Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

and shoulder harness. “Benedict’s cabin?” she called. Benedict
     had a propane tank up there. That would make a nice, big boom.
    “That’s on the west face, not the east.”
    She knew that. Or should have. Lily ran back to the great room. Rule stood just this
     side of the entrance hall. He’d opened a small door set into the wall, revealing what
     looked like the control board for a security system. He wore his earbud, and his face
     said “listening” again. “Good. I want Cynna here, fast. Triple the detail on Toby.
     Send Cullen to deal with the fire. He’s to take a squad with him to—yes, just one.
     Every other squad mobilized, but hold them at their meet-points until we know more.
     Pick someone with a good nose and set him on Isen’s trail.”
    The lights went out as Lily passed Rule, stepping into the entrance hall. Full alert
     meant the Rho’s house went dark. She paused, letting her eyes adjust, and used the
     moment to slip on her shoulder harness. “The fire’s a diversion.”
    Rule’s voice came from right behind her. “I think so, yes. Or possibly Isen took his
     run up on Big Sister and precipitated an incident.” He moved past her, a whisper of
     sound and warmth in the dark. A second later she heard a door open.
    It wasn’t completely black. The windows in the great room weren’t draped, so some
     light spilled in from that end of the hall. But the moon was only a couple of days
     past new, so that wisp of illumination was too thin for human eyes. Lily trailed her
     fingers along the wall to guide her.
    “Here,” Rule said, giving her a target.
    She brushed past him and entered Isen’s study—where it was truly, deeply dark, being
     a completely interior room. When the light was on, it was a cozy and inviting room
     with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, a desk in one corner, a small bassinet in another,
     and four cushy chairs grouped in the middle. The walls and ceiling were reinforced
     with steel. The trapdoor that opened on the emergency escape tunnel was hidden beneath
     a fine old Persian carpet.
    Lily stopped just inside and waited for Rule to shut the door and turn on the lights.
    “I’m leaving the door open until Cynna gets here with the baby,” he told her. “I’ll
     have to switch to the landline then, but until…yes.” The last was apparently addressed
     to Pete. “I see. Lily, call Benedict. His mobile number is star four. Brief him. Pete
     can’t raise the patrol that was on Big Sister at the time of the explosion.”
    Rule was in full Rho-mode, which meant tossing out orders, not requests, but Lily
     wasn’t going to quibble over phrasing. Benedict had to be told, and she wasn’t useful
     otherwise at the moment. She moved farther into the room, feeling for the desk. She’d
     need the landline; there was too much metal in the walls for her mobile phone.
    She found the desk and the phone, propped her rump on one and lifted the receiver
     of the other, causing the number pad to light up. She tapped the star key, then the
     four, and waited.
    Benedict was Rule’s oldest brother, the head of securityfor the clan, and absent. That was highly unusual, but so was being gifted with a
     second Chosen by the Lady, which was the reason he wasn’t at Clanhome. He’d traveled
     across the country to spend the holidays with Arjenie’s family. Then, right after
     the holiday, they’d had to go to D.C. Benedict’s Chosen was Arjenie Fox, a researcher
     for the Bureau with a secret heritage: she was part elf. She hadn’t seen her father
     in years, but he’d told her a lot about the sidhe, so when the trade delegation showed
     up in Washington, Ruben had summoned her.
    Benedict was also the only Nokolai other than Rule who could carry the mantle if Isen
     were killed, since Toby was too young. That made him a major potential target for
     their enemies. If Isen and Rule were killed, Benedict would be the clan’s only chance
     to survive.
    She could just barely make out Rule’s bulk against the rectangle of paler darkness
     that was the doorway. She couldn’t hear him much better than she could see him. He
     was talking to Pete, but keeping his voice so low she’d need lupi hearing to make
     out the words.
    “Yes,” a deep voice said in her ear.
    “This is Lily. We’ve got a situation. Between five and ten minutes ago there was an
     explosion halfway up Big Sister—the east face—resulting in a fire Pete described as
     not very large. We’re on