by Lauren Dane
The old Rowan would have told him to suck it up and stop being paranoid. But the Rowan she was then understood things from a totally different perspective. Wanted to be patient more. Wanted to listen. “What’s up?” she asked.
He frowned a moment. “Nothing. It’s just going to take getting used to having another person around so much.”
“She’s got her own shit to shovel with the witches. Right now we’re working toward the same end and her help has been pretty immeasurable.” She held up a hand to keep him from interrupting.
“Not done. She’s my friend, which is something rare enough, but she’s not fragile. She can handle herself. She’s got her own life and her own path and when we hang out I don’t feel like I have to be defensive and constantly on guard. She understands me in ways pretty much no one else can. And that means a lot. It’s helped me try to figure my own shit out.”
He sighed, losing all his energy in the face of that. Because he wanted her to be happy. Good Goddess how did she get so many sweet puppies in her life all the sudden?
“That doesn’t impact you or where you are in our organization. Not Hunter Corp. and not as the valet to the Vessel to the Goddess. You, David, are now the manager of the Hunter Corp. in the United States. You’re going to need your own assistant. We’ll need someone on duty here even when I’m traveling for work and you’re with me. You’ll always be with me on my missions from now on.”
His eyes lit as his back straightened to its usual perfect posture. “I will?”
“You and I talked about this. You’ve graduated in your service to me. You’ll be part of my work though not always at my side in combat. You’re a steady hand to keep overwatch. You’re smart enough to anticipate my needs and also whatever stupid shit the criminals we’re tracking will do. You’re invaluable to me. Not just as my valet, but as my friend. There’s room for Genevieve because she’s not taking any of your space. Okay?”
He nodded, swallowing hard but holding it together.
“Good. As you look perfectly suited for real estate, I’ll let you call and check in with the Motherhouse in London while I get changed,” Rowan told him.
She had to be extra bitchy for the next few days to counteract all the schmoopy feelings stuff she’d done of late. If she wasn’t careful people would think she’d gone soft and no one would be scared of her, and she’d have to go to a lot of effort to build up that state of reverence and fear she enjoyed after so many years as a Hunter.
Satisfied with that promise, she headed to her closet.
Chapter Seven
It was the third building they’d looked at when Star showed up. Rowan had parked the car and when she opened her door, the dog was sitting there waiting. In a place that’d been empty just moments before.
She jumped and David rushed to her side, stopping when he caught sight of Star. “Well, aren’t you unexpected?”
Star licked David’s hand on her way over to Rowan. “I get the feeling unexpected is Star’s middle name.”
Star gave a yip-howl and trotted along as if she’d been there the whole time.
The real estate agent waiting for them inside didn’t seem bothered in any way that a dog had suddenly just shown up. This was rich people business and rich people did weird shit so Rowan figured the agent just rolled with it.
The office suite that took up the fourth and fifth floors was secure. The agent said it’d been a business dealing in rare coins and jewelry so the entries were monitored with bulletproof glass. A two-step control had the person buzzing in first, being held in a smaller, easily locked down space while that visitor was verified.
At the elevator bank on the fourth floor there was a reception area and just around a corner, the internal stairs leading up to the fifth floor. Up there were two conference rooms, a common room she could easily see using for lunches and more relaxed workspace use. If she had to read some long boring tome, why not do it on a couch with her feet up and food nearby? There were also several offices including a few with executive bathrooms attached. A nice thing to have if you were out in the field and needed to clean up, or if they had visitors.
Additionally, the fifth floor held the safes where they could store all the weaponry, along with any other dangerous or valuable items.
When the real estate agent had left to let her discuss things with David, Rowan opened herself up fully. The offices and the common room had windows with views of the mountains on one side and the Strip off in the distance on the other.
Star moseyed through, sniffing her way around every office and at every door and window.
“Not as big as the Motherhouse in London but more than large enough for our needs. Enough to be a flagship but not the Titanic if you know what I mean. I don’t want to drag down our smaller chapterhouses. I want to strengthen them. I want to be a resource.”
“You have a vision,” David said.
She did. And the more she thought about it, the more she pieced together the sort of organization she thought would be of most benefit, the more she realized she could make something real and important there in the United States. And that she was part of taking Hunter Corp. into a sustainable future.
The flyer the real estate agent had provided also mentioned the option of buying or leasing the entire property, including the parking lot. Something she’d already done for the Los Angeles chapterhouse. Rowan held it up for David to read.
“The more I think about it, the more I think it’s best that we take up the whole building. This one isn’t nearly as large as the other two we looked at. Overall, it’s good square footage. Manageable. Defensible. The bottom floor has open retail space. I can think of several people who’d be great tenants for that. It’ll keep us in money—and Goddess knows we’ll need to bring money in to run this right—and we can be sure to lease to paranormals we trust. Another layer of security too.” Community, it seemed, kept making its way into her thoughts.
