Page 56 of Kin of the Wolf

“I think she’s done some, yeah. Oh right. I remember. She does for sure. She has wolf molds that she uses.”

“Is she friendly enough toward Augustus that if he asked her to make something, she would?”

“Probably. Especially if he brought her a haunch of meat along with the request.”

“How about a side of bacon?”

“Uh, that might work. Why do you ask?”

I explained the mysterious box of chocolates.

“Aunt Martina wouldn’t poison anyone,” Jasmine said. “She’s ethical. She doesn’t even like it when her sons prey on ill or infirm animals on their hunts.”

“Well, she might have wandered out of the kitchen while Augustus dumped poison in the chocolate.”

“I can try to find out if she made anything for him.”

“Okay, good. I appreciate it.”

“Putting poison in chocolate would be a heinous act,” Jasmine said.

“Tell me about it.”

17

Exhaustedfrom the previous night’s adventures—misadventures—I slept from eight p.m. until six a.m. I could have continued even longer than that, but my phone rang. It wasn’t a number from my contacts, and I eyed it warily as I answered.

“Hello?”

“My wayward werewolf.”

I blinked up at the ceiling a few times before the voice and greeting clicked. I would have to add Rue to my contacts.

“Luna or Ms. Valens works,” I said. “And I’m not wayward. I’ve rediscovered my wolfness.”

“DirectlyafterI had to contact four suppliers and send your mate to scrounge all over the city and local wilds to acquire the ingredients for your potions.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. Do you want them back?”

“I cannot think of anyone else who would desire such things.”

“I have a cousin I wouldn’t mind castrating.”

“Oh, I havenumerouspotions for that. The ingredients aren’t even difficult to find.”

“I didn’t mean literally, though I suppose that might improvehis demeanor. At least make him less ambitious. But what I meant is that I could see sneaking some of the sublimation potion into whatever he drinks to steal his magic for a month.”

Or for life. Augustus would doubtless be as much of a dick if he was fully human, but he would have less power with which to threaten people. I was positive Francisco, a type of werewolf himself, wouldn’t cave to a mere human bullying him around.

“Slipping potions unannounced into people’s beverages would be duplicitous and devilish behavior,” Rue remarked.

“Yeah, you probably wouldn’t want your potions used in that way,” I said, though she hadn’t sounded that judgmental.

“How you use your potions, once paid for, is up to you.”

“Good to know. But I’d need something faster acting than the sublimation potion, anyway. What I really want is to make someone tell the truth. In front of witnesses. Or at least in front of my phone with the camera recording.” I wondered if getting Francisco and the convenience-store owners to describe Augustus and explain his threats would satisfy the pack arbiter. Probably not. They were outsiders.

“You desire a truth elixir?” The judgment that hadn’t been in Rue’s tone before was there now. Did she find such magic distasteful?

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