Blood and Blade (Goddess with a Blade #6) - Lauren Dane Page 0,72

herself as well.

The plot of land was miles from the highway so Rowan’s speed diminished exponentially once they left 318 and started taking smaller and smaller side roads until there was no pavement and only hard packed dirt.

“Stop here,” Genevieve said.

Rowan pulled off to the side and cut the engine.

Genevieve stepped out of the car but Star put a paw on Rowan’s arm when she started to join her friend.

“Is this your way of stopping me?” Rowan asked the dog while keeping her eyes on Genevieve.

Star put her chin on Rowan’s arm next and she figured that was the closest she could come to saying yes.

“This is making me nervous. What if she needs me?” Rowan asked Star.

Her beautiful dog just stared back, as if to say, Genevieve can take care of herself.

* * *

The moment she stepped from the car Genevieve got caught up in the magic all around. The air seemed to hang thick with it. Wisps of power seemed to brush against her skin with little electric zings. The magic here was delicious and seemed to welcome her.

She let herself open her senses. Took it slow as she used her othersight to seek out the magic. Dismiss everything but formations and patterns that indicated a working. As she walked, she barely registered the sound of her steps on the ground but the scent of sage and salt and scrub rose all around her.

After a few minutes she caught the first glimmers of the edge of a ward. Ah, there. Patritzia’s land was nearby. And given the looks of it, layer upon layer of runes and sigils, warded tight.

Well.

This witch was a criminal and not a particularly effective one, but she wasn’t without talent.

Genevieve had lived long enough that something new was a delight and finding a worthy adversary a rarity. And she loved learning new things. Loved digging and finding new ways to use her magic.

She also loved being alive so she turned and headed back down the long dirt road to the car.

Once inside she cast a quick spell to hide them before she said anything. “This is the right road. The boundary markers to her property aren’t too far away but she’s got some really excellent warding and I’m totally sure she’s got warning spells that’ll trigger when anything bigger than a coyote gets close. She’s watching. I certainly would be. And no offense, but your power is unique and so bright it’s nearly blinding. Good thing I’m so very talented so obviously I can hide us both. I don’t think I need to hide Star though. I think she’s got herself handled.”

Star just kept her chin on Rowan’s arm.

“The car will interfere. It takes a different sort of magic to hide. It’s a waste and if I have to use a lot of powerful magic to defend us I’d prefer not to waste any of it.” And she wanted to be outside, wanted the earth at her feet and the air all around her.

“It’s already getting dark. There are snakes out there and if you think I’m traipsing around in the pitch dark with fucking snakes you’re very wrong.”

“You’re afraid of snakes?”

“And holes you step in that break your ankle and are probably full of other things like spiders and lizards and whatever other gross creepy crawly shit I do not care to mix with. Maybe witches have some sort of snake hole radar but Vessels don’t.”

Genevieve laughed and patted her friend’s arm.

“I don’t want you outside the car anyway. Like I said, your power is like a lighthouse in the fog. I need to read her wards and you’re too much static. I mean that in the best way.”

Rowan snickered. “If you say so. Don’t take unnecessary risks.”

“Of course.”

She told Rowan when to drive and when to stop and got out, walking the long line of the wards, unraveling as she went. Tucking away bits and pieces of workmanship in the craft of the overall working.

There was something else Genevieve realized connected with the magic she’d been seeing lately, that something different she couldn’t quite place in the magic.

She told Rowan about it the next time she got back into the car. It was already dark but Genevieve could see just fine.

Rowan asked, “This thing you keep sensing, is it like a signature from a witch you might have worked with in the past or is it just something totally new?”

“The structure of the spell is unique in the same way the other