Page 75 of Beast and Remedy
17
Keep It Together
Bringing our friends into our home was the hard part. The guards and staff recognized a king in their midst, bowing and acknowledging him.
It was awkward at first, but mercifully, Jean and Pierre cleared the air with the household before we gathered for a meeting. They were kind and welcoming, and the tension looming over me eased. But during our discussion, Beau revealed his abilities, surprising Jean and Pierre and all but confirming our beliefs.
And despite everyone getting reacquainted with the most recent updates, Pierre’s knowing gaze watched me. I need to prove bringing our friends here is worthwhile, or else his studious attention I feel even more now will never dwindle.
Now, in my alchemy room, I deposit the honey I received in Palaena into its designated vial while the others converse.
“You have so many bottles,” Jules marvels as she approaches from behind.
“And I thought you’d only have a massive collection of books,” Leo adds, earning a snicker from Marian and a shushing from Christine.
I scoff under my breath at Leo’s comment but smile at the supplies I’ve slowly recovered. “I used to have a lot more,” I say over my shoulder.
The scent of pine and lemon pulls my focus to Beau as he raises a tattered book and approaches. “Was this from the wolf you sheltered?”
I nod solemnly before facing the others. “We cleaned up the majority of the mess, but I kept the ruined pages, hoping to eventually put the information back together somehow.”
Everyone glances at the damaged tomes. The thin spines and ripped pages stacked higher than the three ledgers piled atop one another.
“I half expected there to be more,” Marcel comments.
“We are lucky there wasn’t,” Marian adds. “Vi already lost her shit with those three.”
I glare at my sister, and she shrugs, sharing a knowing look with Leo.
Beau reads the spine of the tattered book before filtering through some of the contents. “These might be useful for our research. They are directly related to wolves in general, and learning about their anatomy will help.”
“We can’t read them if they are damaged,” Marian grumbles.
“I’ll piece them together!” Christine volunteers, earning an arched brow from Beau. “Oh, come on, you know I have a keen eye. You use me whenever you can’t read medicinal documents.”
“We can all help,” Marcel suggests. “We all need something to do, anyway.”
Jules clears her throat. “I hate to add to this, but has anyone considered this could be affecting more than wolves? Should we be researching other animals, too?”
The stress I cannot escape from clings to my muscles, and I rub the back of my neck. “We don’t have any information that it is affecting anything other than wolves and humans.”
“What if the virus happened before the wolf was brought here?” Leo asks.
“Other than the fact it was injured, it seemed normal,” Marian answers. “At this time, let’s assume whatever started this infection, started in this room.”
Beau runs a hand through his hair, his biceps flexing underneath his dark-green tunic, and my fingers twitch with the need to touch him.
“Let’s break down in detail all the events leading up to the wolf’s attack.” His eyes flick to me, and I bristle, caught in the act of ogling him. “Vi, do you have a record of some sort with all the vials you had?”
“Y-Yes,” I reply, letting my waves fall forward, praying that he cannot see the blush breaking out across my cheeks.
“Good, we will need to write everything down and research the outcomes when combining these elements. If such a reaction to ingesting ingredients came from this, we need to look beyond the virus. We need to understand it and then we can treat it,” Beau says.
His suggestions are spot on, yet I can’t help but add, “That’s only part of the equation.”
“Indeed, I was about to suggest we divide into groups. One to work on piecing together these ledgers, one to list the ingredients and varying outcomes, one to read up on infections,and the last to record information from the reports we have and are sure to receive.”
Jules and Christine huddle close. “We can piece together the parchments!”
