Page 29 of Savage Giant

She swallowed hard. “What-what about human males?” she asked. “Do your people always kill them as well? I mean… there are cabins built by humans spread throughout the Cascades. Surely you run into human males rather frequently, especially during the warmer months.”

Savage. Beast. Monster. Soulless.

What would I say if she asked me for a number? If she askedhow manyhuman males I’d killed over the years? The truth would shock her, and I never wanted to see her looking at me as though I were a dark creature who spilled blood for sport. Yet I couldn’t fathom lying to her.

I took satisfaction in exterminating human males, but only when they reeked of evil. Only when they posed a threat to my people. But if she knew how much I enjoyed killing those males, knew how much I savored the scent of their blood and the terror of their screams, would she view me as a monster? Even worse, would she fear me?

“Well?” she asked, lifting her chin. She stiffened, as though bracing herself for an answer that would break her heart. “Do you? Killallthe human males who come here? I-I need to know. Please.”

I cleared my throat. “I have killed many human males over the years, Cari, but noteveryhuman male I have encountered. I let many of them go, but only the ones I am certain pose no threat to my tribe. But you must understand, I am duty-bound toprotect the Starblessed, as are my brothers and every other adult male from our tribe.”

She fell silent for a long moment, but I sensed the turmoil in her heart slowly giving way to acceptance, and I released the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

Her visage flickered with relief. “I’m glad you show mercy to the human males who mean you no harm. I-I worried that maybe… maybe you killed them on sight just as you do with Montikaans who are from other tribes. I kept thinking about what would’ve happened if my father or grandfather had run into one of you. I know for a fact neither of them would’ve tried to harm one of your people.” A faraway look entered her eyes, and the hint of a smile tugged at her lips. “They would’ve probably tried to befriend you. Or at least my grandfather would have. He was rather obsessed with the stories about your people.”

“Given how frequently your grandfather and father visited the cabin, it’s very likely they did meet one of my people at some point. They simply never remembered the encounter.”

Confusion spread over her. “Why wouldn’t they remember it?”

“Because when we encounter a human who doesn’t pose a threat to us, we erase their memories of the meeting. My father always called it the glamor. We touch the human and send confusion into their minds, and they walk away from the encounter without any idea they just met a Montikaan.”

Her eyes widened. “Wow. I had no idea. Though I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.” She sighed and cast a glance toward one of the back windows.

Satisfied that she understood—and more importantly,accepted—my tribe’s practices regarding human trespassers, I gently lifted her and set her on the couch. Then I rose to myfeet. I was reluctant to leave her, but I wanted the vile Fashoran male’s body gone.

“I’ll be back soon,” I promised. “Stay near the woodstove and keep warm.”

Chapter 20

CARI

Gorran was gone longerthan I’d expected. When he finally appeared on the front porch, he was covered in snow. In fact, it wascakedon him, a thousand sparkling white clumps sticking to his fur.

“What on Earth were you doing?” I asked, reaching for one of the clumps. I tried to dislodge it, but it was stuck. I was shocked that he wasn’t visibly shivering.

“After I disposed of the body, I cleared the snow from all the markers and erected several new ones as well. If anyone ventures near your cabin, they will hesitate when they see the snow has been cleared from the markers. They will know a very territorial Montikaan male is in the area.”

Ah. He’d been frolicking around the forest, clearing the old markers, twisting branches into new ones, and… urinating on them, no doubt. I crossed my arms over my chest. “I was starting to get worried about you.”

His eyes filled with regret. “I’m sorry,” he said. “Truly. The idea occurred to me after I was already a good distance from thecabin. I tried to be quick about it, but at one point, I had to eat a lot of snow and wait until I produced more urine.”

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from smiling. Or laughing. I didn’t think it was funny that he’d wandered around urinating on twisted branches, but the serious way he talked about it was rather humorous. Then I felt ridiculous for trying not to smile. He could sense my emotions. He knew very well when I thought something was funny.

A grin broke out across his face. “You think I look strange like this, don’t you?”

Oh.Oh. He believed I was on the verge of laughter because of the way he looked. I latched onto this idea with enthusiasm, nodding and finally allowing a grin to show. “Well, you do look a bit odd.”Like the abominable snowman, I thought. “Here, let me help you.” I once again tried to pull some of the clumps out, but I didn’t manage to dislodge many pieces from his fur.

“This has happened before,” he said, and I thought he might be blushing. Or maybe the cold had added some color to his cheeks. “There’s not much I can do but wait for it to melt. I’ll stand out here in the sun for a while and be fine.”

The afternoon sun was bright and beamed onto the porch, but I didn’t want him standing out here in the cold. Especially after today’s frightening events. I wanted him inside, warm and dry.

“I have an idea.” I grasped his hand and pulled him into the house. “Come with me. Stop fighting me and come inside. I don’t care about the floor,” I added when he protested that he didn’t wish to make a mess.

I led him to the living room and forced him to stand directly in front of the woodstove. I’d recently added more logs, and it was burning quite hot. Then I opened the hatch, allowing the heat to billow outward.

“Stand right here. I’ll be back.” I headed upstairs in search of towels but paused on the landing to get another look at him. He caught my eye and gave me a bashful smile that warmed my heart.

I hurried up the remaining stairs and grabbed as many towels as I could carry from the linen closet, then I rushed back to the living room. I set about placing towels on the floor for him to stand on, then draped the largest towel over his shoulders.

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