Page 23 of Moody as a Minotaur

Parker cleared his throat, as if remembering why we were here. “She might not go through the gate,” Parker said, looking in his rearview mirror at the stretch of land behind us that wasn’t fenced. “She could cut through the trees.”

Gage shook his head. His gaze caught on mine. “Isaac checked. He didn’t see her.”

Isaac was a centaur who used to work with Gage when they were part of the Supernatural Council. The SC would have trained him in all kinds of things. His sense of smell wouldn’t be as strong as a wolf shifter’s, particularly if he couldn’t shift. And let’s face it, out of all the supes in town, he was one of the ones who, like me, couldn’t risk being seen by a human. A supe who appeared to be half-animal and half-man would never be easily explained or dismissed. But I trusted that he was experienced enough to know if they had an intruder. If Gage and Isaac didn’t sense her on their land, she hadn’t been through here.

Of course, Parker didn’t know that, and he appeared ready to argue the point.

Something moved in the shadows by the lake. What was that? I scanned the area again. There. It happened again. It could be the eyes of an animal watching us from the trees, but it could also be light reflecting off binoculars.

I nudged Parker and nodded toward the other side of the road.

He spun in his seat. “What?”

“Does she have binoculars?”

Parker groaned. “Probably.”

He was out of his seat and marching across the road before I knew what he was doing. Shit. What if I was wrong? What if it was a wild animal instead? I scrambled out of the passenger seat and followed him.

“Nana!” Parker sounded like he was scolding a child. “Get out here this minute.”

He stomped down the trail, heading straight for the spot where I’d first glimpsed the flash, so I figured he must have seen the reflected light now too. When he stopped, he put his hands on his hips and glared into the trees.

His grandmother separated from the shadows. No wonder I hadn’t seen her right away. She was tiny to start with, but when she was dressed all in black, she seemed even smaller. She wore a knitted black cap over her gray hair.

“Nana! How could you?”

“What are you doing here, Parker dear? I thought you were sleeping.”

“Iwassleeping, and I shouldstillbe sleeping. Butsomethingwoke me up.”

“Do you have problems like that often, dear? If you get up to use the bathroom a lot in the night, you should get your prostate checked out.”

“Don’t,” Parker said, holding up his hand to her. “Don’t try to distract me. I heard you leave. What are you doing out here? It’s the middle of the fucking night.”

Her gaze hopped to me, then to Gage, who was still at the gate, before bouncing back to her grandson.

“I told you…” She let her words trail off as she contorted her face as if trying to pass along some message. It was obvious she didn’t want to explain herself in front of us.

Parker sighed and shook his head. “Get in the car. We’re going back to my place. And don’t expect me to be quiet when I get up in a few hours.”

Edie complied, probably because her surveillance operation had been compromised. Parker followed right behind her, like he was convinced she would try to lose us if he wasn’t close enough to grab her. I trailed along behind them.

“I came out to watch some birds,” she said as she fitted the lens caps over her binoculars. “It’s such a clear night. And I’ve only just arrived. I haven’t had the chance to see anything yet…”

“Birds? What birds? It’s the middle of the night.”

“Owls,” Edie said. “I’m one of those twerkers.”

Parker froze. “What did you say?”

“A twerker.” Edie turned to look at her grandson. “You know. Someone who looks at birds.” Edie’s mouth twitched like she was trying not to laugh.

“Twerkers are people who…” He shook his head. “You know what, never mind.”

“Oh, right. I meant tweaker.” Edith winked at me when Parker scrubbed his hands over his face in frustration. Was she for real? She sounded amused.

“No. Not tweaker either,” Parker snapped. He had no clue his grandmother was messing with him. “Twitcher.They’re called twitchers. It’s obvious you’re not a bird watcher. Just… Quit. You’re making this situation worse. Just go and get in the car.”