I wasn’t sure why he was Mr. Smiley this morning. He was one of Liam’s friends. Shouldn’t Matt have been rooting against me and August? Unless he thought my presence in August’s life would get him work benefits.
“Milk?” Matt asked.
“In the fridge,” August said.
I noticed he’d put on his sneakers while I was still barefoot. I curled my unpolished toes, feeling, however superficial, that a coat of nail polish might’ve made my feet more attractive. Not that anyone was staring at them. I set down my glass and grabbed a pair of socks from my bag. After lacing up my sneakers, I went back for some coffee.
“So . . .?” Matt started as I elbowed past him to grab the carafe.
“So . . .?” I volleyed back. I knew exactly what he was hunting for.
“You guys have something to tell us?” Cole asked.
I looked at August, who proceeded to rub his neck. I wasn’t sure if he was still trying to get the kink out of it or if he was nervous.
Taking in a deep breath, I said, “August decided to get injected with a massive dose of Sillin so I wouldn’t do it myself. I stayed over to make sure he didn’t have a seizure during the night.”
The brothers blinked at me, smiles fading.
I sipped my coffee, letting the information settle. “Let me guess . . . that wasn’t where your minds had gone?”
“Nope. Not even close,” Cole said.
“Why?” Matt asked, watching August as though to spot the effect of the drug.
“Morgan told me that when she was younger, she had to take a big dose of it to heal from a toxic waste poisoning. This led me to wonder if taking an enormous dose somehow left traces in our system-not enough to impair our magic, but enough to impair our enemies. Once August manages to shift, Greg will test his blood.”
The atmosphere, which had bordered on lighthearted when the Rogers had arrived, turned downright somber.
“How long before we know the result?” Matt asked.
“Greg said it could take weeks before I can shift,” August said, which skewered me with renewed guilt. August must’ve spotted the guilt, because he added, “But I feel good. Great, even.”
I sensed he was overplaying how great he felt to reassure me, but I also sensed, through the link, that he wasn’t in any pain.
“As you both can see, though, Dimples doesn’t believe me.”
I pursed my lips.
“You sure you feel up for a run, man?” Matt asked.
August shook his head. “Don’t you start babying me too, Matty.”
Cole smirked. “Ness’s babying you, Auggie? I’m sure that’s really awful.”
August smacked his friend, which just made Cole chuckle.
I rolled my eyes. “If you guys are done acting like girls, can we go?”
“Acting like girls?” Cole howled a laugh. “I’ll have you know, we Rogers are extremely manly. Watt, though-”
“Don’t bother coming into work on Monday. You’re fired.”
“August!” I yelled.
“Don’t worry, Ness. That’s the twentieth time he’s fake-fired me.”
“Nothing fake about it this time,” August grumbled.
“Temperature’s supposed to be scorching today,” Matt said, setting his mug in the sink. “We should head out soon.”
“Yo, Matty, can we stop?” Cole wheezed. “My lungs are on fire . . . and I feel like I’m gonna hurl.” He was running beside me while Matt and August were ahead of us.
Way ahead of us.
Even though my lungs felt vacuum-packed, at least I didn’t sound as though I was about to drop dead.
Matt whirled and jogged backward. “If you quit smoking, you’d feel a lot better.”
August glanced over his shoulder at us. Like Matt, he’d barely broken a sweat. “Maybe we should take a breather. Don’t want to have to explain to Kasie how she lost her oldest son to physical exertion.”
Cole flipped him off before coming to a stop. He bent over and clutched his thighs, panting hard. “Why are we running . . . on a Saturday morning . . . again?”
“Because Ness needs endurance training,” Matt said, finally halting too.
“Let me rephrase. Why am I running? Liam should be the one up here murdering his lungs.”
A shadow crossed August’s face at the mention of Liam.
“Liam’s Alpha,” Matt said. “He’s magically in better shape than all of us put together. You know that.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Magically?”
“The blood oath acts like natural steroids,” August explained.
So why had he asked me to prep him for the duel when he didn’t need any training?
My gaze snagged on August.
Of course . . .
Cole and Matt suddenly snapped their heads toward the evergreens behind them. Glowing eyes stared back at us from the cover of the forest. I squinted to make out any distinctive markings on the wolves’ pelts, but they stood at a distance. I sniffed the air. Sure enough, these wolves weren’t Boulders. In case I hadn’t come to this realization on my own, the sweaty T-shirt smacking my bare thigh followed by the sight of the two Rogers’ naked backsides would’ve alerted me to the fact that we weren’t in the presence of friends.
August stepped closer to me, the lines of his face and body as taut as the spines of the two giant blond wolves now standing guard next to us. The six Creeks trotted out of the shadows but kept their distance from us. One of them-a lemon-yellow wolf-whined. Matt barked.
How I wish my human ears could’ve grasped wolf speech . . .
The only thing I could tell from Matt’s raised hackles was that they weren’t exchanging pleasantries.