Page 76 of Kin of the Wolf

No, more than that. The case hadopened.

What had prompted that I didn’t know, but the translation of the words inscribed on the bottom came to mind:Straight from the source lies within protection from venom, poison, and the bite of the werewolf.

“I’m not leaving, just grabbing that,” I told Duncan so he would release my wrist. Even dying and in his mere human form, he was strong.

Maybe he saw the glow because he let go without questioning me further.

I lunged for the table. With the lid back, the case’s glow was so great that I couldn’t see what lay inside. Expecting it to zap thehell out of me, I reached in anyway. There was no time to hunt for my glove.

The metallic object inside was warm to the touch, but it didn’t zap me when I pulled it out. Itdidtingle against my palm, emanating magic that crackled in the air around me. Since it was the source of the glow, the case grew dark afterward, save for the reflection of light against its mother-of-pearl interior. The item itself felt like it had a handle and a top. With no idea how it worked, I knelt beside Duncan again.

“I’m going to…” I trailed off as the strong urge to set the item on Duncan’s chest came to me. Was it my idea or was the artifact suggesting it?

I didn’t know, but Duncan’s eyes had closed, his hand dropping from his chest to his side, and I worried he might already have passed. I rested the object on his chest, hoping it would somehow know what to do and have the power to save a life.

Silver light flashed, almost blinding me. Even as I squinted and looked away, I saw a dark silhouette in the brilliance. It was… mushroom-shaped? If so, I’d been grabbing a stem rather than a handle, but the metallic element promised it wasn’t some preserved fungal fossil from nature.

Despite its blinding effects, I kept it on Duncan’s chest. Power radiated up my arm but also flowed into his body via tendrils of magical energy that spread all over him. Like mycelium, I thought. If the artifact had been based on mushrooms, maybe that made sense.

Light also flowed out of it and intensified around the wound in Duncan’s side. That gave me hope that it knew what it was doing, that itcouldhelp.

“Should I be recording this?” Jasmine asked uncertainly.

“Can you see anything but brilliant light?”

“Not really.”

“Let’s just wait and see what—” The light intensified like asolar flare—or a nuclear bomb detonating. It filled every nook in the room, if not the house, and probably blinded people on the other side of the lake.

Duncan gasped, his back arching. I put my hand back on his chest, fresh fear and distress filling me. What if the artifact killed him instead of healing him?

The light disappeared, leaving me blinking and struggling to see in the abrupt return to normal.

Duncan took another breath, this one less distressed, then another. After a moment, he blinked and opened his eyes. “Luna?”

My vision starting to recover, I looked down at him. The wound hadn’t healed entirely, but it had stopped bleeding and scabbed over, now looking like it was days instead of minutes old. In my human form, I couldn’t tell if it smelled of a foreign substance, but it looked better.Duncanlooked better, color returning to his face.

“I’m here.” I patted his abdomen.

“Fondling my torso, yes.” He sounded agreeable—and much better than he had a couple of minutes ago.

“I put a strange glowing mushroom on it, so I thought you deserved a little fondling.”

“Iusuallydo, but…” His brows rose as he dipped his chin to look at the artifact. “A mushroom?”

“Well, it’s mushroom-shaped. It’s obviously… something else. Not a key, though, I don’t think. Your dream of unlocking dragon-guarded treasure with it may go unfulfilled.”

“Did it… save my life?”

“Yeah. I think it nullified the poison and… more.” I waved to his quickly healing wound. “It has some powerful magic.”

“I’ll say.” Duncan’s hand drifted to his heart. “I was sure I was going to die.”

“I worried about that too.”

He turned his head left and right, looking around the room,his gaze lingering on Augustus’s body but only momentarily. He eyed the table and the case. I could still sense magic from it, but much greater magic emanated from the artifact on Duncan’s chest. The case had to be insulated, dulling magic so that its hidden treasure hadn’t been that noticeable. Had it been, I would have sensed it in the duct under my bedroom floor long before Duncan had come along with his magic detector. Even with my powers quashed by that potion, I wouldn’t have missed this thing.

“How did you open the box?” Duncan picked up the artifact.

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