At Blade's Edge

  “Fine. Hang on a sec, everyone.”

  His smile was so small only she would have seen it.

  He kept it quick, knowing if he didn’t she’d shove him off impatiently so she could keep talking.

  “War is coming, ladies and gentlemen. I can feel it deep in my gut. You can turn away from that but I can’t. Hunter Corporation can’t. Vampires are strong. They have money and long lives and so much more power than humans like Hilary and whoever she was working with understand. To wait a century or more for the perfect opportunity for vengeance is an art form to them. Humans can’t fight that. Hunter Corp. can’t fight that.

  “And now the magic practitioners have resurfaced. The black market was known to us and like Genevieve said, known to them too. But the magic we dealt with in Prague and Venice, the spells Hilary and Roth purchased, that’s troubling. The Conclave is not something we understand well enough. But from what I can tell, they’ve got their own insurrection. Like we did and still do. Like the Vampires do. We can’t win on two fronts and we desperately need the Treaty in place. We need one another. Without the help we received from the magic community in Venice and the assistance Ms. Aubert has rendered, Hilary would have managed to convince this body to declare the Treaty null, which would have brought a metric ton of trouble onto our heads.”

  Balance.

  It came back to balance over and over. Which sort of sucked because balance took patience and Rowan hated patience.

  “Hunter Corporation upholds the Treaty. We will be out in the field keeping our attention on known threats as well as investigating possible problems. It’s what we did originally and it’s what we need to do now. We aren’t going to poke and prod anyone into war. That’s not in our mission statement. I don’t know all the particulars. I hope we can all work together on developing the details. We no longer have room at the table for people who only got the job because their parents had a lot of money. Everyone here is talented and smart and dedicated. If you’re not willing to put those skills to use in the service of Hunter Corp. and the Treaty you can—and should—go.”

  “So we can just walk out of here today?” Patsy, one of the older Hunters asked.

  “Yes. But you know the process. You’re married, Patsy, so your husband would need to come in so you can both be wiped. Your things will be relocated but this life as you know it is over.”

  “My husband just started a new job. We won’t say anything.”

  “We all sign the contract. We all take the oath. Including your husband. Didn’t we learn anything from the deaths of five people today?” Rowan sighed. “I’m extending a sort of amnesty right now. If I thought any of you were guilty of colluding with Hilary and Roth, you’d be dead now too. If you choose to go, please speak to Celesse.”

  A few people hesitated and then walked to where Celesse stood. Those Rowan figured would be uncomfortable with new ways of doing anything.

  “Okay then, everyone else. If you need medical attention, David can administer some first aid while the doctors deal with the most critically wounded.”

  An hour later, Rowan watched the spotless, suited Dust Devils leave after a brief tip of the head in her direction.

  They hadn’t had so much as a hair out of place and when she went to look in the conference room there were no bodies anywhere. No blood, bits or anything left.

  Neat trick, though Rowan tried not to think too hard on just exactly what the mechanics of their magic were.

  Rex caught up with her as she hobbled down the hallway. “How’s the arm and wrist?”

  Throbbing like a fucker. Swollen. “I’ll heal soon enough.” Her blood was still pretty supercharged, but if she kept on nearly dying all the damned time it was bound to run out at some point.

  Maybe not. Maybe it was permanent. It showed no signs of dimming, but she didn’t want to test it when she needed it most.

  “I forgot to ask what happened with the cops,” she said before he tried to hug her or something.

  “We’ve pulled some of our markers with the police. They reported the call as hearing a loud boom. It was explained as construction noise.”

  “Nicely played.” And now there weren’t any bodies to be found. One less thing to be stressed about.

  “Come to the smaller conference room near your office. Susan has arranged for a lunch to be served.” Rex examined her face. “You’re pale, sweetheart. You need the strength after all you’ve managed to get done today. Living, chief amongst them.”

  “Where are we on the wounded?”

  “Plenty of stitches given. Broken bones that were set and casted. I’m going to suggest we have full time staff in the infirmary here. If you hadn’t suggested to Sarah to call in doctors we’d have had a rougher time.”

  “We have the damned infirmary to start with. I’ve been suggesting for years that it be staffed with at least one doctor. We come in with injuries of one type or another all the time. And there are flu shots and other things to be done.”

  Damn it. She was already taking over and it was as boring as she figured it would be.

  Rowan followed Rex, heading to food and an attempt to re-group.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Rowan, I really must insist we go home now,” David said to her as she rounded a corner. “Nothing else can be done tonight and no one will leave until you do. You haven’t slept in well over twenty-four hours.”

  That’s when she noted how late it had gotten. Even supercharged, she’d had a rough day and going home to shower, get into some flannel and sleep sounded really good.

  “All right.”

  “That was easy. I’d be suspicious but for now I think you’re slow enough that I’d catch you leaving.” David ducked into her office, grabbed her things and led her downstairs.

  “It’s about time you went home,” Sarah said from the doorway to the infirmary.

  “I will if you will.”

  “Fine idea. Let’s all us stragglers go home as the sun begins to set. You did a good job today, Rowan. I know it was difficult in parts, but you did what was needed. I’ll see you in the morning.”

