by Eileen Wilks
“ ‘Or else’ meaning she’ll fight Rule’s custody suit?”
“She said she won’t pull any punches, that it will all come out, and she made her face look like this”—his expression mimicked a fox, sly and knowing—“as if she knows secrets. But she doesn’t. I never tell her any Nokolai stuff.”
That didn’t mean Alicia couldn’t find out, figure out, or make up something. “It sounds like a choice between two things you really, really don’t like—either stay with your mom for six months, or have a knock-down, drag-out battle for custody.”
“Dad won’t.” Toby’s eyes glistened. “He says six months isn’t forever, and that I don’t understand how bad it would be if we had a big fight in court.”
“Well, he’s probably right about that. What doesn’t he understand?”
Toby blinked, then frowned slightly, thinking that over.
Louise stroked Toby’s hair, but spoke to Lily. “Rule has been very restrained, but he’s upset, of course. I’m upset. To-by’s upset . . . I suppose Alicia is, too, though I wish she’d talked to me about her plans. I wish . . . I don’t think she’s doing the wrong thing, necessarily. But she’s going about it the wrong way.”
Lily kept her voice mild. “You think it would be good for Toby to live with her?”
“Not permanently, no. If I could say . . .” She sighed. “Well, I can’t. But I think Toby should have a chance to mend things with her. She’ll continue to be his mother no matter who he lives with.”
Rule disconnected. His eyes went straight to Lily. “You didn’t stop here to see if we were having a crisis.”
“I thought you might be able to go see a forest ranger with me.” She spread her hands. “Obviously not a good idea right now. What did your lawyer say?”
“He advises me to take what she’s offering, but to go through the judge so it’s binding. We’ll suggest a shorter period than six months, too.” He gave Toby a nod. “There’s no saying we’ll get it, but we’ll try. He’s going to find out what he can about James French.”
Louise gave Rule a chiding look. “I’m sure that’s not necessary. They’re coming to dinner tonight. We’ll get to know him then.”
Tonight? Oh, the fun just kept on coming. Lily stood and said to Louise, “Look at it this way. If we have some of the facts about French’s background, we won’t be grilling him over the pot roast.” Lily gave Rule a glance. “I might be able to help with that.”
He gave her the ghost of a grin. “I hope you don’t mean the pot roast.”
“No.” Louise shook her head. “It will not be pot roast. We just had pot roast. And James,” she added grimly, “is vegan.”
Toby frowned. “What’s vegan? Is that where he’s from?”
“It means he doesn’t eat meat. No beef, chicken, or fish.”
Toby’s mouth fell. “Not at all?”
“No,” Lily answered when a glance at Louise showed her to be preoccupied. “Not if he’s a practicing vegan. He also won’t wear leather or eat eggs or dairy products. Nothing that comes from an animal.”
“Lasagna,” Louise muttered. “No, no, can’t make lasagna without cheese. I’d better check my cookbooks.” She started for the kitchen.
“There will be vegan recipes online,” Lily called after her.
“I can look them up for you,” Toby said, shoving to his feet. He glanced at his father and whispered quite audibly, “It’s not like I care about this stupid James guy, but Grammy hates it if she doesn’t have the right stuff for guests.”
Rule laid a hand on Toby’s head. “It’s all right if you like Mr. French, Toby. That takes nothing from me. At Clanhome you care about and are cared for by many people, not just me.”
“But Mr. French isn’t clan.”
“No, but as your mother’s husband, he’s family. We don’t always like everyone in our family, but it’s perfectly acceptable to do so.”
“Is it okay if I don’t like him?”
“As long as you’re polite, yes. But I hope you’ll give him a chance.”
Toby looked scornful. “He doesn’t eat meat.”
“He’s not lupus, so we shouldn’t require him to live as we do. Though we’ll have to make sure your mother understands that your dietary needs do include meat, if you end up staying with her for a time. Now, I could use a run. What about you?”
Toby brightened. “Yeah! Maybe we could run over to the park and practice corner kicks? And if Justin and Talia could come—”
The doorbell rang.
Lily glanced that way. “I’ll get it.”
