Inked

“I’d rather you didn’t. The various agencies that take note of such things are unaware of how much I know about gado, and I’d prefer them to remain ignorant. I did considerable private research on the subject when the government was using gado on the lupi they caught.”

“Right.” Lily considered asking just how much Nettie knew about the manufacture of gado. Best not, she decided. Best if she didn’t actually know.

“Wolfbane, of course, can’t be tracked,” Nettie said. “It’s far too common.”

Wolfbane, aka monkshood, devil’s helmet, or aconite, was a member of the buttercup family scientifically known as aconitum. Lily was an amateur gardener, but she’d looked this particular plant up. “It’s not native to the San Diego area, I think.”

“Not that we know of. It generally prefers wetlands, but one species—Columbian monkshood—is found in many parts of California. Also, the flowers are pretty enough that some landscapers use it, despite the toxicity.”

“It’s a neurotoxin, right? And it interferes with a lupus’s healing.”

“It does. If you’re wondering whether wolfbane could account for the tattoo—”

“I am. The government used gado to tattoo registered lupi, but what I read suggests wolfbane might work, too. I’m also wondering about the fatal wound. Would a lupus heal that before bleeding out without the application of some agent like wolfbane or gado?”

“There’s no way to answer your second question. Lupi healing varies, and I don’t know enough about the wound. What structures were involved? Was the trachea severed as well as the exterior jugular vein? What about the carotid artery?”

Lily grimaced. So far, everything she knew about the case came from Rule’s father and a single newspaper article. The local police had to send the FBI requested material, but if they felt uncooperative, it could take an amazingly long time to process a request. “I don’t know.”

“Until you do, I can’t discuss that meaningfully. As for your other question…hmm.” She considered that a moment. “Are you talking about topical woflbane, or ingested?”

“Either. Both.”

“Applied topically, both wolfbane and gado retard healing in a lupus, but the mechanism and the duration is very different. Wolfbane’s effects are quite brief.”

“Define brief.”

“That would depend on the lupus and the dosage, but most lupi rid themselves of it in two to four minutes. Some, like Rule, are almost unaffected by topical bane.”

“He’s been given bane, then.”

“Certainly. Most clans expose young lupi to it so they’ll recognize the effects. Rule has unusually strong healing, so his system throws off topical wolfbane almost immediately. The ingested bane made him as miserable as any other lupus, though for a briefer time than some.”

“So eating wolfbane works differently than rubbing it on?”

“Oh, yes. With ingested bane, the effects are stronger, more unpleasant, and last longer.”

“An hour? A day?”

“More than an hour. Less than a day. The thing about wolfbane is that it distracts a lupus’s healing. Their magic immediately tries to heal them of it—and since for some reason they can’t rid themselves of it quickly, their systems often focus on it to the exclusion of other, more serious damage. Not in a predictable way, though.”

“Because lupus healing varies.”

“The effect varies even for the same lupus. One time a lupus might heal a wound almost normally soon after ingesting a dose. Another time, the same lupus may fail to heal even a trivial wound.”

Lily was reminded of the mate bond. It, too, was unpredictable. “What about injecting it? Does that make a difference?”

“It can’t be injected—not if you want to affect healing, that is. When wolfbane is altered, the effects change in myriad ways, and there is no key active ingredient that can be extracted. To retard healing, you have to use fresh leaves or flowers.”

“Not the seeds or roots?”

“No. And no, I don’t know why. Either of those will cause a form of bane sickness, but it’s much briefer and doesn’t seem to affect healing.”

“Are the effects the same for all the aconite species?”

“As far as we know, though the severity of the symptoms varies.”

Rule was moving down the aisle now. Lily tapped her pen on her notebook. “It sounds like there’s no reason to assume Steve Hilliard was given gado. Wolfbane would have had the same effect as far as the tattoo goes.”

“Well…yes. Though gado is much more effective. It blocks all of a lupus’s magic, not just the healing, and the effect lasts much longer.”

“But it’s a hell of a lot harder to get hold of or to make.”

“True.”

“Thanks, Nettie. I’ll keep you posted.” Lily disco

Damn him. He hadn’t lied, no. He’d just led her to believe something that wasn’t entirely true.

Rule had stopped a couple seats up and was signing an autograph for a young woman with tightly kinked orange hair. The stewardess hovered behind him, smiling in an infatuated way. “You’re sure you don’t mind?” she asked, handing him a scrap of paper.

Rule didn’t. He seldom did. His fame—or notoriety—was part of his father’s plan to integrate lupi with human society, and Rule had known he would be the public face for his people long before he met Lily. Before the Supreme Court’s decision made it safe to a

He made a gorgeous public face. His features were sharp and elegant in a way the camera loved, with dramatic eyebrows and cheekbones. His body wasn’t bad, either, if you went for long, lean, and powerful with the i

Which, from what Lily could see, 99.9 percent of heterosexual women did.

Lily couldn’t see who sat beside the woman with the orange hair, but it was another female, judging by the muffled voice. Rule leaned across the first woman and patted the other one somewhere—her shoulder, probably.

He didn’t look like a man sternly suppressing the beast inside—a wolf who did not like being trapped in a metal cage. He did have some tells, but they were too subtle for even her to spot them unless she was close.

“I don’t suffer from motion sickness myself,” he said, “but Lily usually travels with some candied ginger, just in case. Shall I ask her if she has some?”

Lily heard the woman’s words clearly this time. “Lily? Who’s she?”

Rule smiled. “My beloved.”

He said that naturally, too. Just as if everyone talked that way.

Lily could imagine the woman’s disappointed expression. She’d seen it often enough on other female faces. Even women who weren’t making a serious play for Rule enjoyed thinking they might be able to have him, if they tried. Lupi were notoriously promiscuous.

Except for Rule. Not anymore, that is.

He signed one more autograph, then at last slid into the seat beside Lily with a faint sigh. She caught a faint whiff of the honey and citrus scent of his shampoo. He’d switched recently because she loved citrus scents.

He made it hard to stay mad, dammit.

“Why,” he murmured, “do people troubled by motion sickness feel impelled to tell everyone about their symptoms?”

“Did she want the ginger?”

“No.” He looked at her, his brows drawing together. “You’re upset.”

“What I am, is pissed. You manipulated me.”

His eyebrows snapped down. “What are you talking about?”

“You led me to think gado was probably involved. Wolfbane is a lot more likely, but you never mentioned it. I wouldn’t have cause to investigate the use of wolfbane, would I?”

“I’d just heard that one of my oldest friends was dead. Excuse me for not thinking things through.”

“We’ve been up since four a.m. today. We’ve discussed the case, the circumstances under which I can investigate—the restrictions I’m under.” Croft had told her to avoid calling on other FBI agents unless she could confirm that gado was involved. “You never mentioned the possibility it was wolfbane, not gado, that let someone tattoo Hilliard.”