Bad blood goddess with a.., p.32
Bad Blood (Goddess with a Blade),
p.32
“You’re mine,” he said to Genevieve. “They tried to take you from me and I will not allow it. I’ve been watching since the wolves failed. Tried to get into the hospital but couldn’t,” he said bitterly. “I can’t go home because my family is looking for me. Vampires are looking for me because of her!” He pointed at Rowan. “I can’t get on a ship because my father won’t help and there are Vampires and Hunters sniffing around the cruise dock. But you and I, Genevieve, we’ll find a way to be together. No one can stop us.”
Rowan shook her head at this creep. “Shifters will be looking for you too. Witches as well,” she replied.
“Why won’t you die?” he screamed and raised his hands, clearly about to throw magic at her. But Genevieve flicked her wrist and with the other hand, made a sharp cutting motion. Hugo’s hands fell to his sides as he cried out in pain.
“You first, fucko,” Rowan said.
“He’s...” Genevieve started to speak and then quieted a moment. “He’s covered in coercive magic. I neutered his Talent. He’s no magical threat at this point.”
“How could that happen? Is someone using him to mess with you?” Rowan asked.
“It’s his own magic,” Darius said as he once again stood with them.
Rowan shook her head. “He deliberately spelled himself? That doesn’t make sense.”
Darius said, “No. He’s contaminated himself with his own spellwork. This is what he wanted to turn Genevieve into.”
“I wouldn’t weep salty tears if you killed him right now for this,” Rowan said, “but being able to interrogate him might be very helpful.”
Clive approached at a high rate of speed.
“By the way, super-angry Scion incoming,” she whispered to Darius and not more than half a minute later he touched down in between them and Hugo.
“Don’t kill him,” Rowan said quickly, touching his back to break through the killing haze buzzing around him like pissed-off insects.
“Why not? I smell his magic on you. He tried to hurt you. Again.”
“He did. And Genevieve stopped it. Rowan is not influenced by Hugo’s magic,” Darius said calmly. “Your wife has reminded me it would be helpful to take him in alive for questioning before we kill him.”
She hadn’t said before, but whatever. If Hugo disappeared from existence after they were able to wring the truth out of him it’d be no skin off her nose.
“She is mine!” Hugo screamed again, coming closer.
Darius strode up to him as they were all frozen, waiting to see what would happen, Clive included.
“She is mine,” Darius said so quietly Rowan wondered if she’d imagined it. But Hugo’s reaction, well, that told Rowan it had been real and designed to poke at Hugo exactly that way.
“She’ll be mine tomorrow and a hundred years from now.”
Hugo raised his hands, apparently not knowing Genevieve had done whatever she had to take his magic. Darius simply waited for the moment when Hugo figured it out. Then he punched Hugo’s face so hard he fell over like a tree.
“Sometimes the simplest ways are the best.” Darius tied Hugo up before hefting him from the ground and tossing him into the trunk of Genevieve’s car.
They headed back to Die Mitte and brought Hugo to a holding cell. Genevieve did something to keep Hugo’s magic null until they were ready to deal with him. If ever. Rowan planned to propose—if Hugo was alive at the end—he never get his magic back because he’d used it for harm so many times.
“He’ll be unconscious for some time,” Genevieve said after looking Hugo over.
“Will you wait for after sunset to revive him? I’d very much like to be there when he’s questioned,” Clive said around a mouth full of teeth. Still worked up. Rowan took his hand, squeezing. Reminding him she was fine.
“I’m fine with that,” Rowan said.
“Me as well. It’ll give us more time to collect more evidence in the interim. I don’t think he’ll be that hard to break,” Genevieve said. “We’ll let Rowan question him too. She’s very good at it.”
“He’ll hate it even more if it’s me. I love that. Let’s coordinate with Konrad too. See what the search turned up,” Rowan said. “His little obsession with you was the crack in their plans. Got all sorts of negative attention thrown on them when they needed to keep their heads down. I love it when people think they’re revolutionaries and shit but they’re just narcissistic fucks who will stop at nothing to make a dollar. What a dingus. His grandpa will be so pissed off. Oh gosh, I can’t wait to question him too. It’s like my birthday and Yule at the same time.”
Clive turned to her and kissed her forehead. Teeth back to normal. “Darling, you do know how to celebrate the positives. Can we please go home after we get this arsehole in a cell?”
“Definitely. You’ll have to be better than pancakes.” She waggled her eyebrows at him. “I have every confidence you’ll be up for the task.”
Genevieve waited for them to be finished flirting before speaking again. “Thank you both for all your assistance on this.”
