Page 99 of Broken Veil
“We can’t burn the forest,” Carys said. “But what about smoke? You have smoking equipment, right?”
“Smoke will calm the bees,” Jibril said, “but will do nothing about the bear.”
“Fire will,” Cadell offered again.
Jack stood up. “No fire!”
“Do you have any ketamine?” Duncan asked.
Carys and Jibril turned toward him.
“What? It’s a large-animal tranquilizer.”
Angus scooted forward in his seat. “This is no mere bear, boy.”
“One, I’m not a boy. And two, what if he is?” Duncan pointed at Cadell. “That one can’t transform on this side. Godrik couldn’t either. What if the Morrígan’s beast is really just a bear on this side of the gates?”
Angus frowned. “The boy could be right.”
“We could tranquilize it, drag it to the nearest gate, and dump it in whatever forest is on the other side.” Duncan nodded at Jack. “Then Jack can reinforce the gate so it can’t get through again.”
Jack lifted an eyebrow. “It’s not the worst idea.”
“I still don’t have any ketamine,” Jibril said. “I have herbs that might soothe an animal, but nothing narcotic in my house.”
“But if the Morrígan’s bear is just a bear on this side of the gate, that means that it would hate the same things that any bear would hate,” Carys said.
Shockingly, she had an idea.
“Yes,” Cadell said. “Like fire.”
“Notfire.” Jack turned to Carys. “Do you know about bears?”
“I mean… I grew up in Baywood. There are tons of black bears in the forest. I may still have a lot to learn about magical parallel worlds” —she glanced at Cadell and Angus— “but I do know about bears.”
Jibril cocked his head. “Fascinating.”
“Do you have any ammonia in the house?” Carys stood up. “I have an idea.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
Even with a bandanna tied around her face, the rags soaked in ammonia made Carys’s eyes water. “This better work because if all we do is make a magical bear mad, we’re screwed.”
Or Lachlan was going to get his wish to join the afterlife.
“Ugh.” Laura was wearing a bandanna and holding a bucket of ammonia. “I can’t believe you’re using my mom’s old trick to keep bears out of the trash.”
“Does this really work?” Duncan held the sprayer that Jibril used to treat his trees with neem oil. They’d filled it with a highly concentrated mix of ammonia and water.
“Oh yeah.” Laura nodded. “Bears hate the smell of ammonia. Pine cleaner too, but ammonia is worse. Or better. Depends on your point of view.”
Naida, Cadell, and Jack had already taken a roundabout path into the forest to search for the fae gate where the bear had snuck through. Naida was hoping to guide the animal back through the gate while Jack reinforced the wards against the Morrígan’s creeping magic so it couldn’t enter the Brightlands again.
And they were hoping once they reached the gate that Carys and Cadell would be able to hear each other so she could direct the bear-herding.
“Starting to think Cadell’s fire idea might have been a better choice.” Duncan looked like his eyes were watering.
“We don’t want to hurt the bear,” Laura said.
