Page 134 of Such Sharp Teeth

I wouldn’t be surprised if she skipped town. If I never hear from her again.

“Can you take Reaper out?” Scarlett asks me. “I can’t get up.”

“Sure,” I say, whistling for him.

He trots in.

I take him for a walk around the block.

“Did you know I am now officially dating Ian Pedretti?” I ask him.

He doesn’t care. He’s more interested in sniffing garbage and eating twigs.

When we get back, I notice a small brown paper bag on the front step. Like a school lunch.

Reaper won’t go anywhere near it.

“What is it?” I ask him.

He whimpers and hides behind me.

I pick it up and open it. Inside is a small glass bottle with a dropper. Some kind of serum. It’s got a purplish tint to it.

There’s also a sheet of paper folded in thirds. It has my name written on it.

I take it inside. I toss Reaper some treats and bring the bag upstairs to my bathroom. I sit on the tub and read the note.

Rory—

I hope you’ll believe me when I say I didn’t mean for this to happen. I didn’t choose this. Not for myself and not for you. But what’s done is done.

The vial contains a wolfsbane tonic. It helps, but you have to be careful with it. You need to build it up in your system slowly. If you take it the six days leading up to the full moon, you’ll be too weak to hunt. Just a drop under the tongue. This is only enough for January but you can make more. Wolfsbane isn’t hard to find.

Warning you—it’s miserable, and if you miss one dose, it’s basically useless. But it’s something. You can take it or not. Your call.

If you decide you don’t want to kill me (rip my throat out, I think you said), just howl.

XX Mia

There’s an index card taped to the note. It has the recipe for the tonic, which involves a three-week fermentation process and requires rubber gloves and a gas mask, water, wolfsbane, lemon peel, and wine yeast.

I set the note down on the vanity. I examine the vial. I unscrew the lid to smell it.

It burns.

It’s like acid up my nose.

I gasp, frantically screwing the cap back on.

The burning goes all the way back to my throat. Thick coughs claw up from my lungs. I can barely breathe. An atomic headache detonates between my eyes. My vision spots. I’m about to pass out.

If this is what happens when I smell it, what will happen when I consume it? When I put it in my body?

Maybe she’s trying to kill me off. Poison me. The occult shop guy did warn me not to ingest the wolfsbane, said it was toxic. Though he also didn’t believe in werewolves.

I get the bag of wolfsbane I bought at the shop out from under my bed and examine it, hold it up next to the vial. The petals are the same color as the tonic.

Is this legit? A fucking magic potion, an elixir I could make myself? Is this the answer I’ve been searching for?