Page 178 of Beasts of Mine

I'd been away from them for less than a day.

Apparently, my body already considered that long enough.

I set my camera bag down and started reaching for the zipper before I noticed the table had moved. It had been closer to the window yesterday. Now it sat against the drier interior wall, where rain blowing through the opening wouldn't easily reach the surface, but it was still close enough to power that I wouldn't need to trail a cord across the floor.

“What?” Luca asked when he noticed me staring, his green-gold eyes moving from my face toward the worktable as he folded the cloth once between his hands.

“You moved it.” I told Luca, pointing toward the table while my gaze continued searching the room for anything else that looked different.

“Yes. Water was reaching the stone underneath it when the wind changed.” Luca answered as he leaned one hip against the nearby counter, watching my reaction without launching into an explanation I hadn't asked for.

I crouched to put away the camera bag and noticed the storage beneath the table next. There were two sealed boxes now, one more than yesterday, and the newer one was completely empty. The radio charger had been moved somewhere easier to reach, one drawer near the worktable had been cleared, a section of shelf stood unused, and extra blankets rested inside a nearby cabinet.

That was all.

There were no clothes waiting in the drawer, no toiletries someone had selected because an Omega apparently needed them, and no decorations lined up on the shelf to tell me which things were supposedly mine. No one had transferred my belongings anywhere or decided where my medication should live.

They had made room and left it alone.

“Are you expecting me to move in?” I asked as I looked from Luca to Malek and finally Tavian, trying to make the question sound lighter than it felt while my fingertips pressed against the edge of the table.

“No. We thought you might want somewhere safe for your things when you're here.” Luca answered immediately, his expression softening as though he understood exactly why I'd asked, but he didn't move closer or start pointing out every change they'd made.

“You don't have to use any of it. It can stay empty.” Malek added from the edge of the room, his voice quiet and steady while his posture remained relaxed instead of turning the answer into something heavier.

“The shelf has been very patient about it.” Tavian informed me as he glanced toward the bare section of wood, his expression completely serious.

I slowly turned toward him.

“It's a shelf, Tavian. It isn't patiently doing anything.” I told Tavian, and some of the tightness beneath my ribs eased when one of his eyebrows rose.

“You don't know what it does when we're gone.” Tavian replied as he folded his arms, looking mildly offended on behalf of the furniture while Luca lowered his face to hide a smile.

“I feel comfortable making that assumption.” I answered Tavian as I looked around the room again.

Luca hadn't rushed to explain every change, and Malek hadn't told me that I needed the space because I belonged there now. Tavian, despite apparently assigning personalities to the furniture, hadn't filled the shelf with everything he found outside. They had listened when I talked about humidity, batteries, equipment, and all the little practical problems of dragging expensive electronics into a rainforest. They'd noticed how I worked and what I needed, then stopped before turning any of that into decisions for me.

That was what got me.

“Thank you.” I told all three men after running my fingertips over the empty drawer once and pushing it closed, letting the sincerity show this time instead of covering it with a joke.

“You're welcome.” Luca answered with a small smile, pleasure warming his expression without making a bigger deal of the moment than I could handle.

Malek gave me a slight nod from where he stood, while Tavian looked pleased enough that I suspected he had somehow decided the shelf was partly his accomplishment.

I unpacked only what I needed. My cameras and lenses stayed near the worktable, cards and drives went into one of the sealed boxes after I checked that the interior was completely dry, and my medication remained inside my own bag because I knew exactly how I wanted it stored. Nobody questioned the choice or offered to put it somewhere “better.” Luca watched while I connected one battery to the charger, his attention briefly checking the equipment without hovering over my shoulder.

“You changed the table because of my laptop?” I asked Luca as I glanced toward him once the charging indicator came on, looking from the protected work surface to the window several feet away.

“And the drives. Anything you don't want wet.” Luca answered as he crouched beside the other end of the table, making sure nothing I'd unpacked sat too close to the edge before straightening.

“That is most of what I own.” I told Luca, looking over the collection of cases and equipment as I pushed a loose strand of hair away from my damp cheek.

“I noticed.” Luca replied with a quiet laugh, his gaze moving over the amount of gear I'd carried in before returning to me.

“I offered to move the entire roof.” Tavian informed me from where he'd leaned against the wall, sounding as though he'd contributed considerably more than I suspected he had.

“No, you didn't.” Malek corrected Tavian from behind him, his dry tone suggesting he'd been present for whatever original version of events Tavian was now rewriting.