Lupi 08 - Death Magic

turning lupus. We know they’re using death magic, which means there are bodies somewhere.” He glanced at her. “We know someone in the Bureau’s involved.”
    “Yeah.” She brooded on that a moment. “We’re pretty sure Parrott is, too. He’d be a suspect even if we didn’t know he’s tied in with Chittenden. First, he’s Gifted, and he hides it. Parrott could’ve been lying about Bixton knowing about his terrible taint. Or Bixton might have known, then found out Parrott hasn’t been staying on the wagon, magically speaking.” She flipped her hand. “Two birds, one stone. Take out Bixton and frame Ruben.”
    “Or Bixton could have learned something about Friar or Chittenden that made him dangerous to the movement.”
    “True. I wish I knew if Chittenden was Gifted. I’m betting yes, but we don’t know. It would help if we knew where he was.”
    “Unfortunately, my people lost track of him last week.”
    Her eyebrows shot up. “Which people—ghosts or lupi?”
    He smiled grimly. “Lupi, in this case, though they’re acting in accordance with Ruben’s plans. We’ve been keeping an eye on both Chittenden and Jones. Chittenden managed to slip away.”
    “Huh.” There’d been a lot going on she hadn’t known about, hadn’t there? She glanced at what was left of her lunch. “Anyone want the other half of my sandwich? I can’t eat the whole thing.”
    “I’ll take it,” Mark said.
    She passed it to him and took another sip of soda. Living with lupi meant never having to worry about wasted food or leftovers. She looked at Rule. “Anything else I should know?”
    “Perhaps.” He considered a moment, then said, “The president knows about Ruben’s visions.”
    She choked on a swallow of Diet Coke. “The what? She what?”
    “You knew she and Ruben have had a close working relationship.”
    Yes, but... “How much does she know?”
    “Nothing about the Shadow Unit specifically, but about the Great Enemy, Friar’s transformation . . . she has the basics. The White House has been quietly observing heightened security this past month.”
    “And no one’s noticed? There hasn’t been anything about heightened security in the news.”
    “She cancelled her visit to Mexico last week.”
    “Because of the vote coming up on—oh. You mean that wasn’t the real reason.” Lily chewed that over. “Congress doesn’t know any of this, do they?”
    “No. I’m not sure she’s told any of her cabinet. What could she say? That her pet psychic has had bad dreams?”
    “They’d freak. At least half of them would think she’d lost it. Someone would leak it to the press, and before you know it the whole country would be debating whether the president was non compos or if everyone should be buying guns and stocking their bomb shelters.”
    “And possibly getting rid of the Gifted in their midst.”
    Thereby doing part of the enemies’ work for them. “I guess Ruben didn’t have one of his hunches to not inform the president.”
    “He felt sure that was the right thing to do.”
    “Shit. I just thought of something. We don’t know if Ruben’s still a precog, do we? I mean, normally lupi don’t have Gifts. Cullen does, but he’s the exception. I should’ve touched Ruben before the two of you took off.”
    “You’d have lost a hand,” Rule said dryly, “so I’m glad you didn’t try. I suspect Ruben’s still a precog, but you’re right, we don’t know for sure. And I hadn’t thought of that until you mentioned it.”
    He didn’t look happy to have thought of it now. “I guess we’ll find out. Do you—” Her phone cheeped like a baby bird. She grimaced. When she first heard the ring tone she thought it was cute, but it was already driving her crazy. She took it out and checked the number. It was the Etorri Rhej. Lily had left a message for her while they waited on lunch. “This is Lily.”
    “Hi, Lily. I was so sorry to hear about your recent trouble.”
    “Geez, that was on the news up in Canada?” She couldn’t believe her arrest had made even the national news, much less gone international.
    A moment of silence. “No, I heard about it from others in the clan. Is your arm improving?”
    Oh. Right. She was talking about the shooting. It made Lily want to laugh or groan. That news was a whole month old, and plenty of new troubles had replaced it. “It’s healed really well. There’s more to the story, but I’m pressed for time. Can I owe you the details for