Her eyes widened. “Oh. Okay then. That’s…not what I was expecting.”
“What were you expecting?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. Research? Exploration? ‘Studying the fascinating sentient jungle ecosystem’ kind of thing. Not ‘hunting dangerous space criminals.’”
“I am not a scientist.”
“Clearly.” She gave me a once-over that heated my blood despite the danger surrounding us. “More the action hero type. Got it.”
The jungle rippled around us, a subtle wave of awareness passing through the connected root system. I placed my palm against a massive tree trunk, extending my senses into the living network.
*Proximity alert. Movement northeast. Two hundred meters.*
The jungle’s response came not in words but impressions—a directional pull, a sense of watchfulness. The fugitive was circling, perhaps trying to determine if I was still tracking him or if I’d been distracted by the new arrival.
Miri was watching me, her head tilted in curiosity. “Are you...talking to the trees?”
“Yes.”
She blinked. “Okay. And?”
“They talk back.”
A slow smile spread across her face. “That’s actually pretty cool. What do they say? And don’t tell me it’s classified or I’ll have Phil tickle you.”
I raised an eyebrow at the threat, but the vine she’d named actually undulated in what appeared to be agreement. The jungle found her amusing. So did I, against my better judgment.
“They sense everything that moves through the ecosystem,” I explained, resuming our path. “They tell me when something doesn’t belong.”
“Like me?”
“Like you,” I agreed. “But they have accepted you.”
She glanced at the vine that had draped itself casually across her shoulder. “Yeah, Phil and I are tight. But what about the bad guy? The fugitive? Does the jungle tell you where he is?”
My ears flattened slightly before I could control the reaction. She caught it immediately.
“He’s close, isn’t he?” Her voice lowered, the humor draining from it. “That’s why you keep scanning the trees. That’s why you’re so tense.”
I considered lying to her. It would be easier. Simpler. But the Unity bond between us was already strengthening—shewould sense deception, even if she couldn’t name what she was sensing.
“Yes.” I stepped closer to her, instinctively shielding her with my body. “But he doesn’t know we’re aware of him. As long as we remain calm and continue on our path, we maintain the advantage.”
To my surprise, she didn’t panic. Her eyes sharpened, her posture straightened, and she nodded once. “Gotcha. Act natural. I can do that.” She resumed walking, her movements deliberately casual. “So, Lor Pardus, tell me more about these Unity dreams. Is it like a one-time thing or can they happen again?”
I matched her pace, impressed by her adaptability. Most humans would have reacted with fear or denial to the knowledge of nearby danger. Miri responded with strategic redirection.
“They will continue,” I said, keeping my voice conversational while my senses remained on high alert. “Stronger each time. More...intense.”
A flush crept up her neck. “More intense than the last one? That’s...wow.”
The memory of our shared dream sent heat coursing through my veins—her taste, her scent, the way she had claimed me as thoroughly as I had claimed her. But now was not the time for such thoughts. Not with the fugitive so close.
The canopy opened ahead to reveal my temporary high shelter—a treetop alcove strung between thick-bellied trunks, cloaked with camo vines and insulated moss. A perimeter barrier wove underneath, invisible to the eye but deadly to anything that touched it wrong.
It wasn’t permanent. But it was safe.
“For now,” I murmured.