by Eileen Wilks
Cullen. Rule had to assume that he, Cynna, and Max had been knocked out. They’d be helpless, if they weren’t already dead.
Rule quivered with the need to move. He held himself still a moment longer. Action without information was too often disaster.
Vision was limited by darkness. Smell was hindered by smoke. He focused on hearing.
Silence. No air-conditioning, no monitors beeping, no voices from that dark hallway. He might already be too late. If—
Footsteps. Soft, barely audible—but he heard footsteps in the east hall. Someone walking, not running. Someone in athletic shoes or the rubber-soled shoes nurses often used . . . so it might be a nurse moving almost silently through the dark.
He didn’t think so. He looked at the orderly, still kneeling beside the fallen nurse, and held a finger to his lips. The man’s eyes widened even more. He couldn’t have guessed why Rule wanted quiet, but he gulped and nodded.
Rule gave him a quick nod and set off at a run.
A few paces down the hall he leaped over the first huddled form—and nearly landed on a second one, missing more by luck than skill. Could one of them be Cynna? Had she made it back to the room before the sleep spell hit, or was she collapsed along here?
He dodged a laundry cart—and the red EXIT sign over the stairs came on. Maybe the tech was coming back. Once the level of magic decreased, it usually did.
That glow made a difference. He could see the alcove that held Cullen’s room now—and the man who emerged from it. Short. Dark hair. It was too dim still to make out his features, but he wore scrubs.
The light was enough for a human, too, apparently. The man saw him and took off running.
Rule kicked it up to full speed. He reached the alcove—snarled in frustration—and skidded into a turn. He had to catch the enemy. He also had to see. Had to check on the others.
The door to Cullen’s room was still closed. A white plastic grocery sack sat in front of it, ghostly in the dark. Rule slid to a stop. The sack was knotted at the top. It bulged.
The enemy had left it here. His eyes couldn’t tell him what it held. Maybe his nose could. He bent. Froze. Snatched up the sack and took off like death itself was nipping at his heels.
He tried to run smoothly, keeping the impact down—but felt every footfall thud up through his frame, vibrating the package he held. Time collapsed instead of stretching. He hit the nurses’ station a blink or two after grabbing the package—vaulted over the counter, ignoring the orderly, and leaped onto the cabinets lined up along the wall.
Crouched high on those cabinets, he drew back his cocked left arm and smashed his elbow through the window. A sweep of his forearm sliced his skin as it cleared out the remaining shards.
He looked out. Parking lot. Yes. Thank you, Lady.
Rule hurled the plastic-wrapped bundle straight out as hard as he could.
It exploded in midair.
TWENTY-SIX
THE enchiladas were as spicy as ever, the air-conditioning just as frigid, but after a couple bites, Lily hardly noticed.
She tried to level with T.J., like she’d planned. She couldn’t. The damned treaty had her saying something vague about a pair of bad guys she was after, both of them with magic, one of them a hit man.
T.J. knew she was holding out on him. He looked wary and disappointed. “You’re not telling me much.”
“I . . . can’t. But your case is clearly connected to what I’m working on. We both want to find out who had it in for the Xings—or for one of them. I figure it’s better if the brothers don’t know we’re collaborating. You going to talk to big brother today?”
“I’m planning on it. Give him a friendly ride to the morgue, see if he can ID little brother.”
“Okay. When it seems like a good moment to shake him up, tell him I . . . You have to say this right. Tell him I am concerned for his health because I believe my grandmother’s enemy killed his brother.”
“That’s it? Your grandmother’s enemy?’
“He, uh, sort of knows Grandmother. Or knows about her.” Lily wasn’t sure if they really had some kind of history, or if Zhou had just heard rumors. Grandmother wouldn’t say. Zhou Xing was old-school, though. He believed things his Westernized younger brothers didn’t. Lily suspected he had a Gift of some sort, too, but had never managed to shake hands with him to confirm that. “Never mind. Just tell him that and to call me if he wants to know more.”
“Should I look inscrutable?”
“You might have to settle for clueless.”
