Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

that she does not willingly offer."
    "You're backing the wrong horse, Kun Nu. Grandmother won't agree."
    "She already has." Her smile grew radiant. "I will keep her for a long, long time. And while she suffers, so, too, will S'n Mtzo."

 
    THIRTY-SIX

    "Brooks here."
    Rule held his phone with one hand and drove with the other. "This is Rule Turner. Lily has been taken."
    "Taken?" The jolt of surprise was clear in Brooks's voice. "My Gift can be damnably capricious. It didn't warn me. When I wasn't able to reach her on her phone, I hoped the problem was technical. During the riots, much cell coverage was disrupted."
    Riots? Was that what they were calling it? "Much of everything was disrupted," Rule said grimly. "They've also snatched Cynna. They're using her to threaten Cullen, to keep him from looking for them. They say they'll trade Lily for her grandmother - but not yet."
    "They've already sent their terms to you?"
    "They made contact with Sam. They plan to hurt Lily." Rule's throat tightened too much for speech. He swallowed and forced himself to go on. "Madame Yu believes one of them will drain Lily of her Gift. It's a slow process, and that's why the delay in making an exchange. I intend to get Lily away from them. If you're willing, you can help. I'll tell you who has her, everything I've held back - but you have to come to me at Clanhome. I'm on my way there now."
    "Without Lily to affirm your words, I'm unsure if this is, indeed, Rule Turner I'm speaking with."
    "You're allergic to iron and steel. You learned this in Edge."
    A moment's silence, then Ruben said, "That is persuasive, if not... Yes? Just a moment," he told Rule. And put him on hold.
    The woman in the passenger seat spoke. "I am not persuaded this is wise," Madame Yu said. "Bringing Brooks in changes the balance."
    "The Chimei already changed it. You said as much."
    She was silent a moment. Her hands gripped each other tightly in her lap. "I did not think she could do a new thing. I was wrong. This taking of hostages is new."
    Brooks came back on the line. "I just spoke with the officers I sent to look for Lily. They found the patrol car she borrowed. In the backseat was a young woman, a civilian, dazed and incoherent. In the front seat was a sheriff's deputy, unconscious. There was a note saying he'd been enspelled, but paramedics suspect a concussion. He's being taken to emergency now."
    "That won't hurt him, but he's unconscious due to a spell, not a head wound." As Rule had said in the note he'd left with Beck.
    Brooks absorbed that in a brief silence. "What did Lily send me from your computer this afternoon?"
    Rule's eyebrows shot up. "I don't know. I haven't been to the apartment since she was taken, and before that... First she was attacked by a gang. Then we raced into the madness, hoping to save her family."
    "Are they hurt?" His question came quick, urgent.
    "They're unhurt, but asleep. I've had them moved to Clanhome until they wake up." Rule glanced at Lily's grandmother. "Most of them are asleep, that is. Madame Yu is with me."
    "I will speak with her."
    Rule passed her the phone. He'd never been able to figure out how much of the tiger she retained when she was two-legged. Had she heard Ruben's side of the conversation?
    "Mr. Brooks," she said, "what did my granddaughter send you?"
    Apparently she had.
    "A copy of a handwritten note, which includes a word or phrase in Chinese. I'm having it translated, but there is a problem. My translator doesn't recognize one of the characters. Madame, are you confident that the person with you is, indeed, Rule Turner, and that he is not being coerced or affected in some way?"
    "I am completely certain of it. Who was the note from?"
    "A man believed to operate a criminal gang with ties to the Taiwanese underworld."
    "Zhou Xing?" It was as much demand as question. "His name is Zhou Xing?"
    "It is."
    "Ahh." That was almost a purr. For the first time since learning her granddaughter had been taken, some of the tension eased from those slender shoulders. "Excellent. Bring it with you when you come."
    "I haven't said I will come."
    "Consult your Gift," she snapped. "You are supposed to be able to follow a hunch. Attempt to do so."
    Another silence, longer this time. "I will come," Brooks said simply.
     
    "Toilet paper. Boxes of it," Cynna muttered. "That's not much help, but lightbulbs? Plastic knives? What were they thinking?"
    The two of them sat on the floor of their temporary prison, surrounded