Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

their clasped hands as if it were them she addressed, not him. "The other part was the apology. It seemed like the best way to apologize for my foot-dragging was to wear the ring. But you get the words, too."
    Now she looked up. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I was an idiot, and I'm sorry I got mad at you for pointing out what I was doing. Or not doing. You were right. Not a hundred percent, but mostly right. I do need to know the why, but I don't have to... I can work on the dress and the wedding stuff while I'm figuring out the why. Because the why isn't going to change anything. I just need to know it."
    Naturally, he kissed her.
    Rule expected her to shove him back. They were in public. She was on duty. She grabbed his shirt in both hands and kissed him as if he were air and she'd been underwater way too long.
    Rule wasn't sure which of them eased back. Probably her. He sure as hell didn't remember telling his hands to turn loose. Of course, his brain had shut right off, what with all the blood in his body being otherwise occupied, so he might have done any number of things without noticing.
    "Me, too," she said hoarsely. "Oh, God, me, too. But not here. Not for hours, dammit. You could have died."
    He found a little breath, enough to say, "I didn't."
    "But you could have."
    "A lot of people could have died today, and didn't."
    "Well, you saved them, didn't you? And yourself." She shoved her hair away from her flushed face. "I need to remember that. You're good at taking care of yourself, even when you're dealing with a kill-happy sorcerer-assassin who can look like anyone."
    "He can't. Look like anyone, that is. Not without the Chimei, and he was here without her today. At least that's what I concluded, and Sam confirmed it."
    "Well," she said again, and nodded as if he'd handed her an important puzzle piece, "we'd better get upstairs and see what Grandmother has to say. She was hiding. Now she isn't. We'd better find out why."

 
    TWENTY-NINE

    The stairwell was not air-conditioned. Or if it was, it was ducted very poorly. Lily gave up and took off her jacket. With all the cops around, the sight of her weapon was unlikely to upset anyone. And if it did, she didn't care.
    "There were actually two fires," she said as she started up. Rule was behind her. "One on three, one on four, both near the east stairwell. He didn't want people using that one to escape, because that was his route in and out."
    "I didn't think there was a fire on the fourth floor. There wasn't anywhere near as much smoke there as on the third."
    "Hennessey thinks that one went out all by itself. I think our perp put it out once he'd scared people away from that set of stairs. He needed to use that hallway, and he didn't want to singe his own skin. He didn't bother to put out the one on three because it wasn't a threat to him." It was the one on three that had hurt people.
    "Were many killed?" Rule asked.
    "Three confirmed. One was on a ventilator when the tech went out. One was being operated on. The third breathed in too much toxic shit, they think. That's what kills most people in a fire, you know - the smoke. Inhale too much and your airways just close up. Anyway, three more are in critical condition - one is burned badly - and at least a dozen others are being treated for smoke inhalation, but aren't considered critical. They don't have a count for how many were adversely affected by the power outage."
    They hadn't had to die. None of them had had to die today. The bastard was killing people on her watch. "The fire was a distraction. But why a bomb? Why didn't he just put people to sleep, go in, and kill Cullen?"
    "He doesn't know us. Lupi, I mean. He doesn't know what will work on us, but a major explosion will kill pretty much anyone."
    That made sense. "You said you saw the perp plant the bomb. Did you see his face?"
    "I didn't actually see him plant it. I saw him emerge from the alcove. I couldn't make out his features - visibility was very poor. He's a small man, neither bulky nor tall. Dark hair. He wore scrubs."
    "How did you know he was the perp?"
    "At the time, it was instinct. But he was awake. He ran when he saw me."
    She nodded. "Tell me what happened."
    He did. When she learned Rule'd been in an elevator when the power went out, her breath hitched. That had been bad for him. He'd coped, though. He'd gotten the candy striper out, and himself - then shimmied up the elevator cable.
    By the time he finished, Lily's shirt was sticking to