He grinned around a mouthful of beans he’d raised to incinerator levels with the addition of extra jalapeños. “I can do clueless. You going to deal me in if he does call?”
“I will. As much as I can, anyway. Dammit, I want to say more,” she said, frustrated beyond words. “I can’t.”
“Guess the muckety-mucks have you muzzled.”
She grimaced. “You could say that.” Though the muckety-mucks responsible for her muzzling weren’t with the FBI, as T.J. assumed. She was afraid they were a lot bigger and badder than that.
Who could have crafted a treaty that was literally unbreakable even for dragons? One that could be passed down through blood or magical inheritance?
Old Ones. Beings who could pass for gods if they wished. Lily’s hands felt clammy. For the first time she thought maybe she shouldn’t push, shouldn’t fight against bonds placed on her without her consent. These waters were deeper and more turbulent than she could conceive.
But she didn’t know if she could stop pushing. Like an animal chewing off its leg to escape a trap, Rule had said. It was a good analogy. She just wasn’t sure she could do anything different.
T.J. dragged a bite of tortilla around his plate, mopping up the last of the sauce, ate that, and burped happily before wiping his face almost as clean as his plate. “Damn good enchiladas. Mine are better, but those were damn good.”
“I know you grill, but enchiladas?” She shook her head. “Pull the other one.”
“Naw, I’m not messing with you. Camille and me have a deal. After my time-out, I had to learn to cook. Got pretty good at it after a while.”
“Your time-out?”
He grinned. “You’ve still got the instinct. Yeah, about ten years in she gave me a time-out for bad behavior.”
“Why? What did you do?”
“You’re sure nosy all of a sudden.”
“I’ve always been nosy. Humor me, okay?”
He shrugged. “Mostly it was just stupidity, me trying to keep the job from touching her, thinking she couldn’t understand, all that crap most of us pull.”
“She moved out?”
“More like she handed me my hat and pointed to the door. She claims she had to get my attention. Guess she was right, but it took three months of cold suppers and a cold bed for me to stop being pissed long enough to start hearing what she said.” He tilted his head. “You’ve got something on your mind.”
“I’m just . . . well.” She drummed her fingers. What was it exactly she wanted to know? “You might say I’m gathering data.”
He snorted. “Pretty sure that isn’t what I’d say, but you can, if you want.”
“Why did you and Camille get married instead of just living together? Was it because that’s what people expected?”
“Helluva question. If you want kids, you want them to have your name, don’t you? Well, I guess that’s a man’s perspective, so you . . . shit. You’re not. You are not pregnant.”
He’d made it an order. She couldn’t help grinning. “No, I’m not.” On impulse, she pulled out the chain that held the toltoi and her engagement ring.
“Son of a bitch. You broke up with that Turner guy? You’re getting married? Who to?”
“I’m still with the Turner guy. I’m going to marry him.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“I think you’re supposed to say congratulations.”
“This’ll be a real marriage? The whole de
al?” He waved his fork in circles, as if to indicate what a “whole deal” looked like.
“A real marriage. License, rings, vows, till-death-do-us-part.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“We’re keeping it quiet until Rule can hold a press conference. You know what those vultures are like. I don’t want to dodge idiots asking about my honeymoon plans while I’m working this case, so don’t tell anyone in the department.”
“That bunch of gossips. Hell, no, I won’t breathe a word. I’ll just let ’em know I know something I’m not telling. It’ll drive them crazy.” He paused to savor the prospect. “You going to go public with this soon?”
“As soon as possible.” Lily wasn’t sure why she’d told T.J., except that he was a friend and she was tired of not telling people. She glanced at her ring, and reluctantly slid it back inside her shirt. Soon, she told herself. But T.J. couldn’t really help with her basic question. His generation had married automatically. You fell in love, you got married, period. Unless you were a hippie. T.J. hadn’t been a hippie.
Camille had. Maybe she should talk to Camille.
Later. Right now she’d better get moving. “When you talk to Zhou,” she began. And stopped, staring at the TV.
