by Lauren Dane
“Nothing is easy.”
Her mother’s laugh soothed the jagged edges in her belly. “Nothing worth having is easy.”
“It’d be nice if things could be easy just every once in a while. I promise I wouldn’t complain.”
“Yours isn’t an easy path. I’m sorry for that. I wish your father and I could have given you a life full of love and without all this struggle. But that isn’t to be. So I hold on to what I have and these moments in time where I can speak to you and tell you I love you and I believe in you.”
Okay. Well, that was worth it. Worth all the difficult stuff life tossed her way because she did have a mother. Even if it was fleeting.
Her mother faded, replaced by Brigid. A double header was a portent of big things to come.
“It is indeed a portent of big things to come,” Brigid said. “The old powers are restless because of this Faerie. This is why Carl has been to see you twice in such a short period of time. They want to help you defeat our enemy.”
“If they did, just saying things clearly and plainly would be a start. If I have to spend all my time trying to figure out what I’ve been told, I can’t use what I’ve been told. So what’s the point in that?”
“I know you’re frustrated. These are trying times and you, as usual, are here doing the hard work of keeping balance. And as much as you’re going to hate this next part, there are rules as to what a sage can say and how that sage can say it. If Carl doesn’t obey them, he won’t be able to communicate with you and no one wins. He’s on your side. I promise.”
“I know he is. Mostly. It’s just I’m not that good at figuring this stuff out.”
Brigid laughed. “My sweet Vessel, you’re amazing at it. You’re just a little over thirty human years old and look at your life. The friends and allies you’ve managed to surround yourself with are all you need to take this Fae out. I will be there with you, as always. But as a bit of advice I want to tell you the Fae cannot lie, but they are masters at twisting the truth. And they’re masters at manipulating humans with those twisted truths to get what they want. You know your truth. Let that be unwavering. I believe in you.”
It should have seemed odd to hear the Goddess say She believed in Rowan when it was the other way around. But it felt absolutely like the thing she needed to hear most.
* * *
She was home by two thirty and decided to sleep, needing, very much, to rest and let everything she’d learned and heard settle deep when her waking brain wasn’t trying to argue with everything.
Star had been sleeping in the bed in a corner of the living room but when Rowan came through, she perked up with a sleepy yip before stretching and then trotting over, touching her nose to Rowan’s hand in greeting.
“Hi, yourself. Do you need to go outside?”
Star trotted toward the back doors so Rowan figured that was a yes and headed along to let her out.
As hot as it was during the day, the night, especially this deep into it, had begun cooling off so she was glad Star did her thing quickly before coming back to Rowan’s side.
Yawning, with a dog at her side, Rowan headed to her room and flopped onto her bed, only meaning to take a moment.
* * *
And ended up taking nine solid hours. No one woke her up but at some point, her shoes had been removed and a blanket had been put over her. Clive, she figured as she rolled over and saw the note he’d left on her pillow.
Didn’t want to interrupt what I am certain is well deserved rest. Sleep well. I’ll see you later today after sunset. I adore you. C
She blushed. Still not used to the way he so easily said such things to her and about her. It was nice. Made her feel special.
She followed the scent of food and found her dog being spoiled by David as he tossed pieces of bacon Star’s way.
“She’s going to need cholesterol medication if you’re not careful,” Rowan said as she moved to pour herself a cup of coffee. If she waited to be served she’d be getting tea from Elisabeth. And while she liked tea a lot, she needed coffee first thing when she woke up.
But fortunately, Elisabeth knew that and had a pot of coffee ready for her. As well as a plate of breakfast, wrapped and ready to be eaten.
“Elisabeth is an angel,” Rowan murmured.
“She ran out to grocery shop. Should be back within the hour. Said to let Betchamp know if you needed anything before that,” David said.
“I think I can manage eating until she gets back. Not that I don’t appreciate all the effort she makes to smooth my life out like having food, really good food, available at all times.” She shot a quick look and grin at David. “Of course I always appreciated it when you made me food as well.”
He appeared mollified by that so she went on. “Anything exciting happen while I was sleeping?”
“It’s been quiet so far. Vanessa and I had a meeting. She’s got a lot of research about the Fae so I went through it all and created some bullet points so you don’t need to pore over hundreds of pages.”
“Thank you. That’s very helpful indeed.”
“I’m always pleased to be of service. You know that.”
She did. And it seemed to really make him happy to help her. Rowan realized she needed to let him do things like that more often. He was good at his job and she trusted his judgment so she needed to give him some more responsibility in that area. Especially if they were moving in a new direction with these teams.
After they managed to kill a nearly unkillable Faerie, of course.
She looked through the research while she ate her breakfast. As much as she loved Star, Rowan also loved bacon and since David already shared his, Rowan piled hers on the fresh bread and made a sandwich.
“I think I have some iron weapons somewhere. We’ll have to check the weapons locker,” she muttered.
