Wearily Edward said, “Lily is not chatting with her friends, Jim. The call must have something to do with the investigation. It may be urgent.”
Rule was able to hear most of what the caller was saying to Lily in spite of the chatter at the table. Edward was right. It was about the investigation, and it was urgent.
Lily put her phone up and pushed away from the table. “I have to go. Rule, will you speak for me?”
He met her eyes. “What will I say?”
“That we’re wasting time talking. There’s no real choice to be made. If Sam says Mother has to have this procedure or her mind will come unglued, then she does.” Then she added more intimately, You heard what Officer Perez told me?
Unlike everyone else at the table, Lily could use mindspeech. Not reliably, but sometimes. Rule nodded somberly. “You’ll be in touch with Ruben.”
“Oh, yeah.” She looked around at her family, but her gaze ended on Dr. Babbitt. “Doctor, the Bureau may wish to use your services as a consultant. I need your number so I can contact you if needed.”
“Of course, but why? I’m already on your mother’s case.” He lifted up so he could pull his wallet from his back pocket. He took out a business card and handed it to her.
“Because it looks like Mother wasn’t the only victim.” She looked at Rule. “I’m headed for Scripps on Fifth.”
“Take Scott and Mark.”
She grimaced but left without arguing—or answering any of the questions her family hurled at her retreating back.
SIX
“WELL, I like that!”
“That kind of cavalier attitude—”
“I can’t imagine you’re going to let her behave that way, Edward.”
“Of course he will not. Edward, I will go get Lily and tell her to come back here right now.” Mequi scraped her chair back.
Rule had had enough. “Stop!”
Faces turned toward him—incredulous, startled, and displeased faces.
He looked at them one at a time . . . and he let his wolf rise just enough that they would see it in his eyes. They might not consciously recognize what they saw, but their hindbrains would. “I am tired of this. You are Lily’s family. You love her—and you chide her as if she were a child. You have no grasp of her responsibilities or her abilities, and no respect for her authority. If she could have told you more, she would have. You are making a terrible time more difficult for her and for Edward. Stop.”
No one said a word. Mequi was rigid with affront; Feng was frightened and trying to hide it. Paul was uneasy, which made him look especially wooden, and Dr. Babbitt flinched away from Rule physically. Susan’s face flashed from alarm to disapproval. Jim frowned, but there was a thoughtful look in his eyes. Deborah was simply astonished. Madame Yu’s eyebrows lifted. She gave him a small nod.
Edward’s expression didn’t change. Rule realized he’d been wrong. Edward’s family wasn’t making things worse for him. He was barely aware of them, save when they spoke directly about Julia. He had no energy, attention, or emotion to spend on anything not directly related to his wife’s health. “Since Lily was called away,” Edward said as if nothing had happened, “it is your turn to speak, Rule.”
Speak about Julia, that is . . . who was why they were here. Who wasn’t here with them, helping them make this decision. They’d already deemed her unable to participate in her own care regardless of what the law said, which Rule intended to point out to—
Do not.
Sam could direct mindspeech to one or many. This time, Rule was sure Sam had spoken only to him. Sam was well able to pluck the thoughts from Rule’s head . . . or respond to his general confusion. Which was what he did next.
Do not point out that they have no legal authority to make this decision for Julia Yu. Li Lei would be displeased.
As far as Rule knew, only two beings called Lily’s grandmother by her first name: Sam and her companion, Li Qin. Rule followed Madame’s wishes when he spoke, not pointing out that they could not legally make this decision for Julia, so this meeting was pointless.
Why didn’t Madame Yu want them to realize that?
The question all but answered itself. If Edward decided against having Sam treat Julia, his mother intended an end run. She or Sam would tell Julia what Sam proposed—and Julia was legally able to direct her own treatment.
You are slow, Sam said, but you arrive at the obvious. Edward Yu believes he is keeping an open mind. He is not. He possesses a strong and visceral distrust of direct mental manipulation; he considers it an unholy violation of sovereignty. Were he in a better mental state himself, he would be able to reason that the violation has already taken place, and what I propose is similar to the violation of a surgeon’s knife, made to repair what has been damaged. He is not at this time capable of this level of reasoning.
However, it is not Li Lei or myself who will persuade Julia Yu to accept my proposed treatment. That falls to you. She trusts you.
Apparently persuasion did not violate Sam’s ethical standards.
Direct mental manipulation without consent abrogates choice. Persuasion does not.
To a dragon, choice was the fundamental value. All virtues and all sins flowed from it. The funny thing was that dragons were also great meddlers. Rule had sometimes wondered how Sam resolved the apparent contradiction. Apparently the key lay in how one defined manipulation.
If Sam disagreed with Rule’s conclusion, he didn’t say so. Rule finished the out-loud conversation by repeating what Lily had said about them having no choice. Sam was the only one who could help Julia. Edward listened carefully, but without giving any sign Rule had convinced him.
Dr. Babbitt was up next. He began to talk about his proposed treatment—antianxiety drugs, talk therapy, and sequestration in a mental institution. He padded that bleak picture with a great many words.
Use whatever means seem best to convince Julia, Sam told Rule while the doctor spoke. This should not trouble your own ethical standards. You are accustomed to making decisions for others.
Yes, but Julia wasn’t one of his clan members.
You are also accustomed to manipulating others into making the desired decision themselves. Your father is better at this, but you have some skill. Lily Yu agrees that this is necessary.
That surprised Rule—both that Sam had already told Lily and that she’d agreed, considering how unhappy she was with Sam at the moment.
Lily Yu has grown fond of me. When fondness grows in humans, an innate mechanism transfers expectations along with the emotion. Because this transfer occurs without conscious recognition, she is unaware of the foolishness of those expectations and experiences only their violation. She is, however, capable of setting this reaction aside to do what is necessary. Once you have persuaded Julia, I will put Julia to sleep again. Bring her to my lair.
Sam wasn’t going to do this at the hospital?
I will need the protections at my lair. This will be a lengthy process and will leave me incapacitated in important ways. You do not see the ramifications. The Great Enemy is aware of me and at least some of my actions against her.
Dr. Babbitt finally finished. It was Paul’s turn. He surprised Rule by saying only that he was out of his depth and would support whatever decision Edward made.
Susan was up next. She wanted to allow Dr. Babbitt to treat Julia with antianxiety drugs here at the hospital and to bring in other experts, get more opinions. While she talked, so did Sam. It is reasonable to assume our enemy will be aware that I am partially incapacitated. Whether she can pass this knowledge to Robert Friar is unknown, but even if she cannot, his Gift will suggest to him that this is a good time to strike.