I pushed the noxious scrying potion toward him. “Maybe you want to do it this time?”
He didn’t touch the flask. “I’m a wolf. Your blood in that potion attunes it exclusively to you, but even if it didn’t, our kind doesn’t have the innate magic necessary to control the effects. Moreover, scrying is forbidden.”
I crossed my arms and leaned back in the booth. “Forbidden? Or simply illegal and dangerous, which you neglected to tell me when you first asked.”
Jaxson flinched slightly, but he kept his eyes trained on me. “Forbidden. Dabbling in the occult is taboo in our pack. Knowing the future, far-seeing, they’re the domains of the moon-mother and not meant for mortals. She watches over us, and only she sees the future.”
I leaned forward. “But you went to a seer.”
“I was desperate. I needed answers.”
I wondered how that went over with the rest of his pack. “What did she tell you about our adversaries? About me?”
“My prophecy is my own, just as yours belongs to you.”
I scowled. “But you heard part of mine.”
“Not the prophecy, just the fortune teller’s interpretation of the cards. That’s different.”
I chewed on my lip and dug my nails into my palm to keep my frustration from boiling over. He was chintzier with information than Alma was with sweets. “Can’t you tell me anything?”
Jaxson released a low, exasperated rumble from his throat, then leaned toward me. “The seer helped me find you and told me to protect you. She said you would lead me to answers, and that if anything happens to you, it’ll mean ruin for my pack.”
Of course—that was why he was so interested in me. The wellbeing of his pack. And to think I’d begun to believe he saw something in me.
I scowled and hoped he could smell my annoyance. “Fine, let’s do this. By which I mean I’ll do it, seeing as you can’t or won’t.”
My palms were wet from the condensation on the beer bottle, so I rubbed them on my jeans and uncorked the flask. “Bottoms up.”
I screwed up my face as the bitter liquid burned my throat, making me feel slightly nauseated, and then I choked as I started laughing.
“What’s so funny?” Jaxson asked, his eyes narrowing in on me like lasers.
“Honestly? I was thinking of throwing up on you. This tastes so bad.”
He inclined his head, and a muscle in his jaw twitched. It was so easy to ruffle his fur. “Focus, Savannah. This is important.” His voice was sharp and impatient.
I took a breath and closed my eyes, concentrating on the picture of the she-wolf I’d drawn. The potion began working its way through me like the tingle of a low-voltage current. My arms became leaden, and my fingers felt like they were merging with the wood. Black shadows and forms swirled in the darkness, drawing me in.
“Tell me what you see.” Jaxson’s voice was far off, like a dream.
I tried to speak, but the darkness tugged me in all directions and muddled my mind. I clenched my eyes shut as hard as I could and imagined the face of the bitch from Belmont. Her rage. Her hatred.
The shadows behind my closed eyes began circling me like wolves. Hungry. Impatient. The hair on my neck rose, and I had the distinct sensation of being watched by unseen eyes.
“Savannah. Is it working?”
“Something’s different. I can’t…it’s not right. Very not right. I’m not alone…”
Jaxson’s hand pressed against my back,
and warmth poured through me, awakening a power deep within. He spoke in honey tones. “You’re not alone. I’m here. Concentrate on the woman.”
His signature washed over my body, and I wanted to drink it in. It filled my senses, and suddenly, despite the darkness around me, I felt like I was running through a cold and snowy forest with crisp air on my face. The stalking shadows in my mind peeled away and fled through the darkness. Light appeared. Suddenly, the forest wasn’t just the scent of Jaxson’s signature. It was there, bathed in summer sunlight, all around me.
I was moving through the woods, following the woman.
My pulse began to slow. “I see her.”