Page 92 of Beasts of Mine

“Taking that remarkably well.” Tavian leaned back against the wall again, his grin beginning to return.

“I stopped trying to decide what was impossible on my first day here.” I lowered my hand as the memory of a different clearing surfaced. “That was around the time a tayra I rescued turned into a person.”

Every trace of humor disappeared from Malek’s face. His arms dropped from his chest as he straightened.

“A tayra turned into a person?” Malek’s brows pulled together, genuine surprise settling across features that were normally much harder to read.

“You’ve been sitting on that story this entire time?” Tavian pushed away from the wall, his amber eyes widening.

“There have been a few other things happening.” I gave Tavian a pointed look before motioning between the three of them. “Including three leopards following me around while neglecting to mention the fact that they could turn into men.”

“What happened?” Malek asked me, his voice quieter now as his focus settled fully on me.

“I found the tayra caught in a wire snare on my first afternoon here.” I rested my hands loosely between my knees as I pictured the dark body twisting against the wire again.

Malek’s entire expression changed.

“Snare?” Malek’s voice sharpened, the reaction immediate enough that Tavian’s amusement vanished too.

“Yes.” I nodded toward Malek, understanding exactly why that part had caught his attention. “Thin wire around one of its legs. I cut it free and checked the injury before I let it go.”

Malek’s jaw tightened. His gaze shifted briefly into the trees before returning to me, and I could almost see him filing the information away alongside the snare he’d broken.

“The tayra didn’t leave.” I continued before the traps dragged us too far away from the rest of the story. “It walked a little way, stopped, and looked back at me. Then it did it again. Eventually I realized it wanted me to follow.”

“You followed an injured wild animal deeper into unfamiliar rainforest on your first afternoon here.” Malek’s voice dropped into the same displeased tone he’d used whenever Cat thought I was making a terrible decision.

“Oh, absolutely not.” I lifted one hand toward Malek before the lecture could get any farther. “You do not get retroactive authority over my choices just because I discovered you have hands.”

Tavian made a choked sound beside Luca, while Luca lowered his head and failed completely to hide his laugh. Malek stared at me for another second before releasing a quiet breath through his nose.

“Go on.” Malek motioned once with one large hand, though the tight set of his jaw told me the argument had only been postponed.

“The tayra led me to a clearing.” I settled my forearms against my thighs again. “There was a huge tree, a pool, flowers growing everywhere. It stepped into the water, and golden light started moving around it. A few seconds later, the animal was gone and a figure was standing in the pool instead.”

Luca straightened, all traces of amusement disappearing from his face.

“What did they look like?” Luca asked me, genuine interest sharpening his features.

“Human-shaped.” I searched my memory for details I hadn’t thought about much since that afternoon. “Warm brown skin. Long dark hair almost to the ground. Gold eyes—the same ones the tayra had. Leaves and white flowers tangled through their hair, and feathers that changed color when the light hit them. They looked human enough at first glance, but nothing about them felt human.”

“A nature spirit.” Luca’s posture shifted as recognition crossed his face.

“That was the easiest description they gave me.” I nodded toward Luca, relieved at least one of them knew what I was talking about. “Spirit. Nature spirit. They weren’t particularly interested in explaining much beyond that.”

“What did they want?” Malek asked me, watching me closely enough that I had the odd feeling he wanted to go find the spirit and question them himself.

“They didn’t want anything.” I shook my head. “That was the strange part. They kept asking why I’d helped when I didn’t know what they were and wasn’t getting anything in return.”

“And?” Tavian tilted his head, his expression losing some of its teasing.

“I told them they were hurt.” I lifted one shoulder. “It wasn’t complicated.”

Something in Tavian’s face softened. Malek’s did too, though his change was much harder to see.

“Then they decided to give me something anyway.” I lifted two fingers and touched the center of my forehead. “They touched me here. There was this rush of sound, and suddenly everything in the forest stopped sounding like noise.”

Luca’s brows drew together as several pieces seemed to fall into place.