Page 20 of Way of the Wolf

“My ex-husband. That drink you said, that’s the same as an Americano, right?” I added hot water to the espresso.

“I believe so.”

A soft beeping came from the table, and I frowned over at Duncan. He was tinkering with a handheld electronic device. Was that the same tool that he’d aimed toward Bolin’s man purse?

Immediately suspicious of him again, I pointed at it. “What is that?”

Duncan waved toward a case he’d brought in with him and set on the table by the door with his keys. I’d thought it was acameracase. But it was open now, this little device extracted. Whatever it was, it wasn’t a camera.

“My magic detector.” Duncan pointed to a small LED display. “It might be able to help you identify the ingredients in your potion.”

“I alreadyknowthe ingredients.”

Okay, I only knewsomeof them, the ones mentioned on the vials. If only from the color of the liquid, I suspected there were more. It wasn’t as if my retired witch-alchemist had created FDA-approved labels with calories, macros, and every ingredient listed.

Maybe the supposed magic detector could help, but I eyed it with as much suspicion as I had for Duncan. I’d never heard of such a device.

I took our two coffees to the table and also grabbed a few squares of a recent chocolate find: Peruvian dark with sea salt and ghost pepper chili. It wasn’t as spicy as it sounded, but the sweetness mixed with the saltiness and a slight kick made it fabulous.

“Do you have any remnants of one of your potions?” Duncan asked mildly, nodding his thanks as he accepted the coffee. He picked up one of the chocolate squares and sniffed it. “I can attempt to analyze them.”

I leaned closer to eye the supposed magic detector, a little box with crossed antennae that brought to mind a divining rod out of a museum. Duncan either pushed it closer to me, or it pulled his arm in my direction. Either way, it started beeping, its antennae quivering at my chest.

I scowled at it.

“Why, my lady. The device is drawn to you. Are you magical?”

I leaned back and stated, “No,” though he and his gists hadalready implied he knew the truth. To distract him, I asked, “Are you?”

Duncan turned the device toward his chest. The antennae also quivered at him, and the detector beeped again, more loudly than it had at me. “Goodness.”

Smiling, he set it down and sipped from his steaming coffee cup.

Shaking my head, I said, “Stay here,” and went into my bedroom.

Glad I’d made my bed that morning, however half-assedly, I padded through to the bathroom to grab the vial. More beeping came from the dining table. No, Duncan had left the table and stood inthe doorway to the bedroom, waving that thing around.

“What are you doing? I said stay in the kitchen.”

“My apologies, my lady. Iamtrying to obey your wishes, but the device is magical, you see, and it’s—” Duncan tugged backward, tendons standing out in his neck as he pulled. Or he did a good jobactinglike he was pulling. “I didn’t expect your flat to contain somuchmagic.”

He grunted again as it seemed to pull him a step into the bedroom, the antennae pointing toward one ceiling corner and then another. He tugged at it, drawing back to the doorway. The antennae swung about, this time pointing to the floor under one of the nightstands.

What the hell was going on?

“Perhaps we should have analyzed the ingredients outside,” Duncan said.

I watched the entire event—the entirecharade?—with great suspicion. “Turn it off.”

“But then we can’t?—”

“Turn it off!” I yelled.

Or was it almost a roar? My fingers clenched into fists as the same bestirring of my werewolf blood that I’d felt the night beforesurged through my veins, even closer to surfacing this time. The urge to change was almost overwhelming. I wanted to spring over and destroy that device, then run out into the woods, racing between the trees until I found appropriate game to slay.

I took a deep breath and forced my fingers to unclench. This wasn’t a fight, and I didn’t need to lose my temper. What I did need was to find someone to make my potion. In a couple more days, when the moon grew full, I might not be able to stop these urges. And I well remembered what could happen when I changed.

“I apologize,” Duncan said, dropping themy ladyand sounding more serious. Thankfully, the beeping had stopped. He’d turned off the device. “Are you okay?”

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