Chapter 25: Mint Over Everything

The cellar stank of mint.

I stood in the doorway of the cell with Torin at my back and looked at the empty cot.

The door had been locked from the outside. The key was still in the lock.

Both guards lay on the stone floor, breathing slow. A tin cup sat between them on its side.

Pia crouched and sniffed the dregs.

"Mint on top," she said. "Valerian underneath. Enough to drop a horse."

"It's her recipe," I said.

"It's her tea."

The younger guard groaned and rolled over. Torin hauled him upright by the collar.

"Who gave you this?" Torin said.

The guard's eyes wouldn't focus. "Brought a pot down. Said it was a peace offering for the night watch."

"Who brought it?"

"The Alpha," the guard slurred. "Rhett. He said his mother wanted to say goodbye."

Nobody in the cellar spoke.

I felt my wolf rise under my skin, slow and furious.

"Fan out," Torin told the Cedar Hollow warriors on the stairs. "Every road. Every trail to the river."

"And the omegas in the hall?" Pia said. "Someone has to stay with the line."

"You stay," I said. "Keep pouring. Don't let anyone out of your sight."

She nodded and ran up the stairs. The warriors ran the other way.

Torin took my hand and we came up into the cold afternoon.

The trackers were already at the back door of the hall, sniffing the grass. They looked up at me with wild faces.

"It's everywhere," one of them said. "Mint. She poured oil along every path. We can't tell which way she went."

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