“Hey!” T.J. waved a hand in front of her face. “You day-dreaming about the big wedding?”
“I’ve got to go.” She shoved back her chair, grabbed her notebook, and jammed it in her purse. “The hospital on the news—that’s Memorial, downtown. That’s where Rule is. And Cullen. And Cynna.” And Max and Jason and Nettie—all of them there, where black smoke billowed and sirens screamed. “I’ve got to go.”
“You’ll go with me. Shut up, Yu,” he told her, though she hadn’t said anything. He was on his feet, too, and pulling out his wallet. “I’ve got a siren. You don’t. End of argument.” He tossed a flutter of bills on the table. “Let’s go.”
She got two steps in before he grabbed her arm. “Hold up.”
“What?” she snapped.
He nodded at the TV screen.
Lily caught the word helicóptero from the excited news-caster as the scene switched to an aerial view of an elegant black shape drifting down through the smoke like an enormous burnt leaf. Wings beat or tilted artfully as the black dragon rode the air down and down to settle on the roof of the hospital.
“Son of a bitch,” Lily said.
TWENTY-SEVEN
IN addition to a siren, T.J. had a police radio in his car. They listened to that and to regular news in their mad race to Memorial. From what she could piece together, the fire had abruptly poofed out about the time Sam settled on top of the building. Firefighters were baffled.
Lily wasn’t, not about the cause—but the motive had her wondering. Sam was an ethical being, but his standards didn’t often overlap with human morality. Lily felt sure he hadn’t suddenly decided to become a scaled firefighter.
There were reports of a bomb, garbled and unconfirmed. There was no official word on casualties, but according to someone interviewed by a reporter, the hospital’s sprinklers hadn’t activated and much of its tech had malfunctioned. So it could be bad.
Lily couldn’t get Rule or Cynna on their cell phones. She knew Rule lived. The mate bond made that a certainty. She didn’t know about any of the others.
Even with a siren, T.J. was unable to get very close. It seemed as if half the people in the downtown had fled when the dragon appeared—and the other half had left their cars or their offices to get a better look. Sidewalks and streets alike were jammed.
T.J. parked well down Frost Street. As soon as the car stopped, Lily slid out into the oven-dry heat—and jumped as a cool mental voice said, Your mate and compatriots live.
“Thanks,” she whispered to Sam.
Memorial was big. Like many big hospitals, it had spawned a number of offspring. The campus included parking garages, buildings for outpatient care and rehab, a women’s hospital, and a children’s hospital. The main building, though, was shaped like a V. They headed toward the western tip of the V, weaving among stranded vehicles and gawking pedestrians.
Where had all these people come from? San Diego-ans didn’t mob up outside in the summer. It was too stinking hot.
“Are any of my compatriots hurt?” Lily asked Sam. “Including Nettie. She’s the clan’s doctor. She’s been taking care of Cullen. So was Jason. He’s Nokolai.”
“Uh, Lily?” T.J. glanced back at her. “You talking to me?”
“No, I’m talking to the dragon.”
“Sure. Pull the other one.”
Your question is imprecise. If you wish to know whether any of them sustained damage today, Cynna Weaver is coughing but essentially unharmed. The gnome is undamaged. Cullen Seabourne is in sleep. The healer with him . . . yes, I see that she is called Nettie. She is undamaged, as is the nurse with them. Rule Turner incurred cuts to one arm, but they are healing. He is under arrest.
“He’s what?!”
He threw a bomb. The authorities find that suspicious.
A bomb. Lily drew a calm-me-down breath. One question at a time. “What are you doing here?”
I put out the fire and absorbed the power the sorcerer used to disable the tech in the building. Most of the tech is operational again. Some remains . . . I believe the phrase is screwed up.
“That’s the phrase, all right.” It explained why she’d been unable to reach Rule or Cynna on their cells. “Was that a direct answer to my question, or are there other reasons—”
“You’re worrying me,” T.J. said.
“I’m not the one acting weird. You bought my lunch.”
He snorted.
