Blood and Blade (Goddess with a Blade #6) - Lauren Dane Page 0,23

for a moment before she turned to David and began to tell him what she needed packed for the trip.

Elisabeth barely hid her smile behind her hand as she deposited food on the table.

He had altogether too many women in his life who did whatever the fuck they wanted. And yet, they were all irreplaceable so he dealt with it.

“While we’re eating dinner, tell me what you remembered,” Rowan said after David left to go pack her things. “He ate a giant burrito about an hour ago,” Rowan assured Elisabeth. “He knows you keep plenty in the fridge if he finds himself hungry.”

Resigned to the fact that his wife was going to do whatever she wanted to do, Clive spoke, “I’ve got a good idea of where the contact lives. I know the neighborhood. Not too far from our house, as it happens. Lyr’s memories were very vivid when it came to this person and the exchange. He often bought the spells there that he needed for all the siphons and traps.”

“Did you see who it was all for?” Rowan asked as she peppered her potatoes with hot sauce. Clive withheld a wince.

“No. He didn’t have direct contact with whoever or whatever is at the top. The spells were what sent the power to the being in charge, but while Lyr had memories of feelings about that being—loyalty, a lot of fear, passion for his own actions in service to that power—there were none that I could parse where he met it face-to-face.”

Rowan asked, “I wonder if it was wiped? I mean if this is all to give more power to some being at the very top, wouldn’t he have met that person? Lyr wasn’t some low-level drone. He was fully charged, badass and crackling with magic. That was the result of hundreds of years and a super powerful Maker. He had to have at the very least had some contact with the boss.”

“Perhaps. If it was a wipe, whoever did it was a master because there are usually traces or indications that something has been tampered with.”

“We’ll find out soon enough. Once we run that contact to ground and question him, we’ll hopefully have more answers.”

His phone rang and the tone identified Alice so he excused himself to answer.

* * *

Several hours later they were on the tarmac approaching the private jet that would take them to London. Once upon a time his trips back to England were solitary. He’d arrive at his house in London where Elisabeth and Betchamp lived but he still was alone.

It had certainly been quicker and easier to take an impromptu trip when he was solitary. But he found this reality, where he and his wife traveled with an entourage who were there to make their trip easier and better, to be far more preferable.

She preceded him up the stairs to the plane—and he did like that view as much then as he did the first time he saw it. Inside, Betchamp had already disappeared to confer with the pilots but David had set out a throw on the arm of the reclining seat she preferred when they flew. Her laptop was on the other side, on the table where a glass of water waited alongside fresh fruit.

Star lay in her dog bed that’d been transferred from the house. At Rowan’s side. Out of the way but still within sight of any action she might have to take.

It’d be a while before he admitted it to Rowan, but Star had grown on him in the short time she’d been in their home. The dog had the spirit of a warrior. She would protect Rowan because there was already affection and responsibility between them.

Bloodwine rested in a decanter near his favored place as well. He’d enjoy a glass after he finished his work. Coax Rowan into putting aside her own work to spend time tucked into his side as they read or watched a movie. As they flew east, the sun would rise and he’d rest. It would be dark once they landed, which meant he could keep an eye on his wife before she headed out to do things on her own as well.

He motioned for her to take her seat. “Buckle up.” Now that they’d made the decision to travel to London while he and Warren were still working out the final details of just what, how and for exactly how long he’d be working in Europe, Clive wanted to just be in