by Lauren Dane
“Vampires are incredibly annoying. Yours is tolerable. He dresses well and treats you the way you should be so I haven’t been that tempted to turn him into something with a lifespan of a few hours. As for the Devils though, I’ve only heard about them. Learned about them from my teachers. They’re rather fascinating so I was disappointed I didn’t even get to talk to one while in London with you.” Genevieve peppered her with one question after another. She was clearly interested in learning something new and being introduced to another kind of magical creature and that excitement was contagious, even though Rowan knew the Devils were scary as hell.
“I like it better when you’re chill,” Rowan muttered.
“I’m always chill. Until I’m not.” Genevieve laughed a moment.
Rowan had to admit that was one of Genevieve’s most likable qualities. “Okay. I’ll give you that. They’re old magic. Old and powerful enough that everyone else leaves them alone. They might know something about old magic and spells like at my apartment. They keep a very close eye on the area. Who and what enters their territory. That’s sometimes very useful if they feel like sharing.”
Genevieve waved a hand. “Then it’s even more imperative I be with you. I’m the one who can see the working. I’m also an old magical being so I daresay I’ll be better at communicating with beings that old.”
“They’re cantankerous and unhinged on the best of days,” Rowan warned.
“Ha! You’re cantankerous too. As for the Devils? They’re chaos demigods, actually. A very small percentage have magical gifts. Every one of those is said to be nuclear bomb level powerful. I don’t know if this is precisely true, though it makes a better story. But I do know they wield a lot of power and a lot of magic.” Genevieve paused. “That’s her house there?” She pointed.
“Damn it!” Rowan slammed a palm against the steering wheel as she pulled to the curb a few blocks away from the charred remains of what used to be the funky mid century three bedroom Thena and Martin had shared.
She punched David’s number in and didn’t wait for his hello. “I thought you said we had someone on Thena and Martin’s place.”
“I did. We do. What’s happening?”
Rowan gripped the wheel tight for long moments. Pressing her nails into her palms as she attempted to process everything.
“Their house has burned down. We’re here and the fire truck is just wrapping up, that’s how recent it was.”
David cursed, a rarity, and she heard keystrokes and murmured questions as he tracked down all the information he could.
“First call to 9-1-1 was an hour ago.”
“An hour? That’s not right. I’m telling you, there’s nothing left but ashes.” The kind of destruction that takes more than an hour in the absence of extremes like perhaps accelerants. Or magic.
Genevieve got out, waving Rowan’s concerns off. She moved to the opposite corner where a crowd of people stood behind the safety cordon.
“Fast moving,” he added, apparently reading something. “They suspect arson already because of how hot and how fast it burned. Two bodies in the rubble but it’s still too hot to retrieve them.”
“You think that second body is one of ours? Whoever we had watching the house?” They both knew one of the bodies was Martin.
“Slidell. He checks in every four hours. Not due for another forty-five minutes. He’s never late. Once he missed a check-in, I’d have made an attempt at contact immediately. They were watching. Got his patterns. Knew they’d have time before we noticed anything.”
Rowan blew out a breath. “Looks like it. Now the cops are going to get involved.” Homicide with the bodies inside, so there was a high possibility she’d bump into Jack, an old friend turned bitter enemy.
“If it comes to that, let me deal with Detective Elroy.”
She harrumphed. Jack wasn’t easy to avoid if he didn’t want to be avoided.
“I have a source at the police department. I’ll get in contact. See if we can go around Jack altogether.” She could hope.
Rowan hung up and tucked her phone away.
Once the authorities pulled the bodies out, they’d be able to tell if one of them wasn’t female. Then Rowan would have to intervene to keep the humans from finding out about the existence of paranormals. It was one of the responsibilities of a Hunter and part of the complicated series of covenants and treaties that governed paranormal communities.
Some people got to go to Fiji on their honeymoon. Uninterrupted time for sex and thinking about sex and recovering from sex. Probably good food and drink. But Rowan got three murdered friends and having to interact with Jack.
Fucking swell.
Genevieve got back into the car. “The origin of that fire is magical. I suspect when they’re able to reach the bodies, simply touching them will reduce them to ash. No bones. Nothing that will supply recognizable DNA. That’s how hot it burns.”
“Some accelerants can work that fast. I mean, sort of in the neighborhood. Close enough that if they get an answer, they’ll hopefully let it go.” Humans liked to see what they wanted. As much as they were fascinated with the paranormal when it came to entertainment, they weren’t ready for the reality of what it meant that they shared space on the planet with all kinds of big bad scary stuff.
As they drove away, Genevieve said, “I helped with that. I cast a spell as I spoke to the humans in charge at the scene. They’re all going with arson. Mistaken identity as they’ll find Martin and Thena to be just as upstanding as they appear to be on paper.”
“Wow, that’s a really awesome spell. Thank you. Of course it means the sorcerers were involved and smart enough to get the drop on the guy we had keeping an eye on the house. And powerful enough to work magic like that.”
