by Eileen Wilks
“Rethna,” Cullen said.
Rule nodded slowly. Friar had been recruited by her just over three years ago. As part of his recruitment, he’d spent time in Rethna’s realm. “Elves are often bisexual, you told me.”
“They’re bisexual, period. Whether that’s innate or a cultural norm to which they all give lip service—pun intended—I can’t say, but they consider monosexuality downright deviant.”
Rule felt a tingle of excitement, as if he’d found tracks left by his prey. Old tracks, but they led somewhere. A bisexual Robert Friar was no more evil than the heterosexual version, but Rule’s understanding of his enemy had shifted. “I told Lily once,” he began. And stopped. Saying her name opened up the terror and rage, the primal need that was ready to explode inside him.
His wolf wanted out. He wanted out now.
For the space of three slow, careful breaths Rule rode the razor’s edge of Change. Cullen—who would know, who would smell it on him—didn’t speak. Out of lucky instinct or preoccupation, Jasper didn’t, either.
That was just as well, for where he was in that moment, words couldn’t reach.
Eventually the wolf subsided enough for him to find words useful again. He picked up where he’d left off. “I told Lily once that I think sex is Friar’s weak point. It is, of course, an avid interest for many and a twisted interest for some. With Friar, I think sex is both of those, and more. I think sex defines and controls him. Knowing that he’s bisexual matters. I don’t yet know how, but it matters.”
“If I helped, then good.” Jasper’s face was shadowed, lights from outside the car playing across it. “Your eyes turned black a minute ago.”
“I was resisting the urge to Change.”
“Not your clothes.”
“No.”
Another car’s headlights played over Jasper’s face, which for once wasn’t giving anything away. But he smelled ever so faintly of fear. “Does Friar know you intend to rip his throat out?”
“Oh, yes,” Rule breathed. “Yes, he knows.”
In the brief silence that fell, the buzz of Rule’s phone seemed very loud. He grabbed it. That wasn’t Lily’s ringtone, and he didn’t recognize the number, but maybe she’d gotten hold of someone else’s phone. Maybe— “Yes.”
“Rule, it’s Tony. I have failed you. I failed Lily. She’s gone, and there is one fucking big mess here.”
THIRTY-THREE
THREE ambulances and half-a-dozen patrol cars with their uniformed occupants were attending the fucking big mess when Rule reached the scene. There had been no getting here in the car; the streets near Dingos were jammed. Jasper had offered to stay with the car so Rule’s men could go with him. Chris and Allan would follow when they could.
The reason for the stalled-out traffic was obvious. Police had cordoned off the street where the attack took place. At least two cars had crashed when their drivers suddenly passed out, according to Tony, but Rule couldn’t see them right away. He pushed his way through the inevitable crowd until he could.
There were people everywhere. And bodies. No blood. EMTs, police officers, and what Lily would call civilians were tending the fallen, some of whom were stirring…the ones at the edges, he thought. The ones who’d been farthest from whatever magical attack took place.
Lily would not have been knocked out by magic. Something else had happened to her.
He didn’t see Todd or Mike. Too many people blocked his view. He did, however, see Tony, who stood a head and more above everyone else—including the two cops with him. “I need Mike and Todd,” Rule said. “Joe, I want up on your shoulders. Brace. Cullen, give me a stirrup.”
Joe planted his feet, Cullen cupped his hands and bent, and Rule used those cupped hands to launch onto Joe’s shoulders. He’d needed the assist because of his shoulder, which complained fiercely about being jostled. He ignored that. Crouched, he looked over the crowd until he spotted Todd. He straightened so that he stood upright; Joe automatically grabbed his feet to steady him. He put his fingers in his mouth and whistled.
Todd turned and started loping toward them. Everyone else heard him, too. He gathered a lot of startled looks before he jumped down.
The cops didn’t stop Todd. Sloppy. If they let one bystander leave, others would, or already had.
“Where’s Mike?” Rule said as soon as Todd reached him.
