Page 26 of Triumph of the Wolf (Magnetic Magic #6)
Drizzle fell from the cloudy night sky as Duncan and I clambered up a treed slope, the undergrowth dense and undisturbed.
Dawn approached, but the gloom made it hard to tell.
Only my phone confirming the time assured me that we’d been up all night.
As we climbed, I yawned often and wiped my eyes, not certain if the moisture came from sorrow, the rain, or simply weariness.
I felt more like I was going to set a gravestone rather than plant an artifact and couldn’t shake my somber mood. It didn’t help that my niece was still in danger, and who knew what was going on at the apartment complex with the pack.
Glad to have Duncan with me, I bumped the back of my hand against his as we walked. “I appreciate your support.”
“I could tell that from your gentle touch with that oven mitt.”
“It’s how American women show affection.”
“Interesting.” Duncan nodded toward a portion of the sky visible ahead, a suggestion that we would soon reach the top of the slope. “I don’t sense much in the way of magic around. Are we looking for something in particular?”
I considered my memory of the vision. “Just… high ground, I think. Like a spot you’d set up an antenna. Or a cell tower.”
Duncan eyed the case. “Or a funky metallic mushroom?”
“I hope so.”
Since there were no trails here, it took several more minutes to reach the top.
Trees grew densely, but a rock shelf provided a clear viewpoint, and when we walked out onto it, I recognized the vista.
In the vision, I’d been able to see Mom’s cabin and those of other werewolves.
That was harder in reality, but I did pick out the road that led to Mom’s home.
“I think this is the place.” I held the case out on my oven mitt, wondering if the artifact inside had somehow been filled in on the vision.
Would it know what to do? That the lid needed to open, and the mushroom needed to float out?
What if it didn’t want to do what the medallions and the cave wished?
“Do you need me to turn into the bipedfuris?” Duncan asked after a few moments with nothing happening.
“I’m not sure. Visions never come with as detailed of instructions as you’d wish.”
Duncan touched his medallion. “I’m having an urge to get furry.”
“An urge or a magical compulsion?”
“Well, they’re about the same.” Duncan stepped back and started removing his clothes. “You may want to look away so you’re not so overcome with lust for my naked body that we’re distracted.”
I yawned. “I’m too tired to be overcome by anything.”
“That’s a touch disappointing. I’d like to think my body, which I naturally keep in peak physical shape, is enough to invigorate women and fill them with energy and lust.”
“Your mind must be an interesting place to inhabit.”
“Oh, it’s a delight.” Duncan bent to remove his shoes.
Wondering if the reception was better up here, I set the case between my feet and pulled out my phone. Maybe I could get a text through to Bolin, and he would send an update.
But he’d already sent a message at some point during the night, one that might have just come in.
There are wolves sniffing all over the place, Luna.
Are they here looking for Jasmine? I hope so.
They won’t talk to me. They’re not bothering the tenants, but some people are out here taking photos of them.
Do you want me to do anything? Is there anything I can do?
I was looking for locating spells in my druid texts, but none were as helpful as I’d hoped.
Even though some have potions and tools, like the Orbs of Entanglement, that can be made from ingredients, they’re not alchemy tomes.
An idea struck me, one that should have occurred when Izzy had disappeared. I took off the oven mitt so I could use both hands to text back more quickly.
Check with Rue. She can make potions for finding people. She’ll need some hair or blood or saliva or something from Jasmine though. And Jasmine will need to be within ten miles for the potion to take us to her, but… that should be doable. I have an idea of the general area where she’s being kept.
It occurred to me that Bolin hadn’t likely asked Jasmine for blood or hair samples on their dates. I was on the verge of texting that I could swing by her house and ask her parents if I could poke in her bathroom for a hairbrush.
But Bolin texted back first. It had to be a testament to his concern for her that he was awake at dawn. There’s a napkin here that she dabbed her mouth with and a coffee cup she drank from. It’s got some of her lipstick on it. There should be some saliva, right?
Maybe so. Check with Rue.
Okay.
A glow and pulse of magic came from between my feet, startling me. The lid of the case opened.
A growl from behind me let me know that Duncan had completed his change.
Tall, furred, and muscular, the bipedfuris crouched between me and a large pine.
He glowered at the case, which reminded me of something he’d said before.
The artifact didn’t like him—didn’t like any werewolves—and sent irritating magic crawling all over him when he was in that form.
I stepped back, not wanting a glowing magical artifact doing who knew what between my legs, and wondered anew why this ancient tool that didn’t like our kind would help us. The vision had promised it would, but I still didn’t understand.
The glow intensified, and I backed further away. Duncan did too. We ended up half in the trees, torn between squinting toward the case to see what would happen and wanting to look away.
As it had in the vision, the mushroom floated up out of the case. Several strong pulses came from it, the usual glow limned with purple, creating circular waves that spread outward in all directions over the forest. After a few minutes, they faded, and the mushroom slowly descended to the ground.
The cliff appeared to be made from solid rock, but magic surged from the artifact’s stem, and snaps sounded and smoke wafted.
It was drilling a hole, one that it nestled itself securely into.
The light grew less intense, but I continued to sense the artifact emanating magic. Its cap also glowed a soft purple.
The lid on the case thunked shut, surprising me. The mushroom remained outside of it, planted in the cliff, the purple cap a beacon in the dim light.
“People are going to be able to see that from a ways off,” I muttered.
Though maybe that wasn’t true. It might be hard to see once we got down from the cliff. I could sense the artifact and its power, however.
Duncan growled, looking like he wanted to stalk over and punt the case and the artifact off the cliff.
I rested a hand on his taut arm. “I think it’s doing something to help our people.”
He made a grunt of inquiry.
“I’m not sure exactly what, but would a vision in a weird cave that manipulated us into having sex lead us astray?”
He tilted his furry head.
I laughed softly and shrugged. “Mom thought it wouldn’t. We’ll have to see.”
Despite the drizzle and clouds, the clifftop perch offered an appealing view of the brightening forest. On a sunny day, or maybe a moonlit night, sometime after I found Jasmine and Izzy, I would return and enjoy the vista more thoroughly.
Another text from Bolin reached me. Rue said she’ll make the potion. Also, Ivan MacGregor is here, looking for you.
I grimaced, again feeling guilty that I wasn’t actively searching for his sister. But if Izzy was with Jasmine, Rue’s potion ought to lead us to them. Remembering how awful the dreadful things tasted, I said, “I hope I can talk Bolin into taking this one.”
Duncan grunted.
“Can you change back into you? It’s time to go back to the city, and I need a driver.”
A second grunt may have been agreement, but some critter rustled down the slope, and he loped off in that direction.
I picked up the case and gathered his clothes, glad his car keys jangled in the pants pocket. “Looks like I might be the driver.”
Before following him down the slope, I once more looked back at the view, the mushroom cap glowing a soft purple near the edge of the cliff, the forest stretching away beyond it.
It felt like placing it had been a funeral of sorts, as if, in carrying out Mom’s last wish, I was saying goodbye to her.
I hoped the artifact did indeed offer some protection for our people and that this had been worth it.