“Considering the need to keep secrecy the way we do, I tend to agree about owning the whole property. The security would be totally within our control that way. We can limit visitors in any manner we need to.”
“And if people need help, we’ve got a whole floor of paranormals down there who’ll know about us and be able to send their friends our way.” Rowan nodded once after taking one last look. “Let’s have the agent show us all the other floors and if they’re all good, we can start the negotiation process to buy. I’m going to call Genevieve and see if she can come over here and get a feel for the place. Star seems to be happy enough so that’s a plus too.”
* * *
Clive awoke slowly, his consciousness rising, seeking the bond he shared with Rowan to assure himself she was all right.
She was there, bright and powerful. Not in pain. Not even annoyed, which was a good start to his day. She’d left a note that she was off looking at space for her US Motherhouse but should be back right around the time he returned from going out to feed.
He made quick work of that, returning home to shower and dress so Rowan would know he was taking care of himself but the act of his feeding on someone else would be long over. It worked for them both and in truth, he was simply grateful she’d found a way to be comfortable with those aspects of his life that pushed painful buttons caused by a very messed up childhood. Generally he didn’t need to feed daily anyway. But in the wake of all the battles they’d been in recently, he needed to keep his strength at top shape. This overall war against whoever had been manipulating Lyr wasn’t over and he wanted to be ready at a moment’s notice.
And once he’d allowed himself to focus, finished with the basics he needed to take care of before Rowan’s return, he sat and let his gift take over and deal with Lyr’s memories at long last.
And by the time he was able to sit back and take a breath, he picked his phone up and texted Rowan to get home as soon as possible because they needed
to go to London.
* * *
Clive took some notes, called to relay directions to Alice, and then on his way to ask that Elisabeth prepare a meal for them, found she’d already done just that.
“Is everything all right?” Elisabeth asked as she brought a teapot, along with all the accompanying ingredients such as cream and sugar cubes, over to the table to place in front of him.
“We’ll be heading to London either tonight or tomorrow at dusk. Please prepare my things. I’ll need several suits.”
Before he could finish she made a sound and waved his words away. “We’re your staff, Scion. Betchamp and I will go with you to run the London house while you and Rowan are at work. You have clothing there, but Betchamp will pack your essentials. I’ll speak with Rowan before I do any packing for her. Perhaps David might be a better choice for that. I don’t know that she trusts me enough yet.”
He let the undignified snort go unstated. “Yes. Best to consider David the source for such things. That’s his position as well. He’s her valet and he’s very possessive over that.”
Elisabeth nodded, understanding. “Certainly.”
A bell sounded as the front gates opened. “She’s home.” He knew that in his gut, even without the alarm.
Two minutes later, Star trotted through first, then David and finally, his wife. She’d been thinking hard about something, he certainly knew that expression on her face. But when she caught sight of him, all that concentration flitted from her features, replaced by simple happiness that meant more to him than anything.
“I got your text. Who do I need to kill?”
“I’m sorry to disappoint you, darling. No killing. Not right this moment in any case. But I’m a lot more educated about what went on with Lyr. We need to get to London so I can ferret out this black market contact. This person may well lead us to whoever else within the Nation has been helping those Blood Front Vamps by leaking our confidential information.”
Rowan settled, thanking David as he poured out a cup of tea, doctoring it just how she liked it and then slid it her way.
“Have you spoken to Warren yet?”
Warren Farrelley was the Scion of Europe and as London was in his territory, Clive would need to seek his permission to run his investigation there. Warren also made a brief but utterly failed play for Rowan, which still filled Clive with annoyance.
“Not yet but I did tell Alice to start that process. I’ll speak to him about it but I’d like to get going as soon as possible.”
Rowan sipped her tea a moment. “This is my investigation too and I don’t need any permission to go to London. Nor would I seek it. Because I do what I want. Get the jet ready to go and while you’re dancing the diplomacy dance with Warren, I’ll hit the ground running. You can join me once this thing is set between you two Scions.”
He growled. Annoyed. “This is a Vampire Nation issue, Rowan.”
Her back went up and part of him roared to life, loving it when she was this way. “Nope. This stuff between you and Warren is a Vampire Nation issue. And it’s partly a Nation issue because there are Blood Front Vampires still causing grief for you. But it’s also a problem for all paranormals and the humans who live around us all not knowing we even exist. It’s a problem because one of my dearest friends was murdered, and another two right after that. They were deliberately targeted for assassination because of their connection to me. So. This is most definitely not just an issue for you all. I will go to London. I will track these fuckers down and once I have all the info I need, I will kill them so hard. That’s my plan.”
Part of him knew she’d react this way. His wife had lost people she’d failed to protect. That burned deep within her. She felt she’d failed and wouldn’t stop until this situation was done with. And Rowan didn’t do well with being told what to do.
