by Lauren Dane
He smiled, thinking of her as she’d agreed she was his. Dark ages warrior or not, Warren couldn’t handle Rowan. Clive barely could but it was a glorious, frightening, vexing, exhilarating thing to belong to a being like that.
“This is my territory. It makes sense that it be my assistant.”
“Pardon? I stopped paying attention to this conversation some time ago.”
“I’m rightly calling attention to you getting special favors because you’re seeing Rowan.”
Clive gave him a steady look. “Seeing is a human word. A watery, weak term for what is true. Rowan is my woman. But I don’t need my cock to get special favors. Alice is more than qualified for the job. She knows Rowan already, which is a plus. She’s worked with Rowan’s valet, which is also a plus.”
“But it leaves me being the one person on the team without a backup. Which is damned convenient.”
Clive stared at the Vampire for long moments. Normally things were not like this between him and Warren. They got along well enough and generally found themselves on the same side of issues and had developed a working relationship and tended to team up during negotiations and the like.
Both were loyal to The First. And always made up two of the opponents to any crazy notions about not renewing the treaty and the like.
But this was different because it was two Scions at odds over the presence of another, powerful predator tossed into the mix. Warren, seeing a powerful, desirable female with excellent connections, was doing what a Vampire of his age and class did. He wanted to make her his.
Which was of course impossible as Rowan was already taken.
While Rowan recovered, she and Clive had spent a great deal of time with one another. They’d grown comfortable, their intimacy sharpening, deepening. She let him in. Not all the time. He wasn’t sure she’d ever be totally open with anyone.
She gifted him with glimpses. Sometimes nearly shy moments when tenderness rushed through him for her. Sometimes resentfully with her brows drawn together and a frown on her lips. He accepted like the gifts they were, no matter how they came to him.
He’d wondered how they’d do once they’d returned to Las Vegas and real life intruded again. They’d worked, yes, but spent those four or five hours before sunrise together every day. She let him be part of her life and though she was hesitant about his world, he knew she made an effort because of him.
So, the other Scion could just piss right off because Rowan Summerwaite was taken.
He gave one last look at Warren. “You’re right. It’s a conspiracy of massive proportions. Do go ahead and bring up your concerns with Rowan.”
Warren shuddered a moment, and pride roared through Clive at the sight. So ferocious she scared ancients and she, barely into her thirties.
“Either way I win. You see if you agitate her, she’ll only come to me and want to work off her anger. I’m sure you can imagine how that goes. She comes to me either way. I’m sure you understand that. I’ll see you shortly.” Clive turned at the short hallway leading to the office space he knew Alice was using.
Alice had been wrapping up a call when he walked in and once she rang off she looked to him. “Is everything all right?”
He staved off a growl. That reference to sex with Rowan had been more vulgar than he normally would have liked. And yet, it was a point that needed to be underlined.
“Not at all. But in this particular case I’m here to let you know you’ll be accompanying us on this hunt. You’ll serve as backup to me, Recht and Warren. David will also be coming along.”
Alice’s concern changed to delight. “Good. I’ll coordinate with Warren’s assistant. I must admit I’m not sure how I can best serve Recht, but we can work that out.” She turned her attention back to him after she’d jotted some notes down. “Would you like to tell me about your meeting with the other Scions?”
He and Warren had decided it was best to be businesslike about The First’s state.
It had been Rowan then who’d brought him back from the brink the last time and rumor had it he’d left her nearly dead as a result.
That kept the Vampires scared of both father and daughter and, as far as Clive was concerned, that was a good thing. Fear and power were tradable goods to Vampires. Rowan had plenty of both. Enough to keep the Nation off her back when she sought to kill an ancient.
Clive set that aside. “Rowan already put some failsafes in place. The staffing here has shifted according to protocol. I spoke with The First earlier today and he was in good spirits.” Though there was madness in his eyes, at the edges, and it left Clive unsettled.
And very glad to be leaving and taking all the people he needed to protect far away from this Keep.
“I’m heading back now. We’ll be down in the main conference room if you need anything.”
She stood. “I’m coming along. If I’m to be part of this I should understand it better.”
“Good idea.” And it would irritate Warren, which was an added bonus.
Chapter Eight
Rowan poured Theo’s tea, listening to Chopin as it played through speakers in the background.
“You do know how I love Chopin. A long time ago I met him. Have I ever told you that?”
She turned the handle of the cup as he preferred and then put a few cookies on a plate she placed next to his tea.
He had told her the story. A long time ago when she played piano. She’d been learning but not fast enough for him.
“Ah. I did tell you. You were eight. Learning to play piano. You were awful at it. I felt your discipline was lacking. I was unkind. I wanted to push you into using all that drive you see.” His vision sharpened as she sipped her tea. “There is much I regret.”
She blinked back tears at this unexpected apology. There was too much to wade through as it was. All this emotion overwhelmed her.
