Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

situation, and her motives were selfless."
    Another grunt, this one skeptical. "You like her."
    "Enormously." They reached the hospital doors. With the electricity back on, they opened automatically. The air inside was cooler, but not back to its usual air-conditioned chill.
    The lobby was a mess. Firefighters and mud did seem to go together. Even here, where there had been neither fire nor hoses, there were muddy footprints everywhere. Very few people, though. A trio who looked like clerical or administrative workers were clustered behind the admissions desk, talking intently with a firefighter. There was a cop - female, young, in uniform - standing at the door to the stairwell.
    No one else. Most notably, no Madame Yu. She must have headed straight upstairs.
    "Just as well you and the grandmother get along, I guess, considering you're going to be family." James thrust out a hand. "Congratulations."
    Rule shook his hand - and discovered it was pleasing, satisfying in a way he hadn't expected, to receive this man's well wishes. "Thank you."
    "I was going to warn you to treat Lily right and all that, but I'd forgotten about the grandmother. I figure you for a man with some sense. You won't want her upset with you."
    Rule grinned. "No, I won't."
    "Good." James nodded firmly, then looked pained. "I'm going to have to go to the wedding, you know."
    "Oh?"
    "Camille will expect it. Camille's my wife. It's going to be a big deal, isn't it? Written up in the gossip rags, that sort of thing."
    "I'm afraid so."
    James shook his head mournfully. "Thought so. Tell Lily Camille will make my life hell if she doesn't get to go."
    "I'll pass that on." Rule looked back at the doors. Lily was hurrying their way, her stride as quick and energetic as if she weren't wilting from the heat. "I'd like a private word with Lily before we go upstairs."
    James's eyebrows rose. "Sure. I'll just head up and check out this mysterious wounded sorcerer."
    Rule winced. "I'd appreciate it if you manage not to say that too loudly. Or at all."
    "Heh. Don't worry about that - I'm good with secrets. Ask Lily. As for heading upstairs, I was having you on. I've got to see a man about his dead brother. Tell Lily - no, I'll tell her myself. Her stuff's in my car, and her car's back at Rosa's. I need to have a word with her to sort that out." He gave another nod and headed for the doors.
    Rule watched as James stopped Lily. They spoke briefly. Lily passed him her keys. Rule did not pace or fidget. But he wanted to.
    Patience was a skill he'd acquired. He was usually good at it, though he'd no more begun that way than a pup arrives prepared to wait calmly for its mother's milk. But patience had its limits. Or rather, he had his limits, and he'd reached them. He wanted to speak with his nadia. Now.
    The moment she entered, he indicated this desire by grabbing her hand. The one with his ring on it. He traced it with one finger. "Why now?"
    "It's a bone. Also an apology."
    "It's a what?"
    "T.J. said I should throw Dreyer a bone to distract him. So that's part of the reason - to give Dreyer a way to get back at me that wouldn't be as damned stupid as whatever else he might have come up with. He's the type who has to bite back, so I aimed him where I wanted him to go."
    "You expect him to tell others? To leak it to the press?"
    She shrugged. "That's the idea."
    "He may not. Madame Yu told him not to make trouble."
    She looked appalled all over again. "I didn't want her to do that."
    "I know," he said gently. Her conscience pricked her over things that seemed to him pointless, but her discomfort was real. "It will wear off, she said."
    "And when it does, he's really going to want a chunk of flesh. He won't know what happened, but he'll be scared, so he'll come after me and you and anyone else he can. Rule... "
    He ran his thumb over her ring. "Yes?"
    She sighed and looked down at her hand resting in his. "I should have asked you first. Before I started with the 'my fiance' talk, I mean. I know it matters, all that PR stuff. It annoys me, but you're the public face for your people, so the image, the spin - they matter. We don't have time to hold a damned press conference now, so the press will probably get Dreyer's version first. That might make it harder to spin things the way you'd planned."
    He studied her intently. "I'm flexible, and I'm good at spin. I'll make it work. You just wanted to distract the captain?"
    "The bone was part of it," she agreed, nodding at