Jasmine is all too happy to help, she needs the distraction, too. We comb through every box before we find the maps. Going to Ezra’s office, I empty my purse of everything, even the new contact lenses I brought from the chemist. We had to ask the pharmacist to drive to town to open it for me so that I could get them. I knew I wouldn’t have time in the morning to fetch them, and it was an unnecessary risk to take, we had enough enemies so didn’t need to add to that list. These days it seems almost never-ending.
Pushing the lamp aside, I unroll the map and use a stapler and mug to weigh the corners down while studying it. It was dad’s old patrol border patrol map. However, the original school has since moved to the eastern corner. So I cross out the old school and put a cross where the new one is built with the bunkers, the community center was next to the training ground, which was also not the page, and I read the street names before locating its position, marking it on the map.
The packhouse has a safe room on the map, specifically for the pack’s Luna and Jackson’s children. It had tunnels underneath the packhouse as an escape route, which we need to make sure were the first things we block off. Four tunnels went to the stadium, another to the school, and two more to the forest behind the packhouse. Those also need to be blocked off, any points of entry, even if Jackson tries to bunker down, which no doubt he would, like the coward he is, we need to make sure any escape is impossible for him.
Once I have marked all the places on the map, I leave it, retrieving the syringe and vials we got from the pharmacist. I was going to ask Jasmine, but her stomach is too weak to handle it, and I also didn’t want to risk her touching it, since we don’t exactly know how potent my venom is. Though she did manage to show me where the glands were, and despite how angry I have been, nothing has worked as far as milking me like a snake. Now I am trying another way.
I could hear Ezra and Mateo showering still and the groan and banging of the old rickety pipes, for a house that is fully renovated and updated the plumbing really needs work. Their unease only amplifies mine. Padding into the bathroom down the hall, I use the mirror. I had to turn to the side to see what I was doing before popping the cap on the syringe. I stare at the needle, horrified that I am about to stick that through either side of my tonsils and into the roof of my mouth. A shudder runs through me at the mere thought, and I bite back an instinctive whimper.
Why couldn’t being a Gemini wolf come with a user manual? This seems extreme, but I didn’t know any other way to try. I opened my mouth before using my fingers to feel around the back of my mouth, feeling the squishy bit that Jasmine showed me.
Using my finger as a guide, I shove the needle in. I gasp, and my eyes’ water at the sting of the needle. I carefully remove my index finger from my mouth while using my other hand to hold the needle that is protruding from my mouth, keeping it steady.
I awkwardly swallow, which is quite hard to do with my mouth open. Gripping the plunger, I slowly pull on it. The swelling in the roof of my mouth goes down as I withdraw the liquid inside before pulling the needle out.
At first, Jasmine didn’t think I could use the venom unless in wolf form, or as a reaction to the person I’m trying to bite. However, she had still taught me this just in case, and I think it actually worked as I pulled the needle out to find the syringe filled with a black substance.
I poke the roof of my mouth with my tongue to find it healing already. I did feel a little guilty my mates would have got my second pain. Grabbing the vial, I plunge the needle in, squirting my venom into it.
Retrieving a fresh needle, I do the same to the other side, that one actually makes my eyes water and a tear slips down my cheek, yet the result was the same. The syringe fills with the black substance that shimmers as I hold it up to the light. I fill the next vial before looking at the roof of my mouth.
“What in the world are you doing?” Ezra demands, and he must have felt the pinch of the needle, I hold the needles up to show him. “You mean, that is why I feel like I just took a visit to the damn dentist?” he shakes his head with a low growl.
“Sorry,” I apologize as I walk back to the office and stick the syringe in the small sharps container the pharmacist gave me. I put the vials in a bubble wrap pouch just as Ezra walks in with Mateo.
“What is this?” He asks, coming over to peer down at his desk.
“Jackson’s pack, the map, is outdated but still usable. The school has since moved over here, and these tunnels lead to the packhouse,” I explain, and he nods reading over my adjustments.
“We can use this, where did you get it?” He asks.
“Jasmine and I found it amongst dad’s stuff,” I admit, and he smiles sadly but nods once. He turns his attention back to the map, going over it. “Also, I brought contact lenses. For now, only Andrei’s pack and ours know I am a Gemini wolf. I want to keep it that way as long as we can, so tomorrow, I will use these,” I tell them, pointing to the dark brown lenses.
“They will find out eventually,” he points out.
“I know, but one war at a time or none if possible. If they don’t know, they have no reason to worry. People fear what they don’t understand, so let’s keep the hysteria to a minimum,” I tell him just as Mateo picks up the vials.
I quickly snatch them from him, not wanting him to touch them, so they don’t break in his hands.
“That’s my venom, hands-off. I don’t want to be resurrecting the dead just yet,” I scold him.
“How?”
I hold up the sharps box, and Ezra pulls a face, already knowing what I did.
“Well, that explains the sharp sting we both got,” Mateo muses.
“What do you want to do with it?” Ezra asks.
“Not sure, but Andrei wanted it, though the water supply is off-limits. If this can kill a werewolf. It could probably kill humans too, so no tampering with water supplies. We don’t need any collateral damage, but I will hang onto them for now until we find another way to use them, if not, Mathias can use them for experimenting anyway.”
Ezra hums in agreement, it would be interesting to see what my saliva contains.