“It means that those of your blood can probably cross, too.”
Those of their blood…the list was pretty damn short. Toby and Benedict. That’s all Lily knew about for either Rule or Isen. As for Cynna, she didn’t have any siblings, and her mother was dead. Her father was alive, but he was in Edge. “Those of your blood, too, I assume,” she said to Cullen.
“Presumably. But a cousin wouldn’t be close enough. At least I don’t think so. Besides, Stephen is lupi, and the thief was human.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Hell. I guess we’ll have to ask—”
Isen’s phone sounded.
Rule’s father had never set up individual ring tones for his callers, so the twittery music didn’t tell her who was calling. But it had to be the Laban Rho. Who else would call at this hour?
Isen picked up his phone, but then he just looked at it as if he’d forgotten what it was, or how to operate it, or why he might want to. Before Lily could entertain any serious worries about incipient senility—which lupi didn’t suffer from—he thumbed the button. “Hello.”
Not for the first time, Lily wished for lupi hearing. No doubt Rule could hear the caller just fine. Maybe Cullen could, too, though he was farther away. All she had to go on was the peculiar look on Isen’s face—and the way Rule suddenly went rigid beside her.
Isen was very polite to his caller. “Yes, I am. Ah. Yes, my brain is almost beginning to function again. I can’t say I was expecting your call, but it isn’t the surprise it might have been.” There was a long pause as the other person spoke. “No, I assure you I did not. You won’t know what my word means, but you have it.” A short pause. “You do? Interesting…ah. You do realize that he…Perhaps so. Rule?” He held his phone out.
Rule didn’t move. “What’s going on?”
“You heard,” Isen said gently. “He wishes to speak with you.”
Still Rule didn’t move. He spoke slowly. “He said his name is Jasper.”
“Jasper Machek.”
“And he’s…” The sentence drifted off as if Rule had no idea how to finish it.
“Yes.” Isen confirmed that the way a kindly doctor might say, Yes, the biopsy did test positive for cancer. “He is.”
Rule took the phone. “This is Rule.” A pause. “We won’t discuss that now, I think. You told Isen you wished to make a deal…ah.” Rather a long pause, then, “That complicates matters.” He listened some more, then glanced at Lily, gesturing with his free hand as if he were writing. “Yes,” he said, “just a moment,” as Lily pulled her notebook and a pen from her purse and handed them to him. He jotted something down. “In the Marina District? I’ll find it…No. I can’t agree to that.” Another pause. “I don’t believe I will explain at this time. I will bring another with me who may be able to help…No, that’s not negotiable.” A longer pause. “Very well. I can reach you at this number, if necessary? Until later, then.”
He returned the phone to Isen and stood as if he were about to do something. But he didn’t. He just stood there. “That was the thief. He wishes our assistance.”
Cullen’s eyebrows flew up. “Our assistance?”
“He didn’t make it far with your prototype before someone in turn stole it from him. A remarkably popular item, for something that doesn’t work correctly. He lives in San Francisco,” Rule added. “We’re to meet him there at one thirty tomorrow. He wanted Cynna to come—he’s aware of her Gift—but of course that wouldn’t be safe.”
“Rule.” Lily stood and put her hand on his arm. “Why are we going to help this thief?”
“Is that what we’re going to do? I don’t know…but we’ll go.” He didn’t say anything for a long moment. “It seems he’s my brother.”
THIRTEEN
LILY drew in crisp, chilly air through her nose as her feet slapped the asphalt in an easy rhythm. In the eastern sky behind her, stacked layers of cloud smoldered in crimsons and purples that stained the bulging shoulders of the humped earth. Lower down, Isen’s home sprawled almost invisible in the early morning darkness.
One of the perks of living at Clanhome was all the options for where to run. One of the downsides was that the long commute into the city meant Lily was mostly stuck with using the road. The sun arrived late to land cradled by mountains, and Lily usually had to run early.
Not alone, however. Just over a month ago Cynna had asked if Lily would mind company a couple of times a week on her runs. Lily had said sure, though she hadn’t expected Cynna to keep it up. For one thing, Cynna was a new mother. For another, she hated running. Or so she’d always claimed.
But so far Cynna had stuck with it. The little house she shared with Cullen and their new daughter lay about half a mile west of Isen’s place, so Lily had that first half mile on her own to warm up, and the last half mile to push herself. She and Cynna ran together for two miles, total, which was Cynna’s target. Not that Cynna been able to run the whole way right off the bat. At first she’d made it to the turnaround point huffing and puffing and waving for Lily to keep going while she walked back, but she ran both ways now. Good progress for such a short time. Of course, Cynna was a tad competitive. She hadn’t liked it when Lily kept going and she couldn’t…which was one reason she’d wanted to join Lily. Motivation.
Sometimes Rule or Cullen joined them. And sometimes Rule started out with Lily, but didn’t get beyond that first half mile. The chance to stop and see Ryder for a few minutes, even if she was sound asleep, was too good to pass up. Cullen had no trouble finding someone to stay with Ryder if he wanted to run, not when they were surrounded by baby-crazy lupi. Lupi loved kids—all kids—but babies just lit them up. Give one of them a chance to spend time with a three-month-old bundle of drool, stinky diapers, and adorable little gurgles, and he’d rearrange his whole week if that’s what it took.
Baby-craving was so universal that custom forbade anyone actually offering to babysit. This was to keep new parents from being pestered to death. Cynna said that every new mother ought to get to spend the first few months at a clanhome. The only tricky part was making sure she didn’t leave anyone out. She kept a list.
Rule and Lily were exempt from the counting and listing. Everyone assumed that close friends got extra baby time, so they didn’t take offense. Isen was exempt, too. Who could be upset when the Rho spent time with his newest clan member? So Lily had seen a fair amount of little Ryder lately. She’d gotten pretty good at diapers. Burping was still not her strong point, but she could clean a teeny tiny baby butt with the best of them.
Ryder did have some adorable little gurgles.
This morning, though, she was alone as she neared the path that led to Cynna and Cullen’s place. The lights were off in the stucco cottage, which could mean everyone was asleep, but she doubted it. Probably Cullen was awake, even if Ryder wasn’t. Possibly he hadn’t gone to bed at all. Rule hadn’t.
Cynna was up. Lily hadn’t been sure she would be, not with everything that had happened last night, but she was waiting where she usually did at the edge of the road, her pale blond hair almost glowing in the dim light. Lily was surprised by the lift of relief she felt.
“Hey,” Cynna said as she fell into step alongside Lily.
“Hey, yourself. I wasn’t sure you’d be here this morning.”
“Of course I’m here. Who knows when I’ll get another chance to pump you?”
“Um.” Good Lord. Was that why she was relieved—because she knew Cynna would pump her? Did she actually want to talk about stuff? She never talked about stuff. Well, sometimes with Rule, who was a sneaky bastard and could wriggle her around into saying things.