Blood and Blade (Goddess with a Blade #6) - Lauren Dane Page 0,88

to think about it. Talk to Susan some more, probably Celesse. Both women were mentors who had a lot of great advice despite both being highly placed within Hunter Corp.

They’d tell her the truth. Which is what she always needed. Even if it hurt a little.

“Okay. Yeah, I can see that. I’ll think on all this. Thank you for the information about the Fae. This helps a lot.”

“Rowan? Don’t go after any Faerie alone. You’re fierce, but no match for the Fae. Especially one who has been using siphon spells and is most likely bloated with power.”

“That’s my plan. I want to kill this Faerie but I’m not stupid.”

“No, little one, you’re just you. Be well.” Nadir hung up and Rowan turned back to David and Genevieve.

“Well. I’ve got some basics. Let’s add it to what we know so far,” Rowan said to David. “Then we have an appointment at the new building. I have to sign some papers and I want you to look over the construction they’re doing. Make sure we’re on track.”

They were having a secure weapons room installed, which was about as complicated as Rowan figured it would be.

It was all just killing time until they had a target. And once they did, he’d better run because she had a whole metric fuckton of pain to dump on his head.

Genevieve went back to her hotel to handle some Conclave business, which left Rowan free to deal with the paperwork and then head down to the less savory end of town to talk with some of her sources.

* * *

Marv used to work at a show that boasted fake Vampires onstage with “fake” feedings to titillate the tourists. Only it wasn’t so fake. As annoying as Marv and his Vampires were, they were generally harmless and he’d even helped her out more than once with tips she’d been able to use to solve a few different cases.

If anyone knew about something sketchy happening on the down low in Las Vegas, it was Marv.

These days, because the Scion’s wife liked him well enough, he was the stage producer in a new show. This one with plenty of naked tits—and who didn’t like those—at a far nicer hotel still situated a few miles from the luxury haven of Die Mitte.

She parked around back, where the employee lot was located, and then headed in. A few Vampires tried to stop her but once they noted who she was, they backed off and let her through. Not as fun as the old days when she got to scare them all. But it was certainly far easier to get around behind the scenes now that she was married to the Scion.

It wasn’t Marv she saw when she rounded the corner toward the dressing rooms, though. It was Carl. So unexpected she skidded to a stop. “Uh. Hi.”

He beamed at her, the gold cap on one of his front teeth gleaming in the low light. Was that new? She rarely looked him in the face because so often he was driving and she was behind him, so it might not be so recent.

“Betty Sue!” He took off his orange camo cowboy hat and whacked it against his thigh to underline his exclamation.

“Hey, Carl. I was here looking for Marv.”

“Tonight, the role of Marv will be played by Carl.” He wheezed out a laugh.

“Okay then. I was going to ask Marv if he’s seen any Fae around.” She smiled brightly at him.

“Well now, you’re finally asking the right questions, aren’t you, Ruth?”

“I guess so! Since you tell me stuff that’s all woo-woo and I have to decipher your stories first. It took me a minute and a few prophecy dreams to get this far. So I get that we’re for sure talking about a Faerie. But not who or where to find him or her or they or whatever.”

“Susie, I told you about the rivers and veins running through from here to there, didn’t I?”

“Let’s just pretend I’m stupid, okay? And that I still don’t know what you mean about the rivers and veins. I thought you meant ley lines but when I looked at the map, there aren’t any where you indicated. I looked up actual rivers and there are some but mainly not. So they’re veins of power? Like leading from the individual spells to the bad Faerie?”

“Give the lady a stuffed bear,” he said.

Okay so he was still going to be mysterious. But at least he was helping. She needed to