Lupi 08 - Death Magic

mentioned his wife’s Gift . . . or perhaps not. He seldom mentioned Deborah. Rule had wondered about that. He doubted that he’d gone half a day without speaking of Lily since he met her. But for all that he knew a good deal about human sexual customs, marriage remained a mystery to him.
    It was a mystery he was growing eager to explore. Why had he thought it a good idea to wait until March for the ceremony?
    He passed from the kitchen to a spacious, slightly cluttered den, then into a hall that gave access to the front of the house and to the stairs. Rule approved of Ruben’s home. His own taste leaned more toward contemporary, but he had a love for old wood. Clearly, either Ruben or Deborah did, too, judging by the antiques sprinkled throughout their house.
    The banister curving along the stairwell was old, too. He rested a hand on it as he climbed to the second floor. Smooth wood, polished by countless hands over the years. Had Ruben once dreamed that his children’s hands would be among those polishing the wood? This was a large house for two people, yet he and Deborah had no children, either by birth or adoption. Rule wondered about that, too.
    Of course, humans weren’t as uniformly focused on children as lupi. There was a cultural assumption that everyone wanted children, but that wasn’t always the case. Perhaps he was imagining a grief where none existed.
    The stairwell opened into a hall with lovely wainscoting. Rule followed something that was not a tug, not a song, but was every bit as dear and certain to a door on the left. He knocked softly.
    Lily opened it. She glanced behind him, confirming that he was alone, and sighed. “I’ve washed my hands, played with my hair, glossed up my lips . . . I’m running out of things to do in case someone comes up here and finds me hanging out in the bathroom. I take it Ruben asked you to wait around, too?”
    “Your lips are beautifully glossy.” He bent and kissed them lightly. “Apples. I like it. Almost everyone is gone. I believe we can wander downstairs now.”
    She started for the stairs with him. “Do you know where he wants us to wait? Deborah didn’t say.”
    “In his study, I think. You and Deborah hit it off.”
    She slid him a grin. “You sent her to fetch me.”
    “I assure you I did not.”
    “Her word, not yours, maybe. But you wanted me to come meet Senator Bixton’s chief of staff.”
    “Dennis Parrott. A smooth man. Like an iceberg, most of him remains hidden, and the exposed surface is cool and glossy. I’d like to hear your impression of him. Also, most people find it harder to accept killing if they know the victim.”
    She stopped moving. “You think Parrott wants me dead?”
    “Not you specifically, perhaps, but he might privately use the term collateral damage if you were killed by one of the haters he and Bixton court. Publicly, of course, he would acknowledge no responsibility for the results of the inflammatory speeches he writes for Bixton.”
    “Doesn’t the senator have a speechwriter?”
    “He does, but Parrott handles speeches that deal with magical policy in all its many forms. He has ties to Humans First.”
    Her expression soured. “Is he going to be at the big rally?” The Humans Firsters had planned demonstrations to take place across the country. The big one would be here in D.C. at the Mall.
    “Bixton’s supposed to give a speech. Parrott will attend with him.”
    “Why in the world did Ruben invite him?”
    “A better question might be, why did he come?”
    She started down the stairs again. “I’ll bite. Why did he?”
    “I’m not sure. He despises Ruben, though he hides it well. Fears him, too, and hides that even better. If I weren’t able to smell his fear, I wouldn’t know.”
    “You’re sure it wasn’t you he was afraid of?”
    “We’ve met before, and he’s concluded I’m safe.”
    “Is he foolish about other things, too?”
    Rule smiled. “Perhaps I should say that he knows I won’t attack him physically. But he’s known Ruben longer and better than he has me, and fears him more. I find that interesting.”
    “I’d guess that Ruben stands between him and something he wants. You don’t.”
    That’s why he’d wanted her to meet Parrott. She had a good mind, quick to cut through gristle and fat to the meat. “You may be right. Maybe Ruben can tell us what that something is.”
    “Do you have any idea why Ruben wanted to talk to us privately? The two of us.” She