“I’m working on that. Potentially, it has to do with the myth of a dark wolf god, so we could be dealing with some kind of cult. I’ve got people looking into it.”
“That’s all? What’s the myth?”
Jaxson paused and gave me a stern look. “Some stories are for wolves only.”
I bristled. For a minute, I’d had him on a roll, but now he was locked down again. Really, getting information out of Jaxson was like squeezing blood from a stone. “Fine. What do we know, then?”
He shrugged. “This suggests to me that they’re part of a larger group—a gang, cult, or rogue pack—and not lone operators. They’re coordinated, and they probably have a leader and a specific agenda. Somehow, you’re part of that plan.”
I fiddled with the potion. “Well, that’s a start.” At least he was sharing some information with me.
He put his hands on the table. “Time to see what you can do.”
I glanced down apprehensively at the vile concoction. “Do you have carrot juice?”
He dug around behind the bar and produced a milky white plastic bottle full of orange liquid. “OJ okay?”
“I hope so.” I wasn’t looking forward to this.
He poured me a glass. I took it, but I didn’t move toward the potion.
“You’re nervous,” he said.
I rolled my glass on the tabletop, willing the butterflies in my stomach to settle. “My uncle told me not to do this without him. My aunt said it was dangerous.”
Jaxson regarded me closely. “I’m here.”
That should have scared the heebie-jeebies out of me, but it didn’t.
I took a sip.
The horrible brew burned my tongue, and I grabbed the orange juice and took a big gulp. “Oh, my God, that’s worse!”
My stomach churned. Apparently, being orange wasn’t enough.
I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to focus like my uncle had taught me. I thought about the she-wolf, her tattoo, the drawing I’d made, all of it.
“What do you see?” Jaxson inquired.
“My eyelids. Be quiet. I’m concentrating.”
“Are you sure it works?”
“Shut up! I used it this morning to scry on my godmother!”
I gritted my teeth and tried to bring the she-wolf to mind. When I thought of her face, I could only remember the way she’d screamed and clawed at her eyes when I’d maced her. When I thought of how she was dressed, I only remembered the sound of her hitting my bumper, and then the image of her body rolling into the ditch. All I saw was darkness. “It’s not working.”
Suddenly, Jaxson was behind me. I felt his power vibrating inches away. I gasped as he touched me, and a shock jolted between us, just like the first time we’d touched. His aroma was a drug, and I felt myself melting beneath his fingers.
He could have anything he wanted.
“Focus on the woman,” he grunted. “Describe her to me the way you saw her that night.”
His voice vibrated with power, and as I wanted to do nothing more than please him, I concentrated as hard as I could. “She had long tangled hair, and an angular face. She was wiry, with sinewy muscles and a barbed-wire tattoo around her bicep.”
I felt his presence around me, pushing me, guiding my mind. It calmed my emotions. Focused my thoughts on that woman who had sent my life tumbling into chaos.
“What was she wearing?” His breath was warm on my neck.