by Lauren Dane
Her friend had come to Vegas a week early just to help. Because she was a friend. Though Rowan wasn’t used to it, the feeling of being cared for like that warmed her belly. “Okay. Let’s go back to the house. I need my laptop. We can work there until I go have dinner with Genevieve.”
“I’ll be your driver for that.” He held up a hand to forestall her. “Before you complain, rest assured I was given orders by Susan and also your husband to not let you go off on your own if I could help it. And since you’re going off alone to meet some scary characters I can’t be exposed to, you’ll let me win this one thing or I’ll be forced to consult with Susan.”
He was hanging around Clive far too much.
“Fine.”
* * *
Clive came to consciousness with her scent all around him. Without opening his eyes, he drank her in. Homed in on the sound of her heartbeat, noted the way it kicked a bit when he reached over to cup her hip.
That’s when he tasted her sorrow. And he knew.
He opened his eyes and there she was. Sadness like a cloak about her shoulders.
“Thena?” he asked before kissing her softly.
“They tortured her,” she said so quietly it seemed to echo over his skin. “And then they left her on the lawn. Knowing her sisters would find her that way. Broken and bloodied. It’s a message. To me.”
She told him about what they’d found and the state of her friend’s body as well as the recent arrival of Genevieve. Though he was wary of Rowan’s stoner witch friend—and he’d be a fool not to understand very old and powerful creatures have a set of rules all their own—he was glad she’d be helping Rowan out.
Essentially, his greatest worry was for her. That she’d lost friends didn’t exceptionally matter as much as how it made her feel. That he didn’t like at all. He couldn’t fix that. Couldn’t buy her something pretty to take her mind off her troubles. Couldn’t take her away and shower her with luxury until she recovered.
The Scion in him was outraged that a human servant, two human servants once he added Carey to the group, had been targeted and killed. As long-lived creatures with certain vulnerabilities—not being able to operate in daylight for Vampires—they needed humans to protect and serve them. Generations of trust had been forged for many Vampire lines with their human staff. Familial for some. Authoritarian for others. Most were in between. Regardless, that trust created a type of bond that was universally respected across different groups of supernatural beings.
Though they all had an uneasy peace, they could and they should unite in the face of this threat to a foundation of their existence.
“The echoes of this will be far reaching,” he murmured as he pulled her to him.
She didn’t disagree.
“I’d like you to use a bodyguard,” he added, wondering how far her agreeability would go.
“No. I am the scary thing in the dark. I don’t need a thick-necked Vampire to mess everything up. David is making me use him as a driver when I go over to have dinner with Genevieve. But after, I need to do some skulking around and I don’t want an escort for that. I’ll be careful. Goddess, you all act like I run with scissors in one hand and acid in the other.”
He smiled into her hair. She did sort of tempt fate that way. With total abandon. But she did her job and she did it well. She was smart and strong and totally capable of handling herself. But people kept trying to kill her and that was unacceptable and left him a nervous wreck who had to pretend to be calm and collected.
He harrumphed and she snickered. “You’re giving me a lecture in your head, aren’t you?”
“It’s the only place you’re quiet enough to listen to anything I say.” He paused to squeeze her. “I’m sorry about Thena. And I’m sorry you have to deal with this now. If you promise to keep me updated and to be as careful as you possibly can, I’ll let the idea of a bodyguard drop. For now. And at the end of the night, I’ll bring you home if you’re still out and about.”
David would keep him updated if anything truly horrible happened and since they were all in Las Vegas, he could be at her side as fast as he could fly there.
She sighed. “Fine.”
That was as good as he was going to get for the time being so he wisely took his win and didn’t crow about it.
“Have a cup of tea with me before you head off to your meal and strategy session with the witch.” He hadn’t had the opportunity to speak with her about the report from his people on their search of Thena’s house the night before. He imagined she’d have some criticism of his people and annoying though it was, she was quite often correct.
And it enabled him to be at her side as she worked through what he knew had to be an exceptionally personal investigation.
Because she was hurting and feeling vulnerable, yes, but also because things were happening that affected the Vampire Nation as well and sooner or later they’d all need to come together to share information.
Or so he told himself to stave off any guilt about keeping his attention so focused on her business.
Just like the call he had with her father later on that evening. Clive would formally request the allegiance of the Nation on her behalf. She’d most likely never do it on her own, but he’d do it for her. For many years of her life, people had failed to protect her and keep her safe, didn’t make her feel valued and important.
That was his job now and one he had no plans to fail.
Politically, she was his wife and as such, a protected member of his territory. What happened to her people, happened to his people. And most definitely after The First had held her out as his own and protected, there was really no other choice but to declare allegiance.
Once that happened, he’d have authority to move a great many troops on the board. Solidifying his own position in the Nation as well as helping Rowan when she needed it.
“David made tea sandwiches. Come on. I’m having dinner later, but that doesn’t mean I can’t have a snack now while I look at you,” she told him, rolling from bed, leaving him to trail in her wake.
