"What are you doing?" asked Lucy.
"Just watch. Mr. K and I worked this out late last night." The branch moved itself into Luke's hands. He grabbed it and held on tight.
Mr. K gave it a tug. "Ready?"
Luke nodded. "Ready."
"Here we go." Mr. K yanked on the branch and swung it out over the lake. He spun it back and forth, and circled it around, pulling Luke through the air like Tarzan. Luke let go with a loud "Yahoo!" and did a cannon ball into the water.
He surfaced a few moments later, laughing. "Woo! That was awesome. Who's next?"
Lucy jumped up. "Me! I'm going."
Hunter grabbed her by her waste and pulled her toward him. "No way. I am." They laughed and wrestled their way to the tree, but Lucy got to the branch first. She looked down at her clothes and wondered how much she should take off. She shrugged and pulled off her pants.
Luke splashed her. "Lucy, keep your clothes on!"
"You're a hypocrite. I'm not going in there with all my clothes. Besides, how is this any different than a bikini? Huh?" She kicked her pants to the side, deliberately avoiding Hunter's gaze, and left her tank top on. She grabbed the vine, and Mr. K tossed her into the lake.
Hunter undressed to his boxers and followed.
They spent the rest of the morning diving, splashing and swimming in the lake, and taking turns on Mr. K's branches. In the early afternoon, Lucy crawled out of the water while Hunter and Luke wrestled and tried to drown each other.
She relaxed on a rock, letting the sun warm her body. A sound behind her caught her attention. She gasped. The giant beetle that had chased them into the valley stood there, its green shell glittering in the sun. Lucy stayed calm, taking slow, deep breaths and using her meditation techniques to suppress her panic. The bug looked at her, and they held each other's stare.
Does it remember me? She held her breath, waiting for it to stampede her, but it never came. The beetle broke eye contact and walked away.
Her shoulders slumped in relief, and a while later the boys emerged from the lake to dry off. They thanked Mr. K and walked back to their campfire. Lucy tried very hard not to stare at Hunter's six-pack abs and ripped body. He wasn't huge and bulky, like a professional weight lifter. His muscles were all lean and defined, and oh-so-sexy. She caught him checking her out a few times too, and she tried to hide her blush.
After they'd dried out by the fire, Hunter opened his pack to get a change of clothes.
Luke gestured to the sword sticking out of the pack's main pocket. "So how'd you get that sword?"
Hunter froze, and Lucy wondered what kind of misdirecting excuse he'd give them this time.
Instead, Hunter pulled out the sword and stared at it. "I inherited it from my father."
Lucy hadn't been expecting a truthful answer. So is the sword some IPI tech? "Was your father an agent?"
He shook his head. "No, I think he helped them out sometimes though, like a consultant. He knew a lot about paranormals, and spent considerable time researching what he didn't know. Honestly, he didn't open up much about this stuff. Didn't want to get me involved, I guess."
"But you got involved anyway?" Obviously.
"I wanted to help people. IPI gave me a chance. Agent Simmons recruited me, trained me, sent me out into the field."
Luke studied the sword in Hunter's hand. "What happened to your father?"
Lucy wanted to know too, but she didn't want to push him too hard.
Hunter didn't speak for several moments. "He's gone. A serial killer stabbed him."
Tears sprang into Lucy's eyes. "Oh, my God, I'm so sorry." She reached over and placed her hand on his, wanting to hug him and comfort him, but the timing wasn't right.
Hunter squeezed her hand and continued. "I inherited my father's stuff, after.... Most of it is locked up in storage somewhere, but I kept this sword."
Even Luke looked sympathetic. "Sorry, bro, I didn't know."
"It's fine. It happened a long time ago." He passed the sword to Luke. "Want to check it out?"
Luke's eyes lit up and he took the sword. "I thought it was bigger."
Hunter and Lucy both laughed, and Luke raised an eyebrow. "Am I missing something here?"
Lucy showed her brother how to make it bigger. "Cool!" He stood and did some mock sword play with it.
They enjoyed the rest of the afternoon, and as the sun set, Luke brought out one more birthday treat: a bottle of Rum. He took a swig and offered it to Lucy.
She started to shake her head, then paused. What the hell! She grabbed the bottle and took a swallow, then passed it to Hunter.
Luke enjoyed the bulk of the bottle, and as the fire started to die out, so did Luke. He switched his phone on briefly for the time. "Birthday's over, Luce. But it was fun, right?"
A false confidence overlaid the desperate plea she could hear in his voice. He seemed so vulnerable in that moment.