Chapter Twenty-One #3
“Because you need those things.” Luca answered as though it were obvious. “If you spend time with us, your work doesn’t disappear.”
The wording stayed with me. Even after convincing me to spend tonight at the temple, Luca wasn’t speaking as though tomorrow, next week, or anything after that belonged to him already. He was only asking what would make the time I chose to spend there easier.
“What about humidity?” Luca asked as he nodded toward my camera bag. “Does it damage the equipment?”
“Yes. Especially if moisture gets trapped inside bags or lenses. I use silica packs, dry cases when I have access to them, and I’m careful about temperature changes.” I answered Luca while shifting the strap higher, already feeling dampness beneath it.
“We have sealed storage containers.” Luca considered that for a moment. “Not camera cases, but some are waterproof.”
“You have waterproof storage?” I asked Luca, realizing again how much I had assumed about a place I had only seen in pieces.
“For medicine, dried herbs, documents, anything we don’t want the rainy season destroying.
” Luca answered before stepping aside when I paused to photograph a pair of tanagers moving through low branches.
He went silent immediately and waited several feet away while I raised my camera, took a short burst, and checked the frame.
“And blockers?” Luca asked once I had started walking again, his gaze dipping toward the medical pouch inside my pack.
“What about them?” I asked Luca, watching him more carefully now.
“How do you store them?” Luca asked, his tone matter-of-fact rather than intrusive.
“Mine are stable at normal room temperature as long as they stay dry and don’t bake in direct heat. Emergency heat medication is the same.” I answered Luca as I touched the medical pouch through the fabric of my pack. “I check expiration dates before long assignments.”
“Anything else I should know?” Luca asked as he stepped over another root, making it obvious he intended to remember every answer.
“You realize I am staying one night.” I reminded Luca as I followed him across.
“I know.” Luca replied once I was beside him again. “One night still requires things.”
I couldn’t even argue with that. I let him keep whatever list he was building in his head as we continued deeper into the forest, although I suspected at least one waterproof container had already been reassigned to camera equipment without anyone physically touching it yet.
The temple came into view gradually, stone appearing between vines and broad-leafed plants long before the whole structure revealed itself.
I had seen the outer courtyards, older passages, and sections where age and jungle had won, but Luca took me around the eastern side instead.
The path narrowed between two old walls before opening into a courtyard I hadn’t seen before, and the difference was immediate.
The stone here had been cleared of most invasive vines, leaving climbing plants only where someone had deliberately allowed them to remain.
A drainage channel ran neatly along one side of the walkway, carrying recent rainwater away from the rooms. Wooden shutters covered several openings, two solar panels sat on a repaired section of roof beneath a break in the canopy, and the worn paths between doors made it obvious these rooms were used every day rather than occasionally visited.
“This is where you actually live.” I said to Luca as I stopped in the courtyard, taking in the maintained doors, swept stone, repaired wood, and little signs of routine that made the place feel entirely different from the ruins I had been exploring for work.
“Yes.” Luca answered as he stopped beside me and let me take everything in without rushing me. “Most of the older sections are still useful, but these rooms are easier to maintain.”
“I thought you were living in slightly improved ruins.” I admitted to Luca as I walked toward the nearest doorway and ran my fingers along a repaired section of wood.
“That would be uncomfortable.” Luca replied as he followed me beneath the old stone lintel. “And very wet.”
“Still judging the tarp?” I asked Luca over my shoulder.
“Never.” Luca answered solemnly, although the movement at the corner of his mouth ruined the attempt.
Inside, the temperature dropped several degrees, and what waited beyond the doorway wasn’t modern but was unmistakably lived in.
A long wooden table occupied the center, its surface scarred from years of use but clean.
Shelves lined one wall, holding ceramic containers, glass jars, folded cloth, tools, bundles of dried herbs, and several metal tins.
A broad counter had been fitted beside a cooking hearth with a modern camp stove tucked at one end.
Hooks held pots and utensils, baskets beneath the counter contained root vegetables, fruit, and wrapped supplies, and sealed containers sat neatly labeled farther down.
Daylight entered through the open shutters, supplemented by two small battery-powered fixtures near the ceiling.
