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“What did your magic find?”
I looked down at him, but he was still lying there, with his arm over his eyes. “You could feel it?”
“Yep.”
I wasn’t sure what a werewolf could sense, and I always found it interesting, but now wasn’t the time for questions. “I don’t see anyone, and neither does my magic, but there definitely have been visitors.” I looked out at the houses and trailers. “There’s graffiti everywhere, and I’m pretty sure every single house and trailer on the compound has been broken into and ripped apart. And one of the far ones might have been burned.”
A hand grabbed my ankle, and I looked down at Chris.
“Sorry I’m taking so long. I don’t know why this hit me so hard.” His voice was deep and raspy, and his eyes were electric blue.
“Because traveling with Van blows, but I’ve been doing it for a very long time. I’d forgotten it used to take me the better part of an hour to adjust. Knowing you, you’ll be fine in a second.”
He laughed like I meant him to. The grass and leaves and sticks crunched under him as he sat up and put on the jacket, leaving it unbuttoned.
“You sure you’re okay?” I didn’t like that his skin was pale and he looked thinner than usual. Not enough to make me really scared, but enough to have me worried.
“I’m fine. I need meat though. I think that’s why it hit me so hard.”
“You didn’t have any while you were there, did you?” I held my breath, waiting for his answer. He hadn’t been there long, so the signs might not show yet, but even one taste…
“Almost.”
I swallowed down my relief.
“I had a leg in my hand, nearly bit into it, but I caught this barely there whiff of something that I didn’t like. I’m not sure if it was poisoned or what, but…” He trailed off. “What is it? Why did it smell like that?”
Damned Ziriel. “I’m not allowed to say right now, but there could be a way around it.” I just wasn’t sure how exactly. He’d have to figure that out.
“Okay. Can you answer yes or no?”
“No. That’s too close to telling you.” And I wouldn’t risk being caught a liar.
“Okay. I’m just going to say some options of what I think it could be, and then I’ll know when I hit it.”
“How?”
He grinned at me, all full of smugness that should’ve annoyed me, but didn’t. “I just will.”
“Okay. Give it a try.”
He leaned back on his elbows and looked up at me. He watched my face so closely it made me uncomfortable. “Poisoned?” He studied me.
“Rotten?” He was quiet again.
“Not quite that. Okay. Okay.”
He turned his head, looking toward the large farmhouse he’d grown up in. When he glanced back at me, his eyes were glowing blue. “Human?”
I stayed painfully still. I couldn’t go back on my bargain. I couldn’t show anything.
“No. Closer, but no. Rotten human?”
I didn’t say anything. Made no movement. Kept my steady, even breathing.
“Wow. That’s fucked up.” He stood slowly from the ground.
I opened my mouth to ask how he knew, but I couldn’t say anything that would confirm it. The point was, he knew. And he hadn’t eaten any of it.
