Blood and Blade (Goddess with a Blade #6) - Lauren Dane Page 0,65

that was high praise indeed.

“Just want to be sure you’re getting enough rest,” Genevieve added with a slight cock of her head.

That was pretty sweet, actually.

“I do okay. If I’m up till dawn I usually sleep until noon and then I nap. I hope you do too.”

Genevieve waved a hand. “I only need three or four hours’ sleep anyway. And it’s so hot here at the full day it’s better to nap or be inside when that hits anyway. How do you stand it?”

“There’s something out there...in the desert that calls to me. Settles my chaos. I don’t know what it is. The heat sucks. I’m not a fan, but for whatever reason I keep coming back here. To the earth here. Stay inside between eleven and three if you can help it. Once we get to October it’s better.”

“There is something out there. Not so much within the main heart of the city, but out in the desert, away from Vegas.”

“Like, say a certain Dust Devil?” Rowan asked with a twinkle in her eye.

Genevieve pokered up a moment until she sighed. “There’s a connection between us and I don’t understand it so I’m keeping my distance until I do. Or I’m attempting to.”

“I’ve seen how he looks at you. It’s mutual. But also it’s more than just romantic and sexual chemistry between you and Darius. There’s something about you and the Trick.”

“What makes you say that?” Genevieve asked.

“Your magic is different when we’re out in the desert. I don’t know why. You’re the magic expert. But they show up when we’re out there. And not just because we’re on Devil land. The entire desert, hundreds of miles of it in every direction, is their territory. They don’t just pop in with those sorts of numbers when it’s a run-of-the-mill magic use. Not in my experience anyway.”

Genevieve had felt the pull of the land and the pull of the group of chaos demigods who held it. Especially when she did any sort of magic out there. The magic felt different too. It came to her easier but there was a sort of connection when she performed a working.

It was more than Darius, Rowan was correct in that. Just what and how was the question. Her attraction to Darius was something she felt all the way to her toes. And she’d learned over her many long years that that sort of emotion, that depth of feeling, often made thinking clearly very difficult.

Uncomfortable didn’t begin to describe how it made her feel. Off balance. Raw. She’d spent centuries of her life fighting to gain enough power to be free of anyone else’s whims and the feelings the Dust Devils and their leader evoked threatened that.

Maybe.

“Whatever the case. I was able to track down a few of the names you were able to get from Roderick. One of them is dead so that’s no real help. Two others are still alive so I have some people at the Conclave researching to see if we can locate them. They’re aliases so once we get past that it should be easier to track them down.”

Rowan said, “Tell me the two and I’ll have Vanessa get started on our end as well. She’s pretty good with research and computer whiz stuff.”

Naturally Genevieve had hoped Rowan would offer, but she was also prepared to ask. Two different organizations with two different ways of accessing information was a good thing.

“While I have you here, I’d like to speak with you about a business matter sort of related to this whole thing but different too.”

Genevieve loved Rowan and her method of delivery. The surly demeanor hid a brilliant mind, sharp wit and a deep sense of responsibility to her path. Knowing that felt like knowing a delicious secret.

Rowan understood her better than most others did and their friendship had grown very deep in a short period of time. Coming to the United States and leaving Europe behind, at least for a while, had been easier because she’d known Rowan was there. She had a friend in place. A community of people that she’d found it surprisingly easy to build her life around.

That she had those beginnings of a life in Las Vegas made all the merde she had to deal with a lot easier to handle.

“Whatever that means, just tell me,” Genevieve told her.

Rowan told Genevieve about her idea to have teams of Hunters that included magic users and Vampires and then answered a barrage of questions afterward. Some