Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

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     service cart. Good. “You ready for a cup?” she asked Jasper.
    “I guess I am.”
    He looked a bit dazed. Well, it took awhile to get used to lupi ways. She poured hers
     and Jasper’s cups and said, “Rule?”
    “After my nose is back in place.”
    Cullen emerged from the bedroom with a sopping hand towel. His limp was worse. “Here.”
     He tossed the towel to Patrick. “Put that in the freezer. Rule will appreciate it
     being nice and cold after I put his nose back where it belongs.”
    “Couldn’t you just suck the heat away?” Lily asked as she carried Jasper’s coffee
     to him.
    “The towel won’t have to concentrate to stay cold the way I would. Okay.” Cullen stopped
     in front of Rule and nodded once, pleased. “Got you pretty good, didn’t I? I’m going
     to use the pain block spell just long enough to set it,” he said, raising both hands
     to Rule’s face.
    “Thank you,” Rule said dryly.
    “Hold still.”
    Lily handed Jasper his cup and sat beside him. She took a sip of hers. Good and hot
     still.
    “If he has a pain blocking spell, why use a cold towel?” Jasper asked.
    “The spell blocks healing along with pain, so they don’t leave it running.” Lily flipped
     to the right page in her notebook. “We’ve got less than three hours left and a lot
     to cover. I was about to ask you about the garage where the FedEx truck ended up.
     The address?”
    He gave it to her, adding, “Maybe we’ll luck out. One of the mechanics could have
     taken it home. He might have thought it was a decoration or just wanted the stones.
     Even if you can’t see the glow, they’re—”
    “Glow?” Cullen had finished with Rule’s nose. He stiffened all over, like a bird dog
     on point. “Describe this glow.”
    Jasper gave him a puzzled look. “You ought to know. It’s subtle, like I said—makes
     the stones look like they’ve got a bit of sunshine trapped inside.”
    “It only glows to those who can see magic. And only when it’s turned on.”
    “I didn’t turn it on. I don’t know how to turn it on, and I’m not an idiot. I didn’t
     try.”
    “It’s easy to turn on if you’re a sorcerer.”
    “I told you, I’m not—”
    “You see magic. You’re a sorcerer. And you turned the damn thing on. Son of a bitch.”
     Cullen paced a few steps. Turned. Pointed at a small vase on one table. “Pick that
     up.”
    “What?”
    “Humor him,” Rule said, “if you don’t mind.”
    “Pick it up,” Cullen repeated, “paying careful attention to your hands. As if you
     were handling something important and fragile.”
    Looking mystified and annoyed, Jasper went to the table and slowly picked up the vase.
    “You don’t even know you’re leaking, do you?”
    “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
    “You don’t leak much. Probably not enough for you to see, given how slight your Gift
     is. But when you focus on your hands, you shoot out small streams of magic. Enough,”
     Cullen finished gloomily, “to turn on my damn prototype.”
    “Wait a minute,” Lily said. “You made it so any stray bit of magic could turn it on?”
    “Not stray magic. Focused magic. The kind a sorcerer uses without aid from props likes
     spells. It was supposed to be a safety precaution. I wouldn’t have thought an untrained,
     denies-he’s-a-sorcerer, barely Gifted neophyte could focus power he can’t even bloody
     see, not tightly enough to be a problem. It seems I was wrong.”
    “So the prototype isn’t just missing—it’s broadcasting,” Lily said grimly. “Which
     means any nulls in the vicinity could be having some real strange memories.” She pulled
     out her phone. “Damn. It’s after one in D.C. I hate to wake Ruben.”
    “He may not be asleep,” Rule said. “He doesn’t need as much sleep these days. But
     perhaps we should decide first how much of this to believe.”
    She met his gaze. Nodded. “Even if it’s all true, he could still be omitting things.
     Maybe he’s still acting on Friar’s instructions, and the goal is to get Cynna here.”
    “Or to get us to that garage.”
    “Or both. Most of what he’s told us confirms what we already suspected.”
    “I understand why you would doubt me,” Jasper said, “but there’s one thing I can tell
     you that you haven’t suspected. Friar’s working with one of the sidhe.”
    “I knew it!” Cullen exclaimed. “Damned elves.”
    Jasper’s eyebrows shot up. “You already knew?”
    “He