Anna rises from her lab stool. “What type of canisters? Can you describe them?”
“Short and squat. They reminded me of the oxygen tanks firefighters carry, but dark green. They had initials on them and were in the truck every time they took me out to lure more shifters.”
“What initials?” Anna asks.
I close my eyes, thinking back to a time I’ve tried so hard to forget. “CD-MERC. I remember thinking merc for mercenary.”
“Mercaptan.” Anna faces Mila. “Maybe methanethiol or ethanethiol. I’ll have to run more tests to see which. Either way, itexplains the skunk smell the men complained about on their return.”
“We already considered the humans might be trying to mask their scent with skunk musk, but that doesn’t work,” Damien says.
“We’d still smell the humans underneath it.” Hayden adds.
“I thought I scented a human, but it was so faint, I dismissed it as being days old.” The words tumble out of Garrett’s mouth.
Hayden glares at him. “You didn’t say anything at the time.”
Garrett inhales deeply. “I dismissed the possibility humans were nearby.”
“Which could have cost us our lives.”
“Agreed.” Garrett swallows hard, and I can just imagine the guilt he’s holding in.
“You’d stopped trusting yourself by then,” I say softly. All heads turn to me. “Because of… Marla.” I hate saying her name, but he needs to forgive himself for all that resulted from her actions.
“Yes.” He says nothing more.
“Scenting humans… Damnit, Garrett,” Damien lays into him. “You know better. Even if you didn’t think much of it, it’s info you’re to share in the field, and later in debriefing,”
“It wasn’t his fault,” I try to defend, but Garrett tugs my hand to silence me.
“This isn’t about fault, darlin’. Right or wrong, I was off and screwed up.” He faces Damien. “It won’t happen again.”
Damien stares at him for a moment, grinds his teeth, then says, “Moving on. You look like you had more to say, Anna.”
“I don’t think they were using the musk to hide their own scent,” Anna says. “Mercaptan, when used in aerosol form, can release skunk musk as a byproduct.”
“Aerosol? For what?” Damien says.
“Aerosol makes a fabulous disbursement system, especially in a wide area like a valley.” Anna looks to Mila for help.
“Anna found Cadmium in all of you. That’s what’s affecting your scenting abilities.”
“I can still scent,” Frank says. Garrett, Hayden, Blade, and Callen all nod in agreement.
“We haven’t tested how well you five can scent,” Mila answers. “I guarantee, you’ve all lost some of your ability. The more exposure, the more severe the damage. You four are fortunate you didn’t stay in that valley any longer.”
“Like me,” I say.
“Yes, precisely. Thank you, Mila,” Anna says. “It’s hard not getting caught up in the science of it all. The WSSO has been relatively quiet for a while, and I think we now know why. I used a dithizone reagent kit for testing heavy metals on Garrett’s sample. I need lab confirmation, but the initial reaction indicated Cadmium in him as well. Higher than in Hayden, Blade, Frank, and Callen, but not as high in Angelina.”
“That tracks.” Mila says. “Garrett returned for Angel, incurred more exposure. The level of cadmium in Angel’s nasal tissue is nearly off the charts, which is why she’s lost nearly ninety-three percent of her ability to scent.”
“An entire year,” I mumble. “I breathed in whatever poison they were using out there for an entire year and it was so gradual, I never realized I was losing my ability to scent.”
Garrett’s arms curl around me from behind and he rests his head on my shoulder. “You had more pressing concerns, baby. But Mila and Anna will cure you. Won’t you?” he asks as he lifts his head and looks at the women.
“There’s a cure,” Mila confirms. “It will take time to make.”
