“Had Rule Turner not been present,” the brunette was saying gravely, “and had he not acted with preternatural speed to subdue the shooter, casualties might have been much worse. As it was, two people died and three others were injured in this senseless shooting. One of those injured was Ed Eames, a reporter for the Associated Press.”
The scene switched to a close-up of the AP reporter being questioned by the brunette. Looked like Ed wasn’t going to be just a “treated and released” figure after all, Lily thought, turning her head to look at Rule. “This is the first time the Change has been caught on camera, isn’t it?”
“Yes. They’ve shown that clip several times now.” He didn’t speak for a moment, then his mouth twitched. “My father isn’t thrilled about it, but I think his chief regret is that Nokolai isn’t earning anything from rights to the clip.”
“Uh-oh. Does that mean he’s going to want to film you Changing and sell it?”
He snorted. “He might like to, but no. This . . . allowing ourselves to be revealed so publicly during the Change . . . it’s deeply against our instincts. Even those who live openly as lupi will be disquieted by such exposure.”
Oh, yes, lupi were very fond of secrets. And not without reason. “Are you in trouble?”
He shrugged. “Not personally. With my mate and son in danger, I Changed. I doubt any will argue about such a need. But those who oppose integration with the human world can use this. If I weren’t known to the media as the Nokolai prince, there would have been no press conference and no cameras.”
Were they talking about lupus policies because they were afraid of bringing up the scary stuff, or was that just her? Lily didn’t know how to ask about Toby, what his chances were, what could be done. She wasn’t sure she should ask.
But she didn’t think she could keep stepping around the subject, either. She leaned forward, set her empty plate on the coffee table, and drained half the glass of tea Louise Asteglio had supplied along with dinner. Then she tiptoed closer to the scary stuff. “The mate bond screwed up your plans. You can’t go to Leidolf’s clanhome.”
“No, they’ll have to come to me.”
Her eyes widened. “The whole clan?”
That brought a tired grin. “Mrs. Asteglio’s hospitality would be sorely stretched. No, only the youths participating in the gens compleo need come, though I’m sure some of their families will attend, also. Normally the ritual is conducted at a clanhome because the youths must present themselves to their Rho, not the other way around. In this, I act as their Rho. I can require them to come to me.”
“Can you require them not to bring too many people with them? We’ve got a situation here.”
“I won’t be holding the ritual in the backyard. Not in Halo at all, actually. There are miles of forest nearby. Of course, depending on what the mate bond is allowing, I may need you to attend, but it’s a brief ritual.”
“Damned tricky bond.” She leaned back against his arm, unhappy. The sudden dizziness when he was driving . . . the damned bond could have killed him or Toby. Especially Toby, who didn’t yet heal like a lupus. “How far out were you when it yanked?”
“Just under eight miles from this house.” His fingertips played across her nape. “Don’t fret about Leidolf. You’ve enough worrying you. My duties to that clan needn’t be on your list.”
Less than eight miles. That would really restrict them. Why now? Why had it suddenly tightened? “I’ll take that off my list, then. What about the Leidolf Rhej? Have you summoned her, too?”
His fingers stilled. “No one summons a Rhej, and she can’t leave Victor. Her skill is all that holds him to life. I did speak with her. I also spoke with Cullen.”
“Oh?” She thought she did that well—just the right amount of interest. “What did he say?”
He tugged once—a little too hard—on her hair. “That you ordered him to call me.”
She grimaced. Call Rule re Toby, she’d texted Cullen. Urgent. Use tact. “His notion of tact . . . never mind. I, ah, thought he might know something that would help.” At some point in his checkered career, Cullen had attended medical school. Magic couldn’t help lupi afflicted with the wild cancer; he’d hoped medical science might. He hadn’t learned how to cure it, but maybe he knew something about this supposed connection to a boy’s sensing of the Change.
Rule’s voice softened. “You were right to call. I wasn’t going to. You aren’t aware of the reason Cullen sought so hard for a cure, so you wouldn’t . . . You see, Etorri is much more subject to the cancer than the other clans. It killed his father.”
The muscles in Lily’s stomach clenched. Cullen had tried to save them. The father who’d turned his back on him, the clan that had kicked him out—he had tried to save them. “How old was he when he went to medical school?”
Rule understood what she was asking. “He was pre-med when Etorri made him a lone wolf. For a couple years directly afterward he was, ah . . . somewhat unstable, but after an adjustment period he was able to continue on to medical school. His father died before he completed it.”
“Did he complete it?”
“No.”
She rubbed her tense stomach, her fingers finding the burn scar. “He’d really hate it if he knew I was hurting for him.”
Rule’s smile was small, arriving mainly in his eyes. “That he would. Naturally he was annoyed with me for not calling him immediately about Toby. He disliked the notion that I was, as he put it, tiptoeing around his sensitive feelings, and told me I was panicking unnecessarily. He’ll be here tomorrow.”
She sat straight up. “What?”
Rule shrugged. “I was surprised, too. He wouldn’t explain, but I am to stop listening to old wives’ tales and use my head. Anecdotal evidence is often misleading, and I’m on a false trail. He also wished me to tell you three things. First, it’s fortunate that you have some sense, because I obviously don’t.”
Lily felt a smile starting.
“Second, you’re not to worry about the plane fare. He’ll charge it to my credit card. He considers his previous methods for handling credit inappropriate now that he consults for the FBI.”
That surprised a laugh out of her. It was so typically Cullen. VISA still didn’t understand why its computers insisted on offering unlimited credit to an unemployed stripper. Lily didn’t know how Cullen had done it, either. She’d probably have to arrest him if she ever found out. “And the third thing?”
“Cynna found the boy—frightened and injured, but alive.”
Okay, that was good. Lily relaxed back against Rule’s arm. She loved the feel of him, the leanness and the strength, the sheer maleness of the muscles she leaned against . . . muscles that were relaxed, not taut with worry. “You believe him, even without an explanation.”
“Cullen might twist the truth or withhold it, but he wouldn’t outright lie to me. Not about this.”
But Lily thought he might very well do just that—if he thought it was what Rule needed. And then devote the next three or four years to finding a way to save Toby before First Change.
“Lily.” Rule smiled and tickled the ends of her hair. “He’s coming here. He can’t lie to me in person.”
“Oh, right. I guess you could ask as his Lu Nuncio, couldn’t you?” One of the functions of a Lu Nuncio was to act as a prosecuting attorney within the clan—one to whom witnesses couldn’t lie. Not successfully, anyway. Lupi couldn’t always sniff out a lie, but supposedly the guilt of lying to their Lu Nuncio made it impossible for them to carry it off. “You think he’s flying here to make sure you believe him?”