Blood and Blade

by Lauren Dane

  He turned to glare at her.

  “Guy, so you pooped in a pool or you got kicked out of Faerieland while you paid for your sins that hopefully don’t include you pooping in a pool because that’s super gross.”

  “I think we should call him Guy,” Patience called out and Rowan laughed. As she’d just encouraged—manipulated—Patience out of going by China and using her given name again, she admired Patience’s ability to find humor in it.

  Even if she wanted to fuck Rowan’s husband—and Rowan couldn’t fault that, Clive was very fuckable—she could laugh at herself and that was a good quality.

  “Why are you here?” Guy bellowed as one of Genevieve’s magic bolts struck him, knocking him back a few steps.

  “Here on this side of the Veil we don’t take kindly to kidnapping and draining people against their will. When we found Lyr and stopped all the spells he’d directed to you, we knew there was something at the head of the table, pulling the strings.”

  “That’s a lot of metaphors in one sentence,” David said.

  “I’m talented that way. So, Guy, we’re here because we’ve killed a swath right up to your door. No more Lyr. No more Blood Front sending and paying for the spells you used to try to end them. What a bunch of fucking morons those Blood Front Vampires were, am I right? I don’t much care that you sent them all into chaos because they’re asshats. And Lyr? Hard as he was to kill, he still got killed. About three hundred years too late, in my opinion, but whatever. Oh and then we found Patrizia. I bet you spun her all around with your pretty face, huh? You’re where she got the Fae elements to her spellwork from, obviously. Anyway. We found that spell and through that we found you. We’re here to kill you, Guy, and dump your remains right back into Faerie like the garbage you are.”

  The last bit had been Brigid. Who didn’t like this Fae dude one bit.

  “You made your mistake by taking me on. By killing my friends. You invited your own ruin and so I’m going to revel in it. I hope your mother weeps harder than I did when you killed my friend Carey. I hope she never gets over your loss. Because I plan on dancing in the street once you’re dust, you piece of shit.”

  “I don’t know who you are.”

  She stood, feet slightly apart, braced for violence as Brigid spoke through her. “I am Rowan Summerwaite. Vessel to the Goddess Brigid. You made the wrong enemy, Fae criminal. We will end you. Now you know me.”

  “Shall we shove your body through that crack in the Veil over there?” Genevieve indicated the spot she’d pointed out to Rowan earlier.

  “You can’t get through. The way is closed. I managed to pry open a small crack with the magic I’ve been taking in. Do you think I want to be here in this world so full of iron and devoid of magic I have to steal it?” Guy said.

  “Ah. I see. You weren’t sent here on a time-out. You aren’t running from the authorities or an aggrieved spouse. You were banished. Whatever did you do, Guy?”

  He turned and flung his hand out, fire streaked across her face and neck and she tasted blood as her knees buckled.

  Clive was behind her then, holding her, patting her body to see if she was whole.

  “That hurts,” she told him. “Stop with the patting. I’m fine. Nothing is broken but my pride.”

  He looked at her face and winced.

  “It’ll heal,” she told him with an assurance she was only partly faking. “And now he’s given me the tools to poke at him until he loses his shit again.”

  “Stop being so cheerful at taunting a seven foot tall Fae into trying to kill you,” Clive snarled at her.

  “I love my job, what can I say?”

  She allowed him to help her to stand. She’d have a limp from what she figured were some severely strained muscles and possibly a fracture in her tibia. But she could shoot and throw knives without being that sure on her feet.

  “You’re the Hunter,” Guy said.

  “I’ve been telling you that for several minutes now, ding-dong. Goddess you’re stupid.”

  He laughed and she imagined him dead at least a dozen ways. “Yes, I know who you are. I didn’t order your friend to be killed. Some Vampire in the Blood Front did. He bragged to Lyr about it. How he managed to get into your security system and ordered the death so you’d see it while you were thousands of miles away. I did taste his magic though once the spell sent it my way as he died. For a human, he was very filling.”

  It took all her skill to not show how shocked and upset that made her. But she wouldn’t give it to him. No matter what.

  The balance worked the other way. She did the poking until the other person lost their composure and concentration so she could swoop in and kill the hell out of them.

  Star trotted up at that moment with a happy bark before she settled at Rowan’s side.

  Fear lived in her when she saw Guy’s attention shift to the dog.

  She ejected the magazine in her gun and slapped another in before unloading it into Guy’s smug fucking Faerie face.

  She’d caught him in a moment of distraction as he’d been coveting Star. Because he was still so fast those three rounds meant for his head struck him in the chest but with each one, she watched his light dim just a little bit more.

  But it didn’t kill him. Instead he lowered his head and charged her as he growled.

  She rolled to avoid him and then came to her feet not too far away. Rowan attempted to use the butt of her gun on the back of Guy’s head but it only barely managed to connect and sent the concussion up her arm.

  His skull felt like it was made of steel.

  David got off a few rounds that glanced off Guy’s shoulder. But it moved his attention to David and there was no way Rowan could risk that so she pulled one of the iron edged tantos from a sheath at her hip and, using all her strength, managed to slice open his arm down to the bone.

