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Sharah entered the room again, fol owed by Mal en. She nodded for him to go ahead. "Go for it."
Mal en gave us a brief smile, then launched into an explanation. "What we're dealing with here is known by several terms. Wolf Briar, for one, and on the streets it goes by the nickname 'hair of the wolf.' As Sharah said, it's a combination of herbs and desiccated adrenal glands and the powdered pituitary glands of an alpha werewolf."
"They'd have to be kil ed, wouldn't they, to extract those glands?" I was beginning to understand the underlying issue.
"Oh yes, but there's more. Not only are they kil ed and dissected to retrieve the glands, but they're enraged before death to heighten the flow of adrenaline and testosterone." Mal en, an elf, was probably far older than we were, but he barely looked old enough to shave. When he spoke, his presence was quietly commanding.
Chase looked confused. "What does that mean?"
"It means that most of these cases involve imprisoning male werewolves, goading them into fight-or-flight stances, and then murdering them. Most likely involves torture, as wel ." Mal en had a look of faint distaste on his face. Elves were good at keeping their emotions close. That look alone told me he was upset.
Camil e let out a little snarl. "Fucking pervs. But how can they possibly be capturing enough alpha males? Wouldn't somebody notice?"
A question we'd al been thinking, by the nods Sharah and Chase gave her. But Mal en shook his head.
"Here's where it gets even worse. Some sorcerers--and usual y sorcerers are the ones who conjure this evil mess--have devised ways to force a beta male into temporary alpha status. Nobody notices the lone werewolf who vanishes, or the raggle-taggle whipping boy of the Pack who suddenly disappears. Happens al the time--low wolf on the ladder strikes out to make a life on his own rather than get shoved around. Most of the lycanthrope Packs are hierarchal to a bureaucratic degree. And most are highly patriarchal. You catch one of these betas, feed him enough steroids, and boom, you have a forced alpha male."
I sucked on my bottom lip, thinking. "How long does the Wolf Briar last? Does it travel wel ?"
Mal en shook his head. "No, this is one of the brews that you have to use right away, in order to preserve the energy of the glands."
"So, for example, someone couldn't bring it al the way from Arizona and be sure it wil stil work?" If Rice had stooped to using Wolf Briar, knowing what its ingredients were, then he'd most likely have brought it with him.
"No. My guess? Local y made in the past few days. There's probably a dead werewolf body hanging around somewhere. If you can find the corpse, you'l find he's been dissected."
Camil e winced. "People are extremely good at getting rid of bodies when it suits their needs, and we can be sure that this won't be the first time the sorcerer in question has stooped to making it. These potions are tricky and take many years to learn how to craft. We're going to be looking for someone skil ed. A necromancer wouldn't bother with this crap. But a sorcerer, seeing the chance for good money . . ."
"Magic shop?" I asked. "We should start dropping in around town trying to find someone who fits the bil ."
"Right." She nodded. "But skip the neo-pagan FBH shops. They wouldn't have the know-how or skil , though perhaps a strega might. But the sorcerers--
they're another matter. And we can't rule out that it might be someone from OW or from the Sub Realms."
"Meanwhile, where is Amber?" I turned back to Mal en. "Just what wil Wolf Briar do to a female werewolf? And a pregnant one, at that?"
"Make her pliable. What it does to any non-alpha male and any female is amp up the innate reflex to obey authority that werewolves are born with."
I glanced at Camil e. "So we can be sure that the Wolf Briar made Amber passively obey whoever kidnapped her. You know, Rice might have used it to avoid creating a scene."
Camil e paused before gingerly trying to stand up. She dropped back on the bed. "Fuck, this stuff is bad. We need to establish whether Rice is stil in Arizona. Of course, he could be working through someone else, but I think it would behoove us to find out where he is. He may be abusive, and he might want Amber back, but would a werewolf real y chance chal enging the Pack leader by using something so anathema to his race?"
"It doesn't make sense, does it?" With that thought, I let out a long sigh. "You think you're ready to head home for now? We need Menol y's input, and maybe the boys have found out something about the sixth spirit seal."
Camil e nodded, turning to Sharah. "Am I cleared to go?"
Sharah checked her over once more, quickly. "You look okay. Cal me if you have any signs of a relapse. Meanwhile--a lot of fresh air and water to get the residual Wolf Briar out of your system, and you rest tonight. No gallivanting around."
Chase promised to stay in contact, and we headed out to my Jeep. As I helped Camil e into the passenger side from the wheelchair--Sharah wouldn't let her walk to the car--she winced and rubbed her temples.
"Headache?" I lightly massaged her neck, and she sucked in a deep breath, then slowly let it out again.
"Yeah, aftereffects. Sharah warned me I might have a few periods of dizziness and that I could use a good solid night of sleep."
"We'l make sure you get it." I swung into the driver's seat and fastened my seat belt. Frowning, I shook my head. "This sucks. This al sucks. I wish we could just chuck it al and go home to Otherworld and settle down on a farm and I could raise rabbits and animals, and you could worship the Moon Mother, and Menol y could . . . wel . . . she could do whatever she wanted to do."
"Do you real y wish that, though?" Camil e asked. "Would you truly change things with the Autumn Lord if you had the chance? I'm a priestess now, I'm going to have to start training with Morgaine, and I'm pledging myself to Aeval's court, which wil most likely make Father boot me out of the family. But . . . I wouldn't trade it for a cozy cottage and a flower garden. Those things would be nice, but I don't think I'd turn back the clock, except for Shadow Wing. I'd real y rather not be fighting him and his cronies."
As I maneuvered the Jeep out of the parking lot, I thought about what she'd just said. "I don't know. I can't answer--not yet. Let me think about it for a while. In the meantime, what next?"
