There was a storm brewing once more, but everyone was so unfazed that they got into position without being asked and did their tasks: lock up the invisible barrier, make sure everyone was inside, and brace themselves for any change in the atmosphere. Nico circled the inside part of the forest, which was quieter, but the storm brewing inside him didn’t let him settle into peace for a single minute.
It ate him up enough to distract him, but not enough to keep him from completing what needed to be done. When he passed by Michael on the way, he stopped.
“Peachy?”
“Not here,” was the prompt reply. “She’s visiting with a friend and they are indoors.”
“A friend? A date?”
Michael’s jaw clenched, but he nodded. “It depends on how she labels it. He’s a friend from work, and she called him interesting. So, I set them up.”
Oh, for the love of—
“Michael?”
“Hmm?”
“You are an idiot,” Nico declared, then left his brother standing agape. He was going to have to talk some sense into the clueless, helplessly blind man someday, but now was not the time when he was on a mission himself. Along the way, another man blocked his path, and this one had a pondering look on his face.
“Nico. You might as well know,” Angelo said in greeting.
“Know what?”
“We captured a lone shifter lurking around the closed-down North Bear, and we have reason to believe that he might be the culprit.”
“Wolf shifter?”
“Panther. He carried loads of energy and that was what tipped us off. Now he’s under custody.”
I felt like a load off his shoulders as North Bear was filed away from his mind. Nico nodded and watched Angelo leave, his stance indicating he had more news for others. Nico strode in the other direction, walking in circles when he found the tent empty. Then it didn’t take him long to locate Anne, who was scrambling with a few others to cover the area where the tropical fruits were. When she spotted him, she looked away and continued with her task, then excused herself from the group.
“Anne, wait up.”
Thunder boomed as he followed her and echoed her hastening steps. When she turned towards her tent area, he stood in her path.
“Not a good idea to stay there when there are winds tonight, and it’s just going to get worse.”
“I know how to secure a tent,” she shot back, sidestepping him. Her hands went busy as they took out ropes, but he snatched them off her grasp.
“I know you do. But we have a perfectly functional mansion and more secure spots in other areas.”
“Fine.”
“And I don’t think that’s the issue. It’s you avoiding the talk we need to have.”
Her chin lifted.
“There are bigger things at play here.”
She snatched the ropes back, ducked under her tent, and returned with a sack bag in hand. He unearthed nails on two ends, watched the tent deflate, then resecured it in its flat state before catching up to her.
“That doesn’t make what you are going through less important.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Why not? So that you can drown in the guilt and let it keep eating at you? So you can blame yourself over and over until you are old and withering?”
Lightning blasted the skies in time with his words, an odd perfection. She spun to shoot him a frustrated look, then turned back and stalked away. Somewhere along the trek, the sky opened and let the rain pour in spades, leaving him drenched within seconds. It didn’t matter as he kept his eyes on Anne until he knew she was within earshot.