Page 162 of Beasts of Mine

Later, I carried my overnight bag into the sleeping room and started pulling out what I needed: toothbrush, clean shirt, sleep shorts, medical pouch, and a small toiletry bag. My camera was already secured inside the waterproof storage box Luca had prepared, with two batteries charging at the worktable in the next room.

The shirt Malek had given me was tucked near the bottom of my bag.

I pulled it out without thinking.

The cedar-and-rain scent had faded over the last couple of days, especially after I had already spent nights sleeping with the shirt tucked beside my pillow at the station, but enough of Malek remained that I brought the fabric closer for a second before laying it near the pillow.

The green seed Tavian had given me came out with my sleep clothes.

Apparently that had become essential overnight equipment too, because instead of putting it back in the bag, I set it beside Malek’s shirt. Then I remembered the tiny shell was still inside the mesh compartment of my camera bag in the other room.

I actually went back for it.

By the time I returned, Luca was standing near the doorway with a folded blanket over one arm. He stopped just inside the room, and his eyes moved briefly over the sleeping platform before returning to me.

“What?” I asked Luca, catching the look even though he tried to hide it.

“Nothing.” Luca answered far too calmly as he redirected his attention toward the blanket in his hands.

I followed where he had been looking. Malek’s shirt lay near the pillow. Tavian’s seed and shell sat beside it, and my own clean shirt had somehow ended up folded beneath the corner of Malek’s. I had also pulled one pillow closer and shifted another toward the wall because the gap between them had bothered me.

Nothing about that arrangement seemed particularly strange.

Which probably meant it was.

“What?” I repeated to Luca as I planted one hand against my hip and waited for whatever he clearly wasn’t saying.

“It will be cold later.” Luca replied as he held up the blanket. “This one’s softer.”

“Okay.” I answered Luca as I accepted it, and sandalwood and fresh herbs immediately surrounded me when the fabric settled across my arms.

Of course it smelled like him.

I put the blanket on the sleeping platform, looked at it for less than a second, then moved it closer to the pillow. One edge hung over the side, so I folded that underneath because leaving it like that bothered me for some reason.

When I turned again, Luca had become extremely interested in the wall.

“You are thinking something.” I accused Luca, pointing toward him from across the platform.

“I’m usually thinking something.” Luca answered as he sat on the edge of the mattress and started untying his boots, somehow maintaining a perfectly straight face.

“You did that thing where you deliberately looked somewhere else.” I told Luca as I folded my arms.

“I looked at the wall.” Luca replied as he loosened one boot and glanced toward the stone beside him.

“Exactly.” I answered Luca, narrowing my eyes.

“It’s a nice wall.” Luca informed me as he inspected the old stone with exaggerated seriousness.

“You are terrible at lying.” I told Luca, unable to keep the amusement from my voice when his fingers paused briefly on the second bootlace.

“I’m not lying.” Luca answered as he removed the boot and set it neatly beside the first. “The wall is structurally sound.”

I stared at him until he finally smiled.

“You’re impossible too.” I muttered to Luca as I sat on the opposite side of the platform and started removing my own boots.

“Different kind.” Luca replied, looking far too pleased with himself.