“How about I talk to him first and then we go?”
She just looked at him for a moment before she turned to David and began to tell him what she needed packed for the trip.
Elisabeth barely hid her smile behind her hand as she deposited food on the table.
He had altogether too many women in his life who did whatever the fuck they wanted. And yet, they were all irreplaceable so he dealt with it.
“While we’re eating dinner, tell me what you remembered,” Rowan said after David left to go pack her things. “He ate a giant burrito about an hour ago,” Rowan assured Elisabeth. “He knows you keep plenty in the fridge if he finds himself hungry.”
Resigned to the fact that his wife was going to do whatever she wanted to do, Clive spoke, “I’ve got a good idea of where the contact lives. I know the neighborhood. Not too far from our house, as it happens. Lyr’s memories were very vivid when it came to this person and the exchange. He often bought the spells there that he needed for all the siphons and traps.”
“Did you see who it was all for?” Rowan asked as she peppered her potatoes with hot sauce. Clive withheld a wince.
“No. He didn’t have direct contact with whoever or whatever is at the top. The spells were what sent the power to the being in charge, but while Lyr had memories of feelings about that being—loyalty, a lot of fear, passion for his own actions in service to that power—there were none that I could parse where he met it face-to-face.”
Rowan asked, “I wonder if it was wiped? I mean if this is all to give more power to some being at the very top, wouldn’t he have met that person? Lyr wasn’t some low-level drone. He was fully charged, badass and crackling with magic. That was the result of hundreds of years and a super powerful Maker. He had to have at the very least had some contact with the boss.”
“Perhaps. If it was a wipe, whoever did it was a master because there are usually traces or indications that something has been tampered with.”
“We’ll find out soon enough. Once we run that contact to ground and question him, we’ll hopefully have more answers.”
His phone rang and the tone identified Alice so he excused himself to answer.
* * *
Several hours later they were on the tarmac approaching the private jet that would take them to London. Once upon a time his trips back to England were solitary. He’d arrive at his house in London where Elisabeth and Betchamp lived but he still was alone.
It had certainly been quicker and easier to take an impromptu trip when he was solitary. But he found this reality, where he and his wife traveled with an entourage who were there to make their trip easier and better, to be far more preferable.
She preceded him up the stairs to the plane—and he did like that view as much then as he did the first time he saw it. Inside, Betchamp had already disappeared to confer with the pilots but David had set out a throw on the arm of the reclining seat she preferred when they flew. Her laptop was on the other side, on the table where a glass of water waited alongside fresh fruit.
Star lay in her dog bed that’d been transferred from the house. At Rowan’s side. Out of the way but still within sight of any action she might have to take.
It’d be a while before he admitted it to Rowan, but Star had grown on him in the short time she’d been in their home. The dog had the spirit of a warrior. She would protect Rowan because there was already affection and responsibility between them.
Bloodwine rested in a decanter near his favored place as well. He’d enjoy a glass after he finished his work. Coax Rowan into putting aside her own work to spend time tucked into his side as they read or watched a movie. As they flew east, the sun would rise and he’d rest. It would be dark once they landed, which meant he could keep an eye on his wife before she headed out to do things on her own as well.
He motioned for her to take her seat. “Buckle up.” Now that they’d made the decision to travel to London while he and Warren were still working out the final details of just what, how and for exactly how long he’d be working in Europe, Clive want
ed to just be in the air and moving toward the target.
“Calm your butt,” she said as she got her seat belt on. “We can’t leave until they get the all clear and when that happens, Betchamp will come back into the cabin.”
“Calm my butt?” he asked, outraged and yet amused. “My butt is just fine, thank you. We can’t take off if you aren’t belted in and you’re notorious for refusing to comply with rules.”
“Yes, calm your butt. It’s not about my seat belt. It’s about your control freak ways. You can’t fold space-time just yet and it offends you on some basic level.” Rowan rolled her eyes. “In other words, handle your own shit and let the rest of us get along with ours. It’s not the first time we’ve been on a plane.”
He ignored her as he got himself seated. Responding to her then would only embolden her. Especially because she was right.
They took off shortly after that—once Betchamp had come back into the cabin to announce takeoff as Rowan had said he would—and the moment they achieved altitude he got in touch with Warren.
Chapter Eight
Rowan kept an eye on Clive. He was more disagreeable than usual. She figured he’d be a little more relaxed since he’d finally recovered Lyr’s memories but it seemed that he was driven to go and do right then.
And as an entire ocean and most of the United States was between them and their next target, it wasn’t possible.
While Clive and Warren had an endless series of conversations about protocol and process, she dashed off several emails to Susan, letting her know Rowan was on her way to London and might lean on Hunter Corp. resources for some work. She also let the real estate agent know she wanted to make an offer on the third property they saw that afternoon. Purchasing the entire building would solve several problems and it gave her enough space to have layers upon layers of security.
