Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

did."
    "Never mind about that now. You're sure? Where were you standing?" Lily took Beth through the same questions she'd used with the other wits, getting her sister to place everyone she remembered in a diagram. "Okay. Okay, that's good. Listen, Beth." She gripped her sister's shoulder. "You've helped. You've helped a lot. Don't worry about Freddie. He wasn't here."
    "But I saw - "
    "I know, but trust me, okay?" She glanced at her watch. "Shit. I need to call Ruben."
    Benedict came up. "You wanted to know when the sheriff's department showed up. They just passed the gate."
    Thirty-eight minutes. Thirty-eight damned minutes it had taken them to respond to an attempted homicide. Never mind that their absence made things smoother for her. "Thanks. Ah - Isen, I'll need to talk to the deputies before I question anyone else, so if you want to... " She made the little circular motion she'd seen lupi use to refer to the Change.
    He did. By the time she'd pulled her phone out of her bag, a two-legged and entirely naked Isen Turner stood beside her. He was less hairy in this form, but not by a lot.
    Lily pretended she was fine with people standing around naked. She pressed seven on her speed dial.
    Cynna picked up right away. "We're not there yet. We're about six blocks away."
    "I hear a siren."
    "We've got an escort. Police escort. I called Ida before we left Clanhome and she arranged it. They caught up with us on the highway and Rule wasn't crazy about it because he had to slow down some - either their cars aren't as fast as his or they just won't drive that fast - but it helped once we got off the highway."
    "You're holding up. You're okay."
    "He's not dead. I made Nettie promise to call if he - if he got worse. She hasn't called, so I know he's not dead." Lily heard Rule speaking in the background, then Cynna added with a thread of humor in her voice, "Rule says Cullen would almost have to try to die for him to kick off at this point."
    If a lupus lived through the first thirty minutes after an injury, he usually made it - especially if he had Nettie watching over him. The problem was, Cullen's healing was being affected by an unknown poison. The thirty-minute deal might not apply.
    Lily forced a smile so Cynna would hear it in her voice. "I'm not going to worry. Cullen's too ornery to die."
    A single sheriff's car pulled into the parking area along the east side of the field. She told Cynna to hold on a sec, then asked Benedict to have one of his people bring the officers to her. Normally she'd have met them halfway - but not when it had taken them nearly forty minutes to show up. And they'd sent a single car?
    She bit back her anger. For now. "Listen, the locals have finally arrived, so I don't have time to explain, but there's reason to suspect the perp is capable of changing his or her appearance radically. I know illusion isn't supposed to be possible - "
    "Not in this century. Not unless we've got a killer elf hanging around. One with a grudge against Cullen - which, admittedly, is possible. The grudge part, I mean."
    "I don't know what we've got. It isn't making sense yet. But for now, I want you to be paranoid. Stay with Cullen and... is there some way you can check out everyone who comes in contact with him? Use those spell patterns of yours somehow to make sure they're who they seem to be?"
    Cynna was the best Finder in North America. Her Gift allowed her to track what she sought, but for most things she first had to create a pattern. She did that with a spell.
    "Hmm. Maybe. It would help if I knew something about the perp - his age, whether or not he's human. Something specific to check for."
    "I don't have anything for you. I can't even say 'he' for certain. But... " Lily hesitated, then tossed the dice. "The perp may be an Asian male. Does that help?"
    "Asian?" Cynna's surprise was supplanted by haste. "I didn't see - okay," she said, possibly to Rule. "Listen, we're there. I've got to go. I'll stick with Cullen - well, except for surgery. I don't think they'll let me in there. But I've got to go."
    The line went dead. Lily put up her phone, frowning. Had she helped, or added a ridiculous complication?
    Why had Cullen been attacked in the first place? He had enemies, sure. But why this enemy, at this time and place? Why come after him in the middle of a few hundred lupi?
    The deputies were headed across the field toward her. She frowned. She needed to interview the people Rule said he'd been speaking with