Still, she knew a few things for sure. “It’s too late for regret. For any of us. We need to go forward. You’ve been alive a very long time. So long I know it’s easy to let go and listen to the music in your head and tune out all the filters and rules you normally hold yourself to. You’re so rarely free. I imagine that’s difficult.”
He was so powerful and always had to be under control. The farther away she got from her childhood, the more she could see. The more she was beginning to understand about Theo.
“But you can’t let go, Vater. I need you to hold on and get yourself back under control. Like you wanted me to use my drive back when I was eight? I want you to use your control. Your Vampires need you. I need you. Right now more than ever. I can’t do my job out there if I’m worried about you.”
“You’re worried about me?” His features softened.
“Of course I’m worried about you. You kept saying I had gone away. But it was you, Theo. You who went away this time. Like you did before. Do you remember before?”
She needed him to face it, even though she knew it made him sad and filled him with regret. He had to get it together or he’d lose everything and the whole world could easily go to shit when one apex predator suddenly disappeared from the ecosystem.
And damn it, despite it all, she loved him and she wanted him to be all right. She didn’t want anyone trying to make a move on him because they thought he was weak. He’d kill everything within a hundred miles if he put his mind to it. She needed to be sure that didn’t happen for everyone’s sake. Including his.
“I need to go and hunt Enyo down. I’m taking Recht, Clive and Warren. Alice will be there to assist, along with David. We think Enyo might be in Prague and we’ll be leaving in a few hours.”
“I need to crush her. She nearly killed my child.” He frowned. “Here in my home. In a garden space you played in growing up. Your father tended the trees in the greenhouse there. She ruined it. I can’t go there to
think about your father anymore. I only think about you, so close to being gone from me.” His features hardened, went very ferocious. “I want to tear her to pieces and salt the earth. I want every single being that ever gave her respite of any kind to suffer a terrible, horrible death.” He focused on Rowan again and she went very still at the raw emotion in his gaze. “I could not protect you. Not in your own home. I cannot stand it. I breaks my heart into a thousand pieces each day.”
She was up, moving to him, kneeling so her head was resting at his knee. She couldn’t look at him, it was too much. Too much emotion and she couldn’t deal with it. She had to stay together, not fall apart, and if she continued to look at him with such devastation on his face at failing his child, she’d burst into tears and then he’d never agree to stay.
“You told me once that my path was one beset with challenge and rich with struggle. This is a challenge for the both of us. I need to go do this. I have your best at my side. I have the resources of your Nation and of Hunter Corporation at my back. We’ll find her. I’ll end her and then we’ll move on.”
He sipped his tea, relaxed as she sat, her back against the couch he was on, the fire crackling merrily in the fireplace to her left. Even in the summer, being so high up in the mountains meant it was chilly after sunset. And it was nice to have that to focus on and let go of her distress. The calmer she remained, the calmer he’d be.
She stayed a while longer, cleaned up the tea cart and turned to say her goodbyes.
“If you need me you will call. Immediately. I can be there. I will be there.”
“Okay.”
“Promise me. If you need me you will call. I will promise you in return that I will push back the icy cold song of vengeance. And only because you do this in my name with my Scions and one of my Five at your side. You promise. I promise. And then we are ready for you to leave.”
She nodded. “I promise to call if I need you.”
“I promise to keep myself together. But I would very much like to hug you.”
She went into his arms and returned the hug he gave her.
And then she headed out to the main hall where Clive would be waiting for their trip to Prague.
* * *
Rowan had suggested the Vampires fly ahead and she and David would follow by private plane.
Clive had just looked at her, appalled by how easily she put herself out front to attract trouble every time.
Recht had only given her a face, shaking his head.
“I think it would be a wise use of time if we worked.” Clive simply walked onto the waiting plane instead of arguing with her. He wasn’t going to Prague any other way but with her on this plane and she needed to understand that.
He saw the lines around her eyes. Not wrinkles, but worry and upset. She’d taken tea with her father and he knew a lot of that worry had to do with The First. But he wanted to fix it and knew she wouldn’t allow it if she caught him at it.
Which was fine. Because she might be great with a sword, but he’d been alive far longer and knew a few things about manipulation. He’d do all he could and that was that.
David put an accordion file in front of her, along with a cup of coffee and backed off, sitting nearby but giving her space.
Clive didn’t care about that. Space would allow her to keep a wall up. He didn’t mind her walling the world out as long as he wasn’t included. So he sat next to her and when she moved just enough to touch her thigh to his, he was glad he had.
They took off quickly and would be in Prague in less than two hours, but of course Rowan began to look over the map again.
The Five had come up with three possible Enyo sightings but they’d triangulated and they all had a strong feeling it was Prague.
Clive would come back with her to Prague after all this was handled. He loved the cobblestone streets, the bridges. Few cities loved art as much as Prague. They could stroll the city at night, just the two of them in a city teeming with magic.
