Page 12 of Beasts of Mine

“This isn't happening,” I muttered to myself, gripping the strap across my chest as I tried to understand what I was seeing.

The glow suddenly intensified.

I threw one arm over my eyes.

For several seconds, warm gold showed through my closed eyelids.

Then it faded.

I lowered my arm carefully.

Someone stood beside the pool.

At first, I thought the figure was a woman. Looking again didn't make me as certain.

The being had a human shape and warm brown skin, but there was something unfamiliar about its appearance that made assigning anything else difficult. Long dark hair fell nearly to the ground, tangled with green leaves, small white flowers, and several iridescent feathers.

Then my attention dropped toward its feet.

The white bandage I'd wrapped around the tayra's leg was still there.

Now it circled a human ankle.

I lifted my gaze to the stranger's face. The eyes were the same.

Bright gold.

“No,” I whispered to the being, taking one involuntary step backward while my brain tried and failed to come up with a reasonable explanation.

The stranger smiled.

“No. Absolutely not,” I told the being, shaking my head as I lifted one hand between us. “I am not dealing with this today.”

The stranger's smile widened, but it made no move toward me.

“This is heatstroke,” I continued, pressing my fingers against my forehead while trying to assemble an explanation that belonged in the real world. “I'm overheated, probably dehydrated, and hallucinating because I ignored the woman who specifically told me not to wander off alone.”

“You aren't dehydrated,” the stranger said, its calm voice carrying through the clearing as quiet amusement appeared on its face.

I stopped.

It had spoken.

“You talk,” I said to the being, lowering my hand slowly as the obvious inadequacy of those words registered somewhere in the back of my mind.

“You watched me change shape, and that is what surprises you?” the stranger asked, tilting its head while a small smile lingered at the corners of its mouth.

I opened my mouth, but nothing useful came immediately.

“I'm having a difficult afternoon,” I finally admitted to the stranger, rubbing one hand over my face as my thoughts struggled to catch up.

The being laughed softly. The sound was warm and ordinary enough that it somehow made the situation stranger.

“What are you?” I asked the stranger, keeping several feet between us even though my curiosity was beginning to outweigh the impulse to retreat.

“That is a complicated question,” the being answered, studying me for a moment before glancing toward the tree.

“Can I have the uncomplicated answer?” I asked, motioning vaguely between the stranger and the pool.