“Is Gus okay?” Rosa asked. She was sitting up now, her eyes clear and focused, her shirt pulled back down.

“Rosa!” Mel embraced her. In her relief, her body lowered its defenses, and she shuddered out two long-overdue sobs that quickly devolved into laughter “I can’t believe that worked! I would’ve been laughed out of class for that shit.”

Rosa took a closer look at the object she’d been sucking on and recognized her carving. “What… you used a freshness sigil for a healing spell? You can do spells?”

“It’s actually a potion,” Mel said, not believing it herself.

“In a solid object?”

“At this point, I don’t care how it worked.”

“Rosa!”

They both jumped. Rosa’s wives, Jenny and Vera, burst into the room and joined Mel in hugging her.

“Wha- what are you doing here?” Mel extracted herself, ready to ask more questions, but thought better of it when she saw the desperate relief with which they were squeezing, kissing, and checking Rosa over.

She’d never seen Vera without charmingly coiffed hair and a painstakingly coordinated outfit. Even the pajamas she wore now were adorable. Jenny, on the other hand, looked the same as ever in her t-shirt and sweatpants.

A sound from behind her reminded Mel that Kit was still in the walk-in.

“What’s the matter? Did you hit your head?” She approached the walk-in slowly, speaking in loud and clear tones to keep from surprising him.

Kit turned to her and fell again. She rushed to him, checking his head for injuries but finding none. Kit’s labored breathing scared her. He lifted one paw and made a weak swipe at his chest. Mel spotted something sticking out of him. Her eyes widened as she realized out loud, “Arthur had a knife on him?”

From behind her, Jenny said, “It must be silver. He said he suspected there would be retaliation, right? He was prepared for it.”

“How did you— What do I do? Do I take it out?”

“We need to restrain him first,” Vera said.

Rosa told her, “He isn’t normal. I saw it. He’s in control of himself.”

They each exchanged looks, and Mel watched with admiration as Rosa wordlessly assured her wives they would be safe.

“Go ahead,” Jenny allowed. “Once the silver is out, he’ll heal.”

Mel gripped the knife handle and whispered to Kit, “This will help,” before yanking it out. She felt a flood of endorphins in her own body when she flung the knife away from him, as though the pain relief had been hers to share. Kit’s breathing calmed and he was able to get to his feet again.

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“That’s better, isn’t it?” Mel asked, offering her hand. Kit nuzzled his head into her palm.

“You’re bonded,” Vera said with wonder. She and Jenny were still holding Rosa, who was looking on in astonishment.

“We’ve been through some rough shit together, I guess.” Mel got the feeling that wasn’t what Vera meant.

Rosa showed her wives the glass shard Mel had given her. “That’s how she was able to make this.”

“What is it?”

“It’s like a healing potion, but in a solid object, and with all the wrong ingredients,” Rosa explained breathelessly. “And it still worked better than any I’ve ever seen.”

“What does… Gus have to do with that?” Mel hoped her near slip would go unnoticed, but Jenny’s eyes narrowed on her.

“Oh, Mel, that’s not Gus,” Rosa told her gently.

“Wait, how could you know that? What is going ON? Why are your wives here, and how much do you really know?”

Jenny countered, “You clearly know more than you’re letting on, too. You knew that wasn't Gus.”

“I don’t think I should…” Kit nudged her shoulder with his nose. He looked her in the eyes. “Are you sure?”

He nodded.

Mel took a deep breath and told them, “This is Kit.”

“Of course it is,” Jenny muttered, rolling her eyes.

“You idiot!” Vera took off her hat and threw it at Kit, who didn’t flinch.

Rosa only gave him a look of pained understanding and sighed.

Mel inferred, “You all knew about Kit and Gus before any of this, didn’t you?”

“We help people like them. Rosa got both of them this job,” Vera said.

“For all the good it did,” Rosa sighed. “We failed Gus. I should have gotten them both out of here months ago. I knew Arthur wasn’t sympathetic. I just never would have thought he’d…”

“But why here?” Mel asked. “Is there something about potions?”

“No,” Vera answered, “it’s just the building. There’s a basement nobody uses. Big, windowless, easy to secure. Gus and Kit would use it to bunker down during full moons.”

Jenny said, “Which is exactly what Kit is supposed to be doing right now.”

Mel clenched a fistful of Kit’s fur. “Did you hear Arthur earlier, Rosa? He admitted he knew Gus wouldn’t hurt a fly, werewolf or not. And he still turned him in.”

“Is everyone ok?” Jenny cut in. “We need to get moving as soon as we’re able to.”

“Moving?”

Rosa explained, “Arthur’s probably already called the police. You and Kit need to come with us. Anyone who’s been exposed to a werewolf on a full moon is treated as having been bitten until proven otherwise.”

Jenny added, ”Proving otherwise is sometimes a postmortem process.”

The feeling Mel had identified as inspiration flooded her again, along with the sense that she could do anything— or more to the point, that no one could stop her if they wanted to. It frightened her. She knew it had something to do with Kit. Mel wanted to stay with Rosa, keep an eye on her, and get answers from her and her wives. She had so many questions it was making her lightheaded. But she understood something now that made it impossible for her to run away with them.

“Arthur doesn’t deserve to get away,” Mel told them.

Jenny crossed her arms and said, “We can’t risk it. Absolutely not.”

“It’s unforgivable,” Mel said. “What he did. No, I’m not letting him go.”

“We have to go. This isn’t an argument. State hunters could be here any second.”

Kit huffed. Mel shared a look with him as the others readied to leave. “We’re not coming. We’re going after Arthur.”

“Mel,” Rosa began, but Jenny cut her off:

“We don’t have time to change her mind.”

Vera slid a purple quartz necklace out from under her shirt and undid the clasp. Rosa touched her own matching necklace, smiling.

“At least take this,” Vera offered to Mel. “When you focus, you’ll be able to hear through Rosa’s necklace in your mind. It’s only one way, though. Best we can do.”

Mel accepted it. “So that’s how you knew to come here. Thank you. Please, please stay safe. Will I…” She touched Rosa’s arm. “Am I ever going to see you again?”

“You won’t be able to get rid of us,” Rosa promised. “You have no idea what the two of you could mean.” She hugged Mel tightly and added, “Or how much you mean to me.”

“I think I know,” Mel replied.

“Let’s go,” Jenny urged them as gently as she could. “Mel, tune in to that necklace. We have a lot to tell you.”

“I will.”

As Mel led Kit out of the lab, Vera called after her, “There’s too much at stake to throw away on that asshole.”