“There is that, yes. But I can tell you I’m convinced it’s the same group as was in your apartment.”
Chapter Eight
“So, I know you’re busy and everything. Takes a Scion to run a nest of Vampires so they don’t go killing the humans and all. I just wanted to stop by to say hello and let you know what was up.”
Clive merely raised a brow at his wife before motioning her and Genevieve into the large lounge space just outside his office. He let a rush of relief flow through their bond so she understood he was pleased to see her.
“We’ll have tea. You can tell me then. Hello, Genevieve.”
The witch nodded at him before sitting and lighting a joint.
Rowan’s look his way told him it was useless to say anything about the smell.
As tea was brought in, along with biscuits and other snacks, he gave in to his need and took her hand, kissing her knuckles before letting it go.
She frowned but he didn’t miss her blush. “We were on the way to deal with the Devils. Figured I’d come in instead of text you. You’d only nag at me anyway.”
He nudged the plate of brownies her way, pleased to see her shove two in her mouth around sharing bits and pieces of what they’d seen that night, including the house fire. Somehow she managed to appear fiercely focused instead of a mess.
He frowned at the mention of the cop. He hated the human’s guts. Jack had hurt Rowan at a time when all she’d wanted to do was help him. Had helped him and his stupid human junkie wife. The man had taken Rowan’s friendship and trust and he’d spit in her face.
Clive had a long memory. And the way Jack Elroy had made Clive’s wife’s heart break would never be something he let go.
“I can’t believe I didn’t feel anything in the elevator or the lobby just outside my front door. There was so much magic there. Once she started to undo everything, I could see it,” Rowan told him.
“Did you feel like something was wrong? Like perhaps the apartment was ruined, or so tainted with what had happened it wasn’t safe or wise to live there anymore?” Genevieve asked as smoke wreathed around he
r head.
Rowan nodded. “Yes. But one of my friends was murdered there. I’m not sure I could untangle that from whatever magic stuff is there. I don’t know if I’d feel the same otherwise.”
Before Clive could figure out a way to reassure her and preemptively avoid the guilt she felt at not being able to do everything, Genevieve spoke.
“You’re sensitive to magic. You’re just not trained to use it. Not trained to see it as well as I can. It took centuries of education to get me to this point. You’re a baby. Give yourself a break. Despite all that, you had a feeling and you went with it. Trusted it. That’s important. There were traps that could have hurt you. Siphoned your power slowly as you slept. After looking over Thena’s body, I’m convinced that’s what was done to her before they finally killed her.”
Clive’s incisors descended as rage settled into his bones. Again. Again these fucking mages hurt his woman. It would not be tolerated.
“Cool your jets, sporto,” Rowan murmured and he snarled.
“If the constant attempts on your life could at least go down to a trickle instead of a rushing waterfall I’d consider cooling my jets, as you say.”
She frowned his way. “I don’t know why you make it sound as if I enjoy it when things try to kill me. I don’t. I promise. It hurts and I end up with yet more Vampire blood in me. Anyway, we’re off to see the Devils and afterward, I’ll meet you back here and let you drive me home.”
And then she could have sex and let go of all this pent up emotion. There was a lot of it churning in her gut. Burning. Even though Genevieve had shielded Rowan by not allowing her in the room when she examined Thena’s body, it wasn’t as if Rowan didn’t know what happened.
Clive gave her a careful look. “When you’re this agreeable, it usually means you’ll come back to me with broken bones. Why don’t we switch things up and you come back to me unharmed instead?”
“I’m going to the ladies’. You two should kiss while I’m gone.” Genevieve disappeared into the adjoining toilet, closing the door behind herself.
“She does have good suggestions, right?” Rowan moved to sit closer, angling her body to steal a kiss. But he caught her around the waist, holding her as he slowed that quick kiss into a sensual taste of her mouth.
A mouth no one else got to taste but him.
When he pulled back, he took delight in the way her eyes had glossed over.
His smug pleasure wisped away when he remembered what she was off to do. “I hate that you’re going out there to the Devils.”
She shrugged. “No avoiding it. They’re a potential source and as we’re dealing with apparently super old magic, we need them. Plus if I’m out there hunting, I’m on their land and I need to seek their leave. The last thing we need is to offend them. I have enough enemies as it is.”
“I’ll be with her,” Genevieve said as she came back into the room.
“I’m not sure that should comfort me,” Clive told her.
She laughed. “Rowan would get into trouble with or without me. If I’m there, she’s got power at her back.”
“All right, that I can agree with. Kill whatever gets in your way, Rowan. I care little for anything else.”
Rowan smiled, just for him. “You’re good with words, Scion.”
“I try. I’ll be expecting you back here within a few hours. I want some time with you later.” He escorted them both to the elevator.
Genevieve’s phone rang and when she looked at the screen she rolled her eyes. “I must take this.”
She answered in French and began a back-and-forth for long moments until she turned to Rowan. “This will take a while. Is there a place I can use? Private?”
