Lupi 08 - Death Magic

choice to run the Unit.”
    “Thank the Good Lord above,” Fagin said. “Not that I’d accept if you did try to foist it on me.”
    “So why is he here? And Rule?”
    Ruben ignored that question. “The news of my impending resignation is not to be spoken of outside this room. I’m delaying it because I believe strongly that it’s best if the enemy behind the attack on me remains uncertain of my role for a while longer.”
    “Friar, you mean. You don’t think he’s dead.”
    “Officially, he died in the explosion. For now, we want him to think we have no suspicion of his continued role as her agent.”
    “We?”
    Ruben smiled and ignored that question, too. So she offered him another one. “What about Croft? Does he—”
    “I won’t provide a list of those who know or those who don’t. You might be tempted into unwarranted assumptions about those I haven’t informed.”
    Lily nodded slowly. “So is this about the investigation? About finding the traitor? Or is it about her ?”
    “Both, since the existence of the traitor bears on another decision that I am asking you to not divulge. I’m establishing a clandestine organization I call the Shadow Unit to fight her and her agents and allies in our realm. This group consists of both Bureau and non-Bureau personnel and will operate without the knowledge or sanction of the government. I’d like you to be part of it.”
    Lily’s stomach hollowed. Her hands went cold. She stared at him, unable to believe what she’d heard. “You can’t be serious.”
    “I am entirely serious.”
    Anger washed through the shock, making her insides quiver. Her eyes narrowed. She twisted to look at Fagin. “You’re in it? You’re part of this—this Shadow Unit?”
    “That I am.” With his hands resting on his stomach, he looked like a badly dressed Buddha. Placid. Perhaps not really listening. “In an advisory capacity, primarily. I’m not one of the ghosts.” He smiled at the look on her face. “That’s my little nickname for those on the front lines in this war. Shadow agents, lacking any official existence. Ghosts.”
    She grimaced and faced Ruben. “No.”
    “You should listen before deciding.”
    “It may not be in your best interests to tell me more.”
    “You aren’t thinking,” he said crisply. “If I’m right, the Shadow Unit is essential to stopping an Old One from establishing her rule and worship in our nation and committing genocide along the way to creating a planetwide theocracy. If I’m wrong, I’m attempting to form a criminal conspiracy based on my delusions or lust for power, and you will need to stop me. In either case, you are obligated to learn everything you can.”
    “Damn it,” she whispered. Then again, louder: “Damn it, damn it, damn it.” Her stomach roiled. Her hands clenched and unclenched on the arms of her chair. She sucked in a breath, held it briefly, then let it out with a slow shudder. “Right. You’re right. So tell me.”
    He leaned back slightly. “There has always been information I have not allowed into the record. You’re aware of some of it—lupi secrets such as the mate bond. I assume there are additional lupi secrets you haven’t told me about, and I suspect there are also events you haven’t spoken of. I don’t know the specifics, obviously, so I may be wrong in assuming that these matters sometimes involved extralegal actions on your part.”
    She started to speak, then shook her head—not denying his assumption, but refusing to comment on it.
    “Now think about the fact that you are a single agent. One who has proved a nexus for the enemy’s attempts, perhaps, but only one.”
    “You’re saying she ’s made more attempts than the ones I know about.”
    “Oh, yes. Think about it. There are one hundred seventy-nine full Unit agents, forty-one groups or individuals we contract with for their special skills, six hundred and five agents in the Magical Crimes Division, and just under fourteen thousand regular FBI agents. Did you think you were the only one who has had to deal with potentially explosive situations involving unusual magic or beings? Situations that could not be resolved through traditional law enforcement methods?”
    “I haven’t heard of any cases where our people were coloring outside the lines.”
    “Neither has the news media, fortunately.” He paused. “Increasingly, I’ve seen a choice before me. If the enforcement of the law remains my chief duty and highest