Lupi 08 - Death Magic

don’t have to.”
    “No.” It was hers to do. Hers to get through. She took the purse from him. Her badge was in a leather folder in the outside pocket. Her fingers were so thick and clumsy it took two tries to pull it out. She held it out to Karonski without speaking.
    He sighed heavily. And took it.
    Rule moved behind her. She was afraid he’d hug her, try to comfort her. She’d come apart if he did. Maybe he knew that, or maybe he saw her stiff shoulders. He rested one hand there lightly and spoke to Karonski. “Coffee?”
    “Sure.”
    Lily’s heart continued to beat too hard as she and the two men went into the kitchen. Something seemed lodged in her throat. But she’d be okay. This would pass and she’d be okay . . . for some value of okay. At some time in the future that she couldn’t see at the moment.
    Cullen had gone back to messing with his glowing glyphs or runes or whatever they were. The battered journal was open in front of him. Freshly made coffee perfumed the air.
    Lily poured herself a cup. Her hands were steady enough for that. Rule handed a mug to Karonski and gestured at the table. They sat. Cullen ignored them.
    “So?” Karonski said to Rule. “About that explanation.”
    “A brief preface for Lily first.” Rule looked at her. “The communications staff”—his lips twitched—“sent out word that everyone is to report to me rather than Ruben. I didn’t explain. Most will assume it’s because he’s in hiding. I haven’t yet decided who and how much to tell the real reason.” He looked at Karonski. “But you need to know, Abel. Ruben is now lupus and the Rho of Wythe clan.”
    Karonski didn’t fall out of his chair. Quite. He wanted explanations. Rule didn’t offer them, save to say that Ruben was well, but as a new wolf he wouldn’t be able to function as a man for some time—impossible to say how long. There had never been a new wolf who came to First Change as an adult. That might make a difference . . . or it might be years before Ruben could rejoin human society.
    Assuming he could rejoin that society outside of prison, that is.
    Karonski didn’t like it, not one bit. “What the hell were you thinking? If this is supposed to be some kind of improvement, it’s a damn sight—”
    “It wasn’t my idea. Abel, think. Do you honestly believe I have the power to turn someone into one of my people?”
    He subsided, still glowering. “Who, then?”
    “The Lady.” Rule sipped from his mug. “You’ve been briefed. That’s all you’re getting. Now it’s Lily’s turn. Lily, Abel and Cullen will be working under you.”
    She frowned. “Abel should be in charge. He’s got twice the experience.”
    “Nope.” Karonski gave her a steady look. “I have the experience, but not the time. I’ve got three open official investigations I’m supposed to stay on top of.”
    And she had nothing but time—interrupted now and then by things like her arraignment. “That makes sense.”
    Karonski gave her a nod. “Plus you can contact Rule a helluva lot easier than I can, and you can do the mindspeech thing with Mika. I can’t.”
    “Not predictably or consistently,” she said, “so don’t count on me to—”
    Cullen sat bolt upright. “Hot damn. That’s it.”
    “What?” Lily said.
    He waved a hand at her. “Not now. I’ve got the trigger, but I still need to see how the . . .” His voice fell to a low mutter involving phrases like “nine signa” and “west quadrant” and “Mephistophelian dilemma, dammit” as he squinted at his midair squiggles.
    She regarded him wryly. “Does Cullen know he’s working under me?”
    “Technically,” Rule said, “yes. You’ll have two other resources to draw on. Arjenie will handle research. Ruben set her up with virtually unrestricted access, so that includes pretty much anything in the Bureau’s databases. Your other resource comes from one of our allies. The brownies.”
    “Brownies.”
    He smiled. “They’ll be more helpful than you think. You may recall that I told you Parrott had ties to Humans First. I knew that because the brownies have been watching him. He’s met with Paul Chittenden three times in the last two months.”
    “Chittenden.” Friar’s East Coast lieutenant. She drummed her fingers on the table. “Parrott’s tied in at the top, then, which damn sure changes the picture. You couldn’t tell me this before?”
    “Unfortunately, no. Brownies are, as you said, timid. Part of their