Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
“Dare I ask how there are gardens with no sun?” I was fairly certain I knew the answer, but it’s good to make sure.
“Magic, of course.” Evan leaned against the counter. “And Rhys. He can imbue these globes with his power, and the gnomes use them to grow the plants they need. There’s a magical sun in the gardens, but it’s for show. No UV light allowed in the Under. The primals are super sensitive to it. I know the gnomes grow food for the companions who live here, along with the Fae creatures. There are definitely some medicinal plants, but I worked in the gardens many times, and no one ever pointed out belladonna to me. I don’t think our healers use it, but I can ask.”
“It’s also historically been used as a hallucinogen,” Jamie pointed out.
Evan nodded. “Witches’ ointment. As far back as the fifteenth century, witches discovered that if they combined belladonna with fats or oils, they could topically apply it and avoid the deadly effects of oral ingestion.”
“And they would do this, why?” I asked.
“Applied in that fashion it’s a powerful hallucinogen.” Nate joined the parade of smarty pants I found myself in.
I wasn’t a smarty pants, but that’s why I surrounded myself with them. Normally the witch knowledge came from Liv, but she was busy going through some things, so I was happy Evan and my brothers were serious about keeping up with arcane knowledge. “Would it work on a vamp?”
Evan shrugged. “No idea. Nate, did you turn up any other herbs? Like henbane or mandragora?”
Nate held up the report. “Got trace amounts of both. Are you thinking a ritual or a party?”
“Could be either. Though I’m not sure why Alvis would be involved.” Evan turned my way, not requiring me to ask. “So historically witches would use the witches’ ointment combined with other herbs they either put in the mixture, or they would burn the herbs—henbane specifically—and that along with a spell would send the witch into an altered state. And by witch, I really mean anyone. It would totally work on humans, very likely Fae and werecreatures as well. The Fae are not immune to hallucinogens, and neither are wolves, though you should know Fen just mostly wants belly rubs and to eat. It was only the once, and I was smart enough to not eat the damn things. But in this case the henbane could also potentially be a way to contact the Hell plane. Since it’s a virtual call and not physical, I don’t know that the wards here in the Under would work to shut it down. I also have no idea how a vampire would react.”
“First off, the vampire wouldn’t simply down a couple of berries.” I knew quite a bit about vampire dietary habits since I’d lived with one for a while. Vampires don’t eat solid food, and they don’t drink the way the rest of us did. It’s pretty much all blood all the time for those guys. But there were ways around it. “However, if he fed off someone who had belladonna in their system, it might affect him. I know some vampires can get drunk if their feeding partner for the night has had enough liquor.”
“You’re talking about my dads.” Evan made a gagging sound. “Aren’t you?”
“I could be talking about any number of vampires.” I didn’t want to put Donovan and Quinn in an awkward position.
“She’s totally talking about your dads.” Nate did not have the same problem. “Your dad—the faery one—used to drink an entire bottle of Scotch. Like he would down that sucker in minutes and it wouldn’t affect him at all, but then Dan would feed and he would be so drunk.”
“Dude, you’re talking about her dads.” Jamie stared at our brother. “You know you’re about to be one. Do you want me to tell your daughter how you used to miss the toilet when you had a little too much?”
Nate went a nice shade of red. “Well, I mean, it’s not like they did anything weird after or anything.”
“Weird like what?” Evan’s brows had risen, a queenly expression.
“You know. Weird.” Nate knew how to throw a friend under a bus but not how to deal with said friend’s baby girl calling him on it.
“Like sex? You think I don’t know my dads have sex? Or do you think the fact that they’re married and in a loving relationship means sex between two men is still wrong?” Evan asked pointedly. “Is it weird for people who love each other to have sex, Nathan?”
Nate looked my way. Like I was going to save him.
“Yeah, Nathan, do you have a problem with two men having sex?” I happily threw my brother under a lot of busses. It was fun to watch him squirm.
A low chuckle came from behind me, and I turned around to see Trent walking in, Fenrir behind him. Trent winked my way. “Are you giving your brother hell, baby?”