Blood and Blade (Goddess with a Blade #6) - Lauren Dane Page 0,31
he would see just how unique Rowan’s power was and that Clive was not just powerful, but more powerful than anyone else out on the sidewalk that night.
But as Rowan had pointed out more than once, most people were too lazy to see what was right in front of them so hiding in plain sight was the most expedient way to do things.
He didn’t have a name yet, but he would. He could sense which flats and town houses had Vampires in them as they strolled past. He had enough of Lyr’s memories to recognize the street and the front steps of the place he’d met this black market contact so it was just a matter of time.
“I can nearly pretend that we aren’t hunting a murderous traitor. It’s a really nice night,” Rowan said as they paused to look in a shop window.
The thought of just having a nice evening stroll with her was a very pleasant one. They rarely had the opportunity for such things and he needed to make it a priority.
He was always thinking they’d do it after they finally finished this or that case or investigation but right after they finished one, there was another.
Maybe they’d find a way to do it within the context of an investigation instead. As this was possibly the only way he’d ever get his wish for a post midnight walk about town with her.
“Belgravia seems the perfect neighborhood for Vampires. Excess and wealth on display is the norm,” Rowan told him as they turned up the next lane.
“I believe your father has some real estate here somewhere.”
She snorted. “Of course he does. He’s all about ostentatious displays of wealth and power. In fact he’s got more than one house here in London. He purchased a flat near the Motherhouse back when I first came to London to work with Susan. It pissed me off so much, which was his aim, most likely. Humans and Vampires alike would stay and keep an eye on me. I’m positive he’s got hundreds of surveillance photographs of me flipping the camera off. I also routinely broke in while they thought they were tailing me and fucked with their shit.”
He laughed, pulling her closer. “I haven’t heard this one yet. Tell me more.”
“I used to steal all their toilet paper. I’d pop open their car door to leave the light on all night to run the battery down. They got cameras on the car park though so I had to get way more creative and target the house more.”
“Naturally. What would be the point otherwise?” he teased.
“You make fun but that’s exactly right. The point was to let them know I was there and that I knew they were there too. And that I could just waltz in and loosen all the screws in the bed frames.” She laughed at herself then, the dark tone making Clive doubly glad all that energy had been directed at anyone but him. “It took two nights for the first bed to collapse. They also spent thousands on exterminators.”
“I’m dying to know even though I also understand I’ll regret it.”
Her laugh was light then, all his as she leaned in to bump her head against his shoulder. “I infested the whole place with lice. Twice. Bedbugs. Roaches.”
As amused as he was by her antics and insatiable will for revenge, a chill slid down his spine at the thought of how her father could have chosen to receive her message.
He hadn’t even needed to say that part aloud because she spoke. “To be honest with you, sometimes I just waited for him to come and kill me himself for it,” she murmured before she slowed her pace slightly.
Clive scanned the rows of front steps and tiny fenced gardens, letting himself remember. Taking a taste of the air as he did. There it was.
“On the corner. Purple flowers on the steps.”
“That’s what I felt. There’s power in the air.”
Clive slowed slightly as they approached the place he identified from Lyr’s memories. Rowan quickly texted David, who would set up surveillance on the back and side of the house so if the Vampire inside tried to run, they’d have him.
After a few short minutes, David texted her the go sign.
“Genevieve and David are in place. Let’s go say hey, how you doin’ to the occupant.”
Leave it to Rowan to have fun at a time like that. But she did, emanating far more amusement and deviousness than fear. That didn’t mean she