She crosses the room with swift steps, grabbing a couple of items from her shelves. She places a small glass jar about the size of a lip gloss container on the edge of her worktable. “Drunken Confessions,” she says. “The oil I used on you. One dab on the skin should last about an hour.”

Suddenly I feel upside down. She’s not killing me and she’s selling me herbs? I nod, instead of speaking, afraid she might change her mind.

The apothecary drops two thin glass vials into a small burlap pouch and ties it. “Two darts tipped with lightning poison.” She grabs a glass vial the size of a pill bottle from her worktable, placing it with the other items. “And Angels’ Dream. A drop or two in food or on a blade will put a large man to sleep for hours.” She slaps my phone down next to the poison.

I’m positive my face reflects my shock. “I…th-thank you,” I manage, my mind spinning. “How much do I owe you?”

The apothecary levels her gaze at me as I pull out my wallet. “I’m not accepting money.”

“I can get you more if you—” I start.

“No,” she says, cutting me off.

I stay very still, not sure what she’s doing or why she’s doing it.

“Bring me Maura’s golden bear-claw necklace and we will call it even,” she says.

I stare at her, confused. Maura…It’s the female form of the Roman name Maurus, meaning “dark.” But that doesn’t tell me anything. The only thing I can surmise is that this Maura is from the Bear Family and that she must be prominent enough that I would know her by name.

“I don’t have time to go to Italy right now,” I say, not sure how to navigate this request and confident that it’s a bad idea to tell her I don’t know who Maura is. I stare at the bottles and frown. I’m so close.

She looks at the clock hanging on her wall. “Well then, lucky for you I happen to know she’s dining at La Cucina Della Nonna,” she says. “And if you’re the Bear you claim to be, doing what you claim to be doing, you should have no problem convincing her that it’s a worthy cause.”

If she’s going so far as to tell me where Maura is, she must want that necklace badly. And if she wants it badly, then it’s valuable or important…which means it will be nearly impossible to get. I exhale loudly.

“Now get out,” she says, and tosses me my phone, and I practically run for the door.

Chapter Eighteen

I WALK A full three blocks from the apothecary’s shop before I stop and take out my phone. I pull off my gloves with my teeth and start typing a message to Ash, Aarya, and Ines.