Page 39 of Horn in My Side
“I don’t think I’ve ever met a tree giant.”Nor had he heard of them either.
“Well, technically he’s half tree giant because his dad’s human.But, tree giants, or kapre, live in the forests in the Philippines.Kap’s grandparents immigrated here, but his mom was born in Chicago and so was he.It’s weird, really.Their kind don’t usually leave their homes, much less the country.”
Weird, indeed.
“I was pretty shocked to see him here in Dewberry Falls.Afraid even, because tree giants aren’t known to be sociable.But anyway, we’ve been friends ever since we met.”
Just friends?
“Uh, yeah?”Her eyebrows drew together.“Just friends.”
Mal mentally slapped himself on the forehead, as he realized he’d said that out loud.“Er, yeah, that’s good.Good to have friends.”Relief, however, sluiced through him and that bolt lodged in his chest disappeared.“Er, so, I should start measuring the space for the hatching tank.”
“Yeah, sounds good.Thanks again.I should put this back to keep it safe.If my calculations are correct, it’ll be a few more weeks before it hatches.”
“Here, let me do that,” he said, picking up the box.He followed her back upstairs to the hatchery room and replaced it on the table.“Will it be okay in here?”
“Yeah, they’re surprisingly easy to take care of.It just takes a lot of waiting.My supplier said we can it move around, as long as we’re careful.”She reached into the box and adjusted the hay under the egg, her hand brushing over the scaly surface.
What the—
He could have sworn the scales on the egg glimmered under her touch, but it had been so fast, so he wasn’t sure.
“Did you see that?”
She stared up at him.“See what?”
“Nothing.”Must’ve been a trick of the light.
She brushed her hands together.“Okay, Clawed is safe.”
“Clawed?”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking of naming him.You know, like the French name ‘Claude’ but spelled with a W-E-D: a play on ‘claw’.”She shaped her fingers into crab claws, snapping them together.“Or Clawdia, if she’s a girl.”
“Will we be able to tell?”
She laughed, her voice like tinkling bells that made his insides all warm.“We’ll have to wait, I guess.But, Mal?”
“Yeah?”
Brown doe eyes softened.“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
She flashed him one final smile before she left.
Yup.Fucking goner.
Chapter Ten
JASMINE
“Three ...two ...one ...And we’re done!”Erik the spin instructor called out from the front of the class as the music changed and the flashing lights slowly faded away.“You all were amazing.Give yourselves a round of applause.”
“Whew!”Jasmine took a swig from her water bottle as she wiped her forehead with a towel.“Finally.”
“Was that only forty-five minutes?”Leila, the girl on her right, panted.“Felt like hours.I don’t know if I’m cut out for this.I could barely keep up with the routines.”
