And then Archer lying on the couch, shirtless. The flames danced shadows across his gorgeous tawny skin, his muscles cut and sculpted with precision. His pants sat low on his hips to allow for the large bandage on his side, and the bones there peaked into a V shape. His long black hair feathered out around him, and his dark eyes were soft and loving as he stared at Sasha entering the room. Did he look at me like that too?
Sasha blinked away, and I saw myself smile right in front of her, one that lit up my entire face.
I quickly stood, dried my hands on myself this time, and held them out, palms up. "Do they pass inspection?"
“Good enough.” Grady settled the ball of furry magic into my arms, and I wasn't afraid.
I held her close, feeling her warmth seep through my flannel, and she curved her little body into my chest. I smiled into her fur and inhaled spring leaves kissed with sunshine.
"Hi, Sasha," I whispered.
She let out an adorable squeak. She buried her nose into my hair and sniffed, and I immediately felt sorry for her. I probably reeked. But she kept sniffing and let my hair curtain over her eyes as she nestled in.
I planted a kiss on the top of her head and held her close while thinking about my next course of action. Because I couldn’t stay here. I had to get back home. But first:
"I'm going to help you, you and your guardians," I told Sasha.
Grady grunted. "This is some news."
"How?" Archer asked.
I took a deep breath, aware of the risks, all 6,000 of them. "You can help me make more poison."
Chapter 8
The tension in the room strangled the air from the room. Sasha popped her head up and blinked at her two guardians, and they both stared at me hard.
"Help you make poison?" The rough edges in Grady's voice, the fiery blaze in his steel eyes, made me back up a step, clutching Sasha tighter. "That's going to help us?"
"Yes," I said firmly. "My family still needs food for the winter. That hasn't changed, but the way we were going to earn money for it has. The original poison is gone, but with your help, I can make more, or at least something that smells like moonshine. I'll add some mountain chicory since it looks like wolfsbane, or any type of purple flower, to make it look exact."
"You're talking about tricking Faust with a knock-off of what your pa usually gives him?" Grady’s voice grew louder until it was practically a roar.
Sasha flinched and curled deeper into me, tucking her head into my armpit so I could no longer see.
But I stood my ground. "Yes."
"And if it doesn't work?" Archer said softly.
"Ithasto work, and I won't know unless I try. I can't just do nothing. That money… It’s our last hope."
"The guy who took the poison,” Grady snapped. “What if he made the delivery and already collected on it? What then?"
"I don't know what he did with it, which is why making more is worth a shot.”
Grady took a step closer. "Once again, you said you would helpus.This sounds an awful lot like we help you, and we've done more than enough of that."
"Grady," Archer hissed.
"I was getting to that," I gritted out. "Gabriel, and therefore Faust, is in Old Man’s Den, and I’m guessing that neither of you is allowed there if his pack kicked you out of the Crimson Forest, right?”
“That’s right…” Archer said.
“I can, though. I've done it before. You said your alpha is missing, and you've been looking for the past two years. What if he's there, the very place you can't go to?"
"So, what, like a prisoner?" Archer asked.
Grady limped away and then stopped, and I didn’t have to see him to know the gears in his mind were churning. "Say he is there. What are you going to do about it? How are you going to find him?"
