Eileen Wilks - Blood Magic

ON a blistering noon at the tag-end of July, Balboa Park in San Diego offered plenty of green to sun-weary eyes. The paths in the Palm Canyon section were some of the parks prettiest byways, though shade was scant now. With the sun directly overhead, it was reduced to furtive puddles at the feet of the palms arcing trunks.

A tall man walked one of those paths alone, dressed head-to-toe in black.

His hair was dark, his skin lightly tanned. His eyes were hidden by expensive sunglasses. From a distance he looked like a clump of shadow visiting its more dappled cousins along the bone-colored path.

Rule Turner touched his sunglasses lightly. They didnt need adjusting. He just liked the tactile reminder. Theyd been a gift, a surprise present from Lily when the two of them returned from North Carolina with his son yesterday. Shed even found a smaller, identical pair for Toby, which the boy wore constantly. So Rule touched the shades and thought of Toby, and of Lily, and why he was here.

Two men rounded a curve in the path, heading toward Rule. Neither wore sunglasses. The older one looked like a blacksmith or some primordial earth deitybearded and burly and as if he might burst out of his slacks and shirt at any moment. His beard and hair were rusty brown shot with gray; his eyes were the color of roasted nuts. Tanned skin creased around craggy features in a way that suggested smiles came easily and often.

He wasnt smiling now.

The other man looked younger and more dangerous . . . which was true in a sense. Benedict could kill faster and more surely than anyone Rule knew. He shared his companions muscular build, but fitted over an additional five inches of height. Benedicts features reflected his mothers heritage, the cheekbones flat and high, the mouth wide, and his black hair was long enough to club back in a short tail.

No smile lines around those dark eyes. He moved with the economy of an athlete or martial artist, which he was; he wore athletic shoes with jeans and an oversize, untucked khaki shirt.

The shirt did nothing for his build or the bronze of his skin, but Benedict wouldnt have thought of that. Clothes, like most things, were tactical tools to him. The shirt was appropriate for the setting and hid whatever weapons hed deemed appropriate. Knives, certainly. Probably a handgun.

Neither of them looked like Rule. Nor did they much resemble each other. A stranger wouldnt have guessed the three of them were a father and his two living sons.

The older man stopped some fifteen feet away. Benedict dropped back a few feet, guarding his rear. Rule continued walking until he was only three feet away, then stopped, too. Waiting.

Do you not kneel? Rules father demanded.

Im waiting to see who greets me.

Now there was a smile. A small one, but it reached the nut-brown eyes. Your Rho.

Immediately Rule dropped to one knee, bending his head to bare his nape. He felt his fathers fingers brush his nape, and in Rules gut the portion of mantle that belonged to his birth clanto Nokolaileaped in response.

The other mantlethe complete oneremained quiet. Leidolf didnt answer to Nokolai.

Rise.

Rule did. And still he waited. Isen Turner might be wolf in his other form, but his son thought of him as more like a foxcanny, tricky, highly maneuverable. Isen could trip Machiavelli on his assumptions, so Rule did his best not to possess any.

For once, Isen was blunt. Why did you assume the Leidolf mantle?

Rule had already told him how it happened, though over the phone. For some months hed carried the heirs portion of the Leidolf clans mantle, due to trickery of the man who had been Leidolfs Rho. Then Lily had been possessed by the wraith of one who, in life, had been Leidolf. Rule had needed the authority of the full mantle to command the wraith and save Lily. Hed taken it, killing the former Rhoand becoming leader of his clans enemies.

But if anyone understood the difference between a chronology of events and a revelation of motive, it was Isen Turner. Rule kept his answer brief. To save Lily.

Was that the only reason?

No.

Isen hmphed. Taught you too well, havent I? Very well. You dont speak of your other reasons. Is that because they are Leidolf business?

In part. Mostly, however, I am bound by a promise I gave.

Isens bushy eyebrows climbed in surprise that might have been real. A promise! Obviously I cant ask what you promised, but who . . . That is my affair, as your Rho. Who did you promise?

Rule had considered what to say on this score already. Hed hew to the words of his promise, but give his father some meat to chew on. Cullen wouldnt mind. I cant in honor give you the name, but hes Nokolai, and you already possess the information he gave me, if not the conclusions he drew from that information.

Do I, now? The bushy eyebrows drew down, but in thought, not anger.

One of the tactics Rule had learned from his father was when to shift the subject. Benedict is angry with me.

Isen brushed that aside. Thats a matter between brothers, not clan business. How can you be both Rho to Leidolf and Lu Nuncio to Nokolai?

With great difficulty. If we speak of status, Id suggest some default settings. When Im at Nokolai Clanhome, Im your Lu Nuncio. When Im away from it, Im Leidolf Rho.

You assume you will remain my Lu Nuncio?

For the first time Rule smiledsmall and wry, perhaps, but a genuine smile. I assume only that your decision will not be based on anger or affection, but on what you think best for Nokolai. You asked how I could be both. Thats what I answered.

True, truethough thats a tiny dab of an answer, compared to the size of the problem. Do you see any advantage to Nokolai in having my heir be Rho to another clan?

Certainly. Leidolf wont be trying to kill you anymore.

Isen chuckled. A refreshing change, yes, and one Ill appreciate. But I think that with you as Rho, Leidolf will stop its assassination attempts whether you remain my heir or not. What else?

Rule stepped out on shaky ground then, but he stepped surely. Hesitation, doubtboth were reasonable, but revealing them was seldom useful. No lupus has held two mantles in over three thousand years. Our oldest enemy has been stirring. Times are changing. I believe this is our Ladys will. That its part of her plan to defeat the one we do not name.

This time Isens surprise was unmistakably real. Both eyebrows shot upthen descended in a scowl. You think youre privy to the Ladys plans now?

Im guessing, of course. If the Lady has spoken to any of the Rhejes, they havent told us. But its a guess based on my gut, on . . . Rule hesitated, then did his best to put words to what didnt fit into words. The mantles I carry are pleased by the situation. They . . . help. They make it easy for me to separate my roles.

Hmm. For a long moment Isen didnt say anything. Then he asked, And can you carry both full mantles? If I dropped dead right now, could you assume Nokolais complete mantle?

If I thought I couldnt, Id ask you to remove the Nokolai portion from me immediately. I will not risk the clan.

A good answer, but a simple yes would have been even better.

A simple yes would mean I was confusing fact with opinion.

Your opinion.

Yes. Its based on unique experience, however. Assuming the full Leidolf mantle was . . . He paused to fit words around what he meant as best as possible. Simple. Not easy, no, but much simpler than when I was first forced to carry portions of two mantles. Theres . . . room now. Theyre both already here. Ive no reason to think assuming the full Nokolai mantle would be beyond me.