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Chapter Twenty-Five
Edie
Thenormallypleasantwalkfrom my cabin to the Lodge had turned into a brutal test of wills: me against the wind.It was like being inside of a vacuum cleaner.The weather had been perfect while we were camping, but as we’d been coming back down late on Sunday morning we’d been rocked by a hard gust.“Here she comes,” Micah had said.“Hold on to your hats.”
It hadn’t stopped since.The bitter, wet winds of a Baltimore winter could be miserable, but I’d never experienced anything like this ceaseless, flattening gale.To me, it seemed like a weather emergency, but all the clan members seemed to take it in stride.While the guests exclaimed and compared stories of nearly blowing away, the staff were competently securing all the outdoor furniture and locking down the shutters at the Lodge.When the wifi or satellite TV went out, they arranged activities for the guests that ranged from tipsy painting for the adults to helping the kids build a giant blanket fort in the lobby.We were assured that the power wouldn’t go out: there was an onsite wind farm that powered the whole place, and the power lines were buried for just this reason.Obviously, extreme weather was normal around here.
It all struck me as very Montana.To live in this incredible place, the Moreaus had learned not only to tolerate the extremes of weather, but they’d harnessed it for their own purposes.Because of the wind farm and the extensive greenhouses, they were self-sufficient and could survive the long winter when they didn’t have guests at the Lodge.I wondered more and more what it would be like here when the guests were gone and the snow was deep.Would I find the cold oppressive, or invigorating?Would I find the isolation hurtful, or healing?
Not that it mattered.I wasn’t staying.
I walked into the Lodge, waving at Tonya and Nancy behind the desk as I headed straight for the restaurant.Dr.Barnes was already there, glaring at his phone.He was so engrossed that he startled when I sat down across from him at the small table.His welcoming smile seemed a little strained, as he shoved his phone in his pocket.“I got you an almond milk latte,” he said, gesturing to a steaming mug.
“Thanks, that’s exactly what I wanted,” I said.
“I’ve been paying attention,” he said with a little smile.
“I’m impressed you got a table.”The restaurant was packed with people who were in no rush to brave the weather.
“I got here early,” he said.“How did everything go in the back country?”
“It was…” Confusing.Gorgeous.Too short.“It was everything you said it would be.”
“Good,” he said.“Things were pretty quiet around here.”
“No changes in Melinda’s status?”
“No,” he said, turning the lab results toward me so I could read them.“Everything looks normal.”
I sighed.“I just don’t understand it.”
“Me either.And I’ve been working on this a lot longer than you.There’s just no explanation I can think of for her to be so weak and exhausted.”He put his hand on mine.“You can’t take it personally, Edie.This isn’t your fault.”
I slid my hand away, taking a sip of my coffee as an excuse.
He sat back.“Obviously, I was hoping you’d find something that would help Melinda.But from a purely professional perspective, I’m glad I didn’t miss something.”
“Maybe we are missing something.Has anyone done a full gene sequencing on a shifter?”I said, lowering my voice on the last word.
Ethan scooted a little closer.It was probably too loud to overhear anything, but the room was full of outsiders.Strange how quickly I’d started to think of myself as being on the inside of the Twisted Pines clan.“Yes.My grandfather was very interested in that subject, once upon a time.Do you know what he found?Shifters are exactly like humans,” he said.“No more than the standard variations you’d find in every population.I told you, it’s not an inherited trait.”
“Could there be something about the shift that causes shifters to, I don’t know, have increased sensitivity to certain substances?”
He cocked his head.There was something odd in his eyes.“Why do you ask that?”
I pulled a plastic bag out of my pocket and unfolded the napkin I’d tucked inside.“Do you recognize this?”
He stared at the wilted bloom for a long moment.“Should I?”
“It’s a plant called iris aegritudo, also known as Hen’s Teeth.I encountered it when I was in the backcountry.I can touch it,” I said, demonstrating by rubbing a delicate petal between my fingers, “but Jasper had an instantaneous reaction when it touched his skin.He said that all shifters do, and he got Micah and a crew of gardeners to remove it.”
Ethan set his cup down with a snap.“They got rid of all of it?”
“I guess,” I said.
He exhaled hard, then smiled.“Good.It’s very dangerous.It’s good that they got rid of it.”
“I’d like to analyze what is in this flower,” I said.“Maybe, if I can find out why shifters react to this plant that is innocuous to humans, I can pinpoint something biological that explains the difference between us.”
