Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

those words always sound so ominous?” he murmured. But he was more relaxed
     now, more himself. “You want to discuss the venue for the wedding?”
    Their wedding had been so far from her thinking the last twenty-four hours that his
     question took her aback. She shook her head. “This is about the case. The cases.”
    He squeezed her waist and let go. “All right. Would you like some wine to go with
     our words? I had a pleasant Syrah with dinner. There’s some of that left, or I could
     open the Riesling the wine steward recommended.”
    “Some Riesling would be good.” As he moved to the room service cart she took off her
     jacket, draped it over the back of a chair, and began unfastening her shoulder harness.
     “Why Leidolf?”
    “Hmm?” He inserted the corkscrew and began twisting.
    “I wondered why you brought an all-Leidolf squad with us.”
    “Oh.” With a soft sound like a sigh the cork came out. He reached for a wineglass.
     “Call it a gut impulse, but my head agreed.”
    She set her shoulder harness on the table and toed off first one shoe, then the other.
     It felt good to wiggle her toes, dig them into the plush carpet. “What did your head
     say?”
    “That it’s hard on my Leidolf guards at Nokolai Clanhome. They’re surrounded by Nokolai
     and constantly see me in my role as the other clan’s Lu Nuncio. They need time with
     me as their Rho.”
    He wasn’t making any effort to lower his voice, which meant any guards in the other
     bedroom who were awake could hear him easily. Which meant he was okay with that. Maybe
     he wanted them to. Lily picked up her jacket, shoulder harness, and shoes and carried
     them into the bedroom that was hers and Rule’s. “It’s kind of weird to hear you call
     Nokolai the other clan. I know what you meant, but…do you think you’ll become more
     Leidolf than Nokolai?”
    Glass clinked. “The balance has shifted, but I’ve been Nokolai all my life. I won’t
     lose that. It’s too much a part of me.”
    She set her shoulder harness on the bedside table where she could get it in a hurry,
     if needed. Shoes and jacket went in the closet. “And your gut said?”
    He came into the bedroom carrying two glasses. “I wanted Leidolf around me. I wanted
     them to feel the change. They may not consciously notice, but they’ll feel it. Leidolf
     is truly mine now.”
    “That’s a very dominant way of seeing it.”
    His grin flashed. He held out one brimming glass. “I’m a dominant kind of a guy.”
    In the lupi sense of the word, she reminded herself as sheaccepted the wine. He knew he was in charge—but of the clan, not her. Which was sort
     of the problem, considering what she needed to tell him. Lily took a sip of wine.
     “Hey. That’s really good.” Good enough to burst through her preoccupation and make
     her notice. “It tastes kind of like the sky looks up high in the mountains. You know—really
     saturated, but crisp.”
    He took a sip, too, his eyes steady on hers. “I agree. I’ll have to tell the wine
     steward we approve. What is it you wanted to talk about that you can’t bring yourself
     to talk about?”
    He was too damn perceptive at times. She sighed. “Before we left Clanhome, Cynna asked
     me to promise I’d let her know if we needed her. You said Cullen can’t make his Find
     spell work. We have two people missing that we’re pretty sure are hostages. We need
     Cynna.”
    “No.”
    He said that coolly and with complete assurance. It was exactly the reaction she’d
     expected. In his mind this was a clan matter—Nokolai clan, not Leidolf this time,
     but either way, his territory. “You don’t get to make that decision.”
    “Lily, stop and think,” he said impatiently. “Bringing Cynna here could be the reason
     for all of this. Why is Friar kidnapping people? That’s what you keep asking, isn’t
     it? Maybe because he wants the best Finder in the country to show up and try to find
     them. Stealing the prototype might get her here, but if not, grab some people, too,
     because that’s exactly the sort of thing we’d need her for. Exactly the sort of thing
     she’d
want
to come here for. Cynna has no apprentice. If she were killed, the clan’s memories
     would be lost.” He shook his head. “It’s unthinkable.”
    “And it’s still not your decision. Look.” She set her wine down on the bureau and
     went to him. “You lupi have been around for over three thousand years. In all that
     time,