Blood and Blade (Goddess with a Blade #6) - Lauren Dane Page 0,79

to get all the relevant information they could about the Fae, especially as it pertained to modern times and anything to do with salt or iron.

“I know this hole-in-the-wall diner in about twenty miles. Let’s stop there for a late dinner. I’m starving,” Rowan said.

“Is this one of those places that will give me some awful stomach ailment?”

Rowan snorted. “Why would I want to eat at a place that has bad food that’d make me or you sick? There’ll be a lot of weirdos but the food is good. In fact, the chili burger is one of the best I’ve ever had.”

“Chili burger?”

“That’ll be what you’re having. With cheese and onions and fresh avocado. And beer. The beer is also good.”

Just a few minutes later—Rowan still drove very fast—they approached the place she’d need to turn off to go to the diner she’d mentioned.

And that’s when she saw the row of motorcycles just next to the turnoff.

“Um. I think we’ll keep driving. I don’t know what that’s about and I don’t want to.”

Genevieve looked closer and then put a hand on Rowan’s arm. “No. Turn off and pull over where they are. It’s the Dust Devils.”

“Still not a super great idea to go poking into whatever it is they’re up to.” The Devils were a kind of power that made Rowan more than nervous. They were something so other, so disconnected to everything else she knew and made her peace with, that they scared her.

“Trust me, Rowan. I can handle this.”

Rowan did as Genevieve bid, but texted Clive quickly, where they were and what they were about to face, before getting out of the car. She didn’t want him to panic, and she underlined that to him, but she wanted him to know just in case something went sideways.

Genevieve got out of the car and waited for Rowan and Star to get out on the other side. Yes, she could handle herself with these Dust Devils but the backup was good.

Darius, looking dangerous and sexy all at once, got off his bike and strolled over to where they stood.

“You performed magic on our ground tonight,” he said.

His eyes were black as the midnight sky and just as endless as she looked into them. “I performed magic tonight, yes. But not on your ground. On ground held by a witch who’d broken our laws. I don’t need your permission to perform any working necessary to achieve my ends.”

The right corner of his mouth tipped up ever so slightly. “That’s an interesting perspective.”

“We already told you we were on a hunt. We had your leave to be on Devil territory if we had to be,” Rowan said.

Darius looked to her and then down at Star.

He did smile then as he went to his haunches and held his hand out. He spoke in a language so old Genevieve didn’t recognize it.

Star wagged her tail and moved to him, letting him pet her.

Rowan kept a beady eye on him, which amused Genevieve greatly. Her friend had a healthy fear of the Dust Devils but when it came to her dog, she was protective, even in the face of that fear.

“When did you come to live with Rowan, little one?” he asked then in English.

“A few days ago,” Rowan said.

Star yipped, licking Darius’s face before letting the other Devils pet her. That had to have said something to Rowan about the intent of the Devils. If they meant harm, it would have happened by that point and most certainly it would have occurred before a bunch of scary looking men nearly fell over themselves to pet Star.

“Why are you here waiting?” Genevieve asked Darius.

“We felt you. You connected with our land, didn’t you realize that?”

Genevieve couldn’t argue. She had felt it, had recognized the way the magic in the air had not only welcomed her, but jumped to help out when she’d begun to work her spells.

“Was that Devils magic then? That seemed to awaken for me?” She didn’t think so.

Darius cocked his head slightly. “You should have said you were a salt witch.”

Rowan’s body stiffened at the words. Just for a brief moment, but it was there.

“I’m what?” Genevieve asked, keeping very calm.

“I see. You don’t know.”

“I hate riddles,” she told him, annoyed he knew something about her power that she didn’t.

Darius wore an amused expression, even as he seemed to emanate an otherworldly sort of energy. For a moment, the voices that had begun to return quieted, seeming to lean toward him. Genevieve