He drew close so that she had to look up at him and meet his gaze. His eyes flashed. “Do you have any idea the kind of damage the flame drugs have inflicted on my territory? Wolves are especially susceptible to emerald flame.”
She turned toward him. “Let me show you the quantity. Maybe that will help.” She knew he needed to see it. As Maeve had taught her, she kept the drug in pure granular form and stored in her mini-fridge.
Removing it from the fridge, she set the ceramic container on the wood counter. With great care, she unscrewed the lid then used her tweezers to gather three small grains and let each drop into the mortar.
When they were nestled in the powder, she resealed the container carefully then returned the drug back to the fridge. “Three grains, Warren. That’s all.”
“I don’t understand.” He leaned forward and stared down into the marble receptacle. “How can a small portion like this make a difference?”
She shrugged. “It’s a mystery to me, too, but it works.” She wondered about something. “Are you saying you can sense it as well, the efficacy I mean?”
She glanced at him. As she caught his scent again, her nostrils quivered in a way that was more wolf-like than witch, one more sign just how aligned with him she was.
“I’m not sure how I know,” he said. “But I can tell the drug makes the spell stronger. And one more thing, I can sense this is what the wolves need. How the hell do I know that?”
“Maeve and Braden went through something similar. They shared each other’s abilities.”
He lowered his voice but appeared to be speaking more to himself than to her. “Fergus and Mary as well.”
She tore her gaze away from his face and used her pestle to grind the flame drug into the powder. She worked her wrist, twisting the pestle and pressing down hard, then swirling over the bowl to pull the powder together then grind so
me more. She continued the process until her witchness told her the drug was well incorporated.
When the powder base was ready, she withdrew a bottle of purified water from the fridge. Using a small scoop, she added the powder to the water then screwed the lid back on. She shook the bottle gently. She knew the potion had been fully incorporated when the clear water suddenly turned a deep emerald color.
She took a small, purple satchel from the cupboard below her worktable, which she used for transporting her potions. She placed the bottle inside, then slung the shoulder strap over her head until she had it settled across her body diagonally.
She released a tense breath of air. “Ready if you are.”
Warren had a deep frown between his brows as he turned to her. “You’re sure about this? Going with, I mean.”
“You’re not?”
“The trouble is, I know I can take the potion with me and use it to heal the wolves. This mission will be very dangerous for you.”
She planted a hand on his bare arm and squeezed. “It’ll be all right.”
She felt him relax a little. “Thanks for that,” he said. “So, you’re all set?”
“I am.”
“Then let’s go.”
She led the way through her living room and back to the foyer, then up the stairs.
When she was outside with him, he was ready to take to the skies, but she held him back. “I need to pull you inside the invisibility shield.”
“Right. Do it.”
She watched him set his jaw as she took his arm and began employing the mental spell she’d created. It had taken her months to learn how to fold the space around her just enough, adjusting time by a split second so she wouldn’t be visible.
The process had become seamless for her and not painful at all, but Warren was one tense body. If she took him into the shield now, it would hurt like hell.
She rubbed his arm. “The key is to relax and surrender.”
He shook his head “Two things I’m not good at.”
She chuckled. “No. You’re not. But try anyway.”