Lupi 04 - Night Season Read Online Free PDF

appraising looks all cops master in cop school. “Okay. We’re going to walk around now.” She put an arm around Cynna’s shoulders. “Hold your breath for three steps, let it out on the fourth, then hold it again.”
    â€œI’m not—”
    â€œYou can’t talk and hold your breath at the same time.”
    True. Cynna counted steps and held her breath for half of them, her head floating along above her shoulders like a helium balloon on a short tether. They walked up to a sales clerk—short, skinny, and dressed in black.
    Everyone got to wear black except her.
    â€œWe’ll take the whole outfit,” Lily told the woman and ripped the tags from the pants, the duster, and the sweater still on Cynna’s body. She handed them to the clerk along with a charge card. “I’ll be back for the card later.”
    The woman shook her head firmly. “You cannot—”
    â€œWe’re having a health event here.” Lily flashed her FBI ID. “Charge the clothes to the card and hold on to it for me.”
    The clerk yes-ma’am’ed her. Cynna didn’t. Her breath whooshed out. “You are not buying the slacks and sweater.”
    â€œYou’ll pay me back. Keep counting.”
    A small, imperative hand at Cynna’s back kept her moving past aisles of dresses and through the scented air of the cosmetics section, where Lily glared their way past the designated puffer trying to spritz them with cologne. Then they were in the concourse.
    She remembered the place from some news story. There was supposed to be a small node near the fountain. At the Turning it had leaked, just like the rest of them—but this one had leaked a goblin along with the magic overflow. Shoppers had freaked.
    So had the goblin. They were mean as hell in bunches, but didn’t cope well outside the herd.
    The incident didn’t seem to have hurt business much, Cynna noted as they passed the fountain—dry now with an Under Repair sign parked in the middle basin. There were plenty of people out spending money or just hanging. She drew some stares, but she was used to that. Tattoos weren’t uncommon these days, but Cynna’s weren’t the usual flowers or whatever. And there were a lot of them.
    By the time they passed the escalators, Cynna’s hands had almost stopped tingling and her head was back in a normal relationship with her shoulders. Funny, she hadn’t realized panic felt so much like helium. “I’m okay.”
    â€œGood. Keep walking.”
    She didn’t. She stopped and looked at Lily. “I didn’t get you a Christmas present.”
    â€œI noticed that, and it was really tacky of you.”
    â€œOr Rule. I thought about it, but what do you get someone who has ninety times as much money as you do? Are you okay with this?”
    â€œWith Rule having more money than you do?”
    â€œNo, with him spending so much on a gift for me.” Years ago, Cynna had been involved with Rule. That had caused a few problems when she and Lily first met—mostly, Cynna admitted, because she hadn’t wanted to accept that Rule was taken. Who ever heard of a monogamous werewolf, after all? But that’s just what Rule was, because of his mate bond with Lily…something Cynna hadn’t known existed.
    The rest of the world still didn’t. Mate bonds were supersecret. Cynna knew three things about them: the bond wouldn’t let Rule and Lily be too far apart; it gave them a directional bead on each other; and they were rare. Really rare. She wouldn’t know that much if the clan’s priestess hadn’t decided Cynna was her successor. Which was just crazy.
    â€œOf course I’m okay with it. Like I said, he bought…can I say Cullen’s name without you freaking?”
    â€œIt’s not him, it’s…well, he’s involved, or was involved, but he…it isn’t about him.”
    Lily