Read Lupi 09 - Mortal Ties for Free Online Page B

flavor of martial art she’d picked was called Bojuka, an amalgamation
     of boxing, jujitsu, and karate. You wore street clothes to practice, not a
gi
, and it was strictly for self-defense, not sport. Bojuka was all about repelling
     an attack, and the first step was learning to stay aware, to spot danger before it
     was on top of you. She was getting better at that.
    One year, one month, and two weeks ago, Beth hadn’t been able to repel any kind of
     attack that went beyond verbal. Snark she could handle. People with guns, knives,
     and muscles that had received a testosterone boost, not so much. She’d been kidnapped
     through magic, but held by brute force to be used against her sister.
    She didn’t want to ever feel that helpless again.
    A shiny black and chrome Beemer turned onto her street at the light. It was a monster
     of a motorcycle, brawny and tough and sleek all at the same time. A lot like its rider.
    Beth’s heart gave a happy little jump as she slipped her backpack on. She couldn’t
     see Sean’s face—the helmet’s visor obscured everything but his jaw and that lovely
     mouth of his. But she didn’t have to. She might not know his body in the thoroughly
     tactile way she wanted to, but she knew the look of it.
    He pulled up to the curb, the Beemer’s motor rumbling like a ton or so of happy cat.
     “Hi, geek boy,” she said, swinging her leg over the seat. “You looking for a good
     time?”
    He flashed her a grin over his shoulder. “Helmet, party girl. We don’t play till the
     protection’s in place.”
    She rolled her eyes but twisted around to unfasten the spare helmet that was hooked
     to the tail. As soon as she’d strapped it on, he took off…slowly. He drove carefully
     when she was aboard, though she had talked him into taking her out of the city and
     opening it up twice.
    Beth slid her arms around Sean’s warm, solid middleand leaned with him as he took the corner. Their class was held in a strip mall a
     good twenty minutes away, so she settled in to enjoy the ride.
    She was glad she’d picked Bojuka in spite of the inconvenient location of the class.
     In spite of the fact that it had been Lily’s recommendation, too. First because she
     had to quit resenting her sister. Both her sisters, really, but she was used to resenting
     Susan. Susan was the oldest, the brain, the good girl, who’d become a doctor and married
     a man with the right kind of ancestors. It was traditional, really, for the younger
     kids in a Chinese family to resent their overachieving eldest sibling, and who was
     she to buck tradition? But Lily…for years, Lily had been the rebel. The one who’d
     disappointed their mother, the target of Julia Yu’s anxiety and nagging. Lily hadn’t
     rebelled by getting in trouble—she was way too straitlaced for that—but by becoming
     a cop. An awesomely good cop. One who went around catching bad guys and saving people,
     and the country, too. One who was supposed to get a medal from the president herself
     in a few months.
    In short, both of Beth’s sisters were incredibly competent women. She was the cute
     one.
    She did cute very well. It just wasn’t enough anymore.
    But the main reason she was glad she’d picked Bojuka was warm and solid along her
     front. If she’d gone for judo or something, she’d never have met Sean Friar. And that
     didn’t bear thinking about.

FIVE

    N IGHT checked in early at the end of December. It had been dark for hours by the time Lily
     curled up on one of the long leather couches with her warmed-up lasagna. The news
     was on—something about the sidhe trade delegation that had recently arrived in Washington
     via the Edge Gate—but the sound was turned down low, so Lily could ignore it. The
     air smelled of spices and tomato, ashes and woodsmoke.
    The fireplace was dark and cool now. She’d missed the fire, just as she’d missed sharing
     dinner with the man now sitting at the big dining table, surrounded by