“I woke up while Tony was talking to you. Then Mike did. Tony told us you wanted him to find Hugo. Mike went with him. I stayed out here to look for Lily or some sign of what happened to her. Rule, we—”
Rule chopped one hand, cutting him off. “She’s alive. I don’t know where. Tell me what happened, but keep it short.”
Todd’s story was short and told him little. He’d passed out instantly, without warning. When he woke up, the humans around him were all unconscious and there was no sign of Lily. Tony, however, had been awake and, as Todd had said, talking to Rule on his phone. Todd hadn’t found any sign of Lily—no blood, thank God—but he had found a scent. One he couldn’t identify. He didn’t have a very good nose in this form, however.
Rule looked at Cullen. “You would recognize the scent of an elf.”
“Damn right I would.”
“Todd, take Cullen to the place you found the scent. Joe, with me. I need to see to Tony.”
“Your shirt,” Cullen said.
He looked down. “Damn.” He’d bled freely. It didn’t show as much on the black cotton as it would have on something else, but it showed. He should have thought of that earlier.
“Take mine,” Todd said, already unbuttoning it. “We wear the same size.”
The delay made Rule want to howl, but he gritted his teeth and put up with it. He disposed of the old shirt by having Cullen rip it off, then had to thread his bad arm through the sleeve of Todd’s shirt. “No,” he said tersely when Cullen started to replace the makeshift sling. “It’s got blood all over it, too.”
At last he strode forward—only to be stopped by the officer who’d ignored Todd leaving the scene. “Stay back, now.” The man put a hand on Rule’s shoulder.
It hurt. Rule snarled.
The officer’s eyes rounded. He fell back a step, his hand dropping to the gun holstered at his waist.
“Rule.” Cullen touched Rule’s other arm, then went on too softly for human ears. “As soothing as it would be to rip off his arm and beat him with it, it would really slow things down.”
True. Rule took a slow breath. Somewhere he found a smile. “Sorry, Officer. I’m worried about my fiancée, who I believe was abducted from this scene. I’m an FBI consultant with Unit Twelve. I’m going to reach into my pocket for my ID now.”
The cop’s eyes flickered to Rule’s hand and back to his face. “Reach nice and slow.”
“Of course.” As if he’d be more of a threat with a gun. Rule didn’t explain the officer’s mistake, however, but slowly took out his wallet and flipped it open. The ID Ruben had arranged for Rule to carry was not a badge. Rule wasn’t a law enforcement officer. But it did proclaim his security clearance and his connection to the Bureau, most notably to Unit Twelve.
It wasn’t enough for the cop to let them pass, but he did call his superior—who may have misunderstood Rule’s credentials slightly. Rule heard his response in the cop’s headphones: “Fucking yes, you let him through. He’s fucking Unit Twelve. Unless the fucking terrorists have decided it’s nicer to knock people out than blow them up, we’re ass deep in some kind of fucking magical shit here.”
The cop directed Rule to go to a Sergeant Bellows, pointing him out—a short, bald guy who was one of the officers with Tony. How convenient. Rule thanked him and moved forward, carefully restraining himself to a speed that wouldn’t alarm the humans around him. Carefully cradling his bad arm, too, because a show of strength wasn’t as important as shepherding his strength so he would heal faster. Halfway there, he nodded at Cullen. Cullen and Todd split off to check out the strange scent.
The se
rgeant turned as Rule got close. “What the fuck? You’re not a fucking FBI agent. You’re that damn lupus guy. The prince one.”
“I’m Rule Turner, yes. I’m also a consultant with Unit Twelve of the FBI, and I’ve reason to believe a federal agent was abducted from this scene.” Now he looked directly at Tony, whose arms were fastened behind his back. Tony looked like a big, sleepy bear. He smelled furious. “Why is this man in restraints?”
“Violent altercation inside the bar. He won’t talk to us. Thinks he’s a POW or something—gave his name, then wouldn’t say one fucking word. I want to see your ID.”
Rule took it out again and handed it over. The sergeant passed it to an older officer. “Call it in. Make sure it’s legit.”
