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"Camil e . . . what the fuck happened to you?" Morio was blunt and to the point, and the moment he spoke, the three of them were hanging over her like bees on a flower petal.
"I'l be al right," she said, waving them to sit down again. "Just sit down, and we'l tel you what happened."
"Somebody needs to fil Menol y in on everything when she gets up," I said, flipping the sandwiches as they browned on one side. The smel of melting cheese and buttered, hot bread wafted up, and I realized I was stil starving. Our metabolisms ran higher than most FBHs, and it seemed like we were always eating. The food back home in Otherworld general y had more substance to it, and we fil ed up faster there.
As Camil e and I ran through everything that had happened, including Carter's disclosure about his heritage, I reached for more bread.
Tril ian crossed the room and took it from me, along with the butter knife. He began to butter the slices and hand them to me, and I gave him a shy smile.
Yep. The same arrogant, cocky man he'd always been, but something had changed, and he was kinder to the rest of us, no longer relegating us to the sidelines whenever Camil e was in the room. Whether it was the fact that we were now family or whether he'd gone through something in the war that had changed him, I didn't know and wasn't going to ask. But whatever the cause, it was a pleasant change of pace. Even Menol y had cottoned up to him a bit.
When we finished tel ing them what had happened, Morio let out a long sigh. "Wolf Briar. I know of it--and whoever is using it must be stopped. Anyone with a shred of decency wouldn't touch it. Hel , this is something only someone as rotten as the Meres would pul ." He motioned to Luke. "Have there been any reports of werewolves disappearing lately?"
Luke frowned. "I don't know, to be honest. I'm ostracized from a lot of Packs because they know I'm a pariah at home, and they don't want to get on my old Alpha's bad side."
Nerissa spoke up. "I've got a friend who belongs to the Olympic Wolf Pack. They're unusual in the fact that they run a matrilineal society, and they aren't wel accepted by other werewolves. Let me cal her and see if she'l talk to us after we finish lunch. She might know something."
I glanced at the clock. "Menol y won't be up for another couple of hours. Luke, would you like to come with Nerissa and me, if we can get an okay on meeting her buddy?"
He shrugged. "As long as she doesn't mind me being there. I wear a mark in my aura of having been excommunicated from the Pack. Most werewolves can pick it up by simply standing near enough to me."
"I didn't know that," I said, wondering just how the energy signature read. I was about to ask Camil e to give it a try, but one look at her told me the only thing she was up for right now was a nap. "Can one of you big, strong dorks please carry my sister up to her bed? No fun stuff al owed. She needs her rest. The Wolf Briar played havoc with her senses."
I overrode her protests as Smoky careful y swept her into his arms and headed toward the stairs. "I'l stay with her and make certain she's al right," he said. "Can someone bring me a tray with something to eat when it's ready?"
Tril ian nodded. "I'l do it. Then Fox Boy and I'l start in on our project while you watch our wife."
"Project?" Somehow that sounded dangerous.
"We're working on the studio." That was al he would tel me.
"Katrina said she has the afternoon free," Nerissa said, putting her phone away. "As soon as you're finished, let's head out. And Luke, she said you're welcome. She lives here in the city, even though she belongs to a Peninsula Pack."
As I finished up with the sandwiches, I couldn't help but wonder just where this was al leading. We hadn't found out much about Amber. We didn't know where she was. We didn't even know if she was alive. Frustrated, I fixed a tray for Smoky, and Tril ian carried it out of the room. As I bit into my second sandwich, I couldn't help but feel that the universe was holding a pissing match over our heads. And I was getting tired of it.
CHAPTER 9
It seemed odd, heading out with Nerissa and Luke, when I was so used to handling cases with my sisters. Iris waved from the door, and I waved back, feeling an abrupt sense of loneliness.
The sky was dark, rain looming again, and the wind, chil . I watched as a murder of crows perched in the tal oak near the back of the house. Morgaine, come to spy on us? Shaking the thought off--I was getting paranoid in my not-so-old age--I slowly inhaled a deep breath. The scent of woodsmoke and air made crisp by the sparkling raindrops fil ed my lungs, fol owed by the deep, pungent scents of cedar and fir, moss and mildew. This was Hi'ran's season.
The Autumn Lord ruled over these months, and once again, I felt a longing to summon him to my side, to talk with him. His presence was becoming oddly soothing, and I felt calm when I thought about him.
A sudden movement caught my attention out of the corner of my eye, but there was no one there. A second later, I felt someone cup my elbow. Hi'ran? I could feel his heat, and yet--and yet--again, it wasn't him. Shaking my head but feeling less lonely, I unlocked the Jeep and motioned for the others to get in.
Nerissa cal ed shotgun. She was dressed in a pair of jeans, a long-sleeved top, and stilettos that brought her to my height. Her golden hair trailed down her back, curling in tendrils that made me smile. She real y was beautiful; I could see how Menol y had fal en for her. Luke sat in the backseat, his face a tense slate of worry. He was hunched forward, his elbows resting on his knees.
"Could you please sit back and put on a seat belt. I don't want to be responsible for kil ing you if we have an accident, the gods forbid."
Blinking, he obeyed without question. As I inched us out of the driveway, I could tel he was struggling with something.
"Are you okay, Luke? Whatever it is, you can tel us."
He shrugged. "It's just . . . as much as I hate Rice, I hope to hel he's not the one who did this. Any member of the Pack who would use Wolf Briar against another member should be shot. I don't want to think about Rice having the bal s to use it, especial y not against my sister. One thing Sharah didn't mention to you, apparently--and perhaps she doesn't know, we tend to keep a tight rein on the information--is that too much exposure to Wolf Briar can lead to domestication. Ultra-submissiveness. Wolf Briar can turn a Were near the top of the Pack into a groveling slave. Forever." Venom fil ed his voice.
I winced. "Not good. I didn't know that, and I don't think Sharah does either. I take it you'd prefer that information to be kept quiet?"
He cleared his throat. "Yeah, if you and Nerissa would be so kind. If it leaked out to the general public, do you know what the hate groups would do with it? Or anybody with a beef against a werewolf?"
