Page 77 of Beasts of Mine

“Evie,” Mara finally said through the speaker, using my first name in the tone that usually meant she was deciding whether I'd suffered a head injury.

“Professionally speaking, the wildlife activity here has been ridiculous. I got the tapirs yesterday, the monkey grove has been consistently active, and there are at least two trails I haven't had enough time to work properly,” I explained to Mara, crossing to the worktable while the darker leopard climbed onto the platform behind me.

“How much food do you have?” Mara asked through the radio, shifting from suspicious to practical without missing a beat.

“Enough for another three days if I stop pretending the tuna is gourmet cuisine,” I told Mara, pulling open the sealed food bin and checking the contents even though I'd already done it the previous evening.

“Water?” Mara asked through the radio, her tone clipped and efficient now that she was considering the request seriously.

“Filter's good, purification tablets are untouched, and both containers are fine,” I told Mara, running my fingers over the filter before closing the bin again.

“Batteries?” Mara asked through another light crackle of static.

“Solar setup is working, camera batteries are charged, radio battery is fine, and I have the spare,” I replied to Mara, glancing toward the small charging station near the edge of the platform.

“Medication?” Mara asked through the radio, the slight change in her tone telling me exactly what she meant without her needing to specify. I opened the waterproof pouch clipped inside my field bag even though I'd checked it the night before.

“Blockers are fine, emergency heat meds are fine, and I have more than enough of both,” I assured Mara, counting the packets before clipping the pouch securely back into place. While Mara considered it, the darker leopard moved closer to the front steps and sat facing me with unnerving concentration. Vegetation shifted beyond him a moment later, revealing Cat first, damp along his lower legs from wherever he'd been walking that morning. The amber-eyed leopard followed several seconds later with a small purple flower held carefully between his teeth.

He'd found another one.

“How much longer?” Mara asked through the radio, pulling my attention back to the conversation. I looked at the three leopards and felt a ridiculous flicker of hope before I could talk myself out of it.

“Two nights?” I suggested to Mara, trying not to sound as eager as I suddenly felt. The amber-eyed leopard dropped the flower. His ears came forward, Cat stopped beside the platform, and the darker leopard's head lifted sharply enough that I narrowed my eyes at all three.

There was no possible way they understood enough of this conversation to know what two nights meant.

Probably.

“Two more nights, and you come back the morning of the sixth day,” Mara told me through the radio, emphasizing the return date as though she expected another round of bargaining.

“Deal,” I told Mara before she'd completely finished speaking.

“That was disturbingly fast. Try pretending you had to think about it,” Mara replied through a burst of static, amusement slipping back into her voice.

“I did think about it,” I told Mara, unable to keep the smile out of my voice as the amber-eyed leopard retrieved his flower and started toward me.

“Uh-huh. Same check-ins. If the weather turns, you're coming back early. If the radio starts acting strange, you're coming back. If you get hurt, bitten, lost, feverish, or decide that ‘interesting’ is a good enough reason to ignore common sense, you're coming back,” Mara warned through the radio, ticking off the conditions with the weary precision of someone who knew exactly which rule I was most likely to test.

“That last one seems unnecessarily specific,” I told Mara as the amber-eyed leopard deposited the flower beside my bare foot.

“It was written specifically for you,” Mara replied through the radio without hesitation.

“I'm touched,” I told Mara, crouching to retrieve the flower while the leopard sat proudly beside me.

“Seven-thirty and six. Don't make me send someone after you,” Mara warned through the radio, though there was enough warmth beneath the words that the threat lacked most of its force.

“I won't. Thank you,” I told Mara, letting the joke fall away because I meant it.

“Get good pictures,” Mara replied through the speaker, the warmth lingering even through the static.

“Always,” I promised Mara before releasing the transmit button and clipping the radio securely back into place. The channel went quiet, leaving me crouched beside the platform with the flower between my fingers. It was small and purple, with petals delicate enough that I had to be careful not to crush them and tiny drops of rainwater still clinging to their edges.

When I straightened, all three leopards were watching me.

“Congratulations. I'm staying two more nights,” I told the three leopards as I crossed to the metal mug and added the new flower beside the others.

Good, the amber-eyed leopard told me, stepping onto the platform with enough enthusiasm that the weathered boards creaked beneath his weight.