Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

Stop.” Drummond’s mouth
     had moved, but now he shook his head again. “Back up. You were on it, but…that’s it!”
     Drummond was nodding and talking up a blue streak.
    “My finger,” Madame Yu said, “in on Crescent Street. On the block where that warehouse
     is.”
    Drummond nodded frantically.
    “The warehouse?” Rule said quickly. “That’s where she is?”
    Drummond nodded again, and mouthed one word, exaggerating the movement. Then he came
     apart—not just fading to mist the way Lily said he did all the time, but shredding.
    “He’s gone,” Rule said flatly. “The warehouse…” It was west of the hotel. Lily had
     told Rule she was east of the hotel. How could Rule take the word of someone like
     Drummond over what Lily herself had told him?
    “Tell me you aren’t seriously considering going therebased on—on whatever the hell you think you saw,” Bergman said.
    Rule looked at her. She was competent, Lily said. Good at her job. She was probably
     right. But he couldn’t get out of his mind how Drummond had looked. How much pain
     he’d been in. He’d fought some kind of battle to get here, to pass on what he could.
     And the last word he’d spoken, the one he’d exaggerated, hoping Rule would understand…it
     had looked like
hurry
.
    “Lady,” he whispered.
What do I do?
    The Lady had never spoken to him. She didn’t speak now. But he felt himself settle
     into a familiar state. Into
certa
, the battle state, where thought, decision, and action flowed smoothly and icy clear.
    He could go to Whole Foods with Bergman, but that was a cop thing to do, wasn’t it?
     Not a Rho thing. Not a lupi thing. “We’re going to 44191 West Crescent,” he said crisply.
     “Scott, we need our cars. Special Agent, a police escort would—”
    “Forget it. You’re nuts, and I’m not going to cater to insanity.”
    Rule stopped listening as a new thought flowed in. “Never mind. Scott, you’ll take
     the bulk of the men and meet me there. Mike, Todd—you’re with me.”
    “As am I, of course,” Madame Yu said.
    “Your aid is always welcome.”
    “You
are
nuts,” Bergman said flatly.
    Her comment was quickly followed by protests from the other agents. Even Beth looked
     worried, and his own people were variously alarmed or stony…but then, they were Leidolf.
     None of them had fought beside Madame. But their reaction made him see her for a moment
     as they must.
    She was so small. Small and thin and wrinkled. Madame Yu was an old woman, however
     large the spirit might be in that erect body…which was, of course, far older than
     the others dreamed. Rule smiled slowly as an idea arrived. He had to assume that Friar
     would know who Li Lei Yu was,but he had no idea
what
she was. “Madame, I have a part in mind for you to play. It is very dangerous.”
    She sniffed her disdain of that caveat.
    “Will their illusions affect you?”
    “I think not, but we shall see.”
    “Very well. I’ll explain en route.” Scott, however dubious he might be about Rule’s
     choice of fighting partners, was dutifully calling for the cars to be brought around.
     Rule started to turn to the special agent.
    “I’ll go with you, too.” That was Jasper. “Unless you’re going to run straight at
     guns again, which I wouldn’t be good at because I’d be dead too quickly to be much
     help. But stealth is usually better in a hostage situation, and I’m good at that.”
    Rule met his brother’s eyes. He saw need there, and determination. What could a human
     do against such as they faced? He didn’t know, and yet…“Are you willing and able to
     follow my orders?”
    Jasper nodded.
    And yet perhaps Jasper had the right to be there. And try. “Very well. It may get
     you killed.”
    Rule took out his phone to make his own call…to Cullen. Who had a helicopter. Much
     faster than cars in San Francisco’s appalling traffic.
    And Drummond’s last word had been
hurry
.

FORTY-TWO

    S AN Francisco traffic sucked. Lily had never been so glad for a traffic jam in her life.
    The gun-toting elf drove the CR-V. The other elf had stayed at the apartment to keep
     an eye on the sleeping Sean. Alycithin rode in the backseat so she could keep an eye
     on Lily, who was stashed in the back. They’d added a rope to her ankles to go with
     the restraints holding her arms behind her back. It wasn’t comfortable, but considering
     what waited for her, she thought she should at least try to enjoy the