Once Alice showed the witch to a spare office, Clive drew Rowan back into his arms.
“As you’re going to be here a while waiting for Genevieve, do you wish to speak to China or Seth? They were both part of the team sent to your apartment and Thena’s house.”
If he were there, they’d take her questioning better. She’d killed his predecessor and Clive had come in and done some more killing to clean a house that had been full of traitors and greedy thieves.
Though she was justified in killing him, they still resented her. And feared her as well.
Clive had employed China for over a century by that point. He trusted her, though he couldn’t deny how much she hated Rowan and humans in general. Seth had been a more recent addition to his security team, joining just after the Second World War ended, but he was also someone Clive trusted.
Should he find that either had betrayed him, he’d let Rowan have them.
“I do want to speak to them. But not with you around.”
He frowned in her direction. “I really think you’ll find it helpful if I’m present.”
She shrugged. “For you maybe. For them probably. For me? Not so much.”
“Do you think I’d hide things from you?”
She snorted. “I know you would. I know you have so get that look off your face. You’ve hidden plenty from me since the moment we met. It’s your job. I understand that. And this is my job. And if your people, any of them, had anything to do with this I will handle it. I don’t need your permission for it. I don’t need you to hold their hands either.”
“This is my city. You most assuredly need my permission to question my Vampires,” he shot back.
She flipped him off. Utterly unconcerned with his power in that way.
“It was my city first. And as the Hunter, I can and I will question whomever the fuck I please when it comes to my investigation. And if you have a problem with it, you can take it up with the Hunter Corporation and the Treaty you signed.”
He pinched the bridge of his nose, willing patience. She had to argue everything, even when she didn’t need to.
“You’re exhausting.”
“That’s neither here nor there, Scion. You knew what I was from the first moment you met me and thought you’d be able to control me. I appreciate your sending your Vampires to help. I appreciate their assistance, especially as I wasn’t even on the same continent. I don’t appreciate the sloppiness they employed and I need to know if it was laziness or purpose. And if you’re there it complicates things. If you’re there, it waters down my authority. I don’t need it. I don’t want it.”
He stifled a sigh because she was correct. “You may question them here in the conference room.”
Rowan stood. “All right. I’m heading in now so you can send them in. One at a time, please.”
“That was dangerously close to an order.”
Her pupils flared and she curled her lip a moment. Hands braced at her hips, she was every inch the magnificent Valkyrie who’d stolen his very soul. Angry. Her Goddess practically throbbing with power all around Rowan like an aura.
This woman was who’d find the traitors.
“Don’t get pissy with me, Clive. This is my investigation. I even said please. But I’m not asking as your wife. I’m telling you as a Hunter that I need to interview two of your people as it pertains to a murder case and the disappearance of two other humans. I’m not going to stake anyone. Probably. But it’s not optional.”
He gave her his best haughty expression, delighting in the way her scent changed just slightly.
Foreplay.
She narrowed her gaze at him. “Are you playing me for kicks?”
He laughed then. “I’d never do any such thing, Hunter. I’ll have Alice bring that coffee you love so much into the conference room shortly. No killing of my staff. I’ll be quite angry. It takes decades to get people trained right. I’ve had China over a century and Seth for sixty years. They know my quirks.”
“You have a lot of them. On account of the British Vampire thing.”
“I notice you not commenting on the not killing part.”
“I already
said I wouldn’t. Probably. It’s not like you just met me yesterday or anything.”
Their rhythm clicked back into place and he breathed easy for the first time since before Carey had been killed.
* * *
Rowan made herself comfortable in the conference room adjacent to his office.
She didn’t like China, but Rowan felt fairly certain she wasn’t the leak. Clive’s lieutenant might hate Rowan, but Rowan had seen her loyalty to Clive over and over. The female Vampire would give her life for her Scion, which was as it should be.
That didn’t mean Rowan couldn’t be wrong. It happened. Sometimes.
China came in first, being the more senior member of Clive’s security detail. That night she looked less like the caricature she often presented and more like a woman at work at a law firm instead of a multinational corporation run by and for Vampires.
Her emotions were locked down nearly as well as Clive could manage. Rowan’s esteem of her rose a little more.
She tipped her chin at Rowan before tossing a file across the table. “That’s our file on the attack on your servant at your apartment and the investigation at your friend’s home.”
“Thank you.” Rowan looked through the notes, quickly the first time and then more slowly the next. She had prepared versions of both, but what China had presented her with was more detailed.
She tapped her pen on the stack of photographs. “Didn’t expect to see these.” Old Vampires often viewed a lot of modern technology and methodology with skepticism that varied from mild to medieval.
The information in the file was organized a great deal like she and her team worked, similar even to what a lot of police departments used.
There wasn’t much information on the magical aspect of the break-in and murder at her apartment. Just a note that it had been used. The story hadn’t changed though and their basic timeline matched hers.
“Aside from your notes, was there anything that struck you as particularly out of place at the scene? Did something feel wrong?” Rowan asked.