Read Lupi 06 - Blood Magic for Free Online Page A

dryly. "Except that you aren't an artist."
    "It's okay," Cynna said, but she had a funny expression on her face. She tipped her head, looking at Lily. "Is this how you feel when I flirt with Rule? Sort of smug and embarrassed, only you have no idea why you'd be embarrassed?"
    "Lily probably stops at smug," Beth said. "She doesn't do embarrassed. How come I haven't seen any teenage boys here? Babies, I've seen. Toddlers and kids of both sexes. Teenage girls, yes, but no teenage boys."
    Lily exchanged a glance with Cynna. "After lupus boys reach puberty, they live separately until the age of seventeen or eighteen."
    "Really? Wow. That's the most sensible system I've ever heard of."
    Lily grinned because she knew what Beth meant, but the boys weren't sequestered because young male adolescents are obnoxious. They lived apart so they wouldn't eat anyone.
    From the other side of the field she heard deep voices break into song. "Hey, listen! That's that Russian song. 'Kalinka.'"
    "Yeah!" Cynna grabbed Beth's arm. "C'mon. You have got to see this."
    "Okay, but - "
    "They're going to dance," Cynna said. "Some of them, anyway. It's one of their training dances, so it's about half dance, half acrobatics. Cullen says the one tonight will be special."
    "Okay," Beth said again, tugged into motion, "but I need to talk to Lily a minute."
    Cynna's eyebrows shot up. "One of those kinds of talks? The kind I shouldn't stick around for?"
    "It's about Grandmother."
    "I'm going to go watch the dancers," Cynna said decisively. And left.

 
    FIVE

    Lily watched her friend disappear into the sea of bare backs and chests. "It's amazing. Cynna has body-tackled a demon, but she scurries away at the mention of Grandmother."
    Beth didn't smile. "I'm worried about her."
    "About Grandmother?" Lily sorted through a half dozen questions and settled on, "Why?"
    "She didn't come to the shower or the baby party."
    "Because Li Qin got sick."
    "If it were just that," Beth said darkly, "I'd still be suspicious. When has Li Qin ever been sick?"
    Now that Beth mentioned it, Lily couldn't remember ever seeing her grandmother's companion down with so much as the sniffles. But that didn't mean anything. Even people with sturdy constitutions got sick now and then - and when they did, they often got really sick.
    Should she be worried about Li Qin? Lily frowned and tugged on her sister's arm. "Walk while you talk. I don't want to miss the dancers."
    "You won't miss anything," Beth said. "Rule's probably saving you a spot. Where is he?"
    "Over by the dancers," Lily admitted. She didn't have to guess. She knew. That was one of the neat things about the mate bond. She always knew roughly where he was.
    "About Grandmother... you must have noticed how Chinese she's been lately."
    "I haven't seen much of her since I got back from North Carolina."
    "That's the other thing. No one's seeing much of her."
    Lily shrugged. "We're talking about Grandmother."
    "Yes, so strange is her normal, but she only turns uber-Chinese when she's annoyed or upset or up to something. I think she's up to something, but if not, there's something wrong. And the thing that proves it is Freddie."
    "Freddie?" Lily blinked. "Our cousin Freddie?"
    "Of course our cousin. Who else could get him to come here? Aside from his mother, I mean, but she wouldn't. So that leaves Grandmother. Why would she send him here instead of coming herself?"
    "Ah... Beth, Freddie's not here."
    "He is. I saw him not ten minutes ago. I tried to catch him, but he ducked into the crowd when he saw me coming."
    If Lily hadn't known for a fact that there was no alcohol at the party, she'd have suspected her sister of being drunk. "Maybe you saw Paul."
    Beth's lip curled. "You've got to be kidding."
    The scorn was possibly justified. Aside from the fact that they were both Chinese, Susan's husband looked nothing like Freddie. But at least Paul was here, unlike Freddie. Lily figured he'd attended to protect Susan from attack by ravening