Luna of Rogues

Part 47 - Poison

Fion made a face at me. "You're had some shit ideas over the years, Skye, but I gotta say this one takes the biscuit."

She was sat on the end of my bed, now, my legs draped over her lap. That left Leo and Rhys to sit on the other bed. A few days ago, that would have given me cause for concern, but my brother had let up since our suicide mission. They were almost being ... friendly.

"Why's that?" Rhys asked. "I kinda like it."

Such a loyal supporter, that one. He would back anything violent.

Fion cracked her fingers. "Well, for starters, you would need to get the concentration exactly right. If they die too quickly, you won't poison many before they catch on. Diluting the dose while keeping it lethal - that's tricky enough. Getting to their water sources is another matter."

I smiled at her. "We all know you can handle the science shit, so stow the modesty, girl."

Her cheeks flushed, like I knew they would. Eight years and she still wasn't used to being the smartie-pants among us. She murmured, "I mean, I'll try."

"And as for sneaking into that camp," I went on. "Well ... remind me exactly what we do for a living."

Fion looked between me and Rhys. "You two?"

"Three," Leo murmured. I gave him a sidelong look but didn't say anything. He didn't have as much raiding experience, but I doubted I would be able to dissuade him and, anyway, I wasn't sure I wanted to.

"Who else?" I demanded. It wasn't like I wanted to involve other raiders, because ... I still had a shred of pride. But we would need a few helping hands if this was going to work.

"Three's enough for one team," Rhys said. "More than enough. It'd be better if you stayed behind, Skye. You'd stick out like a sore thumb."

Because I was female - I should have thought of that. But some of the ferals would have their mates squirrelled away and, if we were careful, no one would get a second look at me, anyway. And like hell I was going to let my brother and my mate sneak into the feral camp without proper supervision.

"It's a risk," he continued when I didn't say anything. Leo only blinked, leaving the decision to me entirely. And I had already made it.

"I'm coming," I said firmly.

Nobody argued. My wolf was lurking just below the surface, ready to pounce at the first word. I was ready to fight her back. We might have been in charge, but that didn't mean that any of these choices were ours to make alone.

"And I want two more teams. Ryker and Emmett, Aaron and Connor," I decided. "If they're willing, of course."

"Aaron hates our guts right now," Rhys reminded me. I was fully aware of that, of course, but he was also the one of the best raiders in the country.

I eyed him sideways. "He'll play along, or we'll cluck at him."

It didn't matter that Aaron was as brave as they came. It didn't even matter that every rogue here knew it. The slightest insinuation of cowardice would have him off his arse and proving otherwise in the blink of an eye. It was an effective - if cruel - method of control.

We sat in silence for a moment. Fion had found a pad of paper, and she was scribbling down notes on poisons and the plants they came from. Most of them would be growing somewhere nearby, but there were a few things that might send a person further afield: to the nearest supermarket, say.

"We might kill some captive females by accident," she pointed out, her pen pausing on the page.

Yes, we might. But better to lose a few females than watch the entire northern werewolf population turn feral like so many helpless dominoes. Well, that was my opinion, anyway. I was sure Jace would disagree. And that was exactly why I wasn't going to tell him.