Rowan poured them both a cup of his favorite, Prince of Wales. “That boy is getting the hang of things,” Clive told her.
“A year ago he might have put poison in it,” she told Clive with a casual shrug. “But he likes you well enough now to avoid that. For the time being. I find it’s important to keep on your toes with English people because they’re fucking devious while they blandly polite you to death.”
“I’d be offended, but it’s one of my best skills so I thank you.”
Rowan snorted. “Yeah. So. The report from the trip to Thena’s.”
He quieted and focused on her. The pause at the end told him she had something else to say.
“What did they find?”
“It was what they didn’t find. There was an absence of blood.”
“All right. So you said you didn’t see any sign of trouble and my people didn’t find any blood. They were taken elsewhere or at the very least, killed elsewhere. What’s bothering you?” he asked.
Rowan always appreciated the way he thought. The way he listened to what she hadn’t said. He listened to the pauses and the equivocations. He knew there was more.
“It wasn’t just that there weren’t any blood traces that would indicate an act of violence had occurred. There was not a trace of blood anywhere. None. Not in the bathroom. Not in the laundry room or kitchen. I’ve cut myself shaving in her guest bathroom and there was nothing at all.”
“Someone cleaned the scene up,” he said. Not a question.
“Yes. But more than that. How is it that none of your Vampires noticed and reported that fact? How does a Vampire not sense such a total absence of blood? How does a Vampire in a Scion’s inner circle not put it together? It takes magic to do that. You’ve either got a deep training deficit, or...” Rowan shrugged.
&
nbsp; He arched a brow at her. “A year ago you’d have already been beating the truth from my people to figure out which one isn’t telling the truth and why.”
“A year ago I wasn’t their new mommy.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, Scion. I will beat anyone I need to. Especially if they lie to me in service to whoever is behind all this. But sometimes a scalpel is a better tool than an axe.”
“It should alarm me that you get even more alluring when you’re plotting this way.”
“Instead it makes you hot because you’re a deviant and I like that in my husband.”
He laughed, reaching out to squeeze her hand quickly. “Only where you’re concerned.”
“Naturally. As I’d be plotting your demise if you put your deviant self anywhere but between my thighs. Now back to the fact that there’s still info leaking from the Vampire Nation at a pretty high level and not just in your territory but in others as well. Which means a powerful individual who’d have access to some pretty sensitive intel from a variety of sources. That’s not a good thing.”
If Theo hadn’t figured it out yet, he soon would and then there’d be hell to pay. “We need to figure out who it is so when The First wants blood, we can toss them his way.”
He leaned back in his chair, looking at the report she’d slid his way. She busied herself with returning a call and checking her email. When he finished, he sighed. It was a polite sigh, but he was pissed.
Rowan asked, “Who was on the team that went to Thena’s?” The report had been a recitation of their findings but not much more.
“Seth would have been. China is the one I contacted first so she’d also have gone. Siobhan. I can get an exact list from Alice.”
“Does China know her name is stupid?”
His long-suffering groan comforted her. “When she first came to me they said she looked as fragile as fine china. That was her lure. That’s how she got the name.”
“In the modern world it makes her look like a hipster dick. A dumbass white chick with a name like that makes me cringe.”
He frowned. “Do you think she’s the one leaking information? She’s been with me some time now.”
Vampires were tricksy so it wasn’t out of the question. “I don’t know yet. I do know these sorcerers were in your city. They were in my building casing it and they had insider information about my movements. It could have come from elsewhere in the Vampire Nation. One of Theo’s advisors would have had the details of our wedding ceremonial stuff. But not the layout of the apartment and certainly not the key to my wards. It could be more than one Vampire.” She shrugged.
“You think at least someone in my inner circle is responsible though.”
She decided to be blunt. “Yes. Not Alice. She’d come at you head-on if she wanted to kick your ass. There are a few I’d also say no way to. As for the rest? The information the sorcerers were given was sensitive enough to only have been available to a handful of people.”
“And they knew about Thena.”
“No one at the Keep knew about her. I’ve always kept our friendship quiet when it comes to the rest of the paranormal world.”
“I’m going to remind you that this is not your fault. You’ll beat yourself up naturally. But I’m saying it anyway. You’ll come to my office when you’re finished with dinner and skulking. I’m driving in tonight so I’ll be able to get you home.”
She didn’t argue with him though she wanted to just on principle because he was being very bossy. He wanted to take care of her in his way and as she knew what that felt like and it really wasn’t that big a deal, she let him think he was telling her what to do.
He asked her if there’d been any updates from Susan and the Hunter Corp. business still left hanging.
“It’d be really fucking nice if I wasn’t having to deal with eleven thousand things all at once,” she muttered. “Worse, it’s connected in some big picture paranormal creature way and that makes me so tired.”
“You could think on it like a puzzle. You’re quite good at those.”
She snarled. “Sure, that’s me. Puzzle gal.”
