Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

Rhej would be one of Lily’s maids of honor; their
     sorcerer was Rule’s best man.
    Rule wasn’t an idiot, she told herself. He must have thought about how dangerous it
     was to hold the wedding at the posh resort where they’d put down that huge deposit.
     He’d probably be relieved she brought the subject up.
    Why didn’t she believe that?
    Maybe because the invitations had already gone out. Then there was the spreadsheet
     he’d created. And the detailed seating plan. Lily sighed and took a healthy swallow
     of wine.
    Unlike her, Rule was happy here. When she first realized that, it had disconcerted
     her considerably, but once she thought about it she understood. He’d probably prefer
     to have his own house, but living at Clanhome…yes. He spent a lot more time surrounded
     by clan now, and lupi need to be around clan.
    He didn’t seem very happy tonight.
    Lily studied her lover, friend, and mate as she finished her meal. He wore what he
     usually did at Clanhome: jeans. Period. No shirt, no shoes. She was used to seeing
     him indressier clothes, but he was eye candy either way, long and lean and powerful. His
     dark hair was untidy, as if he’d been running his hand through it a lot, and as usual
     was overdue for a trim.
    As she watched, he ran a hand through it again. Gold glinted on one finger.
    Lily smiled. A couple months ago, she’d said something to Rule about him wearing an
     engagement ring, too. She’d been joking. He’d loved the idea. She ended up telling
     him he didn’t get to buy it for himself and he’d have to put up with whatever she
     could afford. She’d had to dip deep into savings, but she’d gotten a custom ring for
     him, gold and platinum with a little diamond, and given it to him for Christmas.
    He freaking loved that ring. “I talked to Arjenie today.”
    “Oh? She’s well, I hope.” His eyes remained trained on the computer screen…both of
     his lovely, dark eyes. No more pirate’s eye patch. The other wounds he’d received
     in October were healed, too, leaving not a trace of scar tissue to mark that battle.
    But not all scars showed, did they?
    “Yeah, she’s fine.” He seemed fine, too. Preoccupied, but fine. He’d kissed her when
     she got here, told her about the lasagna, and said he was digging through a stack
     of reports he’d been putting off. Between arranging the upcoming All-Clan and his
     duties as Ruben’s second in the Shadow Unit, Rule didn’t have much daytime left for
     handling the finances of two clans.
    He hadn’t asked what made her so late.
    She’d told him anyway. He’d listened and nodded and poured her the glass of wine she
     was still sipping. There’d been no magic at T.J.’s scene or on the body; it looked
     like the coroner would have to determine cause of death. Maybe it really had been
     a heart attack that hit right after a major argument with T.J.’s suspect. She’d told
     Rule about Drummond’s reappearance, too, though not in depth. More like a teaser to
     see how he responded.
    He’d agreed that it was good to know Drummondcouldn’t show up here at Clanhome, poured a glass of wine for himself, and dived into
     his neglected reports. Where he’d been buried ever since.
    Lily swirled the dark red wine in her glass. One of the tricky things about being
     part of a couple was knowing when to poke and probe and when to leave the other one
     alone. Truth was, she was better at the poking. She wasn’t chickening out on the talk
     she needed to have…
    Yes, she was. Lily sighed, took a last swallow of wine, and put down her glass. “I
     need to talk to you about the wedding.”
    “Oh?” He did at least look up.
    “I think we need to move it here, to Clanhome.”
    “No.”
    “That’s it?” Her voice rose. “That’s it—‘no’? Not ‘I don’t agree, but let’s talk.’
     Not ‘I don’t agree, and here’s why.’ Just ‘no.’ ”
    He tunneled a hand through his hair. “Hell. I did that all wrong. I don’t agree because
     that would be letting the bastards win. And I don’t want to talk about it tonight.
     Not tonight, but we’ll talk.”
    She looked at him a long moment. “Okay.”
    “ ‘Okay’? That’s it?”
    “We’ll talk, but it can wait a day or two. Where’s Isen?” Rule got along well with
     his father, but there was some strain, living in his father’s house. His Rho’s house.
     Maybe they’d argued.
    “He went for a run.”
    “Training or four-footed?”
    “He