She used a combination of lemon, garlic, salt, soy sauce and brown sugar to create the perfect flavoring for the salmon, and once she started cooking, Lucas had to admit he was surprised at how wonderfully the smells graced his nose. Looking up, he saw that the primate was equally interested, swooping lower and lower down during the cooking process.

“Lo! Human! It is I! The great and mighty Linnaeus!” the primate squawked out from its beak as it landed a few feet from the group. “Unhand that delectable treat or prepare to become one!”

“So, I take it you’re hungry?” Lucas asked, ignoring the threat as he tossed the body that he had been carrying on the ground. “If you are, we have plenty of things to eat.” He nodded toward the body as well. “That is, if you agree to our terms.”

“Terms?” Linnaeus asked, his eyes narrowing as he stared at Lucas. “What terms could prey have with a predator?”

“Well . . .” Lucas began rocking back on his heels and acting as casually as possible while glancing over at the food. “I suppose the terms we have are pretty simple. You can either eat with us, dine with us, break bread with us and drop that attitude, or we can kill you right here and see if the next monster we meet agrees to our generous offer.”

“Monster?” Linnaeus glared. “I see. So, that’s how you view my kind. We’re just monsters, and you lot are the civilized folk coming here to make deals with us barbaric beasts!”

“Well, you do kind of eat people,” Nick offered.

“And you eat pigs. What of it?! Do you think that my diet instantly mandates that I must behave like some philistine fiend, a monster?” Linnaeus stepped forward, his giant beak inches away from Nick’s face.

“I wouldn’t be offering you a contract if I thought you a barbaric person, incapable of abiding by it,” Lucas said, stepping forward and sticking out his hand. “I’m here because I respect you enough to want your services for my own, and I’ve brought what I hope is adequate payment.”

“Yes, you have brought that, and they’re still breathing. Good.” Linnaeus scratched the bottom part of his beak as if it were a beard. “Intentions and manners—you’re quite the charismatic one. I suppose working with you won’t be entirely impossible.” Linnaeus took Lucas’s hand and gave it a shake. “I’m always pleased to make the acquaintance of someone like yourself, someone who won’t put himself above me and treat me like a mindless ape.”

“Of course.” Lucas smiled as he gripped Linnaeus’s hand tightly and maintained eye contact. “I can tell this will be the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship.”

“Indeed,” Linnaeus replied, his left eye squinting as he chomped his beak. “Which is why, like civilized gentlemen, we should, before settling any business, break bread.”