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I knew she was showing Melinda the pic of her sitting up on a horse, looking petrified and thrilled at once.Dylan was holding the reins, looking as indulgent as a father with an excited child.
“Look at those heels,” Melinda tsked.“Someone should teach you to ride properly.”
“I’ll tell you what,” my mother said, sneaking a look at me.“I’ll come back next year and you can teach me.”
Melinda’s chin crumpled as her eyes filled with sudden tears.Her hands were clamped around her teacup, and she stared into its depths as if a hidden strength lay there.“I hope I’m here next year.”
“You will be.I feel certain,” Mom said.“Edie’s working on this puzzle, and she never gives up until she has the answers.She’s like her father that way.”
Melinda took a deep breath, nodded, and sat up a little straighter.“And take some of this tea.If you decide to order some, let me know and I’ll have Mona give you a discount.”
“Is that the woman who makes it?Oh, I wanted to meet her while I was here.”
“She’s kind of a recluse,” Melinda said, her eyes darting to mine.“She doesn’t work at the Lodge.”
I was yet to meet the infamous Mona myself.She never left the clan village.Melinda seemed to respect her but was wary of the power she herself had given away when she formed the council.
My mother went into the kitchen, already as familiar as she would have been in her own.“I’m certain I know most of the ingredients, but there’s something I can’t quite put my finger on.”She bagged up a few portions of the tea, then spread some out on a paper towel.“Let’s see, I know this is dandelion root because I use it in my own blends.Dried elderberries for sweetness,” she said, separating out some hard pebbles from the rest of the mass.She took a sniff of another leaf.“Chamomile.Really excellent chamomile, actually.This Mona grows it in her garden?”
The kitchen clock behind my mother ticked over into the next hour.“Mom, you really ought to be going.”
“I’ve already got my boarding pass.I have a few minutes,” she said, picking through the leaves.“Lemon balm, astragalus…ah.Are these milk thistle seeds?”
Melinda shrugged and took another sip of her tea.“No clue.”
“You’re probably supposed to brew this tea for a long time, right?That allows the seeds to open up.”
“The instructions say fifteen minutes, but I usually don’t let it sit that long.It gets too bitter,” Melinda said.
“They’re bigger than milk thistle seeds, though.”My mother peered at the small fleck on her fingertip.It had an elongated shape and a ridged edge.“Let me look it up.”
“Mom.”If she missed her plane and I had to spend another night on that cot dreaming of Jasper instead of in his arms, I was going to lose it.“Does this have to get done right now?”
“It’ll just take a second,” she said, aiming her phone’s camera at the seed.“I’ve got an app that…ah.Okay.It’s in the iris family.That must be the unusual flavor I’m getting.How do I pronounce this, Edith?You’re better at the scientific names.”
“Iris aegritudo.Wait,” I said, my brain catching up with my mouth.“That’s Hen’s Teeth.”
“What?”Melinda sat up, now staring at her cup with revulsion.“It’s toxic.Why would it be in my tea?”
“It’s not labeled as toxic here,” Mom said, staring at her phone.
“Believe me, it is,” I said, taking the tea tin down from the cabinet and dumping more on the counter.I started picking out the tiny seeds and quickly realized that there were thousands of them.“I touched Jasper the other day when I had some in my hand and it left a welt on his skin.”
“Why would it be in my tea?”Melinda said again.Color returned to her face as she puffed up with fury.“Mona.She must have done this.She wants to be Alpha.”
My mother cocked her head in confusion, then jumped to her feet when Melinda tried to stand.“Whoa, there, take it easy.”
“I’m going to kill her,” Melinda said.Her words were belied by the shaky effort she was making to push herself up off the couch.“I’m going to tear her damned throat out.”
My mother blanched.She’d never threaten to kill someone, let alone with her teeth.“Calm down, honey.Edith?”
“We need to get her to Dr.Barnes.He’ll know more about how to purge it from her system.”When my mother hesitated, I shook my head.“No, of course.You need to get to the airport.I’ll go get Dominic.”
My mother glanced at Melinda.“I’m not leaving her like this.”
“You’ll miss your flight.”
“There will be another one.Melinda, you need to calm down.Your heart rate is elevated and you’re sweating.Please, sit back.”
Melinda collapsed back on the couch, baring her teeth with frustration.“Get Dominic.He’ll kill her for me.”