“I took the liberty of reaching out to some local sources. We should be expecting a delivery later today.”
Rowan sighed. “I don’t like it when my blade won’t work.”
“It’ll work. Just not as well as an iron weapon will. They don’t have a lot of weaknesses, but an iron tipped blade to the heart should do it. Then you’re supposed to take his head.”
“Do any of the people writing these tips know how hard it is to behead someone? Takes a lot of upper body strength.” Rowan was glad she’d been working on that. Lifting weights to keep herself in the kind of shape necessary to hack the heads off Faeries, apparently.
“Probably not,” David said without a hint of the smile she knew was in there somewhere. “But you’ll be with a Vampire. He’s got the power necessary for such a feat. Doesn’t even need a blade.”
Clive was rather delightfully brutal and strong when he needed to be.
“It’s a shame there aren’t any spells that can just explode them or something.”
“Perhaps you can bring it up to Genevieve and she can get right on it.”
Rowan smirked at him. “Don’t think I’m unaware you’re joking. However, I just might because it would be a very helpful thing to have at the next battle.”
“Certainly,” he said, the smile breaking out at the edges of his mouth until she started to laugh.
“You could have gotten a totally different Hunter to work with and you got me. I’m sorry.”
He laughed with her. “I wouldn’t want to be with anyone else. Not then. Not now. You have better food, I bet, and also the living conditions are very nice indeed. Plus, it looks like the pool is finished and I probably wouldn’t have that if I was still in London.”
“True. But you would have access to really fantastic fish and chips. Well, the fish part. You and I both know my opinions on mushy, floppy french fries. Oh and mushy peas, which sounds so awful but is really quite good.”
“All the chip shops near your place in London know to make your chips
extra crispy,” David told her.
“There is that. And I don’t think it’s from fear either.”
“It’s the tips, I believe,” David said.
“Whatever gets me crispy fries instead of floppy ones. I’ll still take the malt vinegar over catsup.”
“You’re not entirely full of terrible preferences,” he said, making her laugh anew.
This was the calm before the battle to come so she took it. Made use of it. Because later that day she’d be fighting for her life and the lives of everyone she cared about.
“Any word from Genevieve today?” she asked David.
“She texted Vanessa earlier with some more information and said she was working on her version of the siphon spell and to leave her alone until she was ready to deal with people.”
“I love that woman more each day,” Rowan said.
Elisabeth came in, her arms full of groceries, so Rowan and David moved to help her, despite her protests that she was just fine to do it herself.
Betchamp joined them as well, making very short work of the unloading. Rowan waved to the human guard manning the gates to the front of the house and he waved back.
This was her life. A big house with a pool in the suburbs with her husband, their household staff and her fur daughter and pseudo son.
A pang hit her gut as she wished so much that Carey was there to share this with them. He’d joke and poke fun about how she was going all middle class, but he’d have loved the pool and Star. He’d have loved lots of things if he’d had the chance.
Somehow all the good things were even better and yet utterly worse without Carey. He’d have told her to suck it up and live her best life on his behalf. And she’d have told him life wouldn’t have been the same without him.
And she’d have been right. He was such an important part of her life. Such a big personality. Goddess, she missed him so much.
Star came over, leaning against her leg, letting her know she wasn’t alone.
“Carl actually referred to you as his dog last night,” Rowan told Star as she knelt to get face-to-face. “I corrected him right away. But I also told him he was welcome to come visit you any time he liked. He’s a weirdo, but he certainly seems to like you. And me too. So.”
Star seemed to like that, giving Rowan a lopsided grin, her tongue lolling out the side of her mouth.
“I was thinking you should stay home tonight when we go to take this Faerie bastard down. What do you say?”
Star snorted, getting gross dog snot on Rowan’s arm. “Ew!”
“I think that’s a no from Star on staying home,” David said.
“She could have said it without the snot.”
“But you’ll listen better with the snot,” he told her. Being utterly right. Ugh.
“Fine. But if I tell you to stay in the car or to get back, you have to obey me,” Rowan told Star.
Star didn’t sneeze this time; she licked Rowan’s nose instead.
“Is that your way of agreeing or of saying you’ll do what you want like the rest of the people surrounding me?”
Star grinned again, licked Rowan’s nose again and then scampered off to go bark at birds.
“She told you,” Elisabeth said, sounding very pleased with herself.
“Good thing there aren’t nearby neighbors to hear her tell everyone with all the barking. The birds are fucking with her but I think she loves it anyway. I can’t tell.”
Elisabeth patted her shoulder. “She’ll let you know if she needs you to.”
Bossy. The whole lot of them were bossy as fuck.
Rowan took them in, Elisabeth and Betchamp dealing with some stuff in their front yard area. David on his phone dealing with something or other and Star at the fence line, running and barking at birds like there was nothing she’d rather be doing.
What a lucky person she was. Despite the losses. Despite the pain. These people were her family.
