by Lauren Dane
He frowned at the mention of Jack’s name but was glad to have one less worry.
“What about you?” she asked. “Your color is good so I’m assuming you’ve fed.”
“I did. I got a call from Nadir.” He gave her a look and the way she nodded told him he’d been right to assume it had been her who’d gotten in contact.
“I called to check in on Theo and then I mentioned that you might need some information on a Vampire named Lyr who was giving us trouble.”
“Why didn’t you just ask her directly?”
“This is Vampire business. I’m already way more involved in Vampire business than I’m comfortable with. But she can tell you this stuff and it’s not complicated like it would be if she told an outsider. It keeps us both on the right side of the rules.”
Thank the heavens his wife was so smart and savvy when it came to the Vampire world.
So he filled her, and David, when he returned to the main room, in about Lyr and a possible location. David hopped onto his laptop immediately and began contacting their hacker Vanessa to give her more information on location.
“She produced a shorter list a few hours ago,” Rowan said of Vanessa. “It’s got three dozen addresses on it. But this can help narrow it down to—” she looked at her phone, scrolling for a few moments “—six. Goddess, the place is full of Vampires. Remind me not to spend any time there when I’m not killing them. Present company excepted.” She looked at Clive with a sunny yet vicious smile.
Clive just arched a brow her way. “Are we going to do this tonight?”
“We need to get Genevieve on board. This Vampire isn’t going down easy and if he’s got magic, we should have the ability to combat that with magic of our own. I definitely want to get started on winnowing the six down to the right place.”
* * *
Rowan packed the back of the car with all the things she might need. Her kit bag had the usual array of weapons, ropes and zip ties but she added some bottles of water, a few of bottled blood, some holy water, snacks—who didn’t like snacks—two tarps and extra clothes and shoes. People tended to get a little freaked out when you walked around covered in blood spatters.
By the time she’d finished, Genevieve had arrived with her leather bag of tricks.
“Here’s a thing we discovered today,” she told Rowan after a brief kiss on the cheek. “Julie—teacher girlfriend—volunteers for her local coven. That’s how she got access to the confidential records that led her to the missing witches. Some she befriended first and others she just turned over to the sorcerers to be drained for their boss.”
“She seems nice,” Rowan said after a curl of her lip.
“She’s had her trial before a tribunal. She will no longer be a threat to the rest of us and I think we’ve pretty much gotten all we could from her. Some of it was willing, which is why she’s alive.”
Rowan didn’t feel bad that Julie might be in witch prison or whatever. She’d used her relationship and her position of trust to lead vulnerable people to certain death. Fuck that.
Clive would go with them in the rental car, but he’d do his surveillance from the air on his own once they got to a fixed location. Rowan entertained herself with a vision of him sticking his head out the window and sniffing like a puppy but when she chuckled to herself, he gave her a side-eye that said he knew she was up to something.
Traffic was all right for a weeknight but it still took them nearly an hour to get to the first address of the six.
They set up down the street from the two story modern that’d been bought for cash by a trust Vanessa had traced to another trust and three more beyond that totaling at least a hundred and twenty years.
Certainly Lyr was way older than a hundred and twenty, but he hadn’t lived in the United States that whole time either.
“I don’t feel any unusual levels of magic,” Genevieve said quietly as she dug into the pretzels Rowan had brought along.
Clive sighed, unbuckling himself. “Give me a few minutes. Don’t kill anyone unless it’s absolutely necessary, my darling wife.”
Rowan frowned, which is what he wanted, so they both felt better and he disappeared off into the night.
“I wish I could fly. That’s a super cool gift,” Rowan said.
“I love being outside in the sunshine though so I don’t like the trade-off,” Genevieve replied.
“Well, you could probably work up some sort of flight spell or something though.”
“Yes, I can.” Genevieve raised a shoulder briefly. “By the by, we’re taking a vote tomorrow to back you up and declare war. If we end this tonight it’ll be easier.”
Rowan had a feeling deep in her belly that even if they killed Lyr that night it wouldn’t be over. It was too big and layered to just be done if the head was cut off.
“I’ll be a lot happier if we can just get answers as to why this is happening. More than mere power. Power can be had in all sorts of places. This seems so much more than a power grab by one Vampire to be tougher.”
It had been bothering Rowan since they’d landed back in Las Vegas after Carey’s murder. The taunting way it happened, the way Rowan’s loved ones had been targeted told her there was more. And with Vampires, there was usually more. Like icebergs, the real root of a lot of their shenanigans was lurking just beneath the surface.
“Vampire politics would make such a great soap opera. A nighttime soap of course. They bring their own shoulder pads and lots of internal drama because they never let go of grudges and are always stealing one another’s romantic partners.”
They were still giggling when Clive got back. He gave them a look but said nothing as he seatbelted in.
“Next?”
“Was it even a Vampire?” Rowan asked.
“Yes. But she was Made in 1986. She’s not our suspect.”
“All right then.”
