Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

any bloody damned reason for those cuffs?"
    "It's simple common sense to restrain a lupus!"
    "The courts do not agree with you. Have the cuffs removed. Call the officers who are trying to remove Special Agent Weaver and the others from hospital room 418."
    "If anything your fiance says is true, that room's a crime scene."
    "The perp never entered the room. Your officers need to look for evidence in the hall. The patient in that room is under the Bureau's protection. He is a high-value consultant who has been targeted by the perp who damn near blew up this hospital. He and those guarding him will not be moved until we've completed preparations for secure and medically safe transport. In addition, you need to follow standard protocol for dispersing the crowds gathered outside the police barriers."
    "Listen, I don't care who you are or what you've been sleeping with. You are not in charge here. This is a local matter, not federal, and I can have you removed if you interfere."
    "Captain Dreyer." Lily advanced on him. "Magic was used in the commission of multiple felonies - attempted murder, arson, possibly conspiracy to commit an act of terrorism. So yes, I can come in here and interfere." She smiled the way a knife smiles at the prospect of parting flesh. "And that's who I'm sleeping with, Captain. Not what. Who."
    "That is well-done," said a clear but accented female voice, "but we cannot waste time on this pig-eyed fellow."
    A tiny Asian woman wearing black slacks and a thin silk shirt in purest white marched up to Lily and the captain. Her hair was silver-shot midnight, twisted on top of her head in a tight bun and pinned there by delicately jeweled hair sticks. Her posture was impeccably straight. The fine tracery of wrinkles in her face seemed an embellishment of the ivory skin, artfully spun by that great spider, Time.
    "Another one?" Dreyer sputtered. "Another interfering bitch? Where did you come from? I suppose you're going to tell me you're a fucking Fed, too."
    "You," Grandmother said, "will be quiet now." She stopped in front of him and looked directly into his eyes. "You will do as the federal agent told you, and you will stop making trouble."
    Dreyer's face lost its rage-induced color. His eyes glazed. "Trouble?"
    "You will cooperate." Grandmother stressed the word as if it were code. After a second her head tilted as she glanced at Rule. "Do not concern yourself with the handcuffs, however. I will see to those." She waved a hand. Her lips moved, though Lily didn't hear anything.
    The cuffs clattered to the pavement.
    "Thank you, Madame," Rule said politely, bringing his arms in front of him with a small wince. He rubbed one wrist. "I didn't know you could do that."
    Grandmother's eyes gleamed. She was delighted with herself. "Mr. Seabourne taught me a cantrip for locks. I thought it might be useful."
    Lily stared at Dreyer in dismay. He'd turned to the cop next to him - a sergeant, who looked deeply puzzled - and was issuing orders for the people in room 418 to be left alone.
    Oh, shit. "Grandmother," she said, hurrying forward, "I am so very glad to see you. But you can't go around ensorcelling police captains!"
    "Obviously, I can. That I do not usually choose to do so is beside the point. You were doing well, but my way was quicker." The dainty, imperial chin tipped higher. "I have been walking, and it is very hot. I believe the air-conditioning in the hospital is working once more. We will adjourn to Mr. Seabourne's room to discuss matters."
    Even Madame Yu couldn't decree an immediate exodus to air-conditioning. Rule wondered if she experienced heat the way he did, or if she was closer to human norms. A hundred degrees might make him want shade, but it wasn't debilitating. Such temperatures were hard on humans, yet all around him firefighters battled disaster in spite of the heat and their heavy protective gear.
    Humans did amaze him sometimes.
    He waited with the other civilians while Lily and the man with her - he worked in Homicide, Rule remembered, though he couldn't recall the man's name - spoke with Dreyer and the fire department official. Lily wanted to confirm that the building was safe, to find out about casualties, and to outline the particular needs of an investigation which required evidence of the use of magic. She'd called in the FBI crime scene van, but it wasn't here yet, and much of the work of managing the scene and locating witnesses would fall to - as she put it - the