“Wanting to do the right thing doesn’t count?”
“Not exactly.” He shook his head again, unable to put into words what he knew.
“I guess that explains how a scum like Victor Frey was able to use his power as Rho to do commit such major assholery. He didn’t give a shit about doing the right thing, and he was sure that whatever worked for him had to be best for everyone.”
That made his lip twitch. “I suppose it does, yes.”
“If the—” Her phone chimed softly from her purse. She straightened. “I’d better get that.”
Rule’s hearing made it easy to eavesdrop. The caller spoke in a deep bass—and deeply familiar—voice. “Lily, I apologize for disturbing you, but I need to speak with my Lu Nuncio.”
She frowned. “Isen, I don’t use my in-flight phone privilege for family conversation.”
“It’s a clan matter.”
“Unless it’s urgent—”
“I have spoken as your Rho only once before, Lily. I am speaking as your Rho now.”
Her frown lingered. Rule didn’t literally hold his breath, but it took an effort. Lily had been formally adopted into Nokolai soon after they were joined by the mate bond. Female clan had different rights and responsibilities than male clan, of course; they couldn’t Change and couldn’t be included in the mantle. But male and female alike had to obey their Rho.
Lily was not good at obeying. “All right,” she said at last. “But first, tell me what you know about Raymond Cobb.”
“Nothing personally. Benedict says he’s strong, but not fast. Competitive. He took second in pole vaulting and placed in shot-put at the last All-Clan.”
“Did Benedict say anything about Cobb’s control?”
“He considered it good. Please pass the phone to Rule, Lily.”
She grimaced, but did so.
Rule took it. “Yes?”
“The Lady has Chosen for your brother a second time.”
SIX
THE thunder was all in Rule’s head. It was still loud, a crescendo of thought and feeling that held him silent for a long, stunned moment. “But that’s …” He leaned his head into his hand, rubbing his temples with one spread hand. “No. Clearly it isn’t impossible. Unheard of doesn’t mean impossible. He wouldn’t consider this good news, would he?”
“No. He’s asked that you not tell Lily.”
Automatically he glanced at her. She was making no pretense of not listening, but her human ears would give her only his side of the conversation. “That’s difficult for me, but understandable. Tell him I’ll delay a day or two, no more. How is he taking it?”
“Hard.”
“What about her? Who is she? Does she know yet?”
“We don’t know who she is. She doesn’t know about the bond. He was in wolf form, marking the boundaries of the wards Friar has set around his property, when he noticed her. He followed without her being aware of him, and confirmed that she was aware of the guards, and avoiding them. She was also aware of the wards.”
Rule frowned. “Gifted, then. A reporter?”
“Possibly, but very few of them do that sort of covert investigative work. I’m thinking she’s either a personal enemy of Friar’s, or she’s with a coven or other organization that’s threatened by Friar. If such a group exists, I want to know about it—but that’s a question for another time. What we know is that she’s young, Gifted, about five-seven, rather thin, with a limp. She wears glasses. Her hair is long, curly, of some medium shade.”
“He didn’t Change and talk to her?”
“In the shock of the moment when the bond hit, Benedict accidentally tripped the ward. It flashed, attracting the guards. To protect her, he drew them away. He circled back once he’d shaken them off and followed her trail to where her car must have been parked. No blood spoor, no sign of a struggle, no scent of the guards, so he believes she left safely.”
“He didn’t see her car, then.” Which meant they had no make, model, or license tag.
“No. But since he refuses to find out who she is,” Isen said dryly, “that doesn’t bother him.”
“Shit. He has to. He can’t let …” Rule stopped before he gave too much away. The distance restrictions imposed by the bond were unpredictable. Benedict and his new mate might be able to function normally. Or they might pass out at any moment. “That’s foolish in the extreme.”
“He’s not himself. He wanted to go to his cabin. I refused him.”
Rule contemplated that for a moment in silence. “You’ve told the Rhej?”
“I’ll hike up to her place when I get off the phone. If she has anything useful to say, I’ll let you know.”
“It must mean something.” He couldn’t remember there ever being two Chosens in a single clan, but he supposed it could have happened. But for the same man to be given a Chosen twice … Rule couldn’t make sense of it. There couldn’t be another Lily. It wasn’t possible. “When the unheard of happens, it’s good to know why.”
“We’ll need to talk about that, but maybe not on Lily’s dime.” A thread of humor lightened Isen’s voice. “She’s glaring at you right now, isn’t she?”
Rule looked at her. And smiled in spite of her narrowed eyes. “Not glaring, no. Vexed, though, and wishing for my ears.”
“If you’re going to talk about me on my phone,” Lily said, “put it on speaker.”
“I’d better go,” Rule said.
“I expect you had. T’eius ven.”
“T’eius ven.” Rule repeated the blessing automatically, bemused. Go in her grace, it meant—the Lady’s grace—or travel in her hunt. It was a common enough phrase, but Isen seldom closed a conversation with it. Perhaps this second Choosing had him thinking of the Lady. She was certainly one of many thoughts coursing through Rule’s mind.
He handed the phone to Lily. “Well?” she said.
“I’m asked—not ordered, but asked—not to speak to you about this matter yet. I agreed to wait a day or two.”
Her eyebrows drew down. “Was it urgent?”
“Perhaps not urgent, but important.”
“And I’m not allowed to know. Do I get to ask questions?”
“Only if you want to make me extremely uncomfortable.”
She considered in silence for a moment, then said, “Okay, back to Cobb. Tell me what else Alex said about him.”
“Hmm. Well, he never attended college. Leidolf lacks a fund for higher education—”
“Something you plan to change.”
He gave her a quick smile. “I do. Even had such a fund been available, though, Cobb might not have taken advantage of it. He seems to be a highly physical man. He competed in the last three All-Clans, and he tends to choose physical work. Carpentry and logging, in the past. Currently he’s a certified personal trainer and owns a small gym in Nashville.”
“That’s unusual, isn’t it? Mostly you guys stay away from human athletics. You’re too good, and it’s hard to rein yourselves in enough to pass. Unless his customers are all lupi?”
Rule thought of a certain Olympic swimmer and smiled, but said, “Generally that’s true, yes. I gather Cobb’s clientele is mostly human, but two nights a week he closes the gym to the public. Those are clan-only nights. There are a fair number of Leidolf in Nashville,” he added, “who need a physical outlet. He offers that at no charge, and in return the clan exempts him from the drei.” Rule hadn’t known of that arrangement until this morning, but that wasn’t Alex’s fault. Alex had never been privy to Leidolf’s financial matters—which were an unholy mess—and hadn’t known about the waived drei until he began asking about Cobb. “Also, Cobb had a child, a daughter, but she died about ten years ago. No sons, but he has a pernato grandson—”