He had places to show her. Restaurants he knew she’d enjoy. He’d coax her into art galleries under the pretext that he was looking for something and buy a present for her instead.
Smiling, he sat back and readied himself for landing.
Once deplaned, she heaved a sigh when she caught sight of the sleek limos waiting for them on the tarmac.
“Subtle. You really think with such long lives you guys would understand subtle.”
“There’s no need to ride in a jalopy. We’re far from the only ones who will be picked up by private car at an airfield.” Clive indicated she get in. First because he was a gentleman, second because he got a great look at her arse, and third because David had already slid inside, which meant she’d be effectively trapped between them and unable to escape easily in a fit of pique.
Clive sort of liked her fits of pique. Especially when they weren’t aimed at him. But he wanted to get settled at this house the Nation had arranged and then she could be grumpy and he could tempt her away from a bad mood with sex.
They glided down narrow streets, through a series of gates, climbing until they reached a final set of wrought iron gates with the Nation’s crest worked into the design where they met. The two limousines paused, waiting to be admitted.
Rowan’s sigh was so fantastically laden with unspoken complaint and criticism he was truly impressed.
“I’m surprised there aren’t any neon bits or inlaid gems. You guys are classy that way,” she muttered.
David handed her a little wrapped square. “Caramel chocolate. Your favorite.”
She unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth. “Is this your way of keeping me in a non-killing mood, David?”
Clive didn’t say a word as her assistant blushed but wisely also said nothing.
“I sure hope there’s enough room for us all,” Rowan said—though less viciously—as they were cleared and the gates slid open.
“Your apartment is at least six thousand square feet. Hypocrite.” Clive winked at her.
“So? You can’t even compare this. Moreover, I do it better. And when Vampires come to call, I need the room for their giant egos.”
“I figured you liked the giant other things,” he said in her ear as he walked past her as they entered the home.
Servants quietly moved through the space, which was spotless and clearly ready for guests.
“I’m going to have to take a closer look at your friends, Scion. They’re obviously a bad influence on you.” One corner of Rowan’s mouth tipped up.
He approved of her turn of emotion.
Until she rounded on a Vampire who’d been stalking David. She shoved him, hard and he stumbled away. “You, back off or I’ll rip your head off and shove it up your ass.”
“I’d like to see you try,” this obviously stupid Vampire tossed back at her.
Before Warren could complete three words of warning to his underling, Rowan had already punched him so hard—and unexpectedly for that Vampire—he wiped blood from his lip, blinking his confusion.
But the punch hadn’t made him any wiser. The Vampire growled at Rowan, starting in her direction. “You think you’re tough?”
“I think you’re stupid.” Rowan squared her shoulders and adjusted her stance. “I know I’m tough.” She grinned and he came at her, as she’d planned.
Two quick moves and the Vampire ended up on his back, cupping his balls, blood freely running from a nose she’d broken.
The Rowan Summerwaite break-the-nose-knee-the-balls one-two.
“Golly, I’m feeling tough right now.”
The Vampire roared and Rowan laughed, now clearly in the mood to bring the pain.
Warren sighed, stepping in between them. “My apologies, Hunter.”
She frowned and waved him away. “I don’t want those. I w
ant to make my point to your sadly uneducated little buddy there.” She said it in Czech and then laughed at their expressions. She addressed the bloody Vampire still on his back. “I know lots of things. Get up and I’ll show you some more.”
Bravely, Warren remained between them, and Clive had to admire the way he protected his staff. Though he knew it wouldn’t last forever and regardless, the Vampire on the floor would get his punishment from Warren once this was cleared up.
Warren tipped his head toward Rowan as he addressed the Vampire on the floor. “This is Rowan Summerwaite. She’s the Hunter and the foster daughter of The First. She’s going to end up maiming you for your insolence before I can. And I need you to understand how much better for you it would be for me to do the upbraiding.”
“I don’t know why you’re killing my fun.” Rowan walked past, giving the Vampire on the ground her back to let him know just how insignificant he was to her.
Damn, Clive wanted to be inside her right that very moment. When she got this way there was no denying how much it turned him on.
“Let me show you to your rooms, Ms. Summerwaite.” A human staff member bowed, hiding a smile, having watched Rowan school a Vampire Clive bet was a rude asshole to the humans in the house.
It wasn’t as if Clive was that concerned for humans in general, but it simply wasn’t done to be rude to one’s staff and especially those humans who guarded them all at their weakest and most vulnerable.
It showed a lack of good breeding.
Clive followed Rowan but the human turned. “Scion Stewart, the Vampires have their own side of the house. It’s light tight.”
He frowned but Rowan strode back to him. “Come with me so you know where I am. I have something to speak with you about.”
“Should we all be there for that, Hunter?” Warren asked.
Rowan, utterly clueless as to what he meant, turned and once that happened, Clive sent a look to Warren.