They repeated this process three more times with the same results until they arrived at the bottom of a hill. The driveway leading up to the massive house was gated with surveillance cameras positioned on the entrance.
“Well, now.” Rowan looked over to Clive. “This Vampire is smarter than the others. I like the camera positions. This is good security.”
“Keep driving,” Genevieve said, urgency in her tone so Clive did, continuing along the street and away.
Once they were at a strip mall about far enough from the house, Clive parked and they all turned to Genevieve.
“I don’t know for sure if that house is the one Lyr lives in, but something with a lot of magical energy sure does. It’s dark and sticky and very dangerous all around that lot.”
Clive nodded. “All right. I’m going to make a pass and see what I can see.”
Rowan growled. “Be careful.”
“I’m not some weakling, Hunter. I’ve not fought as many battles as our quarry, but I’ve fought plenty and I am the Scion of an entire continent. And I can keep you from killing me in my sleep.”
That made her laugh and relax a little as he left the car and in a few breaths had gone.
“Let’s gear up. I think this is the place,” Rowan told them as she popped the trunk and got out.
David impressed her with a new thigh rig for his handgun so she nodded at him and knew he blushed. One day he wouldn’t blush anymore. One day he’d be so prepared and well trained she wouldn’t even give him a second look.
But that day he was still her valet. Still someone she had a powerful need to protect and guide.
Genevieve opened her duffel and handed a long sleeved shirt to both Rowan and David. “Warded.”
“Cool!” Rowan said, pulling the shirt on over her clothes and feeling the wards snap all around her. “I didn’t know this was a thing.”
“I’ve been working on protective warded clothing like tactical vests and the like for a while
. My father has a full battle suit I used as a model.”
Rowan was dying to know more about Genevieve’s father. He was sort of a legend in their universe. A nearly nine hundred year old warlock wasn’t something that happened very often. Most witches had the same general lifespan as humans, just a little longer. But there were those in leadership like the Auberts who were altogether different. Not immortal, but tough as hell and very long lived. Like Vampires.
Genevieve rarely spoke of him and when she did, it often came with an underlying pulse of regret and maybe some anger. One of these days she and her friend needed to trade some dad stories.
It wasn’t that day though, so Rowan gratefully took the extra protection.
She tucked her hair into the back of her shirt so it wasn’t something a foe could grab. Recently she’d received—from her gift loving husband—a dual knife belt that sat at the small of her back. She got it into place and slid knives dipped in silver and quenched in holy water into place. Her blade followed as she tightened the custom back rig for it. It would easily come free once she needed it.
Because this was an old and powerful foe, she also used her own gun belt, making sure she had plenty of ammo. Kitting up for war, she thought as she went through it all again, double-checking the fit and ease of the draw.
By the time she’d finished checking herself and everyone else, Clive walked back to the car. “I didn’t see anyone, but there are Vampires inside. I could feel that much. It’s warded tight.”
Genevieve leaned down to grab the handles of her duffel. “I might be of some help with that. Let’s take a walk.”
“People might notice four heavily armed folks out for an evening stroll.”
Genevieve waved a hand at Rowan’s concerns. “We’ll be fine. No one will notice us or think anything out of the ordinary.”
Rowan looked to Clive, who shrugged so they followed.
Genevieve paused as they approached the block the gates to the driveway lay at the end of. “The warding is pretty impressive.” They followed her as she walked past the driveway and down to the next block. She looked up and continued for a while, stopping and looking again a few times until she said, “Ha!” under her breath.
She pointed up a hillside. “I think we can enter from this property here. There are bound to be weak spots and since we’re several houses away, our approach should be unnoticed. Then I’ll unravel the wards to make a space big enough for us to enter.”
“You’re super handy,” Rowan whispered.
“I told you I was sidekick material.”
David snorted.
They cut through a few lots, around fences and ended up on the north side of the property. The wards were strong enough that Rowan could see them. Just a slight blur at the edges of her vision.
Genevieve held a hand up to stay them before she started a working. A slow shuffle of her feet as she did that stuff with her hands. Not slow like her footsteps, this was fast, as if she weaved in the air while she muttered under her breath.
Rowan continued to scan the area until Genevieve was done. No reason to get that far and then fall victim to a trap. She didn’t have the kind of magic Genevieve did, or the ability to fly like Clive. But she knew how to kick ass so she’d do what she did best and leave the rest to the experts.
“Here. Follow exactly in my footsteps,” Genevieve said at last.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The house loomed just up the hill. The whole property was well lit, which added to the challenge to stay hidden. Especially as they had to follow Genevieve so closely. Once inside though, Clive didn’t have to walk, he could jet up to the main house because the wards were a wall around the perimeter but once they were past that, he was free to go up instead of forward slowly like the rest of them.
This Vampire was a threat to everything Clive held dear, including his wife. Clive needed to take him out so that threat was gone. Eradicate him so he could no longer harm anyone or anything else.
Cement his position in the Vampire Nation while he was at it. Show his worth. Most people didn’t have a father-in-law like Clive did. He certainly wanted to impress The First as his boss, but also as Rowan’s father.
