"I'll tell you how. You favor your right foot when you walk and scuff the foot of your left along the floor because you hurt your heel or your ankle badly and didn’t rest enough to heal it. The bottom of your left boot is so worn that it’s lost its traction and slips along the floor easily, which tells me that your injury was some time ago. And you, Archer.” I turned toward him. “You smell of crisp wood smoke and caramel, which could mean a lot of things, like maybe you melt the candy over a fire outside or—”
“To get away from Grady,” he said with a touch of what might’ve been awe. “He’s a viper, and I won’t share. I pour the caramel over apples, but not the ones I give to Hellbreath.”
My heart warmed that he was taking such good care of my girl. And because I was right. “You want to know how I know all that? By listening. By smelling. By being aware. I may not be able to see, but I'm not…" Useless. "I'm not stupid."
"Nobody ever said you were stupid, Aika," Archer said. "And thatisimpressive."
Grady cleared his throat. "You guessed all this—"
"I didn't guess."
"You knew all this just from your other senses…"
"They're sharp, and I sharpen them more every day. I've gotten so used to not seeing that I've started not to miss it, until… Well, until I could again, through you all." I smiled at Archer and adjusted Sasha since he was the only one I really wanted to look at through her.
He smiled back, warm and heartbreakingly beautiful.
"Say you go into Old Man’s Den,” Grady started. “What if Thomas isn't in there, and you can't help us?"
Thomas. Thomas, their alpha? I filed that away.
"Then I help you widen the search until we find him."
Grady scoffed. "I'm not sure what good you can do in places I can go. I'm a wolf, remember? My senses are damn good too. Plus, it's going to be winter soon."
"If Thomas isn't in Old Man’s Den, then we cross that bridge when we come to it," Archer said.
I knew he was just playing along since he thought Thomas was dead, which meant that he just wanted to help. Helpme. He cared enough to want to, even after finding out it was because of Baba and me that he had not much more pack than was in this cabin now. That meant a lot.
"Look, I know you guys don't owe me anything after saving me…” I said.
"You saved me too.” Archer pointed to his bandage with a raised brow."This could've been a lot worse."
"And I know my family’s role in making the poison directly affected you…" I continued.
"You didn't know how though," Grady muttered, glancing over his wide shoulder.
I nodded, grateful that he actually believed me. "So let me help you. Going into Old Man’s Den is a start."
Archer groaned. "I don't know, Aika. Faust is a firecracker with an even shorter fuse than Grady. If he finds out you tricked him by giving him fake poison…"
Grady turned and faced us, his jaw set. "Then we go with her. Right to the edge of town."
"We won't be able to go in, though,” Archer said with a sigh, “so if there's trouble, shout, and we'll…probably die before we reach you."
"I won't shout." I would never if it meant he could die. Grady, too, because it had sure sounded like he'd agreed to the plan before Archer. I suspected he would do almost anything to find their missing alpha. "So, do we have a deal?"
Grady looked to Archer, who stared up at the ceiling for answers for a long moment.
"Yeah," Archer finally said, his tone colored by dark worry. "We have a deal."
* * *
One day later,Archer and I sat on the couch while I directed Grady on how to mix the poison concoction. Since Archer was still recovering from his bite wound, he couldn't do much else other than entertain Sasha. He had a ball that he'd throw at her, and she'd chase it and trip over it with her clumsy, short legs. I wished I could've watched her from a distance and not right up close through her eyes because all the bouncing she did during her mad dashes triggered a constant spin in my stomach.
So I sat back with my eyes closed, twirled my wet hair over my shoulder—from a looong, hot bath—and listened. Archer's loving voice as he praised Sasha. Grady's patience with the pup when she got twisted up in his legs as he moved from the table to the pot over the fire. The three of them were a family, easy with each other and close like I supposed a wolf pack would really be. Maybe even closer than Jade, Lee, and me. Certainly closer than I was to Baba.
How was he? Had Jade gotten the bullet out of him? Was he worried about me? It had been almost two weeks since I'd left to make the delivery myself. A lifetime, it felt like. Meanwhile, the days ticked ever closer to winter.