“Pshaw,” Rowan teased. “We all managed to make this happen. I’ll see you tomorrow at the office? We’ll work on a plan, be sure we ask all the right questions since I don’t know all the relevant magic stuff. Maybe your father can be there too. Though he’s very bossy and you need to let him know I have trouble with authority and therefore will be handling the questioning and he’d be assisting.”
Darius chuckled, making them all pause a moment. “He knows, little goddess.”
Recht, one of the Five, also called Rowan little goddess. In much the same affectionate and admiring way.
It edged out the fear at the crushing weight of Darius’s age and power. Pushed more like into their relationship.
She grinned at him and he smiled back before looking at Genevieve, who looked at him with so much open pleasure Rowan was a little embarrassed. Clive wasn’t going to be the only one convincing his partner he was better than a stack of pancakes.
“See you tomorrow,” Genevieve said.
* * *
Glossary
Adaeze: Human. Runs the Hunter Corp. Motherhouse in Nigeria.
Alice: Clive’s personal assistant. A powerful Vampire in her own right.
Andros: Vampire. One of the Five. Silent Death. He’s the tracker and the one who metes discipline of Vampires on behalf of the First when they break laws.
Bastien: Witch. Son of Lorraine. Works for the Aubert family.
Betchamp: Human. One of the couple who run Rowan and Clive’s household. Have been in service to the Stewart family their whole lives.
Blood Front: Vampire organization centered on the idea that humans are little more than walking meals and daytime service for Vampires. Was nearly wiped out entirely. Remaining Vampires have gone underground to avoid detection and discipline by the First or Hunter Corp.
Brigid: Celtic triple goddess representing poetry/inspiration, the hearth and forge, and healing. Love and war rolled into one. Brigid is a goddess worshipped across time and religion, and it fuels her strength. Her various powers manifest in Rowan and each year, they grow stronger.
Carey: (d) Human. Employee of Hunter Corp. Very close with Rowan. Was killed by Blood Front Vampires.
Carl: Sage who uses various modes of transportation to reveal himself in Rowan’s life. Often shows up with several taxidermy animals. Never calls Rowan by her correct name.
Cataline: Human. The house manager at the Keep.
Celesse: Human. Runs the Paris Motherhouse of Hunter Corp. Rowan’s first trainer.
Clive Stewart: Vampire. Scion of North America for the Vampire Nation. Husband to Rowan Summerwaite. His family is one of the oldest and most powerful in the Nation. His title is House Stewart of Two, which indicates he’s next in line to run House Stewart if his father steps aside.
The Conclave: The governing body for magical practitioners. Led by Konrad Aubert.
The Conclave Senate: Legislative group ruled by Genetic witches from powerful families within the Conclave.
Conclave Witches: Belong to and participate in a local magical organization like a coven overseen by the Conclave. Many are humans with magical gifts of a specific discipline (air, water, etc.). Similar or slightly longer life span than other humans.
Darius: Leader of a Trick of Dust Devils in Las Vegas. Four-thousand-year-old chaos demigod. Genevieve’s romantic partner.
David: Human. Rowan’s valet and the manager of the U.S. Hunter Corp. operations.
Dina: Human. The cook at the Keep.
Dust Devils: Chaos demigods organized in groups called Tricks. Darius leads one in Las Vegas. There are multiple Tricks worldwide and each pulls in the life energies it needs to feed all the members in various ways from body disposal to settling in cities with high levels of emotion (like Las Vegas) and absorbing it that way.
Elisabeth: Human. One of the couple who run Rowan and Clive’s household. Have been in service to the Stewart family their whole lives.
Enyo: (d) An ancient, magic-using Vampire with ties to the Blood Front. Ambushed Rowan, nearly killing her. Rowan killed her after a hunt.
The First: The first of all Vampires and the title he carries. (see also, Theo)
The Five: The First’s personal guard. Made up of five very old and powerful Vampires who operate on Theo’s orders. Only one ever speaks in public.
Genetic Witches: A totally different species than humans. Like Vampires, their life spans can extend centuries or longer. They’re able to practice multiple disciplines and types of magic. They rule the magical world via the Conclave Senate. These family lines have spent centuries accruing wealth and power.
Genevieve Aubert: Genetic witch. Conclave Senator. Romantically partnered with Darius. Priestess for a Trick of Dust Devils.
Gregor: Vampire. One of the Five. A master spy and assassin. Intelligence gathering.