“Romano will talk to me,” Rule said.
“Yeah? Well, he sure as shit better, or—hey!” His gaze swung to the left. “What the fuck are you doing?” He was looking at Cullen, who was down on his hands and knees, sniffing the sidewalk. “Goddamn loonies. Turner, get Romano talking.” He stalked off.
Rule sacrificed Cullen to the sergeant’s wrath and started for Tony, who stood a few feet away.
“Not too close.” A much younger officer stepped in front of him. “This man is dangerous. He’s lupus.”
“So am I.” Rule allowed himself to move quickly, tired of the way everyone kept blocking him. He stopped about a foot from Tony—a distance too close for comfort. Challenging distance.
“Sir, you need to move back.”
“Let him be,” the older officer said. “Sergeant’s orders.”
Rule looked up and met Tony’s eyes. “There are only three ways I can see that they could have known where to find Lily. One, our enemies have some new magical trick we don’t know about. Two, my men were sloppy and allowed themselves to be trailed. But it’s the third option that seems most likely. She was set up.”
Tony still looked calm. His control was excellent…but not perfect. Rule caught the quick spike of seru in his scent.
Seru was sometimes the scent of anger, but more, it was the scent of challenge. Of dominance. It was an olfactory How dare you. Tony was able to submit when he needed to. He could obey. He looked and sometimes spoke like an oversize child. But he was a man, he was Rho, and he was dominant. He didn’t like Rule’s stance or his implicit accusation. “I did not set her up.”
Rule continued to hold his gaze. “Will you pledge on Laban?”
After a moment Tony nodded. Rule felt it when Tony drew on his mantle. Or rather, the mantles he carried felt it and responded in a way Rule had no words for, but recognized. “I did not set up Lily,” Tony said slowly. “I did not know what would happen. I don’t know what did happen. I pledge this on Laban.”
Rule stepped back. “Thank you. If not you, then Hugo. Damn, I wish I knew where Mike was.”
“Following Hugo. He was still in Dingos when I got there, but he made a commotion so he could get away. I distracted the humans so Mike could follow him.”
“Did you break much?”
“None of the people. Some furniture.”
“You haven’t been answering the officers’ questions.”
“I didn’t know what was okay to tell them.” He bunched his shoulders. “I don’t like this plastic thing. Can you get them to take it off?”
“I’ll see what I can do. Officer Pearson.” He looked at the older man. “How can we get the restraints removed?”
“You’ll have to talk to the sergeant about that.”
Who was, Rule saw, marching Cullen this way. At least that’s what the sergeant thought he was doing. Cullen’s expression told Rule he wanted to come here anyway and was putting up with the sergeant’s hand on his arm to speed things up.
“This bastard says he’s one of yours,” the sergeant said.
“He is. What—”
Rule got a finger jabbed in his direction. “You tell him to quit fucking with my scene.”
“Don’t fuck with the man’s scene, Cullen. What did you learn?”
“Pretty sure there are two scents. One’s definitely elf. I’d have to Change to be sure about the other one. Lily’s scent is there, too. It stops where it meets theirs.”
“She was carried off, then.”
The sergeant scowled. “Elves? You’re fucking crazy.” Without waiting for a response he swung to speak to the older officer. “What do they say about his fucking ID?”
“He’s legit.”
The sergeant shook his head morosely. “Elves. Shit.”
Rule had to agree. “We need to find Hugo. He may be boarding a ship about now.” Though Rule suspected that had been part of the bait—make it look as if Hugo was about to vanish to draw Lily out here. “What was…ah. These people should be able to help.”
Rule had called Special Agent Bergman on his way here. She’d just badged her way past the officer at the end of the street and was headed for him, trailing two of her agents. Rule started for her.
“What’s this about Special Agent Yu being missing?” she demanded as she drew close.
“I believe she was taken from here after her guards—and about four dozen other people—were incapacitated magically. Special Agent, a ship is about to depart that may have our prime suspect aboard. I need you to stop it.”
