Lupi 08 - Death Magic

fixed Cullen with a firm stare. “Rhej’s seal.”
    “I have no objection to secrets,” he said, “as long as I’m the one keeping them.” He made a graceful gesture with one hand, touching his lips then his heart. “It is sealed, serra.”
    The kettle started whistling as the Rhej turned that imperative stare on Lily.
    “Sure,” Lily said, retrieving the kettle. “Except for Rule, of course.”
    The Rhej shook her head. “Especially not Rule.” “Serra—” Cullen began.
    “No. None of the Rhos are to know about this.”
    Too late. “I can’t agree to that.”
    “Nor can I,” Rule said from the doorway.
    “Good timing.” Lily poured steaming water into the French press. “Coffee’s almost ready.”
     
     
    RULE breathed deeply of the kitchen’s smells—the richness of coffee blended with undertones from last night’s shepherd’s pie, the spicy-sharp meatiness of corned beef, notes of lupus from Cullen . . . and Lily. It smelled of Lily. “I gather you found a way to drain power from the mantle.”
    The Rhej frowned unhappily. “I gather you were eavesdropping.”
    “I overheard, yes, but how is it eavesdropping to walk into my own home?” He walked up behind Lily and put his arms around her from behind. She leaned back into him. He closed his eyes, wishing they could stand here, just stand here like this, for an hour or two. “If it makes you feel better, I will honor the Rhej’s seal you have declared on this knowledge.”
    “Not much,” she said dryly, “but it’s something. We’re hopin’ that draining the mantle some might help Lily.”
    “Did help,” Cullen corrected, “or so it seems.”
    Rule stood quietly, holding Lily while the coffee steeped and the others told him about Lily’s latest brain-bolt—that was her term—her temporary banishment from the investigation, and about what Cullen and the Rhej had discussed . . . a discussion they’d purposefully left him out of. He didn’t bother being angry about that. His anger had more important targets.
    “. . . basically, we hoped slowin’ the healing would slow the occurrence of the TIAs,” the Rhej finished. “And drainin’ the mantle was the one way we could think of to slow things down.”
    “That seems clear, yes,” he said, sipping the coffee Lily had handed him. She was taking her own mug over to the table. He sent her a smile. “You’ve gotten good at coffee.”
    “It’s a matter of priorities.” She sat beside the Rhej. “Coffee’s important.”
    Priorities. Yes, he’d learned something about his this day. He sat beside her. “I also heard something about us staying physically close. It seems a good idea. The mate bond has sometimes helped.”
    The Rhej’s eyebrows lifted. “You figured that out on your own, Rule? That the healing was causing the problem?”
    “Once I’d run a few miles I did, or suspected it, at least. Sam agrees.”
    “Sam?” This time it was Lily’s eyebrows that shot up. “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have phone service.”
    “Sam is able to mindspeak through any of the other dragons, if they agree to allow it. I persuaded Mika this was important enough to make such a contact. The three of us, ah . . . discussed your condition.” Before they could talk about Lily’s condition, Mika had briefed Sam about what he’d observed during his training session with Lily.
    If briefed was the right word. That communication hadn’t involved anything Rule recognized as words, thoughts, or images. Rule had damn near passed out. Mika had forgotten to separate that channel from the link the three of them were sharing, and wolf brains weren’t physically able to handle that form of communication.
    Rule was glad he could heal quickly. He’d still had a headache for a while. “Sam says the mantle’s actions are affecting Lily’s Gift.”
    “The roots?” Cullen said, sitting up straighter.
    Rule wobbled his hand in a yes-and-no way. “We don’t know what the roots are doing. Maybe they’re healing her. Maybe they’re doing something else.”
    “Like what?”
    “I don’t know. Sam declined to guess. Specifically, he said he does not ‘presume to guess what purpose an Old One holds, nor to meddle with that purpose.’ I gather that means he doesn’t know what the Lady is doing, but he agrees that she’s up to something.”
    “Nothing that involves Lily’s death,” the Rhej said firmly. “The Lady does not want to lose that mantle.”
    “I never heard that