Tied With a Bow

Rick because his skin was pale and the other deputy was black, and besides, when she looked around she saw that deputy running toward them from the other side of the cul-de-sac.
    It was what she didn’t see that held her mute and still. No bear. No Benedict. And no Havoc.
     
     
    Arjenie had learned that adventures tended to be ten percent frantic action and ninety percent waiting. The next hour and a half drew a big, red underline beneath the waiting part.
    Rick had still been alive when the ambulance pulled away. He’d been lucky in one respect. The bear had only gotten in one good swipe before taking off . . . and Sammy’s Gift was healing. He’d been unlucky in that the swipe had been to his gut. Those claws had ripped through flesh and muscle like it was toilet paper.
    Gut wounds were bad. She knew way too many statistics about them. Sammy had kept Rick going, had started the healing—but he’d emptied himself doing it. He’d drawn from Uncle Clay, too. Uncle Clay didn’t have half the spellcraft that Aunt Robin did—it wasn’t a big interest of his—but he had what might be a secondary Gift, or at least an ability that had been passed down in his family. He could share power with another Delacroix without a circle.
    He and Aunt Robin were still down in the draw with the swarm of officers. They couldn’t make a proper circle with Sammy depleted, but Aunt Robin could scry for magic and try to find the bear.
    Arjenie was up at the top of the draw, sitting in the sheriff’s car. Seri and Sammy were up here, too, perched on the trunk of the deputy’s car. They were playing one of those phone games where you can invite someone to play against you—not with their usual high-spirited rivalry but quietly. As if they needed to think of something else, anything else, other than what had happened.
    Arjenie was using a phone, too. Not hers. Benedict’s. His brother had called him on it and Arjenie had answered. “Surgery,” she repeated. “Well, obviously Nettie can’t call me right away. But I really, really need to talk to her as soon as possible.”
    “I’m leaving for the hospital now,” Rule said.
    “Who is she operating on? Is it someone I know?”
    “Noah Stafford. He doesn’t live at Clanhome, so you may not have met him. We don’t know yet what happened, but he was in bad shape when they found him.”
    “Do you think it has something to do with the war?”
    “Possibly. His chances are good, since he’s lasted this long, but one of the injuries was to his jaw, so he won’t be able to speak for a while.” There was a pause, and what sounded like a car door slamming. “As soon as Nettie’s out of surgery, I’ll ask her to call you.”
    “That’s a lousy time to be hit with bad news. Or anxious news, rather, because it isn’t really bad. Benedict couldn’t have been hurt too much or he wouldn’t have taken off after the bear like he did.” Nettie was Benedict’s daughter. She was a shaman and a physician and she was fifty-four years old, which was why they didn’t advertise the relationship outside the clan. People weren’t supposed to know that lupi lived a lot longer than humans . . . if they didn’t get eaten by a bear, that is. “It can be rough being so far away and worrying.”
    “She’ll be puzzled, as I am. It’s not like Benedict to take off in pursuit and leave you undefended.”
    “I’m ridiculously defended. If I were any more defended I couldn’t get anything done at all. But I need to find him. He’ll be expecting that.”
    “I think,” Rule said dryly, “he’d expect you to sit tight in the safest place possible and wait for him.”
    “That’s what he’d want. It’s not what he’d expect.” Movement glimpsed out of the corner of her eye caught her attention. “Oh, the sheriff’s here with my aunt and uncle. I need to talk to them. And you probably need to get off the phone, anyway.”
    “I can talk and drive, but you go have your discussion. I’ll let Isen know what’s going on. Call or text me when the situation changes.”
    “I will.” She disconnected and frowned out at nothing in particular. In the last hour and a half she’d given an official statement, done some thinking, called Benedict’s men, called Uncle Hershey—she’d volunteered for that, since Aunt Robin and Uncle Clay were busy—and called a friend she worked with in Research. Foolishly, she’d left her computer back at the house, and while she could surf the net