Lupi 04 - Night Season

had to take his fun where he found it, didn’t he?
    God knew he didn’t expect much else to be fun today. Bloody ignorant government drones.
    That so-called gnome expert had given away half a million in gemstones without getting any explanations for the shield spell. Zip, zilch, nada. They had the spell, sure—the gnome had drawn it last night. They didn’t know what half the glyphs meant, much less how the overall design was supposed to work. The wrinkled runt had refused to part with one word of explanation, and the government had let him get away with it.
    Cullen had damned near refused to cast the spell. Brooks had persuaded him to go ahead, mostly because he was right, dammit. They’d just have brought in someone else. Also, Brooks had a strong feeling Cullen needed to be the spellcaster.
    So did Cullen.
    On one point the councilor had been defeated, but he didn’t seem to realize it. When told that Lily would not be going to Edge, he’d smiled and insisted she be present today anyway. He thought they might change their minds once they understood the situation.
    Of course, he didn’t know about the mate bond. He wasn’t going to learn, either. That was none of his business.
    Cullen might have been trained as Wiccan initially, but he had little patience with tradition for tradition’s sake. He’d long since learned that full immersion wasn’t necessary for full cleansing. Instead he washed his hands, his feet, and the major chakras—a mingling of Eastern and Western practices that would have appalled traditionalists in both hemispheres. But it worked.
    He dipped his fingers in the bowl of salt water and touched the crown chakra at the top of his skull. A pulse of awareness prickled over his scalp; he both saw and felt the violet energy of that chakra flowing into balance with the other energetic centers of his body. He waited, letting that communion complete itself, then opened his eyes, grabbed his crutches, and swung over to the door, wearing a small diamond around his neck, a big one on his right index finger, and nothing more.
    The hall wasn’t empty. Two Secret Service types in dark suits eyed him. Give them points for professionalism—neither of them stared at the bits that were normally covered in public. One muttered something into his headset.
    Cullen gave them his best professional nod and headed for the door they were guarding. Earlier he’d spoken with the presidential adviser who was the reason for their presence. Marilyn Wright was fond of perfume, but otherwise seemed sharp and relatively unburdened by preconceptions.
    A nice contrast to McClosky from Commerce. Unfortunately, it was McClosky who’d negotiated for the shield spell with help from that misbegotten gnome expert.
    Parked beside the door was Ruben Brooks’s wheelchair. Cullen left his cructhes beside it, opened the door, and limped into what used to be a conference room. It no longer looked the part.
    The gnome had fought to limit the number of people present. After serious dickering they’d agreed on the ten people in the circle, plus Cullen. Six humans and four other types of people sat on cushions on the cement floor like a kindergarten class playing hot potato. Every one of them turned to look at him. It amused him to see where they looked—or avoided looking.
    Not that there was much to see at the moment, given his recent application of cold seawater. Later, with the magic surging through him like honey and storm, his fifth member would put on more of a show.
    Lily kept her gaze determinedly on his face. The presidential assistant lifted her eyebrows. McClosky bounced a glance off him before returning to an in-depth study of his shoes, and Steve Timms was more interested in who had weapons than who wore clothes. Steve was very conscious of his increased responsibility today. He was body-guarding both Brooks and Marilyn Wright.
    Cynna gave Cullen a grin. She sat between Gan and Lily with that huge bag of hers on her Lily side. It held a supply of Hershey’s Kisses to bribe the little not-quite-demon as needed. On Lily’s other side, Brooks sat on a padded stadium seat instead of a cushion. He had a nod for Cullen. The gnome and the other guy were indifferent to nudity, and the tusked woman…interested. Definitely and sexually interested, which he found surprisingly disconcerting.
    Gan said, “Hey! Nice cock.”
    â€œThank you,”