He gave a wicked smile, and nodded. “Clever, to pick that up. It is. There’s a small amount in the potion, and its inclusion forces the immune reaction. A catalyst, you might call it.”
I considered for a moment, then shook my head. “But it’s not specifically poisonous to werewolves. I mean, in large amounts, it’s a poison, period, but it’s not like it is for kitsune. Would... wolfsbane work for Jax instead?”
He considered for a moment, eyes scanning back and forth as though he was reading something from a book, then slowly, he nodded. “You should make certain with your friends that it’san amount and variety that won’t be enough to kill him, but that should do, as a substitution. It will serve the same purpose, and not alter the other ingredients enough to interfere with the purpose of the tonic.” Then, for maybe the first time ever, he smiled at me. “Well thought out, namesake mine. Perhaps even without all the training you should have been given as a child, your cleverness will make you a fully trained mage yet.”
My breath caught and I... it was the first time a member of my family had been proud of me not for the accidents of my existence as a mage and wolf, or my attitude and lack of interest in mage hierarchy, but for some skill I’d shown as a mage. I swallowed hard and nodded to him. “Great. That’s... great. Anything else?” When he shook his head, I turned to Jillian. “I need all this delivered from the warehouse, right now. And... I need to call Prudence, because what I know about potions isn’t enough.”
Jillian didn’t even ask what I was thinking or why I was doing it, just started copying the list onto her own phone.
She slowed when she got to the wolfsbane, so I explained that I needed an amount and type that wouldn’t kill Jax, but that he could heal from, so that his body would initiate that healing. Then she grinned and nodded. “I’ve got just the stuff. It’ll be here in half an hour.” She marched out of the room, purpose in her stride, and I turned to the phone app to call my mentor.
Kosuke did not seem offended. No, he just sat there with a serene little half smile on his face, like all was right with the world.
27
Jax
Shit, my mouth tasted awful, sharp and bitter like bile, made all the worse by how dry my tongue was.
I swallowed reflexively. My joints ached. I’d never had a fever in my fucking life, but I’d watched enough of those high-drama medical shows when I’d gone home alone after work that I knew how it was supposed to feel.
This was awful. How did humans stand this kind of thing?
I groaned, scowling, and a warm hand with the softest skin I’d ever felt smoothed over my forehead, brushing my hair back from my temple with a light-fingered touch.
My eyes fluttered open, less because I made a conscious decision to open them than the absolute necessity of seeing Dakota there beside me.
The haziness cleared. As I focused on his beautiful face, a sense of peace washed over me. It didn’t matter any longer that Reeve had stalked my dreams or that my mouth tasted terrible.
Dakota was there and so heartachingly perfect.
“Hey there,” he whispered. His eyes were glistening with tears, and I wanted to draw him into my arms and kiss his closed eyelids until he could take a full breath. And, well, I wanted to spare him what was surely some rancid morning breath.
Morning? I had no idea what time it was.
It didn’t really matter, but everyone else in the room—Dakota, Jillian, Prudence, and Seth with his arms crossed in the corner, wearing a heavy scowl—all looked like they were ready for the day.
With one hand, Dakota continued combing his fingers through my hair. The other gripped mine, and I squeezed him back hard.
His smile trembled for approximately two seconds before he fell on me with a sob. His face pressed into the center of my chest, and my wolf wanted to howl at the agony of him crying.
Instead, I pulled him in. He half crawled, half scooted his way onto the bed without lifting his head. I felt his tears on my bare chest.
“Shh,” I hissed, tucking his head under my chin as I squeezed him close. “It’s all right.”
Above his dark hair, I caught my sister’s eye. She nodded.
Itwasall right. I wasn’t lying to Dakota.
But shit, even if it hadn’t been, I’d have done whatever it took to stop Dakota from crying.
“He did good,” Jillian mouthed over his head. She looked down at Dakota with a staggering amount of fondness, and I tightened my arm around his waist.
Dakota, in a surprising display of wolfishness that I wasn’t sure he would’ve been capable of before I’d bitten him, nuzzled into my neck with a soft, rumbling growl. He wiggled in close, sniffing the warm spot beneath the corner of my jaw where my scent was strongest.
My heart melted when I felt him go lax against me. My scent, even when I was rumpled with sleep and sweaty with fever, comforted him. Clearly, that meant we were staying in this bed forever, and I was never letting him out of my arms again.
Seth waited until I’d settled back on the pillows, not quite sitting but generally more upright, before he shoved off the wall with his shoulders.