“You have labels.” I told Luca as I stepped closer to read the handwritten markings, amused by how ordinary that small detail felt inside an ancient hidden temple.
“Malek hates looking for things.” Luca explained with enough seriousness that I couldn’t immediately tell whether he was joking.
“I believe that.” I answered Luca as I read several of them—rice, dried beans, salt, herbs, tea, flour—each written clearly enough that there was no chance of anyone claiming they couldn’t find something.
A quiet electrical hum from the far corner caught my attention, and when I followed it, I stopped.
“You have a refrigerator.” I said to Luca as I stared at the small appliance before turning back toward him.
“A small one.” Luca answered while leaning against the wall, openly entertained by my reaction now.
“In an ancient hidden jungle temple.” I reminded Luca as I gestured toward the refrigerator and then broadly at the stone surrounding us.
“It was expensive.” Luca admitted with a faint grimace. “And getting it here was unpleasant.”
“How?” I asked Luca, genuinely unable to imagine any reasonable method of delivering a refrigerator this deep into the rainforest.
“Tavian.” Luca answered with one word, his face so matter-of-fact that I immediately suspected the story was much worse than he was admitting.
“That explains absolutely nothing.” I told Luca, already picturing Tavian hauling the thing through the jungle with far too much confidence.
“It explains most of it.” Luca replied as he pushed away from the wall and headed toward the next room, apparently satisfied to let my imagination handle the rest.
I followed him through the living area, taking in far more evidence of an actual home than I had expected.
There was a bathing room supplied by collected and filtered water, with a raised stone basin and simple gravity-fed shower.
Another room contained tools, repair materials, rope, sealed medical supplies, and enough practical equipment that it looked more like a workshop than anything ancient.
Clothing hung inside carved wooden cabinets protected from humidity by drying packets, while shelves held folded towels, spare linens, soap, and other supplies that made it clear the men had done far more than occupy whatever sections of the temple happened to remain standing.
“Where are Malek and Tavian?” I asked Luca after realizing I hadn’t heard either of them since we arrived despite their scents lingering throughout the rooms.
“North boundary.” Luca answered as he opened another cabinet and checked the contents. “They planned to stay at one of the trail shelters tonight. They knew I asked for today.”
“You really are coordinating.” I told Luca, remembering my accusation from yesterday and the suspiciously smooth way all three men had been giving one another time alone with me.
“A little.” Luca admitted as he glanced toward me, showing no particular shame about it.
The sleeping rooms were farther inside and weren’t bedrooms in the modern sense so much as old chambers reclaimed and softened over time.
Platforms had been repaired and covered with thick mattresses, woven mats, blankets, pillows, and mosquito netting where necessary.
One larger room held several sleeping spaces rather than separate beds, and the combined scents inside stopped me just beyond the doorway—cedar and damp earth, citrus leaves and spice, sandalwood and herbs, all layered together.
My shoulders relaxed before I consciously realized why, and the overnight pack suddenly felt twice as irritating against my back.
Luca noticed the change, but whatever he made of it, he kept to himself.
“This one is usually ours.” Luca explained as he stepped past me and rested one hand against the broad sleeping platform, leaving enough room that I could decide whether to enter farther. “There are other rooms if you want your own space.”
I looked around again, taking in folded blankets inside an open cabinet, clothing stacked neatly along one side, and a low shelf holding books, a lantern, a small charging bank, and several personal items that made the room feel occupied rather than prepared for visitors.
“I thought leopards were solitary.” I told Luca as I lowered my overnight bag onto the floor and rolled one shoulder after finally getting the weight off it.
“Leopards are.” Luca answered as he crouched beside one of the storage boxes and opened it. “We’re people who turn into leopards.”
“Convenient distinction.” I told Luca as he pulled out a folded blanket.
“We like sleeping together sometimes.” Luca explained while placing the blanket on the platform and smoothing one corner beneath his palm. “Sometimes we don’t. Depends on the night.”
“And if someone joins your pack?” I asked Luca, running my fingers over the worn strap of my overnight bag while trying to make the question sound more casual than it felt.