But the odds of encountering one specific person at an airport far from home at one specific moment…
Cullen looked at Toby.
No, that wasn't it. The boy's aura looked much as it always had—the magic a little stronger, maybe, but that was to be expected as he grew older.
It had been a wild notion, anyway. Patterning was a damned rare Gift, and as far as Cullen knew, he was the only Gifted lupus on the planet.
Lily promised to call Mrs. Asteglio back and hung up. Rule asked with a lift of his brows what she'd learned.
"She's upset, of course." Lily wore her just-the-facts-ma'am face, void of opinion. "We need to call her back when we've decided what to do so she can adjust her plans, if necessary."
Rule's eyebrows crunched down. "What plans?"
"Toby's mother was transferred to her wire service's office in Beirut. She flew there yesterday, so she won't be able to make it home for Christmas. Mrs. Asteglio decided to spend the holiday with her son and his family in Memphis. Toby…" She cast him a glance. "… objected. She thought he'd contacted you, and that you'd booked the flight for him."
A beat of silence followed. Rule looked at Toby. "I understand you were disappointed that your mother won't make it home for Christmas. But you didn't call me. Why not?"
Toby studied his shoes. "I dunno."
"You know I can smell it when you lie."
When Toby looked up, his stubborn expression reminded Cullen of a mule—or Toby's grandfather. "Grammy says Mom loves me, but she doesn't. She doesn't want to be around me 'cause I'm lupus. I want to live with you."
"Toby." Rule's voice held a helpless ache. "Your mother has refused several times to share custody, much less cede it to me. Changing that would mean a court battle, and I'm not in a good position to win."
"You think the judge won't like you 'cause you're lupus, but so am I."
"Which would become public knowledge if I sued for custody."
"I don't care! You love me. She doesn't. An' we could prove that to the judge, 'cause you're with me a lot more'n she is. And I know you have to go places sometimes, but during school I could stay at Clanhome with Granddad, so you could still do clan business."
"What about your Grammy?" Lily said softly. "She loves you."
Toby's lip jutted stubbornly. "She could come to Clanhome, too."
Oh, that was likely to happen. Cullen had only met the woman once, but once was enough to know she didn't like lupi any better than her daughter did. She did seem to care about the boy, which must set up a colossal inner conflict or two… richly deserved inner conflicts, in his opinion.
Rule sighed and stood. "We aren't going to settle this now, and, given recent events, it may be just as well for Toby to stay here for a while. We'll have bodyguards soon."
"Oh, God. I hadn't—" Lily broke off abruptly, shutting her mouth on whatever she'd been about to say. She and Rule exchanged another glance.
"It's possible," he said, just as if she'd asked a question. "Lord knows She is capable of any abomination."
Cullen's eyebrows rose. "I'm feeling sadly uninformed."
"Later." Rule was curt. He looked down at his son. "We've a matter of clan discipline to deal with first."
Lily shook her head. "This isn't about the clan."
Cullen had a feeling she was going to be difficult. He stood and headed for her.
Rule didn't look away from his son. "It is, and Toby knows that. Toby." His voice was hard now, as hard as his own father's would have been. "You came here hoping to force my hand."
He hung his head. "I—I guess so."
"By using my credit card without permission, you stole. You disobeyed and deceived those who have charge of you. You understand that there are consequences for your actions."
Toby gave a single, small nod.
"Kneel."
"Wait one minute!" Lily burst out. "He's—"
"Lily." Cullen took her arm. "Shut up."
She rounded on him. "He's a little boy!"
"Yes," Cullen said softly. "A little boy who, in another five years or so, will be capable of ripping out throats. Who will sometimes want to rip out throats, including, on occasion, his father's. Adolescence is trying for anyone. For a lupus, it brings perils you do not understand."
Lily opened her mouth. Shut it again. She aimed her frown at Rule, who hadn't taken his gaze from his son.
Cullen grabbed his plate. "Come on," he told her. "You and I need to talk about what brought me to your door." And Toby didn't need an audience.
In the parlor, Cullen plopped onto the couch—a fussy Victorian thing with a curvy back and too many pillows—and pointed at the painted armoire in the corner. "Is there a TV in that thing?"
Lily stared. "You want to watch television?"
"No, I want some sound. Toby's hearing isn't as good as it will be, but it's not a large house. He can probably hear us from the kitchen."
Lily stalked to the coffee table, picked up a remote, and pointed it. A rolling guitar arpeggio flowed from the armoire— Spanish flamenco, he thought, and took a bite of his sandwich. Either the channel was set to a radio station, or Rule had installed a CD player instead of a TV. Whichever, it ought to do the trick.
Lily paced the length of the room, turned. "That bitch."
It wasn't the subject he'd expected her to jump on first. "Which one?"
"Alicia. Toby's mother." She paced. "Two weeks ago, Rule asked Toby's mother if he could spend Christmas with us. She wouldn't even discuss it, but she doesn't feel any obligation to spend it with him herself."
He shrugged. "Alicia never should have been a mother. She hadn't planned on it, and I give her points for letting her mother raise him instead of botching the job herself."
"She could have let his father have him."
Lily's intensity roused his curiosity. He hadn't thought she was much more interested in motherhood than Alicia. "Is that what you want?"
She waved that away. "We're talking about what Toby wants. What he needs. Alicia doesn't seem to care about that."
"To be fair, Alicia believes she's doing what's best for Toby by limiting his exposure to our perversions. If her mother hadn't insisted that Toby be allowed to spend time with Rule, he wouldn't get even the brief visits he does."
"Alicia doesn't approve of lupi, but she went to bed with one?"
"Amazing. After working homicide, you still think people are consistent."
She lifted one hand, palm out. "All right, point taken." She brooded over the situation a moment, then asked, "Tell me why discipline means that Toby has to kneel to his father."
Still not the subject he'd expected. Maybe he didn't know her as well as he'd thought. "Toby's alpha. Rule has to remain his dominant, so when the boy hits his first Change and hormones collide with the moon's song and his brain shuts down, he'll still obey."
"But to make him kneel—"
"Quit being so damned human. Submission isn't humiliating. It's instinctively right for us, but humans do it, too. Does a sergeant feel humiliated because he has to salute his colonel?"
Her voice was dry. "He might, if the colonel made him prostrate himself first. How would you feel about kneeling to Rule?"
"Wouldn't do it," he said promptly. "But I'd kneel to my Lu Nuncio."
She looked at him a long moment, then shook her head. "Men don't make sense. Men who are lupi really don't make sense."
Her frown tightened down another notch. "Rule was uncomfortable after submitting to Paul, but I guess the act itself didn't bother him."
Cullen's eyebrows climbed. "Who's Paul?"
"It's complicated, and I'm getting things out of order." At last she sat, tucking one foot up on the chair with her. "It started with the power surge last night."