Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

glass they didn't use.
    Their weapons might be taken from them. The Chimei was powerful. So was the sorcerer. But Lily had realized something, and managed to convey it to Cynna by speaking elliptically.
    When Rule had said the Rhej had no knowledge of the Chimei in the clan's memories, Lily had been disappointed. But there was an upside, a very large upside. It meant that the Chimei knew little about lupi.
    The Chimei didn't know how deeply lupi treasured their babies. She'd made a bad mistake when she kidnapped and threatened a woman who carried a lupus babe.
    More important, the Chimei clearly didn't know who Cynna was. They knew she was Lily's friend and Cullen's wife, so thought they had a hostage with double value.
    They did. But Cynna was also the Rhej's apprentice. And Lily was pretty sure the Chimei didn't even know the Rhejes existed, much less what they meant to their clans. She certainly didn't know about the memories they carried... memories Cynna had so recently begun acquiring.
    The spell Cynna used now was from one of the earliest memories, from the time of the Great War. That's why she had to chant it rather than use what was inscribed on her skin.
    One other thing the Chimei didn't know about: the mate bond.
    Bird Woman and Johnny had gone to a great deal of trouble to hide Lily and Cynna where neither dragon senses nor human Gifts could find them. They'd done a good job of it, according to Cynna. Cynna's Finding sense was so muffled by the wards she claimed she couldn't Find the sky from their prison.
    But the earth and wards had no effect on the mate bond. They had no effect on the mate sense, which told Lily as clearly as ever in what direction Rule was, and how far away.
    He'd be coming for her, and for Cynna. He wouldn't be alone. They'd do their best to be ready.
    * * * *
    The sky was dark, overcast, the moon and stars hidden behind clouds that refused to drop their burden of water. Beneath that heavy sky, Clanhome's meeting field was as full as it had been two nights ago. But this time, there were no children running madly around the field. No women laughed and danced. Only lupi were on the field tonight.
    Nokolai was going to war.
    At one end of the field, Rule hugged his son. "I'll see you again soon."
    Toby squirmed away. " Maybe you will. You can't promise, or Grandpa wouldn't have shifted the heir's portion."
    "The Rho did that," Rule corrected firmly. It had been necessary, the removal of his heir's portion. But the ache of loss was keen.
    Toby repeated Rule's correction, but his face was pure stubbornness. "The Rho did it because you could both get killed."
    Rule nodded. "You're right. We can't know what will happen in battle, and we can't risk losing the mantle entirely. But I am a very good fighter - and your grandfather is undefeated."
    Toby frowned hard. "That's 'cause he doesn't fight Uncle Benedict."
    "True." Rule's throat closed.
    Toby looked at Benedict, standing tall and grim on Rule's left. "It's temporary, though. Giving Uncle Benedict the heir's portion of the mantle is temporary."
    Benedict spoke gravely. "That, as always, is the Rho's decision. But I do not want it. And the mantle does not want me. It wants my brother."
    That startled Rule. "You can tell - "
    "Hush," Isen said. "Toby, you must go to the Center with the other children now."
    Toby nodded, but spoke, low and fierce, to his father. "I don't want to be here. I don't want to be safe when everybody else isn't!"
    "No more than I would want to be safe if you weren't. But it eases me to know you're safe, and it's for me to go and you to stay. You've the harder duty tonight. As does Benedict, and the others who don't go to battle with us. It is very hard to wait."
    "I - I want you to go. I want you to get Lily back, and Cynna. You have to." Toby's voice didn't quiver, but it was a near thing. "But I don't see why you and Grandpa both have to go."
    Rule glanced at his father, standing to his right. Isen spoke. "You understand what happens tonight? You understand why this is not just a rescue of two clan members?"
    Toby nodded. "It's not just about them. It's about the clan, too, because of the memories, and the Lady."
    "Yes. You must also know that a Rho doesn't call war and sit back from battle. In this battle I must be close, for without the mantle, the charms the Rhej made won't work. And without your father, of course, we could not find Lily and Cynna." He clapped Rule on the back. "Not that I'd be able to hold