Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties

know…by
     which he meant his mother.
    Lily could understand that. Aunt Jei—who was technically Lily’s second cousin, but
     Lily and her sisters called all their mother’s first cousins “aunt” or “uncle”—put
     the passive in passive-aggressive. She was limp, needy, and full of sighs, a widow
     with only one child who she doted on, clung to, and controlled ruthlessly.
    Poor Freddie.
    Aunt Jei was probably the reason Rule had excused himself to go to the restroom. He’d
     been seated next to her and even Rule could only take so much.
    “That’s all right,” Freddie said kindly, and patted her hand. “You’re probably daydreaming
     about the big day. Only two weeks away now, isn’t it?” He beamed at her.
    “Two weeks and one day.” After which, she thought with a smile, Rule would be officially
     related to Aunt Jei, Freddie, and everyone else at this table. Poor man.
    They were in the larger of the two private dining rooms at the Golden Dragon, where
     they held most such celebrations, since it was owned by Uncle Chen—another “uncle”
     who was really a cousin. The party was smaller than usual this year. None of the children
     were here, and Grandmother’s companion, Li Qin, had broken her foot two days ago.
     While she could get around on crutches, she was still in pain, so Grandmother had
     insisted she stay home. Also, Lily’s younger sister wasn’t here, though for a very
     different reason.
    “I attended the wedding of a colleague’s daughter recently,” Freddie was saying. “Beautiful
     girl. It was a verymodern sort of ceremony. They wrote their own vows, and when it was time for toasts…”
    Lily nodded and let her mind drift. Her mother had told them firmly they were not
     to make a fuss: “With your wedding so close, it’s too much to ask. Everyone is very
     busy.” Lily’s father had wisely ignored her protests. Julia Yu loved being fussed
     over on her birthday.
    That fuss had damn well better include presents, too. Lily’s gaze slid to the table
     behind Freddie. The table held over a dozen gaily wrapped packages. She grinned. Freddie
     took her grin as tribute to his story about the groom’s toast and chuckled and launched
     into a tale about someone else she’d never met.
    Every year Julia Yu insisted she didn’t need a thing, not a thing, but they knew better.
     She adored presents—the bright paper and bows, the whole unwrapping ritual. Lily would
     miss it if they ever did skip the gifts. Her mother might be picky and perfectionistic
     about all sorts of things, but presents were different. Her eyes lit with delight.
     She exclaimed with pleasure over everything, no matter how odd or humble, and held
     it up for everyone to admire.
    “So what did you get Mother?” she asked when Freddie paused.
    “Why, I got her a gift.”
    That meant he was dying to tell, but she was supposed to coax him. She glanced at
     her watch. Eight forty. “Guess I’ll find out soon. She’ll be finished primping any—”
    The first scream was loud and piercing and terrified. So were the ones that followed.
     Lily was on her feet and moving before the others got their dropped jaws working.
     She’d grabbed her purse. She wasn’t wearing either shoulder or ankle holster, but
     she didn’t go anywhere unarmed, not these days. By the time she slammed through the
     door, she’d pulled her Glock from her purse.
    Barnaby and Joe were on their feet, faced out. “Hold your positions,” she snapped.
     The other two guards, Scott and Mark, were already on the other side of the dining
     room andmoving as fast as only lupi can. They turned into the hall that led to the restrooms.
     Lily followed at a quick jog, veering around startled diners and a couple servers.
     The screaming stopped abruptly when she was halfway across.
    Scott reappeared at the entrance to the hall and smiled at everyone. Scott cultivated
     the geek look. He wore glasses he didn’t need and clothes a bit too large that turned
     his wiry frame skinny. If you didn’t notice how well he moved, you’d think he never
     did anything more strenuous than tote a laptop. “I think she saw a mouse or something.”
    There were a couple of nervous laughs. Someone said, “Must have been a really big
     mouse.” More laughter as the roomful of people began to relax.
    Rule was in that hall. The mate sense told Lily that as clearly as if she could see
     through the wall. Had some woman with a phobia about lupi seen him