* * *
Clive woke up just before the sun dipped below the horizon. He reached out with the bond and found Rowan, bright and steady. She was home, which he rather liked. Especially as that meant she hadn’t gone out to deal with the Faerie without him.
He was just stepping out of the bathroom, freshly showered, when Rowan came into his bedchamber.
“Good evening,” she said with a smile before kissing him. “Sorry I was asleep when you got home. Thanks for the note.”
“It was nearly dawn when I got back anyway so I saw you, covered you up, wrote a note and went to sleep myself. You look well so I take it sleep was necessary and restful?”
She nodded. “I went to the ranch last night.”
He understood then. She’d seen her mother, or her Goddess, and that always seemed to tire her.
“It was a good visit?” He fervently hoped so.
“Yes, it was. I was a little at loose ends. A visit to the shrine usually helps even me out and get me back on track. It did last night, for sure. Are you rested and ready for tonight?”
He took her into his arms. “Rested yes. Ready? Well, ready as one can be when going up against an enemy he knows little about.”
“I can help with some of that. David put together a guide to Faeries for dummies or whatever you want to call it. It’s got bullet points and not one but two Venn diagrams. A lot of the information he’s distilled is very useful.”
“Okay, good. I...” He hesitated. He needed to go feed. Normally he only had to every few days but if they were going to battle in a few hours, he needed to have as much power as possible.
“That’s the other thing I can help with. You should feed from me.”
He blew out a shaky breath. “It’s not necessary. I can feed from a donor.” He knew the reasons why she’d made a vow to never let a Vampire feed from her again once she escaped the Keep at sixteen.
He knew what it meant every time she let him take a sip of her supercharged blood. He’d take her up on a genuine offer, but never one she thought she had to make for someone else’s sake. Even his own.
She brushed the hair back from her neck, tucking it at her back and tipped her head. Offering herself to him openly and freely.
He didn’t need to take very much. Especially because her blood was so rich in magic and power. It wouldn’t weaken her physically. He just wanted to guard her heart.
“I know you’re trying to talk yourself into all the reasons you shouldn’t,” Rowan said softly. “But I’m giving you the best reason to do it and that’s me offering my blood to you freely. Take it. I want you to.”
It was the last bit that dug in so deep he could do nothing but step closer to her and wrap his arms around her as he breathed her in.
Brushing his lips over her shoulder and then up her neck, he nipped her ear. “I love you, Rowan.”
Her sigh was satisfied. Pleased.
The sound was a gift. Like everything else she gave to him every single day.
He drew his aching incisors over the fat carotid on her neck, just breaking through the skin.
Her blood, thick and rich and full of the power of a goddess and all the Ancient Vampires who’d given her blood to save her life, rolled over his tongue and into his system, all but knocking him flat as he held on tight.
Her moan of pleasure was enough to bring his feed to an end. He’d taken a sip. More than enough for his purposes that evening. More than enough to strengthen their already brilliant, adamantine bond.
He drew the flat of his tongue over the wound, closing it, before pressing a kiss there.
She placed both her hands on his cheeks and drew him to her mouth. He feasted then, loving her taste, loving that she was his.
When they broke apart a few minutes later, his system hummed with power and their connection was bright and strong. He also had an erection and wanted nothing more than to dump he
r on the bed and fuck her until they both came.
Which wasn’t possible at that point because the phone in her back pocket had buzzed enough times he knew they were being called for something that needed attention right then.
“Give me a moment and I’ll join you out there,” he murmured against her mouth.
She growled. “We can ignore it.”
That made him laugh. “Your friends are as obnoxious as you are. If you ignore them too long, there’ll be a pounding on the door. There’s time for this later.” He placed her hand over his cock and groaned as she squeezed gently.
Her phone pinged again and she snarled a series of very bad words in various languages.
“Assholes. They’re all assholes,” she said as she headed for the door.
* * *
Horny as fuck and frustrated that she had no opportunity to go ahead and fix that, Rowan headed to the living room, reading all the texts that’d come in over the last few minutes.
David shot a look to Genevieve, as if to tell Rowan he had nothing to do with all the texts.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” Genevieve said.
“Well, you did and you know it so stop smirking.” Rowan looked at the big wooden crate next to one of the couches. “What’s that?”
“Iron edged weapons and some iron bullets for your handgun,” David explained. “They just arrived.”
Ooh! Rowan rushed over to look like a kid on her birthday.
She wasn’t a super big fan of handguns, but they were another important tool when she went on a hunt. And they were easier to use when she wanted to stay out of grabbing range. Her blade meant she had to get a lot closer to her target and sometimes that was a bad idea.
Rowan began to load magazines with the ammo.
“Genevieve, are we ready?” she asked.
“Yes. I think so anyway. I’ve got a map that’s keyed to the spell so we should be able to get a lock on location. We’ll still have to drive there though, so we’ll need to see what that’ll entail. If we have Vampires with us, we’ll need to think about daylight as a potential issue.”