  She knew it did some major damage because he howled and then turned to her mid charge. It was too late to do anything but try to absorb the tackle and be ready to spring away when she got the chance.

  He was so heavy. Heavier than she’d imagined as he crushed her to the dirt. He punched her with those ham sized fists until the snap of her left arm breaking in at least two places made her vision go gray.

  There was a shout as things moved in slow motion. Guy was knocked from atop her to the dirt, Clive and Patience taking Guy on as one to give Rowan time to get away. Clive buried his face in the Fae’s throat, ripping it out, sending a spray that spattered the side of Rowan’s head and face.

  David and Vanessa pulled Rowan free of the knot and she tried—and failed—not to scream at the pain.

  “I’m sorry,” David whispered.

  “I’ll heal. I have a goddess inside me,” she managed to slur.

  Warmth rolled through her as Brigid took over. Her arm was still broken, but she could think again.

  “Rip the edge of my shirt. I need you to wrap the arm close to my body,” she told Vanessa.

  “Deesse!” David exclaimed his term of endearment and respect for her and the Goddess inside her. “You’re injured. Stay still.”

  Rowan looked over to where Patience still hung on as Guy tried to buck her off. Clive was covered in blood that she thought all belonged to Guy but she couldn’t be totally sure and it wouldn’t last. His throat was already healing.

  “I’ll heal,” she repeated and drew her authority up and thrust it into her voice. “Now wrap my fucking arm before I get pissed off and never let either of you accompany me into the field again. I gave you an order.”

  That did it. David, mutiny on his features, complied and helped Vanessa secure Rowan’s arm. It still hurt but this way the arm wouldn’t impede her and hopefully wouldn’t get any worse.

  Genevieve continued to work magic, sending spell after spell at Guy, who began to slow but only slightly.

 
“What do you need?” Rowan asked her.

  “Just keep doing what you’re doing. It’s going to take time to wear him down. Each time you use iron on him, it weakens his shields a little more. I just need to find a big enough crack and then I’ll rip the shields to shreds, fill him full of magic and kill him.”

  Okay then.

  She danced off, away from Genevieve, hoping to keep Guy’s attention on her as the witch did her work.

  “Will that leave a permanent mark?” Rowan called out, pointing to the gashes on his arm and the wounds on his chest she’d made when she’d filled him with iron bullets. Those were not healing at the same rate as the other strikes they’d managed to land on the Fae. “Not that it’s going to matter that much since you’ll be dead soon. But I like knowing you’ll be marred forever from something I’ve done to you.”

  She took a risk, got close enough that she had to avoid the clutch of his giant fists and when she went under them, she used the iron edged blades to slice into his belly and thighs before dancing away again.

  She felt the whoosh of air as he barely missed grabbing her by the head.

  A broken bone she could heal from. A broken head probably not so much.

  Clive had a slight limp but it didn’t stop him from flying at Guy and knocking him down again. This time he managed to throw Clive off into the darkness to the left of the house and Rowan just hoped he was all right.

  There was nothing else to be done.

  Patience followed and when she did, Rowan took that opportunity to come in close with the blades again, slicing what she could. Knowing she landed several strikes given the noises Guy made in response.

  Faster than he’d been a moment before, he managed to grab her, crushing her broken arm to her body and laughing as an unwilling scream came from her.

  She fought to retain consciousness as Brigid sent soothing energy through Rowan to help pull the pain from her thoughts so she could do something other than hurt.

  He lifted her up and then slammed her down against the rail of the porch steps. They splintered beneath her and with her good arm free, she reared her hand back and poked him in the eyes as hard as she could manage.

  He let go, slapping his hands over his eyes as he yelped.

  Rowan managed to roll and then crawl away, trying to get her breath so she could continue to fight.

  Genevieve took a bolt of magic to the chest and it knocked her back. She halted her spell as she tried to suck in a breath and suddenly the scent of ozone hit and the sound of the throaty purr of motorcycles filled the night.

  It was then that Genevieve bent to touch the ground and pulled a huge web of power free. Rowan tried not to pass out as she shot at Guy and the recoil echoed through her straight to her arm.

  Clive came out of the shadows looking a little worse for wear but when he caught sight of Rowan, he turned a whole mouth full of very sharp teeth Guy’s way and headed toward him.

  As he did that, Genevieve wheezed out the words in a language Rowan didn’t recognize at all. Power seemed to swirl around Genevieve as she spoke, rising as her hands did.

  “You cannot take sides!” Guy bellowed into the night where the Dust Devils had come to sit on their motorcycles, watching.

  “I am their priestess. My side is their side.” Genevieve made a sharp movement, pulling her arms apart in a ripping motion and with her naked eyes, Rowan saw the crack in Guy’s protective magic.

  She got to her feet and charged him, Clive still savaging Guy’s neck and back, nails and teeth furiously destroying. Rowan braced for whatever blow Guy was going to land as she shoved her blade into that crack, pressing it deep into his body with all her might.

  Then she sailed over his head, hitting the side of the porch railing so hard she was fairly sure there’d be internal damage. As it was, she was unable to move for long moments as she fought to remain conscious.

