
I inched closer to Niko and lowered my voice. “What was that about?”
Niko canted his head toward me. “Some of the kids started repeating Shepherd’s vocabulary, and it upset Viktor. You missed a colorful dinner conversation.”
“I’ll bet.”
“He doesn’t worry about Hunter since Hunter doesn’t talk. But try convincing fifteen children.”
Shepherd held Hunter’s wrist. “Why are you covering your mouth?”
Hunter shrugged.
“Did someone hit you? Let me see.”
When he pulled Hunter’s hand away, everything looked normal. No bruising, no scrapes. Those were typical injuries you saw when kids got together.
“You had me worried, little man.” Shepherd poked Hunter in the belly, and Hunter giggled and smiled wide.
When he did, I barked out a laugh. “Looks like someone lost a tooth.”
Shepherd lightly held his chin and looked at it. “When did that happen?”
Hunter shrugged.
“Did he swallow it?” I asked.
Shepherd heaved a sigh. “Oh shit.”
“You think the tooth fairy makes toilet-bowl pickups?” I laughed as I ascended the stairs. “G’night.”
When I glanced back, Shepherd gave Hunter a hug and said quietly, “I love you.”
That was probably the first time I’d ever heard him say it, and it made my heart melt a little.
“Hunter will make Shepherd a better man,” Niko said, catching up with me.
“I thought you were going to make tea.”
“Maybe later.” When we reached the second floor, he said, “Hunter has softened him in a good way.”
“Yeah. Kids have a way of changing people. My dad was always a good father, but when he became my sole guardian, he tried to do better. I can’t say he always made the right choices, but Shepherd reminds me of him.”
“I think having the children here has been good for Hunter. His light is brighter when he’s around them.”
“Kids need to be around other kids.”
“It will be hard for him when they leave.”
We climbed up another set of stairs to the third floor. “Maybe Switch can invite him to hang out with his old pack. He used to teach a lot of kids, and I bet they miss him. It might be good for Hunter to get out and make new friends, especially since we can’t invite anyone over for a playdate.”
“A play what?”
“Just a human phrase for getting the kids together. Who knows? Maybe Switch and Shepherd will get along better. Everyone’s nice to Switch, but he still feels like an outsider here since he’s staff and not part of the team. There’s not much we can do about the reality, but it wouldn’t hurt for us to hang out once in a while outside the house.”
“I think that’s an excellent idea. Hunter has a lot to learn outside of books, and I would imagine there are valuable lessons Shepherd must teach him about being a Sensor. He wears protective gloves in public, but he doesn’t interact with people when we’re out. Taking him on these… playdates would foster that unique education.”
“Maybe I can take him to see my dad sometime. Crush is great with kids, and now he’s got a dog. I bet Hunter would get a kick out of that mutt.”
“Perhaps your father can look at Shepherd’s car. I noticed a sound coming from the engine the last time we went out.”
“Tell him to take it to Graves Auto Repair. My dad doesn’t just work on bikes. My truck is older than dirt, but it purrs like a kitten.”
“It sounds more like a lion to me.”
I laughed and eyed the door to the balcony. “Since your room is on the second floor, can you let Blue and Wyatt know I’m back? I’m guessing there isn’t any news, or you would have mentioned it. If they need me, they can knock on my door. I’m more exhausted than I thought and need to lie down.”
He bowed. “As you wish.”
“Old man,” I muttered, musing over his joke about Shepherd. “That’s the pot calling the kettle black. How old are you again?” I opened the door.
Niko casually walked away. “I better hurry back before my knees give out on me. My arthritis has been acting up,” he said from a distance.
When I walked onto the interior balcony, Christian greeted me with a smoldering look.
“Niko’s quite the comedian,” he remarked.
I breezed by him to the other door. “He’s not as funny as the man who’s standing outside like a dad waiting for his daughter to come home from her date.”
He shadow walked past me, snaking his way down the dark hall until he stopped by a candle in the distance. With his shoulder against the wall, he stood there, waiting for me to catch up.
“And what are you looking at, Mr. Poe?”
“Just admiring your gams.”
“That word is so last century.”