She sighed. “Is there any chance that someday soon you will revert to the quiet, never ask for favors, always reading a book, Mary?”
“Doyou really want that?”
“If it lets me sleep,” she muttered. She sat up and put her feet in her calico cat slippers before eyeing me. “I suppose you do seem more… engaged in life than normal.”
“Not more engaged. Just engaged differently,” I corrected.
“More connected with those around you.” She stretched, rising. “Okay, what is so desperate that you must wake me up before my alarm clock and force me to spoil a love potion before even Mom can get after me?”
“Frank,” I said. “It’s the only way I can think to save him.”
Kitty looked at me before grabbing her orange fluffy robe and throwing it on. “Let’s get started.”
At 2:00 p.m., I waited outside the bakery with a potion clutched in my hands. I prayed that Frank agreed to go along with my plan.
My heart did a little leap when I saw his Mercedes pull up. Without thinking, I rushed over and slid into the passenger seat. The heater blasted, warming me and bringing out the sage-like scent of his car.
“Okay so my idea,” I blurted as soon as I shut the door. “It's kind of just part of one.”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “There’s no time for half of an idea—”
I held the brewed elixir out to him. “Kitty helped me make this. It’s a possession potion. If I take over your mind, I can keep you from hurting anyone.”
His eyes grew round. “That’s the same potion that forced me to kill Isabella.”
Taking a breath, I nodded. “I thought that if I took you over, we could somehow lure the other werewolves to you. Get them to chase you using some method…” Hex, this plan sounded so convoluted.
Frank thoughtfully touched his chin. “Scent,” he said. “Werewolves have amazing senses of smell. They’re drawn to strong scents of…”
“Of what?”
“Meat and blood.”
Of course. It couldn’t have been daisies and rose petals.
He checked his phone. “I might be able to… it would be close…”
“What is it?” I asked, dying of curiosity.
He started the car. “We have to wait until my aunt’s perfume factory closes and we’ll need to make a stop by the grocery store.”
A few hours later, we’d filled Frank’s trunk with what felt like every package of raw meat from the local grocer, The Olde Orchard Market. We drove out to Fable and Fleur, the perfume factory owned by Frank’s family that resided just beyond the town line. I watched as the sign marking Austen Heights’ border passed us by. The Unmarked who lived in the town forgot all about magic once they crossed out of the town but instantly regained them once they returned. Frank and I were both Marked, however, so that wasn’t an issue.
The factory shut down at around 6:00 p.m., and we waited for everyone to leave, then unloaded the meat.
Large vats of sweet scents surrounded us inside. I drew a nervous breath. Possessing Frank wasn’t just a means to protect the town, it was to protect him. I didn’t knowwho possessed him last month or why. What if they tried anew? I’d ensure nobody attempted to control him again… by controlling him first.
A Bunsen burner with a small bottle sat on one side of a table. And on the other was lots of open raw meat we’d bought at the store.
“Are you positive this is the best way?” I asked.
Frank nodded. “This is what I do. I create the scents for the company, and then they figure out how to mass produce them. But tonight we only require this one scent and we need it strong.”
“Very strong.”
Frank’s eyes narrowed in concentration. He reached out a hand and a deep blue magic sparked at his fingertips. He directed it into the meat as a long, thin blue line of magical energy. “First, we enhance the scent.”
The dull smell of the meat heightened, ripening to a savory cacophony in my nose.
