Blood and Blade (Goddess with a Blade #6) - Lauren Dane Page 0,96
to Genevieve, as if to tell Rowan he had nothing to do with all the texts.
“I hope I didn’t interrupt anything,” Genevieve said.
“Well, you did and you know it so stop smirking.” Rowan looked at the big wooden crate next to one of the couches. “What’s that?”
“Iron edged weapons and some iron bullets for your handgun,” David explained. “They just arrived.”
Ooh! Rowan rushed over to look like a kid on her birthday.
She wasn’t a super big fan of handguns, but they were another important tool when she went on a hunt. And they were easier to use when she wanted to stay out of grabbing range. Her blade meant she had to get a lot closer to her target and sometimes that was a bad idea.
Rowan began to load magazines with the ammo.
“Genevieve, are we ready?” she asked.
“Yes. I think so anyway. I’ve got a map that’s keyed to the spell so we should be able to get a lock on location. We’ll still have to drive there though, so we’ll need to see what that’ll entail. If we have Vampires with us, we’ll need to think about daylight as a potential issue.”
“Vampires are very good at knowing when the sun is coming. If they’re not near home, believe me when I tell you, they’ll find a place to take refuge until the sun sets.” It was one of the reasons Rowan worried less about having Clive along on hunts like this. He’d been alive a long time and had honed the kind of self protective instincts that had kept him that way.
But honestly she hoped it was still dark when they found this Fae because it felt very much like Clive was a necessary part of the solution to rid the earth of such a powerful enemy.
He came into the room looking dangerous and sexy with a whole lot of smug that said he knew how lucky he was that she’d opened her veins for him.
One of the many reasons she kept him around. It was...not terrible to share blood with Clive. Once she figured she’d never let another feed from her. But then Clive came along. And while he was Vampire to his core, he wasn’t any of those who’d stolen her blood. Stolen her free will. Arrogant. Condescending. Cocky. Clive was all those things. But he never messed with her free will. Never took what was not offered and that made all the difference.
Vanessa showed up, ready to help. She’d keep an eye on the computer stuff like the interactive spell the brilliant Genevieve had crafted between the map and the target, as well as for any chatter there might be that would clue the Faerie in to their impending arrival.
Vanessa was also decently trained though Rowan was hesitant to use her in battle unless they had no other choice. Decently trained was okay on most days. But facing an unknown enemy who had power and resources the type of which Rowan rarely saw wasn’t for decently trained.
Their crew, Clive, Rowan, Star, David, Vanessa, Genevieve and to Rowan’s surprise, Patience, assembled in the desert to get things started.
Rowan knew the Devils watched from the hills a few miles away, could feel their presence. She hoped that helped in some way. She knew they probably couldn’t intervene much if at all. Back to those stupid rules again. But with Genevieve being one of them by that point, Rowan figured they’d already been helping in ways her friend didn’t want to say just yet.
She watched as Genevieve stepped from her shoes and walked barefoot over the earth until she found the perfect place to cast her working.
* * *
Slowly, Genevieve began to move. First her hands as she made the signs and sigils she needed to open the way and spool up her magic. She knew this was a good spot because Darius had mentioned it was a place the wind brought the salt. It hung around her in a way she’d never noticed before.
Her spell differed from Patrizia’s in several important ways. The most important being it didn’t actually siphon until the target was drained.
It took the smallest amount of Vanessa’s life essence, one that Genevieve would replenish after the whole thing was over. That essence would be caught by the spell, pushing it to the Fae they were looking for but in very slow motion. It would reach him, but then only deliver the life essence one small bit at a time. Over a long period.