Her hairline was already growing damp, especially at her nape. Should’ve put her hair up this morning. She walked faster.
They’d almost passed one of the big parking garages. She could see part of the west wing of the hospital now and some of the emergency vehicles clustered around it. There was a hydraulic truck pulled up onto the grass, its platform elevated to the third story. Wispy white trails of smoke drifted out some of the windows on that floor.
There was also a Channel 7 van straight ahead. “This way,” she said, snagging T.J.’s sleeve and pulling. “Let’s dodge the reporters, if we can. You know dragons use mindspeech, right? Well, Sam prefers us to answer out loud when he mindspeaks us. He says our thoughts are too muddy otherwise.”
Human thoughts are muddy at all times, Sam informed her, but worse when you don’t vocalize. The officer who considers himself in charge of Rule Turner has a particularly messy mind. This caused me to misspeak, since my attention is somewhat divided. I’m monitoring several minds while watching for the sorcerer and the Chimei.
Lily suspected “misspeak” was the dragon version of “I was wrong.” “What did you misspeak about?”
The officer hasn’t arrested Rule Turner. He either intends or wishes to do so. There is little distinction in him between wishes and intentions. Very muddy.
Directly ahead was a knot of people held back by a police barricade. Beyond that were streams and eddies and puddles of first responders from both the fire department and the police. From here she couldn’t see where patients had been evacuated to. “Why did Rule throw a bomb?”
“He did what?” T.J. demanded.
He didn’t want it to explode inside the hospital. A sensible action, but the officer disbelieves his account of events, although there is a witness to corroborate most of it.
“Where did the bomb come from?”
The sorcerer planted it outside Cullen Seabourne’s room after creating the fire and attendant confusion to act as cover. The Chimei was not with him, so he lacked her illusions. The man with you now is your friend?
“A compatriot,” she said, liking the word. “And a friend.”
He wonders if you are going mad. I will speak to him. He will be less useful if he distrusts your sanity.
“Okay.” They’d reached the police barricade. “FBI,” she told one of the u
niforms at the barricade as she pulled out her ID. “MCD Unit 12, Special Agent Lily Yu. I need through.”
“Omygod,” T.J. said, paling. “Yes. Sure. Omygod.”
“Hidden radio,” Lily told the officer, who was eyeing T.J. suspiciously. “He’s SDPD, but he’s with me. Who’s coordinating? Hennessey?” Coordinating was policy speak for in charge, and Carl Hennessey was deputy chief of operations for the Fire Department. A hospital fire was a major incident and would draw the big guns.
The officer gave her ID a good look before handing it back. “Fire’s out. You’ll want to talk to Captain Dreyer, ma’am. SDPD.”
Lily’s eyebrows rose. Policy called for a senior police officer to be on scene in cases of suspected terrorism. She could see why they might suspect terrorism. But in such a situation, policy also called for evacuating the area, not allowing civilians to mob the street and gawk at the pretty dragon.
She ducked under the makeshift barrier. “Where’s Captain Dreyer? And why is no one dispersing the crowd?”
“I don’t know, ma’am. I’ll get the sergeant, ma’am. He can answer your—”
“Sandy!” T.J. boomed out. “Over here!”
A man with skin almost as dark as the dragon’s scales looked their way. He had a sergeant’s stripes on his sleeve and the build and expression of a defensive tackle about to take out the quarterback. That expression didn’t lighten one whit when he yelled back, “T.J., you crazy bastard. What are you doing here?”
“Tagging along with Agent Yu.” T.J. jerked his thumb at Lily. “She used to be one of mine, but she’s gone over to the Feds now. Unit 12. She wants that crowd dispersed.”
The sergeant’s frown deepened as he took a few long strides to join them. “Any idiot asshole would want the crowds dispersed,” he said when he reached them, his voice low. “Any idiot asshole but our captain. Sorry, ma’am,” he added to Lily. “Orders are for us to maintain the perimeter until reinforcements arrive.”
“Reinforcements who won’t be able to reach you,” she said. “Emergency vehicles can’t get through the mob.”
