Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

just won’t sputter as much.”
    “You’ve used this disguise before,” Lily said.
    “La, dear, of course! This isn’t the first time I’ve needed to leave a place openly,
     yet without being properly seen.” He gave her a roguish wink, then dropped back into
     his own voice. He grabbed a washcloth and the tube of facial cleanser Lily used every
     night. He’d need that to get out of character once he left the hotel. “Time to go.
     I’ll need to head up a flight or two before getting in the elevator, just be sure
     I’m not connected with this floor.”
    Rule nodded and moved out of the doorway. “You’ll see Barnaby in the stairwell—tall,
     dark skin, plain white shirt. He’s expecting you.”
    “You have people everywhere?”
    “We keep track of entrances and exits. You don’t need to worry about surveillance
     on this floor. The hotel’s hallway cams are disabled, and we’ve checked thoroughly
     forothers. There’s a hotel cam in the stairwell, but Barnaby will have it knocked out
     by the time you get there. He’ll brief you on how to avoid the hallway cam on the
     floor above this one.”
    Jasper’s eyebrows climbed. “You’re thorough. If—ah. Thank you. Much better than a
     shopping bag.”
    Cullen had met them in the bedroom and handed Jasper the shoulder bag he used to carry
     some of his spellcasting supplies. “I put one of Rule’s shirts in it.”
    “Excellent.”
    Rule glanced at his watch as they reached the sitting room. “You have nine minutes
     to call me. Will he know when you do?”
    “Yes. He can’t listen in, but he’s installed something on my phone that tracks what
     numbers I call and when.”
    “And where?” Lily said, suddenly worried.
    “The GPS on my phone has never worked right. That’s intentional, but Friar doesn’t
     know it. Do you know what you’re going to do? Do you have a plan?”
    “We have various plans,” Rule said, as they reached the entry, “depending on what
     we find when we get there. Jasper.”
    Jasper reached for the door. “Yes?”
    Rule didn’t know what he needed to say, but his throat was suddenly tight. He settled
     for “Be careful.”
    Something flickered in Jasper’s dark eyes, but he answered in character. “Always.
     Ta, love.” And he left.
    Rule shut the door behind him, turned, and said, “All right. Scott, you’ve located
     Hammond Middle School?”
    Scott nodded.
    “Take Joe and get in place. Cullen, your vest.”
    “In a minute.” Cullen was handing out necklaces. That’s what they looked like, anyway.
     They were charms made by the previous Nokolai Rhej to protect against a Chimei, a
     foe far more powerful and adept at mind-magic than anything they were likely to encounter
     tonight. The charms worked…when hung on Nokolai necks. The problem was that they were
     tied to the clan’s mantle. Rule carried enoughof that to activate them, but there was no way of knowing if they’d protect a Leidolf
     clansman who wore one.
    Tonight they might find out.
    “Why those charms?” Lily asked. “Friar’s the only one with big magical mojo, and his
     deal is patterning and listening, not mind-magic. And he won’t be there. He’s close.
     He has to be, to direct things, but he won’t risk being present tonight.”
    Rule nodded. “So I thought, too. You haven’t called your Bureau compatriots.”
    “Because Adam won’t be there, either. This is a trap, pure and simple, and I don’t
     think having a lot of unGifted agents around will help. Why those charms?”
    “We’re not just using these,” Cullen said, shrugging into the bulletproof vest Scott
     had located for him. “I already activated the sleep charms.”
    “But other than the odd side effect of the prototype, we haven’t seen any evidence
     of mind-magic.”
    “No,” Rule said, “but these are in case someone other than Friar is present. Earlier
     I asked Benedict to see if he could find out if the sidhe delegation’s claim of indisposition
     was genuine. After some discussion, he and Arjenie decided she was best suited to
     the job. She’s passed unnoticed by a sidhe lord, after all. Other sidhe shouldn’t
     be a problem.” Which Arjenie had no doubt pointed out to Benedict more than once before
     he agreed. “The delegation is sharing a single large suite with several bedrooms.
     She was able to enter it without much difficulty, and she learned that some of them
     are missing. One of the elves, the halfling, and all of the