Louise had pulled a thick cookbook out of a cabinet. She tucked it under one arm. “No, dear. I prefer to answer my own door.”
Lily followed. Not that she thought someone was going to jump Louise, but—okay, she did think that. “Use the spyhole, okay? I don’t want—”
Too late. Louise had already swung the door open. Her hand fluttered to her chest and her words came out in a whisper. “Oh, my sweet Jesus.”
TWENTY-THREE
THE man on the porch had eyes the unlikely blue of the Aegean Sea. His hair was cinnamon and spice, his features a marvel of symmetry, with the sensual mouth balanced by a jaw firm enough to keep all that beauty from leaning toward the feminine. As for his body . . . well, most women would agree it deserved an hour or two of study, like any work of art.
Of course, the perfect jaw was stubbled, the spicy hair hadn’t been combed, and the flawless body was clad in jeans worn to threads in spots and a T-shirt that supported people’s right to arm bears. His athletic shoes were almost new, however—and muddy. No socks.
He hadn’t worn socks on his wedding day, either. Or shoes. Or a shirt.
The ocean eyes were amused. “Hello, love. If you’re not going to shoot me today, would you mind putting your gun away?”
Lily slid her weapon back in place without apologizing and stepped aside. “Good to see you, too. Louise, this is Cullen Seabourne. Cullen, this is—”
“Cullen’s here!” Toby cried. “Hey, Dad, Cullen’s here!” The thud of running feet proved that not all lupi moved as quietly as drifting snow. Toby darted around Grammy and Lily to hurl himself at the scruffy demigod on the porch.
Cullen caught him and swung him up to ride on his shoulders. “You’ve grown again. Just keep doing that, don’t you?”
Toby grinned. “It’s my habit. I like growing. Maybe I’ll be taller than you when I’m finished. Did you bring Cynna?” He peered around, as if Cullen might have stashed Cynna someplace close by. “Where’s Cynna?”
“In San Diego by now, if her flight wasn’t delayed.”
Toby twisted to say seriously to his grandmother, “Cynna’s cool. She’s having Cullen’s baby in a couple or three months—I forget when, exactly. She an’ Cullen went to Edge, then when they came back they got married, only I couldn’t go to the wedding, so I missed seeing the dragon. Some people in the clans are mad about him getting married, but I’m not. Dad’s not, either, but Cullen says Dad’s jealous ’cause he’d like to get married to Lily, too, only he can’t because he’s Lu Nuncio and all, but I don’t—hey!”
Cullen had turned Toby upside down and was holding him by the ankles, shaking him gently. “Way too much information, short stuff.”
Toby giggled and tried to climb up his own body to right himself.
“I see.” Louise’s response, delivered in a faint voice, said she didn’t see at all. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Seabourne. Rule told me you were coming, but in all the confusion I’d quite forgotten. Do come in.”
“Take off those shoes first,” Lily said. “Did you walk here in the rain or something?”
Cullen glanced down at his shoes as if he’d forgotten he was wearing them. “Hmm. No, I made a stop along the way. Down, sport,” he said, depositing Toby on the porch. He bent to untie his shoes.
“We’re gonna go run, then kick the ball around some,” Toby said excitedly. “Maybe Justin and Talia can come, too
. They’re my friends. Maybe you can come with us.”
Cullen glanced up from wet, knotted shoestrings, smiling. “Not right away, I’m afraid. I need to talk to your father about some clan business, and I suspect Lily means to snag me for some assistance with her case.”
“Now?” Toby’s face fell. He looked at his father. “Do you have to do clan business now?”
Rule hesitated only a second. “It can wait until after lunch,” he said as easily as if he weren’t desperate to hear what Cullen had flown here to tell him. “But I don’t think Lily can postpone her business as easily as I can. We’d better let her have first shot at him.”
“Hey,” Cullen said. “No shooting.”
That made Toby giggle.
“Go,” Rule said. “Call your friends, see if they can join us. Whether they can or not, we’re headed for the park. Oh, and bring me my shoes, please.”
“Okay.” Toby took off for the stairs.
