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Now, Deimos did growl. He sat Hope down on a loveseat and sat next to her. Hope could have sworn she saw a tiny amount of white smoke coming from Deimos’s nostrils, almost as if he had been smoking a cigarette. She shivered.
Deimos sighed and, yes! A small puff of smoke came out. “Hope, I spend much of my time here in the city, attending to clutch matters. I speak to clutch members … in fact, the last time was this morning.” He jumped up and began pacing his office as he spoke.
“I am here more than I am out at the ranch house. Although, lately, because my cows have been sick, I have spent a little more time there.”
“I’m sorry that I even listened in.”
Deimos nodded. “I know. I’m not blaming you. What did that local look like? The one who said the clutch needs another leader?”
“He’s very tall, like you. Black hair and eyes. Kind of a cold look on his face like he doesn’t care about others. His voice was … it carried easily.”
“Mmm. I’m pretty sure that was Tura V’Niani. He hasn’t liked the changes I am making at all. He doesn’t want to see clutch leaders mate with Earthlings. He is especially bothered by the fact that I have made changes to my own lands so I can house livestock from Earth … he hasn’t bothered to hide his displeasure.”
Hope shivered again. This time, her fear had more to do with this Tura shifter, not Deimos.
“Why? Is he upset that Gerri is matching Earthlings to shifters here on Nova Aurora?”
“Ahh, yes. He is especially angered about that.”
“Deimos, I know I don’t know very much about shifter culture. Can he get you pushed aside as an alpha?”
“No, he cannot.”
“Deimos, he talked about the Earth cows. How …”
“Hope, are your thoughts heading in the same direction as mine are?”
“With everything going on … no. It can’t be. Would he really …”
“I think he’s trying to make me pay the price for bringing the cows up here.”
Hope shook her head wildly.Deliberately poisoning these cows?
Hope shook her head again. She looked at Deimos … his face was set, and his eyes seemed to be hidden under his eyebrows.
Deimos softened. “Let’s sit. Would you like something to drink?” Deimos led Hope back to the sofa, then went to the kitchen and poured two glasses of wine.
Hope heard his voice as he talked to his housekeeper, but she couldn’t hear what he said. Deimos came back and handed a glass to Hope. He sat next to her and took a drink of his wine.
“Hope, are you worried about a fight between Tura and me?”
Hope nodded unhappily. “I am.” She took a small sip of the wine, letting it calm her.
“I have been thinking about this situation since before you arrived here. Seeing that your mind went straight to poisoning as we talked about what you overheard … well, it tells me that we are thinking of the same thing.” Deimos took Hope’s hand in his. “The tests said something was wrong with the water.”
Hope’s heart hammered in her chest as she felt the contact of his skin against hers. With difficulty, she nodded and spoke.
“I don’t know what the substances, plants, or herbs that you use here on Nova Aurora are. I would leave that to the experts. But, seeing that your cows’ conditions don’t change from day to day … it tells me that whatever is in the water has been put in more than once.”
Deimos continued to play with Hope’s hand.
“Tell me. What kind of therapies do you use for sick livestock on earth? Medicines made from herbs or chemicals?”
The feel of Deimos’s thumb rubbing the top of Hope’s hand was making it difficult for her to concentrate, let alone breathe or think.
“Both. Depending on the condition they are suffering from, the vet and their assistants may choose one substance or the other. We give the animals an antibiotic to kill the bacteria if it’s an infection. If it’s a virus, they get something else totally different. We would treat them with the correct medication if they ingested something they shouldn’t have gotten into.”
“And in the case of poisoning?”