Guy: (d) Faerie. The bad guy at the very top of the conspiracy to kidnap and drain witches and other Vampires using spells that redirected all their excess power to him. Had been exiled from Faerie and was using the stolen power to attempt to break back in. Was killed by Genevieve in Blood and Blade.
Hunter Corporation: The organization made up to enforce the Treaty signed by magic users, Hunters, and Vampires at the end of the Treaty Wars. Hunters monitor and carry out the Treaty’s rules meant to protect humanity from powers they have no ability to match or even know about.
Independent Witches: Don’t belong to a coven or other sort of organization. Still required to operate under their basic rules regarding harm to others.
Ivan: Human. Runs the Hunter Corp. Motherhouse in Russia.
Joint Tribunal: Quarterly workgroup meetings for all signers of the Treaty.
The Keep: The castle in the Wetterstein Mountains in Germany where Theo lives and Rowan grew up.
Konrad Aubert: Witch Warlock who leads the Conclave. Genevieve’s father.
Lorraine: Genevieve’s personal assistant. Cook. House manager and witch wrangler. She’s a kitchen witch and her family has served the Auberts for centuries. Her daughter, Samaya, is Genevieve’s assistant at the Conclave and her son, Bastien, is a green witch who grows Genevieve’s specific marijuana strain. (see also, Madame)
Madame: What Lorraine is often called by Genevieve and Darius. (see also, Lorraine)
Malin: Human. Receptionist at the Las Vegas Hunter Corp. Motherhouse.
Nadir: Vampire. One of the Five. Called the Voice. She’s the official voice and representative for the First to the Nation and other organizations.
Niklaus: Vampire. One of the Five. Works with Recht as chief of security. Works with the Scions and their personal security to be sure they’re using the most up-to-date training and technology.
Patience: Vampire. One of Clive’s top lieutenants. Was known as China for many years until Rowan convinces her to go back to Patience, her given name.
Paola: Vampire. Scion of South America.
Recht: Vampire. One of the Five. The First’s weapons master and the person who trained Rowan with blades.
Rowan Summerwaite: Human vessel of the Celtic triple goddess, Brigid. Runs the United States’ operations for Hunter Corp. Married to Clive Stewart, Vampire Scion of North America. Foster-daughter of Theo, the First, leader of the Vampire Nation. Has gift of prophecy dreams. Over the last several years has ingested large amounts of ancient Vampire blood, which has left her with a version of their speed and strength.
Samaya: Conclave witch. Genevieve’s personal assistant at the Conclave. Fiercely protective of Genevieve and Samaya’s mother, Lorraine.
Scions: Vampires who are considered next in line to the First to lead the Vampire Nation should they be called upon. The strongest and best politically. There are five total, and each holds a specific part of the globe and are responsible for the Vampires in their territory.
Seth: Vampire. One of Clive’s top lieutenants.
Star: Magical dog. Rowan’s familiar and guide.
Susan: Human. Runs the Hunter Corp. Motherhouse in London. Rowan’s former trainer.
Tahar: Vampire. Scion of Africa and the Middle East.
Takahiro: Vampire. Scion of Russia, Asia, Eastern Europe.
Theo: The First, and oldest of all Vampires. Undisputed leader of the Vampire Nation. Rowan’s father. Not always stable. (see also, the First)
The Treaty: The document that created the modern rules for how Vampires and magic users interact with humans and one another.
Trick: The name of a grouping of Dust Devils.
The Vampire Nation: The governing body for Vampires worldwide. Led by Theo (the First) and his five Scions.
Vanessa: Human. Tech expert at Las Vegas Hunter Corp. Hired after Carey’s death.
Vassalus: The title of a person in service to a Vampire. Rowan’s former title when she lived in the Keep and served Theo.
Warren: Vampire. Scion of Europe.
Acknowledgments
Thanks to Kerri Buckley for the excellent edits!
My appreciation to the entire Carina team responsible for getting this book out into the world.
To Ray, thank you for all you do. For shouldering the heavy stuff. For believing in me. For being my hype man since we were eighteen.
About the Author
Lauren Dane is the USA TODAY and NYT Bestselling author of more than seventy-five novels and novellas in the romance and urban fantasy genre. She lives in the Pacific Northwest among the trees with her spouse and children.
You can check out her latest releases, backlist, and upcoming books at her website, www.LaurenDane.com, or you can write her at LaurenDane@LaurenDane.com or via her PO Box: PO Box 45175, Seattle, WA 98145.
ISBN-13: 9780369736512
Bad Blood
Copyright © 2023 by Lauren Dane
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Lauren Dane, Bad Blood (Goddess with a Blade)
