She glared, clearly untrusting, but at least she seemed partially mollified. “Fine. So you’re a natural bloodhound. What more do you want from me, Jaxson? I did your sketch.”
I shrugged. “The sketch is just a start. Even if someone recognizes her, that doesn’t mean we’ll be able to track her down. At this point, we need to consider other ways of moving forward.”
“Like?” she snapped. The fire in her eyes matched her hair.
I glanced through the window into the garage bays to make sure no wolves were eavesdropping. “I’d like you to drink a scrying potion to help us locate her.”
Savannah gave me a You’ve got to be shitting me stare. “What the hell is a scrying potion? I’m not drinking any crazy concoction from a damned werewolf, that’s for sure.”
“Hear me out. Magica drink potions all the time to boost their abilities, heal, or give themselves temporary powers. If we don’t get a match for the sketch, it may be our best shot.” I nonchalantly leafed through the illustrations, trying to act unconcerned, as if this were an everyday request. I hoped no one was listening.
Curiosity got the better of her. “What does it do?”
I gestured to the security cameras. “Drinking a scrying potion gives you clairvoyance for a short time—remote seeing. You take a sip of the potion, close your eyes, and concentrate on the person you need to find. Then you see a hazy picture of them, like you’re an old video camera, floating in the air.”
She looked into the lens of the security cam. “It’s like spying on them with a drone?”
I leaned back against the office desk. “Pretty much. Scrying can give you details of their location or clues to what they’re doing.”
Savannah pointed to her illustration. “Can’t you just do it, then, using the sketch? Why me?”
“Because I’m a wolf. The power to scry isn’t in my blood, but it might be in yours. Plus, scrying only works if you’ve met the person and had a really strong impression of them. That’s key. The stronger your impression, the clearer the picture, and the further the reach of the spell. You would have gotten a very strong impression of your abductors, even if you only saw them briefly.”
She bit her lip as she considered. Every time she did that, it lit an inexplicable heat within me.
The woman was wavering, so I pushed. “Think about it. Just one sip of a potion, and you could help us locate that she-wolf. She’d never know we were watching, and we’d be able to ambush her before she got to anyone else. You could have justice. For yourself, and for all the others.”
Savannah studied my face with a piercing gaze that was beyond her years. It made the hair on my neck stand on end. Those eyes, what was it about her eyes?
“What’s the catch?” she snapped.
She was shrewd. And smart.
“No catch.” I kept my expression steady. “Scrying potions are complicated to make, and each potion has to be attuned to its user. Therefore, it requires a little of your blood as a component.”
She grabbed her purse from the table. “Nuh-uh, mister. Are you insane? I’m not giving you my blood for crazy magic. Do you know what someone could do with that if it fell into the wrong hands?”
“Do you?” I retorted.
She blustered. She didn’t know what she was talking about, but it was clear that the LaSalles had gotten to her already.
I spoke calmly, trying to diffuse the situation and undo the damage, but my temper simmered. “Look, you don’t have to be afraid. We’ll use a potion maker with a stellar reputation—Alia, up in the Midway Dens. You can be there for the whole process. When she takes your blood and when she makes the potion.”
She bared her teeth. “No deal. It’s totally off the table. We’re done here.”
I grabbed her arm. “Where do you think you’re going? This conversation isn’t over.”
“Yes, it is. I’m going back to the LaSalles, you’re going to call me when my car is ready, and on no account am I giving you any of my blood.”
Her signature surged, and I could feel the heat of her anger like the rays of the sun, burning my skin. But my wolf liked her spirit.
“You shouldn’t go back there. It’s not safe.”
She narrowed her eyes at me, her dislike for me palpable. “Well, I feel safe there. Something tells me they have ways of keeping werewolves out.”
I growled. “I can put guards at the Magic Moon Motel. You’ll be safe. I’ll give you an escort.”
“Why are you so desperate to keep me in your territory?” she asked, regarding me closely.