Cullen gave Rule a thoughtful glance. “You don’t mind waiting on our business?”
There was a longish pause, and Lily saw Rule’s lips quiver once, ever so slightly, before he said, “He needs to run.”
That telltale quiver meant he’d been subvocalizing. It was the way lupi communicated when they didn’t want others to hear, speaking softer than a whisper without moving their lips. For a brief period several months ago, Lily had been able to hear subvocalizations, too, but it hadn’t lasted. The mate bond giveth and the mate bond taketh away. Capriciously.
Rule smiled at Louise. “I’ll order pizza for lunch. If Toby’s friends wish to join us—”
“By all means,” Louise said. “Justin and Talia are always welcome.”
Cullen had finally gotten his shoes off. He set them neatly beside the door and padded inside barefoot. “Mrs. Asteglio.” He gave her the kind of smile guaranteed to melt anyone equipped with a double-X set of chromosomes. “I’m glad to have this chance to meet you.”
Louise pinked up again. “It’s my pleasure. You’re quite a favorite of Toby’s, you know. Do come sit down and let me know what I can get you. There’s some carrot cake left, and I can put on some coffee. Or would you prefer iced tea? It will take a few minutes to brew, but I refuse to use that nasty instant.”
“I never turn down cake, with or without tea. However . . .” He sent Lily a glance. “I’m afraid I have to be terribly rude and speak privately with Lily about her case first.”
“Of course. I’ll get the tea started.”
“In here,” Lily said to Cullen, gesturing at the living room. Louise wouldn’t intentionally eavesdrop, but the open arrangement of den and kitchen would make it hard not to overhear.
Rule put a hand on her arm and spoke quietly. “Cullen called me from the airport. I told him about the situation with Alicia and about Talia’s ghosts.”
She glanced at Cullen. “Did you—”
She was stopped by the herd of elephants on the stairs combined with Toby hollering out the great news that his friends would join them at the park, and here were his dad’s shoes, and could they go now?
Rule thanked him, slipped on the shoes and tied them, and looked at Lily. “You can have Cullen until lunch. I need him back then.” He said that lightly enough, but she had some idea of what it cost him to wait.
Lily put her hand on his cheek, rubbing the freshly shaved skin with her thumb. “Until lunch.”
He bent and gave her a quick, hard kiss. A moment later the door closed behind him and Toby, and Lily clicked back into cop mode. She looked at Cullen, who was no longer smiling. Somehow that confirmed what she’d suspected. “You have something for me.”
“I think so. I’ll need to see the last man who was possessed—he’s in the hospital, right?—and his house.”
“Hodge is getting his pacemaker replaced this morning, so that’ll have to wait, but I can get you into his house. It’s on the corner.” She pulled out her phone. “Go eat cake and flirt with Louise. I’m going to rearrange my morning.” She’d take Brown’s advice and delegate.
FOR once Cullen did as he was told. They left Louise smiling and telling him to be sure to join the rest of them for dinner that night. “Come at six thirty. We’ll eat around seven.”
Cullen thanked her and accepted before Lily could find a subtle way to warn him about the undertow he’d be wading into. Not that Cullen minded a little conflict, armed or otherwise.
Stepping outside was like walking into the bathroom after someone had taken a hot shower. The brief spat of rain hadn’t done much to clear the air of either heat or humidity. “That invitation you just accepted,” she said quietly to Cullen. “Alicia and her new husband are coming to dinner. He’s vegan, so it will be meatless.”
“I’d better eat well earlier, then,” he said. “Wouldn’t miss this chance to meet the new hubby. Alicia’s never shown an interest in day-to-day parenting—swooping in for the occasional weekend suited her fine, I’d say. I’m wondering if this sudden uptick in motherliness is due to him. Perhaps it’s his idea entirely.”
That seemed possible. “Did you bring any real clothes? Louise will be insulted if you show up in that T-shirt.”
He glanced down at her, amused. “Really, Lily, you don’t have to explain women’s expectations to me. I could demonstrate, if you wish, what I know about female . . . expectations.” He lingered on the last word with just the right hint of lasciviousness.