  Star came to lie at her side, nosing Rowan’s face to keep her awake. She tried to find the words to tell Star she’d be okay but couldn’t. So she accepted the doggie kisses and managed to turn her head to see what was going on.

  In her peripheral vision, she saw a burst of light followed by an inhuman cry of agony. The ground shook so hard it awakened all new pains. Star never left her though and several minutes later, Clive arrived, going to his knees.

  “Rowan, damn it. I told you not to get hurt,” he said, trying not to let her hear how panicked he was.

  She tasted blood but was no longer on the verge of passing out. Sounds all around came into focus.

  “Guy?” she croaked.

  “Exploded. Take my blood.”

  “No. I don’t want to.” She tried to sit up but her body had no plans to obey her orders. Which sort of put Clive ahead in their little battle of the wills.

  Genevieve came to her next. “Take his blood, Rowan, and stop being so cranky.”

  “Did we get him?”

  Suddenly Clive’s wrist was at her mouth and she had to choose between spitting out the blood he’d just made flow for her, or to just suck it up and let it help heal her.

  She wasn’t well enough to be a bitch about it, so she swallowed several times, welcoming the slow numbness that followed as his blood began to seep into her body, fixing things in its path.

  He seemed satisfied enough that he helped her sit, leaning against him. Star crawled half into her lap.

  “We got him. I ripped a hole in his shields and you stabbed him with a weapon tipped in iron. You got in there pretty deep before he pulled that wrestling move and threw you over his shoulder. Then he exploded.”

  “Ew! Is that what smells so bad?” Rowan hoped it wasn’t her but she was pretty sure she peed a little when that last blow landed.

  “It was an explosion of light and matter more than blood and guts. I think the stench is from the dead bodies he’s got stockpiled out back,” Patience said as she joined them.

  Motorcycles drove away, the sound growing more and more faint. Rowan met Genevieve’s gaze and her friend nodded.

  “I don’t know if we could have beaten him without the magic I was able to pull from the Trick,” she said quietly.

  “But we did. For Carey and Thena. For all the innocent people in that town, for all the witches and Vampires who died to fuel his power.” Rowan didn’t want to cry but tears came anyway. No matter how tough she tried to be, all she could think was that Carey died because Clive’s uncle gave her secrets to their enemy. Not even at his command.

  He was dead for nothing.

  Yes, she’d gotten her vengeance. She’d exacted her wrath and still, there was a Carey sized hole in her heart and she couldn’t imagine it ever not hurting.

  “We should look inside and then try to figure out what to do about that crack in the Veil he managed to make,” Rowan said through snot and tears.

  Clive wouldn’t let her get to her feet though. He picked her up. “Where do you want to go? I’ll take you. Don’t argue because I’m still very angry and you’re a very convenient target and you can’t run away,” he said into her ear.

  She scowled but he ignored it.

  “Just follow Genevieve. Drop me if you need to defend her.”

  “That will not happen.”

  Inside the house they found journals. Page after page written in beautiful script in a language Rowan couldn’t decipher.

  “Pack those. I’m sure they’ll be very illuminating once we translate them. Or they could be about sports or what he ate for dinner. But I’m guessing it’s all about how he was this major hero for fighting the good fight to return to Faerie to avenge yadda yadda.”

  David added them to a box of things they planned to remove.

  “I’m going to go outside to examine that crack Guy made trying to get into Faerie. I need you all to remain here, inside, while I do so,” Genevieve told Rowan.

>   She figured that meant Darius was most likely going to be helping, so Rowan nodded her agreement. “Be careful.”

  The Devils would help Genevieve understand, hopefully, but that didn’t mean they planned to hand out all their secrets to anyone else, especially Vampires. And now that Genevieve was one of them as their priestess, Rowan figured her friend would have to figure out what was all right to share and not to share as well.

  An hour later Genevieve came back inside. “It’s done. Apparently it was roughly a year or so of effort to get that tiny crack. It would have taken him another decade to make it twice that size. He’d have been draining and killing until the whole world knew about paranormals. They probably would have nuked this place.”

  “Speaking of that. We need to burn this house to the ground. The outbuildings too,” Rowan said.

  “Yes. Once we’re on the other side of the riverbed I’ll set off the spell. I already performed the working so that’s good to go,” Genevieve said as she took one of the boxes.

  “The bodies in town?”

  “The Dust Devils will handle that and bill you, Rowan. They said you already had a fee agreement in place with the Trick in London.”

  “That I do. I just didn’t know they did the same sort of work here.”

  “They don’t usually. But they’ve got to make a living too,” Genevieve said as they walked down the steps, Clive still carrying Rowan. “And they feel it fulfils a debt they incurred when Carey was killed on their watch.”

  It sounded an awful lot like she was including herself in the “they’ve got to make a living” part.

  There was a scorch mark where Guy had last been and seeing it filled Rowan with satisfaction.

  Clive wouldn’t hear of letting her walk through the riverbed so he flew them across all showy like. And then he made her ride with him so he could drive.

  Star jumped in the backseat and Patience left them there, flying back to Las Vegas to inform everyone else what had happened. Rowan would have to call Nadir later to thank her for the information that’d helped them take Guy down.