Page 75 of Kin of the Wolf

A clunk sounded nearby, another ally striking a wolf with a pot, keeping him from reaching me. Relentless, I tore into the enemy before me. Augustus tried to run, but the furniture impeded him, and his foot caught on the floor. He pitched to his knees, leaving his throat at the level of my snout. Without hesitation, without mercy, I lunged in and ended his life.

22

After Augustus fell,the rest of my enemies fled, most limping and leaving blood on the floors. My awareness returned slowly, along with the knowledge that Duncan had been injured.

His magic faded before mine, leaving him naked and human on his back, his hand to his side, blood leaking through his fingers. I’d seen him injured a dozen times, and most wounds he shrugged off, trusting his regenerative werewolf magic to heal him. But something was different this time. I could see it in his stricken face, the uncharacteristic fear in his eyes.

I whined uncertainly, coming close to sniff his wound. That was when I detected it, something off, something mingling with the blood. I remembered the oily gleam on the sword.

What had coated it? Venom? Like from a rattlesnake? Or poison made by humans?

“My heart is flopping around in my chest like a dying fish,” Duncan whispered, touching my jaw. “Is he dead?”

Yes, Augustus was, but I couldn’t say that as a wolf. And I couldn’t help Duncan in this form.

Adrenaline still pumped through my veins, but I willed themagic to fade, for my humanity to return. I couldn’t remember what, but there was something I could do to help him as a human.

The magic disappeared, leaving me on my knees at Duncan’s side. His hand shifted from his wound to his heart. Right away, I remembered what I had that might help. I shoved myself to my feet, stepped over my cousin’s body, and delved into my jacket pockets, glad I’d cast that aside before changing. I’d thrown Bolin’s sphere, but most of the vials remained inside. I dug out one of the antidotes.

But would it do anything for this particular poison? As I knelt again by Duncan, I realized this had to be something different from the one Augustus had mixed into the chocolate. That had been slow-acting, designed to make it hard to pin down what caused a death. But this… This was killing Duncan quickly.

“Drink this,” I whispered, hoping it would somehow work anyway.

Fingers shaking with fear that it wouldn’t be enough, I lifted Duncan’s head and held the vial to his lips.

“Smells awful,” he whispered but didn’t object to me draining it into his mouth.

“All good medicine does.”

The potion slid down his throat, but the worried look in his eyes didn’t leave, the fear of impending death. I rested two fingers on his neck and felt his erratic pulse. With my own fear increasing, I grabbed another vial and spattered it over his wound, on the off chance that might help.

“Is that… hygienic?” Duncan whispered, managing a fleeting smile.

“No, but if you die, it won’t matter if it gets infected.”

“Comforting.”

I rested a hand on his abdomen, looking around for something more I could do. If Augustus kept poisoned swords in his house,might there be an antidote around? Could one of the vials in the medicine cabinet be the cure?

I rose, thinking to check and hope for labels, but Duncan caught my wrist.

“Don’t go,” he whispered.

“I need to look for an antidote. I don’t think what I gave you was the right one for that poison.”

“I’ve lived almost my whole life alone,” Duncan said. “I’m realizing… very late… that I don’t want to die alone.”

His face was pale, his fingers blue-tinged. The erratic heartbeats weren’t pumping enough blood through his body.

With a lump in my throat, I whispered, “I don’t want you to die at all. I need to find something.”

“Uhm, Aunt Luna?” came Jasmine’s voice from the kitchen.

She held her phone, probably indicating she’d recorded at least some of the altercation, but that was the least of my worries at that moment.

“Is that… your case?” Jasmine pointed at the sofa table, at a silver glow coming from the top.

“Oh,” I blurted, reminded that it had started glowing during the fight.

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