Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

wanted.”
    Isen would never abandon a woman, and certainly not the mother of his child. Hadn’t
     he proved that, paying for Celeste’s treatment over the years? But…Rule forced himself
     to stop mentally defending his father. He didn’t know what had gone on between Isen
     and Celeste Babineaux. If Isen had stopped wanting to be her lover, she might have
     experienced that as abandonment. Back then, when human mores were very different from
     now, it was no light thing for an unmarried woman to take a lover. To bear his child.
    Had Celeste been desperately in love with Isen? Had shefelt betrayed when she realized he wanted the child she bore more than he wanted her?
    She’d been fragile. He knew that now, and he remembered his father cautioning him
     more than once about fragile women, women too damaged or needy to take as lovers.
They might seem to hear you
, he’d said,
when you tell them it’s not forever, but they need so much. Sometimes all they can
     hear is their own need. You can be completely honest with them and still hurt them
     terribly
.
    Had Isen hurt Celeste terribly?
    Such a woman might resent the baby Isen loved and wanted so much. Such a woman might
     find the sight of that baby impossible to bear. He looked at his mother’s other son,
     who looked so much like him. “You love Adam very much.”
    Surprise flickered across Jasper’s face. That was one way they were different—Jasper’s
     emotions tended to be writ large and clear for all to see. “He’s funny and tender
     and tough and a huge pain in the ass sometimes. He’s more than I can say. He’s the
     light of my life.”
    Lily had finished talking to Ruben and was making a second call. Her hair was loose,
     still tousled from their loving. She kept tucking it behind her ears, and it kept
     slipping free. She was giving instructions this time, her voice crisp as she told
     someone why they were to check out a particular FedEx garage and those who worked
     there.
    She was funny and tender and tough and, yes, sometimes a pain in the ass. She was
     the light of his life, and he knew all too well what it was to fear for the one you
     loved. He spoke to Jasper. “I can’t promise we’ll get Adam back safely, but you have
     my word that we’ll do everything we can to make that happen.”
    Jasper studied him for a moment, maybe trying to see what his word meant. He nodded.
     “Thank you.”
    Rule took out his own phone. This was his responsibility, after all. He had no good
     reason for pushing it off on Lily. He was about to select Cynna’s mobile number when
     the phone in his hand vibrated.
    It was his brother. His brother Benedict, that is, whom he’d thought was his only
     brother after Mick died…and that was a confusing thought. Rule answered.
    A N hour later, it looked like Jasper would run out of time before Lily ran out of questions.
     Jasper glanced at his watch. “I need to leave soon.”
    “We’ve still got forty-five minutes.” Lily flipped to a fresh page in her notebook.
    Cynna had said she would come if she could. She hadn’t said what the qualifier meant—just
     that she’d let him know tonight. It might be late tonight, but she’d call and let
     him know.
    It was an odd response. Maybe Lily was right. Maybe the Lady did have the habit and
     the means of warning her Rhejes away from too-dangerous actions.
    Rule hadn’t been able to pass on Benedict’s news yet. It involved Arjenie, and her
     Gift and heritage was not a secret he could pass on to others.
    “We’ve been trying to find the agent you used to use,” Lily began.
    Jasper snorted. “You, too?”
    “Are other people looking for him?”
    “Me. I suspect he’s where Friar learned about my professional abilities, mainly because
     no one else knows.”
    “The Bureau did turn up a police file on you.”
    “Agent Adamson. Dogged fellow. He couldn’t tie me to anything, but he had good instincts.
     But he didn’t know about my specialty or my nom de guerre.”
    “Umbra.”
    Jasper’s eyebrows climbed. “That wasn’t in your police file.”
    “No, I got that from another source. Your former agent’s name was Hugo, right? Over
     fifty, overweight, unusual tat on his forehead.”
    “You have good sources.”
    “Tell me about Hugo. What’s his last name?”
    Jasper shrugged. “Variable. He’s got at least three identities that I know. Or he
     used to. He doesn’t seem to be using any of them these days. He’s a big guy, like