Page 177 of Beasts of Mine

I wasn't moving, the kingfisher replied with immediate irritation before turning its head at exactly the wrong moment. I took the photograph anyway and had to press my lips together to keep from laughing loudly enough to scare it.

The bird gave me two more chances over the next half hour, darting toward the water and returning with its feathers briefly ruffled. Once it landed with something small and silver caught in its beak, entirely losing interest in me while it dealt with dinner. By the time the light grew too thin beneath the canopy to keep pushing my luck, I had several sequences that looked much closer to what I'd thought I'd captured the first time.

I checked the final series once more before lowering the camera. The eye was sharp, the branch was where it belonged, and no leaf had decided it deserved top billing.

“Finally.” I told the kingfisher as satisfaction loosened the tension that had been sitting between my shoulders all afternoon.

You click too much, the kingfisher complained as it flicked its wings, apparently deciding my photography habits were the real problem.

“I'm going to take that under consideration.” I told the kingfisher with complete seriousness as I lowered the camera.

You won't, the kingfisher replied before launching itself from the branch and disappearing upriver in a streak of green.

I watched the empty space for a second.

“That is probably fair.” I muttered after the kingfisher, smiling as I tucked the camera safely against my chest. Talking to wildlife while I worked should have felt stranger by now. Instead, I'd somehow reached the point where being criticized by a kingfisher barely interrupted my concentration.

I packed only after I was satisfied, leaving the stream with enough time to reach the temple before my six-o'clock check-in. The path no longer required the same concentration it once had. I knew where thick roots crossed the trail, where the ground dipped sharply after heavy rain, which curve opened toward the first weathered stone almost swallowed by vines, and where the safer footing was without stopping to search for it. Even the insects and distant bird calls had started separating into familiar sounds instead of blending into one constant wall of rainforest noise.

A rustle moved through the branches above me before a capuchin's small face appeared between two broad leaves. It crouched along the limb with its tail curled behind it and watched me approach as though it had been waiting.

Going to the spotted ones, the capuchin announced confidently, making it a statement rather than a question as its dark eyes dropped toward the bags hanging from my shoulders.

“Apparently everyone knows my schedule now.” I told the capuchin as I adjusted the strap digging into my shoulder and stepped over a thick root crossing the trail.

Spotted ones know. Birds know. We know, the capuchin replied as it scrambled along the branch above me, pausing every few feet to make sure I was still below.

“That is mildly concerning.” I told the capuchin as I looked up through the leaves, trying to decide when the local wildlife had formed an information network around my personal life.

You are loud, the capuchin informed me as it disappeared into a dense knot of greenery.

“I am not loud.” I called after the capuchin as I continued down the path, unable to see more than a twitch of leaves where it had gone.

She is loud, a second capuchin announced from deeper in the trees, its bark carrying unmistakable amusement while leaves shook somewhere out of sight.

“Rude.” I told the unseen capuchin, shaking my head as another burst of chattering followed from the canopy.

Apparently, I wasn't going to win an argument with monkeys either.

Somewhere along the way, I'd stopped thinking of this route as unfamiliar. The animals recognized me, I knew which turns led where, and the first glimpse of old stone through the vines no longer made me wonder whether I'd somehow wandered off course.

I kept walking before I could decide what I thought about that.

Tavian found me first, dropping from a low wall in human form just as I entered the courtyard. He landed lightly enough that I only flinched because I'd been looking toward the living section instead of above me, and the pleased expression he wore suggested he considered startling me a perfectly reasonable greeting.

“You're back.” Tavian said as he straightened with a grin, citrus and spice brightening around him while his attention immediately dropped toward the bags over my shoulders before returning to my face.

“I am, and before you ask, yes, Mara knows I'm here.” I answered Tavian as I shifted the camera strap higher before he could automatically reach for it, catching the small twitch of his hand when he stopped himself.

“I wasn't going to ask.” Tavian protested as he lifted both hands, although the quick glance he gave the radio clipped at my belt ruined the denial before he'd even finished speaking.

“You absolutely were.” I told Tavian as I walked past him toward the living section, giving him a knowing look while he fell into step beside me with the restless energy that made it nearly impossible for him to simply walk somewhere.

“I was going to wait at least thirty seconds.” Tavian corrected me as he matched my stride, lifting his chin as though that represented remarkable personal growth.

“Thirty whole seconds? I'm impressed.” I told Tavian, and the pleased expression he gave me suggested he had chosen to ignore the sarcasm entirely.

Luca appeared from an adjoining room before I reached the worktable, drying his hands on a cloth, while Malek came through the far side of the courtyard a moment later with the damp heat of the forest clinging to his skin. His golden-brown eyes found me almost immediately, and tension I hadn't noticed carrying eased when all three scents reached me at once—cedar and damp earth, citrus and spice, sandalwood and herbs.