“Yeah? Well, I need you to tell me what you were doing at Hammond Middle School tonight that broke several windows, burned some of the bleachers, and left bloodstains on the floor.”
Rule wanted to howl. “Let me guess. You received an anonymous tip.”
“Right now I’m talking to you, and I want a really good explanation, or you’re going to be wearing restraints like that oversize Adonis who’s following you.”
“Lily has been taken and you’re playing right into—” Rule’s phone sounded. This ringtone he knew. He snatched it from his pocket, and maybe he moved too fast, because one of Bergman’s agents drew on him. He snarled at the man and thumbed the phone’s screen. “Yes.”
“Sorry I couldn’t call sooner,” Ruben said. “There was a bad situation in Baltimore. People died. What’s happened?”
“Lily’s been kidnapped. I need a ship stopped.”
“All right. Which one?”
CONGRESS kept talking about rescinding or lessening the strength of the emergency provisions that gave Unit Twelve agents an unprecedented level of authority. As usual, they couldn’t agree on how to go about it. Until they did, when the head of Unit Twelve said jump, authorities both local and federal had to start hopping.
Ruben had the Valkyrie held in port so it could be searched. Odds were that Hugo wasn’t on it, but they couldn’t afford to assume that.
Special Agent Bergman was temporarily seconded to the Unit. Ruben had no Unit agents available for the case, and this would, he said, keep the chain of command tidy. She took Rule’s statement about the events at Hammond Middle School, but she stopped talking about restraints.
Jasper, Chris, and Alan arrived. Then Mike showed up, four-footed. Once he was back on two legs, he told Rule that Hugo had had a car parked in the alley—a beat-up 1990 Jetta—and Mike had Changed so he could try to follow. He’d kept up at first, but cars are faster than wolves if they don’t bog down in traffic. Hugo had lucked out on the traffic, which hadn’t yet backed up, and he didn’t mind breaking the speed limit. Mike had lost him, but he did have the license plate number.
The cops put out an APB on the Volkswagen, but Rule didn’t expect much from that. The man would have ditched it by now.
As all this happened, more and more people woke up. A few were transported—two of those who’d been in vehicles when they passed out, a woman who’d cut her leg somehow, and a man who’d hit his head on a table. He’d been in the bar next to Dingos. The effect, whatever it was, hadn’t been stopped by walls, so some of those inside nearby buildings had been affected. Most, however, were unhurt.
Throughout all this, the pressure inside Rule kept building. None of it was helping. None of it got him one inc
h closer to finding Lily. He paced. He wanted to run, to Change and run. He could focus for a few minutes on something else, could start to plan, but then his brain hiccupped and he was thinking about Lily. About her in Robert Friar’s hands, and what he might be doing to her right this minute.
Tony hadn’t set Lily up. Rule had. He’d oh-so-cleverly manipulated her into taking what he thought would be the safer path. Friar had Lily, and it was his fault.
Cullen stepped in front of him. Rule jerked to a stop. “What?”
“You aren’t Lily.”
Rule’s fists clenched tight—and his shoulder sent a burst of pain to remind him he was not healed. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
“You’re hanging around the crime scene, trying to do the things she’d do. But those aren’t your things. That special agent with the great legs and lousy attitude is a pain in the ass, but she’s competent. Let her handle things here. You need to go do your thing.”
For a long moment Rule said nothing. Finally, quietly, he said to Cullen what he couldn’t have said to anyone else, save Lily. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Do something the others here can’t. You’re Rho. Do something Rho.”
“I am doing something Rho. I’m exercising incredible control and not knocking you on your ass.”
Cullen’s mouth smiled. His eyes didn’t. “Hold on to that control, because I’m about to really piss you off. You can’t figure out what to do because you’re too busy feeling guilty. Later, when you’ve got her back, you can wallow in guilt like a dog rolling around on a nice, stinky pile of dead fish. You can’t afford guilt now. Lily can’t afford it, so stop.” Cullen turned and walked away.
For a long moment Rule stood there, not moving. Cullen was right. He was 100 percent right. And Rule still didn’t know what to do.
