“Picked off?” I asked, setting aside my annoyance.Fornow.
“Killed,” Zack said. “My daughter . . . the one who was . . .” His voice trailed off as he cast his gaze on the glimmering river beyond thewindow.
My heart pitched because I recognized the look of loss all toowell.
He returned his attention to us. “She and Will were trying to get back here. They were caught before they crossed the Colorado state line.” Pain deepened the network of fine wrinkles over his sunbaked face. “Stupid blood-link made tracking them so friggin’ easy. If my baby hadn’t traveled with Will . . .” His voicecaught.
Because she wasn’t linked to Morgan, but hewas.
He cleared his throat. “But she wouldn’t leave him behind.” His deep-seated hatred told me we would’ve gotten his alliance had we slain the bear ornot.
“Being noble comes at a cost.” Liam’s voice was soft yet carried over the rumble of talk around us.I’m sorry for snapping at you,headded.
I kept my gaze riveted to Zack. Liam and I would discuss his mood swings later, in the privacy of our shared hut. If he wanted to keep me at his side, he needed to change his attitude. He pushed as hard as he pulled. At some point, he’d shove too hard, and there would be no luring me backin.
He’d be on his own againstCassandra.
I thought of August then, of how calm he was, how he contained his temper even in moments of great stress. Thinking of him deepened the hollowness behind my navel. A hollowness that had annexed my entirechest.
“. . . all taken Sillin,” Zack wassaying.
I shook my head to dispel the fog of my thoughts. I needed tofocus.
“And I never heard of anyone able to shift with Sillin in their blood. It nulls our werewolfpower.”
“Ness was thinking Morgan could’ve rubbed it into her skin,” Liamsaid.
“Like an ointment?” Zack hiked a thick eyebrow. “Hey, Sam, come over here a sec.” As Samuel made his way over, the Creek Alpha explained that his son was studying to be the pack doctor. “We got a question for you. What would happen if we applied Sillin to our skin? Would it get into ourbloodstream?”
“ApplySillin?”
“If it’s mixed into a cream,” Iclarified.
“As soon as it’s exposed to air and heat, it loses most of itseffect.”
“Most is not all,” Isaid.
He took a swig of the drink in his hand—a fizzy transparent concoction that smelled incredibly bitter. “If thereisa residual effect, it would penetrate the bloodstream. Not to depress y’all, but I wouldn’t put too much stock in thattheory.”
“She had nail polish,” I blurtedout.
All three men’s foreheadsgrooved.
“She doesn’t seem the type to wear nail polish. I mean, she wears no othermakeup.”
The men were still doling out confusedstares.
“Maybe she puts the Sillin in her nail polish. If she brushes it on her nails right before a fight, then manages to claw through a wolf’s body, perhaps some of it gets into her opponent’s bloodstream.” When still no one spoke, I added, “Is my theory thatinane?”
Sam sighed, swirling the ice cubes in his glass. “Not inane,Ness.”
“It’s an interesting theory,” Zack said. “But the effect would still wear offfast.”
“Maybe nail polish locks in the drug’s properties,” Liamsaid.
“Maybe.” Sam’s hesitant tone trampled most of myhope.
“Could she”—I swallowed—“could she have won withoutcheating?”
