Ritual Magic

way? Of course she wouldn’t have . . . but memory barged in. She’d been ready to pull the trigger when she jammed her gun under Santos’s jaw, into his vulnerable throat. She’d told Rule she’d been angry with Santos. She had, but that had come later. In that moment, she’d felt cold. Focused. He
would
obey her, whatever it took.
    “It may.”
    “I don’t know.” With all those lives on the line and the others fighting monsters, no action had seemed too extreme. Anything was justified. “I don’t know,” she repeated, her voice cracking—a small hairline fracture, barely there at all. “He was no use to me dead. I needed him alive to get Cynna to safety.”
    “You—” Scott stopped, started again. “Excuse me, Rho, but I didn’t know about this. If I may ask Lily for more details?” Rule nodded. “Lily, can you describe exactly what you said and did when you threatened Santos?”
    She wanted to talk about almost anything else, but she did as he asked. Her voice held steady this time. When she finished, he looked
pleased
. He glanced at Rule. “I shouldn’t be surprised, I suppose.”
    “Why not? She surprises me regularly.”
    “Still,” Scott said, “it does complicate things.”
    “It does. It also gives me options. I haven’t decided yet if I want them.”
    Lily looked at the two of them. “You realize I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
    Rule’s face was expressionless. “There are only two punishments possible for deliberate disobedience during battle: death or expulsion. I am not cruel enough to expel Santos from the clan.”
    Her stomach twisted. She’d expected Santos to be punished. He deserved it. But this was too much. “Santos was wrong. He was really wrong, but he was trying to do the right thing. He wasn’t cowardly or traitorous. He thought he was saving me. He didn’t know about the Uzi in the trunk. I did, but there wasn’t time to . . .” Time to explain. Which was precisely why he’d needed to follow orders. Battle seldom offers the leisure for explanations.
    “You are not obliged to consult your guards over the orders you give them.”
    With a jolt, Lily realized that Rule was furious. Coldly, quietly furious.
    Rule went on, “Some Rhos have made exceptions to the death penalty—”
    “Victor sure didn’t,” Scott muttered.
    “—usually when the clansman had information his superior lacked, and obeying the order would have caused great harm. Santos may have believed that’s what he was doing, but he had no special knowledge, only his own conclusions. He decided José was wrong, you were wrong, and he could disregard you both. That he would, in fact, be a hero for doing so.”
    Since that was exactly what had happened, Lily couldn’t argue.
    “He went on to ignore your direct order. He knows better. All of the guards know. They are to treat your word as mine. There are only two exceptions. If your order contradicts mine, they follow mine. And regardless of what you tell them, they are not to leave you unguarded.”
    “He might have thought that because Cynna and I were separated from them, we were unguarded.”
    “Santos may be a fool, but he isn’t stupid. Engaging the enemy is not the same as leaving you unguarded.” Rule drew a slow breath. “It’s true that I have encouraged our Leidolf guards to think for themselves more than they’re used to doing. This may have confused Santos, so I share some responsibility. I didn’t make sure he understood the difference between initiative and disobedience.”
    Her stomach was churning. She’d lost two under her command today. She didn’t want to add Santos to her tally. She was sick of death. “Scott said I complicated things by threatening Santos. He looked downright happy about that.”
    “Not about the complication.” Briefly, Rule’s eyes warmed, though the smile didn’t make it to his mouth. “He’s pleased for the same reason I am. You didn’t have time to plan the best way to deal with Santos, yet you did so perfectly.”
    “You’re glad I threatened to kill him?”
    “That distresses you now.”
    She didn’t say anything. He knew damn well it did.
    “That makes no sense to my wolf, but I understand that your experience and culture tell you that such a willingness to kill is wrong. It is, however, exactly right for a lupus in that situation. You took Santos by the throat and let him know that his life was yours. Because you had a use for him—a use vital