patrols
got close to the fire, but had to retreat. Our intruder has burned some grass, a couple
of trees, and one hellishly large amount of wolfbane.”
SEVEN
W OLFBANE , aka monkshood, blue rocket, devil’s helmet, aconite. There were over two hundred
species in the genus, many of which had been used medicinally for hundreds of years.
Landscapers still planted it ornamentally. It was a deadly poison.
The roots of several species contained a highly toxic alkaloid that the Japanese once
used for hunting bears and the Chinese in war. In Ayurvedic medicine, aconite was
said to increase the fire
dosha
, and traditional Chinese medicine considered it a remedy for “coldness” or lassitude.
In Western medicine, it had been used for everything from a local anesthetic—contact
with the sap caused first tingling, then numbness—to a treatment for various heart
problems. Certainly it acted on the heart. It stimulated the cardio-inhibitory nerve
in the medulla oblongata, reducing both heart rate and blood pressure, but there was
a wee tendency for the heart to slow too much. In most mammals, though, respiration
stopped before the heart did.
Werewolves were not most mammals, but wolfbane affected them, too. It made them sick.
Deeply, miserably sick. Hence the name.
“What symptoms?” Lily asked urgently.
“Aaron is still puking his guts out,” Rule said. “Will wasn’t as badly affected and
was able to drag Aaron away from the smoke and call Pete. No paralysis.”
That was a relief. There was a woman—currently in prison and stripped of her Gift—who’d
devised a way to combine wolfbane with other ingredients to create a smoke that paralyzed
lupi. Best if that innovation did not spread.
Lily looked at Cynna. “How close does Cullen have to be to tell the fire to quit burning?”
“It depends on how big the fire is, but the closer the better. He won’t be able to
get very close, will he? Unless…how steady is the wind?”
Rule answered that one. “Too fitful up on the slope to predict. Unless it steadies
so that Cullen and the others can approach from upwind, we’ll have to wait for the
wolfbane to be consumed before we can deal with the fire.”
Lily gave him a look. “You’ve got plenty of clan who aren’t lupi.” Clan who were female,
in other words. The daughters of lupi were human but were considered clan, and there
were more than the usual number of adult females at Clanhome now.
Rule got a funny expression on his face, as if he’d taken a swig of what he thought
was water and found out was vodka. “You’re right. I didn’t think of it, but…still,
it would take them awhile to get up there, and the wolfbane should have burned up
by then.”
“Unless Firebug Asshole scattered wolfbane all over the place, so that wherever the
fire spreads, there’s wolfbane around to burn.”
It took Rule five seconds to nod. Every instinct was arguing against it, she knew.
Lupi didn’t precisely coddle their women. At least Nokolai didn’t. Southern California
sprouted wildfires in the summer the way Iowa grew corn, and Lily knew that some of
the female clan had been on fire lines before. But the instinct to protect went deep.
Sending women out now, exposing them to possible attack from whoever had invaded Clanhome…no,
that hadn’toccurred to Rule, and it took him a moment to accept the necessity.
Still, he called Pete and told him that Mellie would be in touch shortly about an
escort for the female firefighting crew she would put together. Then he called Mellie.
Mellie Blackstone was fifty-something, tough as nails, and owned a small construction
company. She was also on Nokolai’s council of elders.
All of the lupi clans had councils except Etorri, which was too small to need one.
Lily hadn’t understood the function of these councils at first, save for the obvious:
they advised the Rho. In a few clans they also managed the
got close to the fire, but had to retreat. Our intruder has burned some grass, a couple
of trees, and one hellishly large amount of wolfbane.”
SEVEN
W OLFBANE , aka monkshood, blue rocket, devil’s helmet, aconite. There were over two hundred
species in the genus, many of which had been used medicinally for hundreds of years.
Landscapers still planted it ornamentally. It was a deadly poison.
The roots of several species contained a highly toxic alkaloid that the Japanese once
used for hunting bears and the Chinese in war. In Ayurvedic medicine, aconite was
said to increase the fire
dosha
, and traditional Chinese medicine considered it a remedy for “coldness” or lassitude.
In Western medicine, it had been used for everything from a local anesthetic—contact
with the sap caused first tingling, then numbness—to a treatment for various heart
problems. Certainly it acted on the heart. It stimulated the cardio-inhibitory nerve
in the medulla oblongata, reducing both heart rate and blood pressure, but there was
a wee tendency for the heart to slow too much. In most mammals, though, respiration
stopped before the heart did.
Werewolves were not most mammals, but wolfbane affected them, too. It made them sick.
Deeply, miserably sick. Hence the name.
“What symptoms?” Lily asked urgently.
“Aaron is still puking his guts out,” Rule said. “Will wasn’t as badly affected and
was able to drag Aaron away from the smoke and call Pete. No paralysis.”
That was a relief. There was a woman—currently in prison and stripped of her Gift—who’d
devised a way to combine wolfbane with other ingredients to create a smoke that paralyzed
lupi. Best if that innovation did not spread.
Lily looked at Cynna. “How close does Cullen have to be to tell the fire to quit burning?”
“It depends on how big the fire is, but the closer the better. He won’t be able to
get very close, will he? Unless…how steady is the wind?”
Rule answered that one. “Too fitful up on the slope to predict. Unless it steadies
so that Cullen and the others can approach from upwind, we’ll have to wait for the
wolfbane to be consumed before we can deal with the fire.”
Lily gave him a look. “You’ve got plenty of clan who aren’t lupi.” Clan who were female,
in other words. The daughters of lupi were human but were considered clan, and there
were more than the usual number of adult females at Clanhome now.
Rule got a funny expression on his face, as if he’d taken a swig of what he thought
was water and found out was vodka. “You’re right. I didn’t think of it, but…still,
it would take them awhile to get up there, and the wolfbane should have burned up
by then.”
“Unless Firebug Asshole scattered wolfbane all over the place, so that wherever the
fire spreads, there’s wolfbane around to burn.”
It took Rule five seconds to nod. Every instinct was arguing against it, she knew.
Lupi didn’t precisely coddle their women. At least Nokolai didn’t. Southern California
sprouted wildfires in the summer the way Iowa grew corn, and Lily knew that some of
the female clan had been on fire lines before. But the instinct to protect went deep.
Sending women out now, exposing them to possible attack from whoever had invaded Clanhome…no,
that hadn’toccurred to Rule, and it took him a moment to accept the necessity.
Still, he called Pete and told him that Mellie would be in touch shortly about an
escort for the female firefighting crew she would put together. Then he called Mellie.
Mellie Blackstone was fifty-something, tough as nails, and owned a small construction
company. She was also on Nokolai’s council of elders.
All of the lupi clans had councils except Etorri, which was too small to need one.
Lily hadn’t understood the function of these councils at first, save for the obvious:
they advised the Rho. In a few clans they also managed the
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