Sami had the grace to be abashed. “I didn’t mean—”
“You never mean it.” Aric’s broad shoulders were squared. “You can’t do things like that. You have to be responsible.”
Sami made a protesting sound. “Mom vents all the time. You don’t give her grief.”
“Your mother vents on magazines in our home. That’s different. This isn’t our property. Now we have to pay for the tree.”
I opened my mouth to tell him that wouldn’t be necessary, but he shot me a quelling look. “You have to learn control, Sami.”
Sami’s eyes flooded with tears and my heart lurched when I realized she was going to start crying. “You’re only taking Mom’s side because she makes the magazines fly around your head and form hearts when she does it. You think everything she does is cute.”
“Not everything,” Aric countered. “Your mother is an adult, though. She’s had to learn control, too. You didn’t see that because it was before we had you. I’m not saying this to be mean.”
“You’re always mean.” Sami wiped her hand under her nose. “You’re always mean and take her side.”
“Sami ...” Aric momentarily looked as if he was going to give in. Apparently, he couldn’t hold out in the shadow of his crying child.
Thankfully, Rafael picked that moment to swoop in. He’d returned from his fact-finding mission an hour before and had then promptly holed up inside to work on the computer. I had no idea what he was doing.
“Come on, little mage,” Rafael chided, sweeping Sami up and giving her a hug. It was surprising, because although I’d seen him willing to kill and die for her, I hadn’t seen him coddle her. Now he was the one giving her emotional support while Aric and Zoe awkwardly stood and watched the interaction.
“They’re mean,” Sami sniffed, burying her face in the hollow between his neck and chest. “This is why I want to marry you.”
“They’re not mean. They’re your parents. It’s their job to teach you right from wrong. You must understand that.”
“No, they’re mean.”
Rafael carried her past Aric and Zoe. “That’s not their intention. They love you. They simply want you to grow up to be the best person you can be.”
“By being mean?”
Zoe shook her head as she watched Rafael carry Sami into the cabin. “I’m sorry about the tree. She’s just ... frustrated. She can’t understand why any of this is happening. She has zero control. It’s not easy for her.”
“That’s not an excuse.” Aric tugged off his shirt and handed it to Zoe. “She shouldn’t have done that. It’s just ... she misses the dog. He’s like an emotional support animal for her.”
As a new cat mom, I got it. “She’s doing the best she can,” I told him. “It’s not the end of the world.”
“You won’t think that if she keeps getting bigger and bigger with the vents.”
I found I couldn’t stare at Aric’s face because I was too distracted by his body. He might have been in his forties, and I might have been completely devoted to Gunner, but the package was pretty impressive.
“Um ...” I couldn’t remember what we were talking about.
Gunner shot me a dirty look. “I see how it is.”
Smirking, Zoe moved to stand in front of Aric. “Be careful out there.”
“I’m always careful.” He lowered his forehead to hers. “You be careful here. Try not to wipe everyone out if someone attacks. Leave one to question.”
“No promises.”
He gave her a quick kiss. “Sorry about the kid. I guess I owe you meltdown moderation one day in the future?”
Zoe nodded. “I’m taking a spa day the next time she has PMS and she’s all yours.”
“That’s cruel, baby.”
“That’s my price for dealing with this meltdown.”
“That’s fair.” His gaze landed on Gunner. “Are you ready?”
Gunner nodded. “Let’s do this.”
ZOE AND I SPENT THE FIRST HOUR after Gunner and Aric disappeared into the woods going through files. As far as I could tell, the missing women didn’t have a lot in common, other than they were shifters.
“Have you ever heard of shifters and vampires working together before?” I asked as I perused the fact sheet on Jordan Baker, a nineteen-year-old shifter from what used to be Gunner’s pack. “I mean, other than the vampire you have working with you?”
Zoe’s eyes flicked to the spot next to the bonfire, to where Rafael had Sami working on venting with the flames. Even though he wasn’t a magical being, he seemed intent as he walked her through a myriad of steps. As for Sami, she remained pouty, although she didn’t take her emotions out on Rafael. I found that interesting, while also recognizing it had to be frustrating for Zoe.
“Actually, I have.” Slowly, Zoe’s blue eyes tracked to me. “Toward the end of my time at Covenant College, we uncovered a, let’s say partnership, between a lot of supernaturals and the head of what was called the Academy.”
I’d heard her use the word before but remained in the dark as to what it meant. “Was that a special school for paranormals?”
She shook her head. “Covenant College attracted paranormals, both good and bad, and the Academy was set up to root them out.”
I waited but she didn’t expound. “Then what?”
“Then they tried to kill or control them.”
I exhaled heavily, surprised. “It was an extermination academy.”
She nodded. “At first, they tried to recruit me as a monster hunter. They kept telling me they knew more about what I was than I did. That wasn’t much of a leap, because I knew nothing. My parents wanted me to have a normal childhood, so they kept secrets from me, and I was at a disadvantage when I landed at the college. I went through these phases,” her lips twisted. “I wanted to believe I was fighting for the right side and I kept hearing things from different factions, including Aric. When things fell apart for that year, I convinced myself the Academy was doing the right thing and I started working for them. I was wrong.”
“How did you figure