He did a reconnaissance flight. No guards posted that he could see. The wards were certainly strong enough not to need them. And if anyone did get through there were cameras everywhere and a very old warlord Vampire sorcerer inside.
Though he wanted to land, break a door down and beat Lyr to true death, he knew Rowan needed to be part of that. Knew she needed to see it and know there was an end to this campaign of terror against her protected humans.
So he headed back to the others, who were just reaching the top of the hill and the flat part of the lot where the house lay.
Genevieve said, “This has layers upon layers of warding and spell traps.” She pointed toward the house. “I can undo the traps, but the warning system is woven into the dirt. It’s pretty impressive. It would take me several hours to take apart.”
“There are no guards patrolling anywhere,” Clive said.
“Undo what you can and let’s go knock on the front door,” Rowan said. “If we can’t take him totally by surprise, we’ve gotten this far without detection and catching him off guard will shake his confidence.”
“Okay then.” Genevieve did some of her mojo and motioned forward with her hand. “We’re clear of the traps. He’ll know we’re coming once we step foot on that driveway.”
“Let’s hustle then. Give him less time to react.” Rowan checked her weapons and nodded to the others.
They ran to the front door just as it opened to reveal their enemy.
Lyr stood at nearly seven feet tall. His shoulders, equally impressively wide, darkened the doorway. His face showed surprise and then it darkened when he recognized Rowan.
Clive landed in front of her, placing himself between them and shoved, hard.
Lyr stumbled backward, nearly tripping over the threshold.
“Are we clear to go inside?” Rowan asked Genevieve, who’d been working magic furiously, tearing it open so they could move.
“Yes,” she said before leveling a glare Lyr’s way.
“How about we have a talk?” Rowan said, knowing he was never going to tell them anything. She had to try, even though she wanted to shred him to pieces.
“Talk to you? You’re unworthy. There’s nothing to say other than how much I will relish your utter destruction.”
“Okay. I figured that,” Rowan said as she pushed her way into his house.
“You dare come to my home?” Lyr bellowed, the shock in his tone like a soothing balm to Rowan’s heart.
Rowan reached out, grabbing a beautiful vase standing on a very nice cherry secretary desk and threw it down to the marble floor, sending shards of priceless porcelain all over the place.
Inside, Brigid let Rowan know she approved of that destruction.
“I fucking dare, you piece of shit,” Rowan said as she threw a shard of the vase like a throwing star that struck home, embedding itself into the side of Lyr’s face.
“You bitch,” he said, tearing the porcelain free and tossing it aside. He barreled toward Rowan, who managed to dance out of the way but she nearly tripped on the step leading down into the living room just beyond.
Before she could say anything though, he came at her, nails at the ready, but Clive hit him from the side, knocking him to the ground as they rolled over the floor, struggling.
Clive’s eyes showed bloodlust. His incisors were out as he tore into Lyr’s arm.
Lyr shouted and at first Rowan thought it was in pain, but as she was lifted up and then thrown back against the pillar near the entry, she realized it was a spell. A spell that hurt like hell as the impact reverberated down her spine.
Genevieve stood in the archway, gaze blurred, hands moving quickly as she
spit—ew—and the magic released Rowan so she could slide to the floor to regain her footing and equilibrium.
She wanted to shoot Lyr but he and Clive moved so fast as they fought she couldn’t get a shot without the possibility of hitting Clive too. And as the bullets were anti Vampire bullets with holy water reservoirs, she didn’t want to take that chance.
“The siphon spells are coming down,” Genevieve said before going back to her chant.
Rowan hoped that weakened Lyr because he was for sure giving Clive a fight.
David stood at the other end of the living room, watching. Rowan caught his attention and motioned for him to check the rest of the house. She had to bite back her desire to send him outside to wait. She needed him and had to trust that he’d remember his training and be as safe as possible.
He nodded at her, his approval and excitement clear on his features and she again sent a prayer out to the Goddess that he would be all right.
“Done,” Genevieve said in a ragged whisper. She put a hand to her forehead, clearly in pain before she pulled a pipe from her pants pocket and lit it up.
Lyr’s chanting stopped when the siphon spell tore down and he managed to get out from under Clive and to his feet as Clive did the same, ready for another round. But Lyr charged Rowan then.
She tried to dance out of the way and she nearly made it, but his fist caught her ear, making it ring as her balance went sideways.
“I guess Theo couldn’t take your fists when he took your teeth and neutered you,” she taunted, happy her voice didn’t slur. Grateful too that the last several years of her life had supercharged her enough to deal with the concussion she’d surely been given. Without Brigid and all that Vampire blood, she’d most likely have been unconscious at that point.
Clive attacked Lyr from behind as Rowan ducked under another giant fist and pulled both her knives, slicing across Lyr’s middle. She’d planned to gut him, which didn’t happen. But she did manage to get deep enough to make him howl and grab his gut for a moment.
