“I know what pheromones are.”
“But you don’t know how they physically affect Primals. Do you want the answer or not?”
“Does it get me Clarissa?”
“No, but it gets you knowledge,” I say.
Kyle takes another large bite of the bloodied meat before he tosses the bone off to the side.
“Then by all means, by my guest,” he says.
“There are three ways pheromones work. I won’t bore you with the details, but let’s just say one of them involves being so chemically different from the other that it physically makes the female sick.”
“Not the male?” he asks.
“No,” I say. “It makes the male uncharacteristically angry.”
“Explains a lot.”
“Figured it would. I’ve only had it happen to me once.”
“With who?” he asks.
“It’s not important. What I want to know is how badly you’ve been changed. What qualities have you figured out you possess? We know you can somehow communicate telepathically with Primals of different species. What else?”
“My vision flips between different modes.”
“Modes?” I ask.
“Yes. Sometimes it’s hyper-focused. Sometimes it’s thermal. Sometimes it’s night vision. I flip between them, but I don’t know how I do it.”
“What else?”
“I’m strong. I pried the lead and iron bars of my cell off with my bare hands.”
“You were able to touch lead?” I ask.
“Is that not a thing Primals can do?”
“No. Lead drains us of our energies. Our capabilities. The mere fact that you could override that so intensely is a massive show of strength and fortitude.”
“Like a Wolf,” he says.
“Yes,” I say. “Like a Wolf. Is there anything else?”
“My hearing is stronger. My sense of smell is stronger. I can feel everything happening in my body if I focus. The breaking down and rebirth of cells. The tearing and repairing of muscle tissues. And when I morph, I have these pieces of skin that attach from my wrists, down my arms, and all the way down to my knees.”
“Like a bat,” I say.
“Yep.”
“You can fly.”
“I mean, I don’t know if they work.”
“I’m sure they do. You can fly. That’s major, given your strength. It gives you a serious advantage in this war that’s coming.”
“I’m not fighting in this war. I’m finding a way to get Clarissa out of here, and we’re leaving.”