Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

saving you a spot. Where is he?"
    "Over by the dancers," Lily admitted. She didn't have to guess. She knew. That was one of the neat things about the mate bond. She always knew roughly where he was.
    "About Grandmother... you must have noticed how Chinese she's been lately."
    "I haven't seen much of her since I got back from North Carolina."
    "That's the other thing. No one's seeing much of her."
    Lily shrugged. "We're talking about Grandmother."
    "Yes, so strange is her normal, but she only turns uber-Chinese when she's annoyed or upset or up to something. I think she's up to something, but if not, there's something wrong. And the thing that proves it is Freddie."
    "Freddie?" Lily blinked. "Our cousin Freddie?"
    "Of course our cousin. Who else could get him to come here? Aside from his mother, I mean, but she wouldn't. So that leaves Grandmother. Why would she send him here instead of coming herself?"
    "Ah... Beth, Freddie's not here."
    "He is. I saw him not ten minutes ago. I tried to catch him, but he ducked into the crowd when he saw me coming."
    If Lily hadn't known for a fact that there was no alcohol at the party, she'd have suspected her sister of being drunk. "Maybe you saw Paul."
    Beth's lip curled. "You've got to be kidding."
    The scorn was possibly justified. Aside from the fact that they were both Chinese, Susan's husband looked nothing like Freddie. But at least Paul was here, unlike Freddie. Lily figured he'd attended to protect Susan from attack by ravening werewolves. Or from being hit on, which would probably happen anyway, though very politely. "Beth, it couldn't have been Freddie you saw. He wasn't invited, and there's no way Freddie would crash a party. Especially this one. Lupi scare him."
    "I know that. It proves Grandmother is involved. He's more scared of her than he is of lupi."
    Lily had to grin. "It's a good thing you didn't decide to be a cop. You've got a seriously loose notion of what constitutes proof."
    "Okay, don't believe me, but check on Grandmother anyway. She likes you best, so maybe you can find out what's up."
    It was usually easiest to just agree with Beth. Besides, she might be right. Beth's intuitive understanding of people owed nothing to magic, but she was often right about them. "Okay, I'll go see her."
    "When?"
    "Soon, okay? I want to see the dancing now."
    The singers had stopped, but a number of people had migrated to that end of the field and Lily wasn't sure they'd be able to see. One of them turned around as they approached - Jason, the blond hunk Cynna hadn't had a chance to flirt with earlier.
    Lily liked Jason - she really did. He was impossible to dislike. But he was certain he owed her for something that had just been her job, and took every opportunity he could find to pay her back. She didn't know how to make him quit, and Rule thought it was funny.
    "Have they started?" she asked Jason.
    "No, Michael and Sean decided they wanted their fiddles, but they're back now. I hear them tuning up. You'd better get up front. You'll never see from back here."
    She couldn't argue with that, but his methods were embarrassing - and never mind what Beth had said. She damned well could be embarrassed. He grabbed her hand and called out cheerfully, "The Chosen's back here. She needs to be up there."
    Sure enough, the crowd parted, people turning with a smile, shifting to let her pass. Jason pulled her forward.
    "My sister," Lily said. "I'd like her to see - "
    "Your... oh, my." Jason paused, his eyes traveling over Beth as a smile spread. "I can't believe I overlooked this one. Yum."
    Beth dimpled at him. "My name's Beth. I'm the nice sister."
    "Very nice," he assured her, his eyes making it clear which elements he considered especially worthy. "And yet I can't help hoping... not too nice?"
    Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes, settling for retrieving her hand from Jason's grip. She didn't think he noticed. "Jason, this is Beth. Beth, Jason Chance. Can you hit on each other later? I really don't want to miss this."
    Beth didn't resist. She rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm nicer than that."
    "No doubt. I'm going to find Rule. You coming?"
    Beth slid a sideways smile at Jason. "I'll catch up with you."
    Lily suspected her sister was going to miss the training dance. Oh, well. Jason wouldn't show Beth any more of a good time than she wanted to have, and at twenty-three, Beth was technically a grown-up. Lily went to find Rule.
    The violins had started by the time she reached the