  Sarah headed off with a Hunter who’d escort her home while Rowan and David managed to get into the car that would take them home.

  Once they started to drive, Rowan put her head back against the seat and let herself yawn.

  The sky had deepened from soft purple to deeper tones as night fell in earnest and the traffic though busy, wasn’t nearly as bad as it would have been a few hours prior.

  Her stomach growled, reminding her she hadn’t eaten since early afternoon. She’d need the calories for healing too. She’d have a glass of wine and maybe some of the cake Elisabeth had made the day before for Clive.

  Only not really for Clive since it was Rowan who loved cake so much. But still.

  Rowan finally took herself in. She’d ripped yet another pair of pants, her watch face had been cracked, the hands bent, and there were bits of Goddess knew what spattered on her blouse. At least the sling was relatively gore free.

  “One of these days I’m going to come home with my hair done and makeup perfect.”

  David managed a tired laugh. “He’ll think you’re up to something.”

  * * *

  When they pulled up at the back of the house, it was Clive who yanked the door open and hauled her out, cursing and apologizing when she yelped in pain.

  “What are you doing?” She fended him off, or tried to. He swept her up and stalked into the house where Elisabeth waited with Betchamp.

  “I’m tending to my wife, who couldn’t even be bothered to call and check in so when I awoke I’d know she was alive.” He set her on the counter.

  Oh.

  He was so pissed off. She hadn’t been the target of this much anger in a while now.

&n
bsp; “I’m a mess. You’re going to get Elisabeth’s counter all gross.”

  “Ask me if I’m concerned about bloody counters, Rowan.”

  Alice came in with a smile. “Rowan, there you are. I was just telling Clive that should something have happened to you, they’d have let him know already.” She shot a warning look at her boss, whose frown didn’t lessen.

  “I wasn’t planning on asking you if you cared about bloody counters, Clive,” she shot back, feeling stung.

  “That’s the meat of the problem, is it not?” His anger had waned enough that the underlying hurt and panic showed through. “You don’t stop to think about anyone else.”

  The room went totally silent.

  Shame washed through Rowan’s system at his words.

  No matter what, she kept fucking up all the stuff she probably shouldn’t have been trusted to have to start with. She’d told him how screwed up she was.

  She pushed herself down from the counter to her feet, turning to face everyone in the room.

  “I apologize, truly, for the chaos I bring with me. I will make every endeavor to think about other people more often. I need a shower. David, get some rest. We’ll reconvene at six.”

  Clive stepped in her path. “Oh no you don’t. You can’t just close yourself off and walk away from me like this.”

  Normal fights with him she could handle. Goddess knew they bickered constantly. But this was different and she didn’t know what to do or how to process it.

  “Scion, you’re going to need to step back and let my lady pass,” David said, meaning every word.

  Rowan needed to protect David. At least she could do that thing right. “Enough! I am covered in blood and guts and brains and I want to take a fucking shower. David, thank you for your assistance and your defense. I’m honored.”

  That’s when her voice started to shake.

  She could not start crying. Not until she was safely away.

  “I think we should let Rowan get cleaned up and changed,” Elisabeth said cheerfully. “I’ve a meal made. I know David and Rowan must be quite hungry. Scion, you should feed while Rowan is scrubbing the day from herself. Alice, didn’t you say you had something to speak with Scion Stewart about?”

  Rowan took that opportunity to dart from the room as tears brimmed her eyes.

  She really could have used some help getting her clothes off. It wasn’t easy wearing a sling and it hurt like a motherfucker. But she managed it through blurry vision and the fuzzy-headedness that accompanied crying and extreme emotion.

  Her hair was another story. There’d been a fair amount of cursing and hissing from pain as she tangled her fingers into it to get it loose from the braided knot she’d had it secured in.

  Brigid was a warm, solid weight in Rowan’s chest. Not Her usual demanding self. She was there because Rowan had needed it.

  Rowan was doing the best she could and it still wasn’t enough. The young Hunter whose only crime had been that he’d taken Rowan’s side and had been too near a crudely made purse bomb.

  “Fucking fuck. A purse bomb.” Rowan closed her eyes and snatched them open quickly as the memories of that room in the aftermath came into vivid focus.

  The idea that the next years of her life—should she manage to stay alive—would be full of one fucking failure after the next left her nauseated.

  Clive didn’t bother waiting until she said anything after his tap on the door. He just barged in, clearly wanting to continue a fight she totally was done having.

  “We’re not having sex unless you’re into role-playing as praying mantises.”

  “Did you know that’s a myth? It doesn’t happen every time.”

  * * *

  Rowan blinked at him and that’s when he noticed how red and swollen her eyes were. “Are you crying? Is the pain that bad? You need a real doctor. David told me you have several broken bones.”

  “You’re a prick.” She shook her head and climbed into the shower, closing the door in his face. “By the way, yes female praying mantises do eat their mates sometimes. All the redheaded ones just rip the heads off and suck out the brains like a crawdad.”

