Blood and Blade (Goddess with a Blade #6) - Lauren Dane Page 0,97

to find him, she hoped.

At the very least, they’d have a better idea of where he was.

Genevieve put aside all doubts. Doubts reduced the efficacy of a spell. Intent was key and her intent had to be rock solid. And certain of success.

This Faerie needed to be put down. Period. And so she and her friends would do just that.

She worked to pull all the magic in the air into her gut, to change it and use it in the spell. To direct it exactly where it was needed.

And when she did, she felt the Trick. Understood the well of chaos magic that lay at her feet, threaded through the land they controlled.

Salt and iron.

Indeed. That was the combo that would save them.

* * *

After several minutes, Genevieve stood tall once more, brushed off the bottoms of her feet, stepped back into her shoes and headed over to them.

“Are you all right?” she asked Vanessa, who nodded.

Rowan had given her some tomato juice and the food Elisabeth had prepared to get her energy back up.

They watched on the map as the spell began to work. Drifting away from them to the north. Near where Patrizia’s land was but not quite that far.

“Let’s head that way now. I’ll keep connected and let us know if we need course corrections,” Genevieve said as she got into the passenger side of the car Rowan was driving.

Star scrambled in behind her and settled between David and Vanessa.

Rowan tried not to be annoyed that Clive and Patience were alone in the other car. Patience wasn’t a threat to her or their relationship. But she had a deep-seated thing about Clive and similar deep-seated feelings about how not worthy for Clive Rowan was.

She had to satisfy herself with the knowledge that Patience knew how much Clive loved Rowan and that she could never get it from her boss.

Hmpf.

There was a lot of driving. At least ninety minutes north on 318 until Vanessa and Genevieve both shouted to stop.

Rowan pulled off at the next exit, which was little more than a hard packed dirt road and a million times better than the soft sand next to the roadway that frequently trapped cars.

Clive followed suit and he and Patience joined them as they looked at the map and Vanessa her screen.

“There it is.” Genevieve pointed to a town so small Rowan was surprised it was on the map.

“It’s not like we can roll into this town without being noticed,” Rowan said as she looked at satellite photos of what was a town big enough for two four-way stop signs and one traffic light. There was one school that served about a sixty mile area and held classes for all grades. A small grocery store with a feed store attached. A bar. Naturally.

Total population was three hundred and twelve. Plus a Faerie.

“If the Fae are as exacting as Vampires, I can’t see him being very satisfied with whatever housing this town has to offer,” David said.

It looked like some small ranch style single story houses on big plots of dirt, a lot of mobile homes and one or two larger multistory houses on some land that held animals.

“On the plus side, if we can’t find him with the spell once we get into town, I bet we can find someone in that bar who’ll be willing to tell us all kinds of things about the weird rich guy in town.” Rowan knew humans would see this Fae and think he was weird. He was most likely so very not human that people, even those who chose to live in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere Nevada to be left the fuck alone, would notice that difference and ascribe it to his being weird or rich or both.

“We’ll find him. Now that we’re close, I can use my othersight. A power like his would light up the sky,” Genevieve said.

So they got back on the road, taking the exit they needed and heading toward town. There were houses dotting the landscape set back from the street. The moon was full and cast a silvery light over the hills beyond.

No streetlights except those lining the few short blocks of what she supposed was downtown. She took it slow and, as she drove, also realized she wasn’t seeing a whole lot of movement. Or lights on in the houses. It was ten at night, not so late that everyone should be in bed. Certainly not so late that there were