THIRTY-SIX
THERE were times when Rule wished his nadia wasn’t such a damnably stubborn woman.
The two of them rode in the backseat of Isen’s seven-year-old Lincoln with Cullen in the middle—a seating arrangement that pleased none of them, but served a purpose. At least there was plenty of room. They’d taken the shiny behemoth today because it possessed useful modifications. Technically the glass was bullet-resistant rather than bulletproof, but it would stop a slug from almost any handgun and most rifles.
Benedict was driving. Arjenie sat in the front seat beside him. Having her at the circle was far from ideal, but with their mate bond so freshly sealed there was little choice. Benedict had wanted her to remain in the car, using her Gift to go unnoticed, but the thick bulletproof glass interfered with her Gift too much.
Not that she was in danger from the other clans, although this particular bonding would come as a shock. No, it was Friar who worried Benedict. He worried Rule. Lily, too, of course, for she wasn’t stupid. Just stubborn.
Rule’s wolf liked riding in his father’s car. It smelled faintly of Isen and more strongly of his big brother and his nadia. Cullen’s scent was known and comforting; Arjenie’s was new, but so overlaid with Benedict’s that she seemed familiar already.
Rule the man was less comfortable.
When he had first called for the heirs’ circle, he’d asked Lily to attend. Her injury should have changed that, but Ybirra had agreed to the new location only on the condition that the Chosen would still be present. Lily had insisted she could easily—as she put it—stand around symbolically. Reluctantly, Rule had agreed.
But the situation had changed again now that they knew about Friar’s clairaudience and his alliance with their great enemy. Lily herself said that while Friar might have had to change his plans when the potion dumped in Nokolai’s well didn’t work, that didn’t mean he didn’t have plans. Those might well center on today’s meeting.
Yet there she sat between him and Cullen. Rule knew she was needed. Without her, Ybirra would withdraw and there would be no circle. They’d have to begin negotiations all over again.
And in spite of that, this morning he’d tried to talk her out of it. He’d told her that her presence increased his danger. Normally he knew she could act swiftly, but she wasn’t normal now. If they were attacked, he’d be focused on her safety, not his own. She’d looked at him for a long moment, then leaned forward and kissed him lightly. “Good try,” she’d said. “Help me with this stupid sleeve, will you?”
His stubborn love was currently speaking on her phone with Aaron Gray from the local FBI office. She’d had to hand off her open cases after she was shot. One had gone to Gray—a case involving the theft of gadolinum.
Lily believed Friar was behind that theft. Proving it was the trick.
Whatever Friar was planning, he meant to move on a large scale. Arjenie had made a rough estimate of how much gadolinum might have been extracted from the imaging solution. Add that to what Friar may have obtained through outright theft, and he had enough gadolinum to make upward of four hundred doses of gado.
The problem was that gado had to be administered through injection. Neither oral nor topical application had any effect. Rule doubted that Friar planned to trap lupi one by one and inject them with gado, but administering it en masse was supposed to be impossible.
But Friar had Dya. Was Arjenie’s sister capable of creating a potion that could make gado effective orally? Was that what Friar had tried dumping into Nokolai’s well?
Lily had tried asking Arjenie those questions last night. Unfortunately, Arjenie didn’t know. According to Lily, Arjenie’s lack of knowledge was expressed with a great deal of technical thinking about the difference between potions and other magical agents, with a side excursion into her theory about why gado worked as it did. Lily had claimed it was the tech talk—“like mainlining Cullen,” she’d said—that had given her a headache.
Since this headache had arrived after fourteen minutes of mindspeech, just like the last one, Rule thought otherwise. Actually, so did Lily, however much she might like to blame it on something else. Fourteen minutes was probably the limit for how long Lily could tolerate kinspeech.
“All right,” Lily said. “Let me know.” She disconnected and grimaced. “Frustrating. I’m going to text him some of what I couldn’t say.”
They didn’t know if Friar could Listen now that they’d left Clanhome. Probably not—Rule’s mantle should shut him out—but they were watching what they said anyway. That had made for a good deal of silence during the drive.
Once they formed the circle, of course, they wouldn’t have to worry. That’s why Cullen was here. He would set the circle and act as Gatekeeper. This was usually done by the Rhej of the clan who called for the circle, but everyone knew the Nokolai Rhej was blind and didn’t leave Clanhome. They’d accepted Cullen as substitute—with some grumbling, but recognizing necessity. The circle might lack a Rhej to encourage good conduct, but there would be a Lady-touched present. Lily.
Two Lady-touched, actually, but the others didn’t know about Arjenie. Rule was rather looking forward to their reaction to the news.
Lily tapped away on her text screen. Benedict slowed for the turn. Nearly there.
One of the conditions Wythe had insisted on was that the circle be held out of doors. This was an old tradition, frequently set aside these days, but it wasn’t unreasonable. Wolves dislike small spaces. Meeting outdoors lessened the tension. After some discussion, the others had accepted Rule’s suggestion of Los Penasquitos Canyon Reserve.
The Reserve was a crooked arm of wilderness reaching up into San Diego’s city boundaries. It was a great spot for a run in human form—even on four legs, now and then, if one slipped in after hours—and was popular with mountain bikers, horseback riders, and dog walkers. But they wouldn’t be meeting down in the canyon. They’d hold their circle on top of the mesa overlooking it. No one could sneak up on them on that flat, open stretch of grass dotted with the occasional sage or sumac. Especially with Benedict minding the perimeter.
Plus a few others. Each Lu Nuncio was allowed to bring one guard to act as escort and to secure the circle from without. The exception was Etorri. Rather than one guard, Stephen had brought five. Etorri had been asked to secure the site, and had camped on the mesa last night. Secretly, of course, for the human world had rules against that sort of thing.
There were several entrances to the canyon trails. They would use the one closest to the mesa. It meant a short trek through the parking lot of an apartment complex, followed by a hike up a steep trail. Normally, Lily would have had no trouble with that. Since she was far from normal, Rule had wrung one concession from her: she would allow him to carry her up the worst of it.
“Benedict,” Arjenie said suddenly, “I’m pretty sure that someone’s following us. That white SUV has been behind us for the last mile at least, and they turned when you did.”
Benedict nodded approvingly. “Yes, it has. I’m glad you’re paying attention.”
“If you’re talking about the Hyundai,” Lily said, still tapping out her message, “that’s Scott, Rule’s Leidolf guard.”
“Oh.” She was disgruntled. “I guess everyone here knew about him.”
“I should have told you.” Benedict flicked a glance her way. “The others are a short distance behind him. Save for Etorri, of course.”
“They, uh, the Etorri are the clan everyone trusts. That’s why they got there first. They’re sort of holding the ground for everyone else.”