Persie Merlin and the Witch Hunters - Bella Forrest Page 0,25

away from the angry foursome and headed for two of my favorites, despite their fraternal quarrelling. “These are Pelias and Neleus, crocottas of Ethiopian origin, recently brought in by an African-expedition team. They were called in by a village that was being terrorized by these guys.”

Genie crouched low again and touched her hand to the glass. I resisted warning her about smudges, in case I ruined the moment. It was nothing a quick spray wouldn’t fix. The two hyena-like pups padded over to her, Neleus trying to nudge her palm through the orb. Pelias, not to be outdone, slobbered his pink tongue across the interior, trying to lick her hand.

“They don’t seem scary,” she said softly. “They’re kind of cute.”

Neleus flopped down in front of Genie and stared up at her with his honey-colored eyes. Pelias copied, resting his head on his brother’s, the two of them blinking sweetly at her with their tongues lolling out of their mouths. Had it not been for their big, leaf-shaped ears, their coarse, yellowed stripes, and their oddly bowed legs, they would’ve looked exactly like someone’s pet hounds.

I crouched beside her, so close I could smell her perfume. Not sugary, but fruity and sweet, with sophisticated notes of bergamot and citrus. It suited her perfectly. “They’re misunderstood, and they often get mistaken for oversized hyenas. That’s enough to worry a village that’s trying to protect themselves. Hyenas are known scavengers, but they won’t hesitate to snatch a child or a goat, or even a full-grown adult, if the mood takes them.” I sighed, brushing my knuckles against the glass. Pelias and Neleus followed the movement intently, their eyes glowing brighter. “I don’t like them being locked up like this, but it’s better than letting them be destroyed by people who don’t know what they are.”

“Do they… eat people?” Genie didn’t take her hand away, even with those suspicions on her tongue.

“No, but their nature brings them close to settlements.” I smiled, the two of us exchanging a fleeting gaze. My heartbeat skyrocketed, just from that one simple look. “They’ve been brought tragically close to the brink of extinction over the last few centuries, just because they’re so often mistaken for hyenas and are killed for it. I suppose they should’ve evolved a fear of humans, but it goes against their purpose.”

Genie nodded slowly. “And what’s that?”

“They can smell death, which, I’ve theorized, is why they look so much like hyenas. Hyenas are known scavengers of carrion. Instinct urges them to warn people of impending doom, regardless of the risk to themselves.” I got a little choked up and hurriedly turned my face away. “It’s strange, isn’t it, how an alert can be misconstrued as a bad omen? These crocottas give people a chance to change a variable in their fate, but they’re too afraid to understand. In a way, they’d rather kill their would-be saviors than try to listen to a beast.”

I turned back to find Genie staring at me, her eyes glittering with tears. “That’s the saddest thing I think I’ve ever heard.”

“In the village close to where these two were captured, they were discovered sniffing around a child in his home. The mother’s first instinct, upon seeing what she thought were a pair of hyenas, was to sound the alarm, which brought armed men who tried to kill them. They escaped, and news reached the Institute, which is why we sent out a team.” I paused, my throat tight. “When the hunters went to speak to the mother, they found out that the little boy had died in his sleep from an obstruction in his throat. The crocottas were trying to warn her that he was choking, but she misunderstood.”

Genie’s mouth fell open in horror. “Chaos… That’s awful. That poor boy, and his poor mother, and these poor beasties.” Her hand lifted from the glass and, for a split second, I froze, thinking she was about to raise it to my cheek, where a tear had spilled down. Instead, her hand hovered midway between us, as though my internal panic had stopped time.

“It’s rare to see one, and rarer still to see a set of twins,” I said, breaking the tension and brushing away the tear. “I’ve really got to stop leaving their treat box open. I think I got a crumb or something in my eye.” I’d already told her that I made the treats myself, as a conversation starter, which had made her chuckle. She’d even threatened to buy