Ritual Magic

Scott in the hall and stood. A moment later Lily walked in, walked straight to Rule, and put her arms around him.
    Something held tight inside him unclenched. The sudden loss of tension left a dull smear of pain in its wake. His closed eyes stung. He’d needed this. Needed her, and now she was here. They leaned into each other. He inhaled deliberately, breathing her in.
    She smelled of coffee and Lily, with citrus notes from her shampoo and almond from the lotion she’d applied after her shower. Also the tinny, astringent odor of anxiety.
    Rule’s wolf did not consider fear and anxiety the same emotion. Their scents were from the same family, but quite distinct, just as roses do not smell like violets. Fear was more sour, anxiety more bitter. Wolves consider fear a healthy emotion, but anxiety makes them . . . anxious. Rule immediately tried to soothe Lily, stroking a hand up her back.
    It was like stroking a guitar string. Tight, tight, from the base of her spine to the nape of her neck, and when he started to knead those tense muscles, she pulled away. She stretched out both hands to his brother, who’d finally abandoned his chair to stand. “Benedict.” He took her hands and she told him, “You’re okay.”
    His eyebrows lifted slightly. “Am I?”
    “Yes. You’re okay and Nettie’s going to be okay.” She spoke with suppressed ferocity, as if her will alone would make it so . . . or make Benedict believe it.
    Benedict’s expression didn’t change. “You’ve learned something.”
    “A few things. No trail to follow yet. And I can’t talk about the parts we do know, not here. Too public. They’re going to—”
    “Agent Yu?” A man in a very nice charcoal-colored suit stood in the doorway. “I’ve spoken with your, ah—with your man out in the hall, as you requested. We have the room ready. If you’d follow me?”
    “Of course.” Lily looked tense and tired and a trifle smug as she explained. “The hospital has agreed to let us use a small lounge. We’ll be the only ones there, so I can discuss confidential matters.”
    Benedict frowned. “Will the surgeon know where to find us?”
    The man in the suit answered. “I will personally make sure of that.”
    “Mr. Reddings is the executive assistant who works directly under the hospital’s president,” Lily said. “He knows how to make sure.”
    “Kind of them to offer us the use of this lounge,” Arjenie said as they left the crowded waiting room. Scott was clearly expecting the shift; he fanned his men out, half in front, half behind, as the four of them followed Mr. Reddings.
    “They were supposed to offer it to you two hours ago. I called and explained about the security issue—someone could drop in and try to kill some or all of you, and wouldn’t it be a shame if they gunned down a few innocent bystanders in the process? I should’ve done that right away. I didn’t think of it.” She shook her head at this omission. “The admin guy I spoke to agreed it would be best to park you someplace private, but on the way here, I found out that hadn’t happened. Seems the only private spot is the VIP lounge, and some multirich bastard was using it while his wife had various bits lifted and tucked. He didn’t want to leave. The admin guy didn’t feel up to making that happen.”
    “No doubt you were persuasive,” Rule said.
    “I wasn’t in a persuasive mood. I sicced Ida on them.”
    “Poor souls,” Arjenie said. “Have you ever been present while she removed some unsuspecting roadblock?”
    “A time or two.” Lily exchanged a knowing look with Arjenie. “Mr. Reddings here was waiting for me when I arrived. He’s been very helpful.”
    Lily did not hold Rule’s hand as they proceeded to the elevator. She seldom did when she was in cop mode. She had, he thought, been in cop mode ever since her mother looked at her and didn’t know who she was.
    And that was the problem. Not that she was shutting him out. Oh, he did not like that, but he’d already noted the pettiness of his reaction, hadn’t he? The real problem was that she was shutting herself out, too. That was why she reeked so of anxiety. She’d been jamming her emotions down, down, ignoring them, shoving them aside. Sometimes you had to do that, but you couldn’t keep it up for too long. If you did, something broke inside you.
    That kind of break healed slowly, and not always well.
    Rule knew what Lily needed. She needed to fall apart, and soon. If