Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

magic—there seemed to be a spiritual
     component—but Cullen could see it, and he didn’t see the spiritual stuff, so part
     of it was built from magic. That would be the part the halfling’s Gift messed with.
    Gifts were always stronger than formed magic, Lily had been told. Still, the mate
     bond came from the Lady. Who was an Old One.
    Alycithin must have one hell of a strong Gift.
    Lily finished rinsing her hair, turned the shower off, and grabbed a towel. She frowned
     as she dried herself off, frowned harder when she realized she’d forgotten to get
     some of the clothes the sidhe had provided. She padded over to the closet.
    If the halfling was baffling the mate bond with her Gift, what was blocking Cullen’s
     Find spells?
    That had to be the prototype itself, she decided as she fastened the bra that was
     such a creepy perfect fit. Alycithin didn’t have the prototype, or why bother grabbing
     Lily? Either Friar had it, or there was yet another group or individual in this mix
     who did.
    Say Friar did have it. Lily simply didn’t believe the prototype could confuse the
     mate bond the way Alycithin’s Gift did. So if Sean was right and the halfling did
     intend to trade Lily to Friar, then once Lily was in Friar’s hands, her mate-sense
     should start working again. So should Rule’s.
    Lily stood stock-still in her underwear as a really stupid idea seized hold of her.
     Stupid and crazy. Sure, she wanted Robert Friar, wanted him badly. But aside from
     the risk she’d be taking, she had a civilian here. Sean Friar wasn’t likely to escape
     on his own, and she didn’t buy whatever soothing platitudes the halfling had fed him
     about her code. Sean was too big a liability.
    But there was another civilian. Another hostage, one held by “the other group.” The
     easiest way to find AdamKing was to find Robert Friar. And Lily had someone who wanted to take her to him.
    She pulled on her clothes slowly, thinking hard. Then stood and thought some more.
     At last she moved in front of the sink, where she stared at the fogged-up mirror without
     seeing it. She reached for that place in her mind…
    It was like a dial. The default setting on her personal dial was set to the frequency
     where she talked to Drummond, and that was downright annoying. Why would her personal
     dial be set to him? But maybe it had nothing to do with him, being more about whatever
     weird thing tied them together. That was why she could mindspeak him so easily now
     that she’d gotten the knack of it, she’d decided.
    But she’d mindspoken Rule on purpose a couple of times now. She had a sense for where
     he was on her dial. Changing that dial was tricky, and she didn’t always get it right.
     It was probably pointless to try. She had no idea how far away he was, but distance
     mattered. She’d never tried to mindspeak anyone who wasn’t with her. And she was behind
     warded walls, her mate-sense baffled by the halfling’s Gift—which might not affect
     mindspeech, but still. There was no reason to think this would work.
    And no reason not to try. Lily took a slow breath and hunted for Rule on her dial.
Rule, I’m okay. I’m being held by the halfling, who has a Gift like Arjenie’s, but
     stronger. She brought me here in a Honda CR-V, license plate
5FLT230.
I’m on the third floor of a seven-story building in a residential area that’s not
     near the water. Sean Friar is here, apparently a hostage. I haven’t seen Adam King
     or Robert Friar. I’m told they’re not here. I think there’s another group of elves.
     I think the halfling intends to trade me to Friar, who may be with the other elves,
     who may have Adam King. I think I should let her. The mate bond will work again when
     I’m not around the halfling, and you can find me. And Robert Friar and Adam King.
    Lily took a deep breath. That was tiring. She had no idea if she’d done it right,
     but if it tired her out, she’d done something. She told herself she’d have no way
     of knowingif she was reaching Rule. She hadn’t learned how to receive, just how to send, and
     that only a little bit. But her gut was clenched and unhappy. Her gut was sure she
     hadn’t reached him at all.
    Better try it again. She ran through the whole spiel a second time. Then she stared
     at the slowly clearing mirror, frustrated, wondering if her gut had a clue about what
     was going on that her mind wasn’t able to tap in to, because it insisted she was getting