Badger,” Ben mouthed. “What the hell is that?” He couldn’t deny the frisson of anticipation that threaded through his body like a red-hot wire.
Dae mimed zipping his lips, an evil glint in his eye. “Nope. You wait and see.”
Ben huffed then sighed in contentment when Dae snuggled in under his arms and laid a hand on his stomach. Ben chuckled.
“We can’t stay here all night. It’s not the most comfortable bed and the cleaners will be here early in the morning. Come on, we need to clean up and get going.”
Dae raised his head and huffed. “I was getting comfortable. Do we have to go now?”
“Yep. Come on, gorgeous. Let’s gather our stuff and get out of here.”
Ben stood and pulled Dae to his feet. They did some quick clean-up then Ben ushered Dae out of the offices and into the zoo grounds. The walk back to the car was pleasant. There was nothing Ben loved more than hearing the animals settling in for the night, or hearing the nocturnal ones chirping or growling. Or—was that the chitter-chatter of conversation? He frowned and listened carefully. It was coming from the aardvark enclosure they were walking past.
Perhaps someone had been left behind? Ben had often found kids hiding among the bushes along the path trying to sneak an after-hours preview of the animals. He nudged Dae, who was whistling softly under his breath.
“Give me a moment. I think someone’s hiding over there. Damn kids.”
Dae nodded sprightly and leaned against a lamppost along the path. “Go ahead. I’ll wait here.”
As Ben grew closer to the enclosure, the conversation grew louder. He still couldn’t see anyone though, but whoever it was, was female with a soft, light voice.
“I said to him, he can’t have it and he said, ‘Why not, it’s my bloody dinner, isn’t it?’” There was a tut-tutting sound. “I said, look, love, you can afford to lose a bit of weight so let the little ‘uns have the extra termites, all right? They need it more than you do.”
There was a strange trilling sound from another part of the enclosure and another voice spoke. This one was coarser and deeper. “My George is the same. He’s not only a lazy bugger, but he’s also a greedy one too. We ladies have our cross to bear with our men, don’t we?”
There was a snuffling sound and Ben leaned over the enclosure to get a better view. The area was dark, dimly lit only by a spotlight that remained on at night. Aardvarks were nocturnal and came out to forage. The only thing Ben saw were two aardvarks half in, half out of the light. Nothing was hiding there, or in the bushes around the enclosure.
How bizarre, he thought. Who the hell was speaking then?
One of the aardvarks looked up and stared at him. Ben squinted around to see better in case he’d missed anything.
“Well, would you look at that,” the lighter voice said. “We have a late-night visitor. He’s standing up there watching us. Bloody peeping Tom, I’d say. Hey, you up there. Mind your own business, will ya?”
Ben blinked once, then twice. The other aardvark looked over at him and Ben’s skin prickled. What the fuck? Was the animal watching him?
“I see him there, Daisy. He looks harmless enough, like. Ignore him, he’ll go away when he gets bored. They all do.”
Both animals regarded him and Ben hitched a breath. He was close to hyperventilating and was sure he was losing his mind. Were the aardvarks speaking, and talking about him?
“Come on, Madge. Let’s go inside,” he heard next as both animals turned and ambled towards the burrow.
Ben knew he’d be looking at a stay in a nice white room if anyone found out about what he did next, but he had to know. “Are you talking about me?” he managed to get out finally.
The aardvarks turned around. “Do you see anyone else around here?” the deep-voiced one said grumpily. “We may be old, but we aren’t crazy.”
“Oh God,” Ben said faintly. “They are talking. The aardvarks are talking.” He turned and stumbled back down the path towards Dae. “Dae, the animals are freaking me out. They’re talking about me. That’s impossible, isn’t it?”
Dae was still lounging against the lamppost and smirked. “You’re asking a Fae turned Djinn if animals can talk. Don’t you know nothing is impossible? Magic, remember?”
“You used magic on me?” Ben shrieked. “Why would you freak me out like that?”
Dae laughed loudly, the pealing sound echoing