‘What is that?’ The scepticism leapt from his tone. ‘It can’t be real.’
‘It’s real.’ Flávia ignored her leaping nerves and tried for a light laugh. ‘Even though, I’ll agree, it looks like something straight out of a sci-fi movie. Gentlemen, meet bocydium globulare—aka the Brazilian treehopper.’
‘No, surely not? That’s really real?’ Jake shook his head.
‘What are the balls on its head?’ Brady demanded, fascinated.
And she found it was easier to concentrate on Brady and pretend that Jake wasn’t there.
‘Ah, now, they are spheres of chitin, a fibrous substance and primary component of the exoskeletons of arthropods, as well as the cell walls of fungi.’
Brady touched the screen with his finger, as though it could somehow bring him closer.
‘Is it a male?’
‘Nice guess—you might think so given how flamboyant the males of species often are compared to their female counterparts,’ Flávia congratulated. ‘But actually, this ornamentation is found on both sexes of treehopper alike.’
‘So what are the spheres for?’ Brady asked.
‘Honestly, Brady, we’re not entirely sure. We think it’s possible that they are there to deter predators. It would certainly be harder to catch and eat something like this with all those balls on its head, wouldn’t it?’
‘Yeah.’ Brady nodded vigorously.
‘That said,’ Flávia hurried on, reminding herself to stay focused on Brady rather than
the fact that Jake seemed to have taken a step closer and was now sending her reactions into overdrive, ‘these spherical ornaments also sport bristles, so it’s possible that they are sensory bristles and the ornamentation also has some tactile function we don’t yet understand.’
‘That’s so cool,’ Brady inhaled.
‘I like to think so.’
It was all she could do not to snap the camera back into place and leap away from Jake. To try to regain even a fracture of her composure.
Her brain didn’t really seem to be functioning well all of a sudden.
‘Anyway, come on, the sanctuary is this way.’
‘I didn’t know we were going to the sanctuary?’ Jake frowned, his low voice sending ripples right through her.
‘We weren’t.’ Why was it suddenly so hard to keep her voice light, and breezy? ‘But I thought you might like to see it, given the amount I’ve talked about it.’
And maybe there she could remind herself where her heart, and mind, lay. And help her to get over this obsession with a man who could never exist in her real world.
‘Flávia...’
She wanted so badly to stop. To talk to him.
Pretending not to hear, Flávia practically launched herself in front of Raoul. Anything to establish a bit of a gap—however artificial—between her and Jake.
‘Come on. I’ll lead the way for a bit.’
* * *
Cesar stepped into the designated habitat, the large viper coiled on the ground, and Flávia watched him move his homemade staff to the snake’s neck. Gentle and accurate, that was Cesar’s motto. And much as the two of them adored their beloved snakes, they would never lose respect for what the powerful animals were capable of.
She held her breath, as she always did at these moments. Then Cesar was moving, fast and precise, pinning the bushmaster to the ground before scooping it up, keeping its neck straight and smooth so it couldn’t snap its head back and clamping it under his arm.
Flávia moved forward quickly with the film-covered container, and Cesar lowered the snake until it bit down, its venom sliding into the clear pot.