  “Your sling is going to get wet. Why are you crying?” He didn’t bother to deny his being a prick.

  “Go. Away. Point made. I am a shitty wife. I’m a shitty employer too. Selfish. I’m not that awesome at being a Hunter or a daughter. Add it all to the big list of things Rowan sucks at you keep.”

  The hitch of a sob brought his heart slamming into his chest. Adrenaline and the absolute need to stop whatever was tearing her up drove him to strip off and join her in the enclosure.

  He tried to hug her but she elbowed him in the ribs hard enough to bruise.

  “Is that what you think, darling Hunter?” He got closer, staying on her injured side. She’d taken off the sling though she cradled her arm to keep it in place. “Why did you do this? It’ll need to be redone now.”

  “I need to wash. It’s as gross as the rest of me.” Her words stuttered a little as she wrestled with the emotion that flooded from her like an open wound. Her guilt and anguish were a tangible thing—all wrapped up and twisted around her heart. Starving it.

  “Be very still. Hold it in place and I’ll help.” As gently as he possibly could, he cleaned her up. The water no longer ran pink after a minute or two so he spoke again. “There. As to this supposed list of your shortcomings.” He risked a kiss to her forehead. “It’s unacceptable to me that you’d believe I chronicle your faults in such a fashion.”

  Her sobs came back as she let her head hang to hide her face. Back bowed. In the time he’d known her, he’d never once seen her this way. His Rowan with her back bowed was unacceptable.

  “I’m going to hug you,” he warned, “and you’re going to have to rein in your impulse to maim me.”

  “Why should I?” she demanded in a sniffly mumble as he enfolded her into a one-armed hug against the least injured side of her body.

  “Because despite being a prick, you love me.”

  She relaxed a little, but he could feel as the sobs still sent waves of muscle tightening through her over and over.

  “You have many faults, Rowan.” He began to wash her hair as gently as he could. “Chiefly regarding your general outlook and behavior.”

  She snorted and he forged ahead.

  “And yet, when I tell you how magnificent you are, there’s simply no way I can believe you unable to hear the truth in my words. Close your eyes and lean back so we can rinse your hair.” There were some burns on her injured side. She was bruised from head to toe. “I apologize for the things I said in the kitchen. I was scared and I let that get to me. A very young mistake for a very old Vampire, I’m afraid.”

  “You were right. All you people trust me to keep you safe and I don’t. I can’t. I was in the room today when a suspect set off a bomb to silence a conspirator. One of our Hunters died. We still don’t know what these sorcerers are up to or why. David’s still in danger. Hunter Corp. will never be the same. And I don’t just mean the parts of the building that’ll have to be rebuilt. I don’t know that I can stop whatever is coming. I don’t know if I have it in me.”

  Her voice had gotten so small he had to wrestle back a sob of his own that she felt this way and that he’d given rise to it with the way he’d reacted when she’d gotten home.

  “Of course you have it in you. You’re the Vessel. This is what you were born to do. The weight of it continues to astound me, as does the way you bear it. Like a warrior queen. That’s what you are.”

  “I broke Hunter Corp. apart today. And now I have to rebuild it. People are going to die no matter what I do.”

  “You had to confront the sickness that was killing the organization you’re part of. One you made a promise to protect.” He knew his w
ife. Understood the value she placed on that sort of loyalty and honor.

  “Doing a bang-up job.”

  “Stop that.” He helped her out and patted her dry gently.

  “I’ve been drying myself off after the bath for a long time now, Scion.” Some of her sarcasm had returned. Clive took that as a positive sign.

  “Probably even doing so with broken bones.”

  She sighed and he got his answer.

  “Now.” He hung the towel on the bar and looked her over. “Betchamp is a trained medic. He can aid with re-splinting if you won’t go to the hospital.”

  “Hospital is out. They’d want to cast it. It’ll be healed up in a day or two.”

  “I had a feeling you’d say that. So he gave me his first-aid kit. Come into the bedroom and I’ll get you fixed up and comfortable enough to eat dinner and sleep.”

  “This isn’t what you imagined in a wife. I’m sorry for that too.”

  Clive wanted to shake her in his frustration. “Stop that at once. You’re not a shitty wife, as you say.”

  “Can we just skip this part?”

  “No.” He helped her into her underwear and some soft sleep pants. The shirt was a bigger challenge, but they managed a very stretchy tank with a button up over her shoulders.

  That she so readily let him assist her comforted and scared him too. This Rowan wasn’t one he knew how to deal with and he so needed to be exactly right.

  “You should have a Victoriana. Some pretty piece of fluff with a vicious, merciless heart and a trail of bodies in her wake that she inflicted rather than those of people she failed to save.” Her tone shredded him.

  “Damn it, Rowan! I simply can’t bear to listen to this anymore. You know what you are. You know what you come from and what you bring my family just from that alone. In my world, marrying you is like winning the lottery. Though the news is not official until your father announces it, the Vampires are already talking about it. Jealous like my uncles. Most will think on how to use it to their favor.” He shrugged, knowing that was exactly how he’d think if it were another Vampire bonding to a partner such as his.