Ritual Magic

from a Water witch.”
    “I’d prefer impossible.” Her frown deepened. “Maybe I should check out the ER doctor and nurses, whoever came in contact with Crown. Just to be sure.”
    Rule didn’t want her to. He wanted her with him for both his comfort and hers. He rested a hand on her shoulder, prepared to argue—and changed his mind. Her muscles were so tight. “Will you come with me a moment?”
    She slanted him a look half-puzzled, half-annoyed. “Why?”
    “I would speak with you privately.”
    “There’s no such thing as privacy around here. Unless you plan to take over the ladies’ room or something—”
    “We won’t go quite that far.” He used the hand on her shoulder to urge her toward the door. She allowed that, annoyance blending into concern.
    Their guards were in the hall. He signaled that he wanted privacy. They split up and spread out down the hall in both directions. They couldn’t go far, but they stopped with their backs to Rule and Lily.
    Humans were so visual. Lily wouldn’t even think about what the guards smelled. She’d know the guards could hear them, but it probably wouldn’t occur to her that Benedict could, too. He thought that, as long as they weren’t being watched, she’d feel a measure of privacy.
    Sure enough, when he gathered her into his arms, she didn’t resist. She circled his waist with her arms and hugged him.
    Ah. He understood now. She thought they were out here for his sake. He explained her mistake by using one hand to knead the nape of her neck while he anchored her with his other arm.
    Abruptly she leaned back and frowned up at him. “Rule—”
    “Shh.” He continued rubbing her neck. So far it wasn’t having much effect.
    “I don’t need a damn massage. I need to finish telling you about the case. Both cases.”
    “You need to let go of the cop for a few minutes.”
    “I don’t. You think you’re helping, but you’re wrong. I thought you needed a minute, but if you’re just going to—”
    “Well, that’s the thing. I’ve been trying to understand where your needs end and my need for you to be okay begins. I couldn’t figure it out, so I’m asking you to let me help you. For my sake, Lily. This is what you can do to help me.”
    She quivered. “I can’t. I’ll come apart, and I can’t do that right now. Not now. Not here.”
    “You won’t. I’ve got you, and I won’t let you come apart. All you have to do is be in your body.” His other hand joined the first one at her shoulders. “You aren’t letting go or letting down your guard. You aren’t letting in all those thoughts you don’t want to think. You’re just going to be in your body for a few minutes, and I’m going to help you do that.” He smiled down at the objections he saw gathering in her eyes. “Sex would be better, but I felt sure you’d consider that inappropriate.”
    “Oh, just ever so slightly, yeah. Rule, I don’t . . .” She made a small sound of surprise.
    His thumbs had finally found the right spot. He dug in with his thumbs, then stroked up and out with both thumbs. Her head fell back involuntarily as at last, at last, she began to relax.
    He might not be sure where the line lay between helping and interfering, but he had figured out a few things. First, he wasn’t his father, so no trickery. He had to be honest with her. Second, Lily wasn’t one of his men. He’d known that, but hadn’t followed that knowledge deep enough to reach real understanding.
    It was all about control. With one of his men, he had both the right and the duty to assume control if theirs was endangered—and the ability to do so, through the mantle. This freedom to surrender control was a deep comfort for a lupus . . . unless that lupus was a Rho. A Rho was responsible, always, for his own control. Lily was neither lupus nor Rho, but she was responsible for her own control. No one could or should attempt to usurp that, no matter how much he loved her and how certain he was that she needed to
let go.
To let herself fall into tears or rage or whatever lay on the other side of the walls she’d put up.
    Lily could not be touched by any mantle. She also couldn’t Change. The Change was one reason it was safe for him to shove one of his men over the edge. It was a release all by itself, but part of that release was shifting into a thoroughly physical self.
    The body exists in the here and now. It’s the mind that spins anxiety from thoughts of otherwhere and