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centuries living as various animals—most recently a black panther—before Winter had helped Matt turn him into a man again.
    Niall stopped on the trestle bridge and crouched down to grab hold of Shep’s snout, forcing the dog to look at him. “The deal is you’re supposed to be an
invisible
first officer,” he explained, talking only loud enough to be heard over the thundering falls. “The whole point of ye not wearing the K-9 police vest Jack Stone gave ye as a going away present was to make you appear unassuming.”
    But when Shep merely took another swipe of his sticky nose, Niall stood up with a chuckle. “Aye, maybe there is nothing more invisible than a street beggar.” He scanned the length of town in the deepening dusk. “Now if I were Macie, where would I plan on meeting a man I wasn’t even supposed to talk to?”
    Not in a public park, he didn’t think.
    Niall looked up to see several daring tourists standing on the viewing platform perched at the top of the falls, thinking the forested trail leading up to it had many resting benches where two young lovers could meet. But he just as quickly decided that a woman growing cumbersome with child probably wouldn’t risk the steep climb.
    Niall headed toward the park at a leisurely stroll, nodding to fellow strollers as he decided he would drive down to Turtleback tomorrow. Trying to split his time evenly, he’d made a point of visiting all the businesses in both towns like Jack had suggested—not that he’d needed to be told the value of building a good rapport with the people he’d sworn to protect, since that in essence had been his job as laird. He turned down the path leading to the park that surrounded the deep pool at the bottom of the falls, giving a chuckle when he passed the bronze marker telling the legend of a mystical spell being cast over any couple brave—or foolish—enough to kiss while standing in the mist.
    Niall wondered if he were brave enough to kiss Miss Callahan in the mist.
    Nay, that probably would be foolish, as the woman would likely spray him with bear repellent, then push him in the pool.
    Apparently needing a drink to wash down the ice cream, Shep bolted for the water, and Niall chuckled again when he heard a loud splash not a heartbeat after the dog disappeared into the mist. He continued following the path, which wound through plantings of young fir and white birch trees surrounded by carefully tended flower beds, then stopped at a signpost. Deciding the less-traveled, thickly wooded trail that followed the base of the mountain offered plenty of places for a private meeting, Niall headed into the forest as he kept his ears tuned for the sound of conversation.
    Not really worried he might be overstepping his duty to serve and protect, since he only intended to make sure Johnny truly was a pacifist, Niall grinned at having guessed correctly when ten minutes later he heard two people talking against the backdrop of the distant falls. He left the trail and quietly made his way through the forest that was nearly pitch-black now that the sun had set completely, then crouched several feet away from the couple sitting on a fallen log—his grin widening at the realization that, if anything, Johnny better hope Macie was also a pacifist, judging by her tone. But not five minutes after Niall had settled comfortably against a tree, Johnny suddenly stood up.
    “Come on, Mace,” the young man said as he stood facing her. “How many times are you going to make me apologize for something I had no control over?”
    “Dan didn’t let the lack of control bother him.”
    “Because he was
new
. He didn’t have anything invested in the settlement, so what did he care if Sebastian kicked him out?”
    Dan, Niall happened to know, was actually Dante—an Atlantean warrior Nicholas had brought to Nova Mare as a security guard. It had been at Titus’s request that Dante go undercover at the colony, hoping to learn what sort of magic they