Kel crossed his arms. “You’re a strange one. Not anything like Minerva.”

I smiled. “You have that correct. You leave me alone, and I’ll leave you alone. And everyone is happy. Is there anything else you wish to show me?” If not, leave.

“No.” He subjected me to his amber stare a few seconds too long, obviously debating whether to say something else. He gave into the impulse. “Keep out of the woods. The ones who stay in fur can be impulsive.”

I cocked my head to one side. “You’re telling a dryad to stay out of the woods? Did that work with Min?”

“No, but she could take care of herself.”

My shoulders tensed. “And I can’t?”

His shoulders shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s something about you. Something lost. Or sad. It makes you seem like prey.”

I laughed. “Does ‘impulsive’ translate to ‘hunt down and eat lone dryads found in the woods’? Do I need to carry some sort of protection? Like wolfsbane? A rolled-up newspaper?”