“You underestimate yourself. Again. You solve puzzles all the time. That’s all investigations are. Big puzzles. In your case, it’s not a picture of a vase of flowers but lots of blood and violence. But it’s the same in most ways.”
“You’re weird. But you give pretty okay pep talks.”
“As you so frequently remind me, it’s my dick you love so much. I’m always glad to end, start or underline any part of my pep talks with that.”
She laughed, troubles momentarily forgotten. “I’ll let you underline whatever you want when we get home in the morning. For now, I have to get to Genevieve’s hotel.”
“Do be careful when you go back to your old apartment.”
“I’ll do my best. It’s easier when I’ve got a badass like Genevieve at my side.”
David appeared with a soft clearing of his throat. Ready to drive her.
“You can ride with me, but I drive my car,” she tossed at David. Then to Clive, who’d risen along with her, taking her hand and tugging her close, “I’ll see you later. You be careful too because they’re killing people I love and you’re the one I love most.”
Clive wrapped his arms around her, kissing the side of her neck. “I adore you, Rowan.”
It warmed her deeply when he was so sweet. When he understood her and accepted her. He was good at the lovey-dovey stuff. She was clumsy and frequently messed up but he never seemed to mind.
Chapter Seven
The Tuscan Rose was one of the newer hotels on the Strip. It catered to exactly the type of person Genevieve Aubert appeared to be. Rich, beautiful people. A lot of them humming with power of one type or another.
Rowan pulled to a stop at the front doors and David gave the valet a look that would have fried his hair off. “I’ve got it,” he said, coming around to open a door Rowan damned well was capable of opening herself.
But it allowed him to surveil the area for any danger before she stepped into it. Like a good bodyguard and a successful Hunter. Smart boy.
“I’ll be in touch. Let me know what you hear about Martin,” Rowan told him as she changed places with him.
“Of course. I’ll also check in with the funeral home where Carey is to let them know we’ll be doing our own ceremony.”
Both Thena and Carey would be sent off to the next world with a ritual befitting them. She’d need to do some research to work it out, but she figured Genevieve might know a thing or two about it.
Rowan followed the instructions Genevieve had given her, passing through two different levels of security before she even got to the elevator lobby. Impressive.
The floor where Genevieve’s room was had carpeting so thick it muffled the sound. It smelled like sugar cookies and Rowan wasn’t sure if it was super expensive room scent or magic or if someone was eating cookies.
Cookies sounded kind of good. Rowan bet it was just a racket to get these rich pretty people to spend twelve dollars on artisanal sugar cookies served with a nineteen dollar cocktail.
Just walking down that muffled hallway, ankle deep in carpet and jonesing for a damned cookie made her a little cranky so she planned to ring the bell next to the black lacquer door just ahead of her one or two more times than necessary.
Rowan hated to be soothed against her will.
But before she could connect her fingertip with the bell, the door slid open soundlessly, revealing the witch on the other side.
Rowan still rang the bell.
Genevieve Aubert, a hand at her hip, gave Rowan a quick once-over and nodded. “You look better than I feared.” Her bracelets jingled as she reached out to grab Rowan’s hand and tug her inside.
“I think that’s a compliment. You look like an ad for nine hundred dollar jeans.”
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“Do I?” Genevieve laughed prettily without confirming whether it had been a compliment or not. “Are you hungry? I’d like pancakes. Where can we get pancakes? Thick, ridiculous American pancakes. With bacon. But not a, what do you call, oh the buffet. I don’t like to share food with a crowd.”
“Just when I think there’s nothing else I could possibly love about you, you prove me wrong. I know a place. We’ll have to cab it.”
“I have a car.” She tossed a key fob to Rowan before turning to look at a nearby mirror to apply bright red lipstick.
“Digging the outfit. It’s hot enough for it.”
Instead of the usual hippie dippy thing, Genevieve had on a very short dress with strappy stiletto sandals. Like sex chic. Or something. It worked in that way only very confident people could ever seem to manage.
“I was told recently that I should show my legs more. Since it’s hotter than the surface of the sun here, I figured now would be the time.”
“Those shoes weren’t really made for walking though. They do really make your legs look great.”
“They’re very comfortable. I’m a witch, you remember? I have ways.”
“You need to come over and put that spell on all my shoes,” Rowan told her as they walked out of the swanky room and back to the hallway of quiet and cookies.
* * *
Twenty minutes later they were ensconced in a booth, perusing giant laminated menus.
Genevieve ordered pancakes, bacon, scrambled eggs and toast. The server gave her a look, wondering just where she was going to put all that food. Rowan could have told her not to worry, she was beginning to believe her friend’s belly was like the TARDIS, bigger on the inside.
Rowan ordered a burger and fries and a milkshake before handing the menu back and then giving Genevieve a long look. No under eye bags, her skin looked fantastic and she smelled good.
“Is there some sort of spell you use to look this good after a transatlantic flight?”