She knew he did that to annoy her. And dammit, it worked. “Tacky, Cullen.”
“No, it would be tacky if I groped you. I can’t flirt with most women anymore. They have a lamentable tendency to hope I mean it. And since I’m fast enough to dodge if you decide to belt me, I . . . Hold on a minute.” He interrupted himself as they reached his rental car. “I need to get something.”
“Cullen.” She chewed it over with her conscience while he opened the car door and delved inside. It was okay to ask, she decided. “What are you going to tell Rule about Toby?”
“Can’t tell you.”
She stiffened. “I know he deserves to learn it first, but he’s not here and I’m involved, too.”
“I meant exactly what I said,” he explained—patiently, for him, since he snapped out the words without burning anything. He straightened, holding a small brown paper bag in one hand and his backpack in the other, and slammed the car door. “I can’t tell you. I’m not supposed to tell Rule, either, but I will—if he promises not to repeat it to his father.”
She blinked. “You want him to keep secrets from his Rho? Is that allowed?”
“Of course not. Tell me about these ghosts the little girl has seen. Rule said they screamed at her.”
“That’s the way Talia put it.” They fell into step together, heading for Hodge’s house. “The screaming is distressing or painful for her. What’s in the bag?”
“Grave dirt. She said the other ghosts were frightened?”
“Yes—at least, her main contact among them told her that. The one she calls the tall man. What in the world do you need grave dirt for?”
“A spell. Like I said, I stopped off on the way here. And let me tell you, it was not easy to find dry grave dirt. This child—Talia—said the ghosts call him a ghost-maker?”
“Yes.”
He frowned. “I need to talk to her.”
“If Rule’s able to bring them back to Mrs. Asteglio’s for pizza, you’ll have a chance to do that. Though I don’t know that the parents will agree. They’re not fans of lupi, from what the kids said last night.”
“Oh, Rule will probably talk to them himself. I told him I need to see the girl. Not only will he sound utterly trustworthy—”
“He is utterly trustworthy.”
“Which makes it easier for him,” Cullen agreed cheerfully. “I have to work much harder at it, and usually have to settle for appearing harmless. No one mistakes Rule for harmless, but he has that whole prince-of-my-people thing going for him.”
True. “Cullen, Talia said Toby
keeps the ghosts away. Rule had never heard of ghosts being repelled by lupi.”
“Oh, that.” He tossed one hand, flinging away a foolish notion. “No, they aren’t repelled by us, but our innate magic suppresses the type of magic used by mediums. I’m not sure of the mechanism, but the Etorri Rhej . . .” He glanced at her, smiling. “You’ve met her.”
“Oh, yes.” Lily smiled in spite of herself, thinking of that wedding.
“She says the effect is heavily localized. She has to move only a few feet away from one of us for her Gift to function. Of course, she’s an extremely strong medium, so Talia’s Gift may be tamped down at a greater distance. But that’s what the girl is experiencing—a dampening of her Gift, not a repulsion of ghosts.”
A repulsion of ghosts. Was that like a gaggle of geese or an exaltation of larks? Lily noticed that her smile had lingered. Funny how Cullen could have that effect when he wasn’t making her want to punch him. “Is there any way you can make a shield for her, or something along those lines? I’m worried about those mind-ripping screams.”
“A shield, no. I haven’t deciphered the ones I was given enough to re-create them. But didn’t you say the sheriff here has a spell that damps down his Gift?”
“I don’t know if he’ll share it. He doesn’t want anyone to know about his Gift, so he won’t be happy I told you. Can ghosts do real damage to Talia?”
“Normally, no.” Cullen turned grim. “But these aren’t normal ghosts.”
“I seldom hear ‘normal’ and ‘ghosts’ used together. What’s different with these?”
“You’re going to have to wait until I confirm something. Is that the house?”
“Yes. You see something funny about it?” Cullen was like her, in a way. She touched magic. He saw it.
He gave a noncommittal hum and strode for the front door.
“Let me get the key.” She dug into her purse.
“Not necessary.” He wiggled his fingers at the knob—reached for it, turned it, and opened the door.
