“Of course you do, darling. And you’re quite exceptional at being cranky. And being sneaky. I’m sure you can find a way to do both with a personal driver. In any case, do try not to get injured. You’re my Hunter and I quite prefer you not in a coma.”
She grunted at the reference to her recent near dying. As if she’d forgotten. Rowan preferred not being in a coma too so she wasn’t going to argue. “Whatever. Is that dumb bitch drawing breath? No. But I am. Living is the best revenge.”
“Naturally. Just consider it. For my overall health and well being if you won’t do it for yourself.”
Rowan rolled her eyes. “We’ll see. Now, I’m hungry and you have some sort of beatdown to administer to some wayward Vampire. Take care of the boss, you got me?”
“As you command,” he told her right before he promised to touch base soon and hung up.
Chapter Two
Though she hadn’t gotten to sleep until close to two, Rowan was awake again by six so she showered and got ready for her day.
Elisabeth was already in the kitchen when Rowan got down there.
“Good morning! Why don’t you sit and tell me what you’d like for your breakfast. I’ve coffee made. The Scion said that was your preference upon waking. Would you like something to eat?”
Rowan sat at the kitchen island. The other woman wasn’t chipper, which would have ended in violence. She was upbeat but didn’t get in Rowan’s face. She could work with that. It was nice that Clive had told her about the coffee. He probably also gave them all a primer on how to handle her.
She poured herself a cup of coffee from the carafe Elisabeth had put out. “Did he send these?” The beans she liked were from a small coffee plantation in Sumatra. And the rich scent rising on the steam was most definitely her favorite.
Elisabeth’s smile turned a little mischievous a moment before it went back to a more neutral sort of friendly. “Alice had a number of things sent here for you. All on his orders. A man who wants his wife happy.” She nodded, clearly approving of such things.
Rowan had no complaints. Well, no, she did, but not about that. “He’s had some time to perfect his game, that’s very true.”
After a conversation about what Rowan liked and disliked, a breakfast began to come together as David joined them both in the kitchen.
He saw the teapot and might have made sex eyes at Elisabeth for just a second.
“What’s the plan today?” he asked Rowan.
“I’d like to watch Wesslyian a while. Then maybe I’ll break into his house and cough on his doorknobs.”
“Is that some sort of euphemism for something I’d blush if I knew what it meant?” he asked her.
Rowan laughed, thanking Elisabeth as she placed a plate of eggs, ham and toast in her reach.
“I just wanted to give him some sort of virus. I’ve been on several continents and in multiple countries over the last three months. I’m sure to have been exposed to something that would give him diarrhea.”
“Always thinking, I see.”
“Mock all you want. But I’m good at fucking with people.”
“You are, most assuredly so.”
“Cheek!” Rowan snickered.
“To make up for it, I’ve arranged for you to have access to a third-floor flat overlooking Roth’s. There are so many cameras around the square, you’re bound to get someone’s attention. And you said you weren’t ready for that just yet.”
David was really good at steering her where he thought she should go. As it happened, it was a good direction so she allowed it. The spell that would thwart facial recognition software didn’t make her invisible after all.
“Who’s this Roth then? If I can ask.” Elisabeth topped Rowan’s coffee off.
“He’s a co-worker of a sort. He tried to have David killed.”
Elisabeth’s brows rose. “And why would he do such a thing?”
“To keep me distracted and ineffective while he attempted to help someone else destabilize the Treaty.”
They worked for a Scion, they knew about the world of Vampires. Knew then about the Treaty that kept Vampires, magic users and humans all in balance.
“He thinks in very simplistic terms. For him, if the Treaty doesn’t exist, Vampires would be easy to eradicate and then everything would be peaceful. Except for that wholesale genocide part. Except for the part where he hurt those I’m responsible to protect.”
The nearly successful plan to kill Rowan had driven The First nearly over the brink into utter madness. If Theo had decided to get his revenge, there was simply no way of knowing if any living thing would have been left by the time he was finished.
No need to say that part out loud though.
“You’ll kill him then? Isn’t that what you do when someone violates the Treaty?” Elisabeth asked.
The moment he’d tried to harm someone under her protection, Roth had signed his death warrant.
“First I’ll expose him as the murderous fraud he is. Shred everything he holds dear. Set it on fire. Salt the ground afterward. Then I’ll kill him.”
Elisabeth nodded. “A fine plan.”
* * *
It wasn’t quite nine as Rowan settled herself into a very comfortable chair to take in the scene at Roth’s house. He’d driven off, the same time he did every weekday, at eight ten. She’d then gone over to attach some sort of thingamajig to a bundle of wires at a junction box in his backyard as she’d been directed.
She dialed Carey, her office manager and whiz kid tech lord, just as David came into the room, bringing her coffee and some sort of sausage egg sandwich Londoners seemed to love so much and do so well.
“Is this second breakfast?” Rowan asked. David grinned quickly and handed over a wad of napkins. To Carey she said, “I placed the clip on the wires off the alley behind his townhouse.”
“I gotcha, Ro,” Carey said. She heard the tapping of keys, which kept her from reminding him not to call her Ro. And avoiding the way he never listened and had been calling her that damned pet name for well over six years by that point.
She had her laptop open, watching as it connected with his in Las Vegas and then the screen blinked several times before revealing a log in screen for Roth’s personal network.
As Carey broke several laws, Rowan turned to David. “Report.”
“Followed his car. No stops. Direct to the Motherhouse. The driver was one of the fleet for Hunter Corp. Sent Carey several photos of his face and car and planted the tracker.”
The gadget would allow them to know where Roth was. And wasn’t.
The drivers were part of the wall that separated Hunters who worked the field and those who like Roth, rode a desk. Too important to commute to work like everyone else. Then again, it did make them easier to track, and as a result, far more vulnerable than they thought. Rowan and several others had brought this up in the past but they’d been pooh-poohed, as if they simply couldn’t understand or were put out that fieldwork didn’t come with perks like a driver.
Rowan was past caring what they thought. Hunters like Roth were soft and weak. Because this particular one was also far less trained and adept at his job than he liked to think, it made the task of running him to ground, exposing whatever he was up to and then eradicating any threat he posed even easier.
And she would take him out with a fucking smile.
“Roth’s a right tit,” she muttered and David allowed a snicker. She caught his eye. “I’m such a bad influence on you.”
“The others are jealous of my training. Not only do I have excellent physical skills, but I can punch faces and say bad words with the best of them,” he teased.
“My baby’s growing up.” She winked. “Hope you don’t think you deserve a raise for that.” Though she’d definitely keep on giving h
im bonuses for making sure she was fed and caffeinated.
The screen on her laptop changed as Carey broke past all Roth’s network defenses and began to copy everything. A keystroke-monitoring program was installed so they’d know everything Roth typed.
“This should be quick. I’ll get on it right away to see what we can find and update you later,” Carey told her. “I’ve taken over his home security as well so we’ve got cameras inside.”
“In the old days this sort of thing would have taken weeks. Maybe months. I’m glad you two criminals are on my side.”
“You’ll make me blush with all your compliments,” Carey said.
“I’m going to hang out a while. I want to see what a day at Assface Mansion over there means. He’s got three full-time staff members but they live off site except for their house elf which I imagine lives in the attic.”
“Harry Potter references? You’re wasted on that Vampire, that’s all I’m saying.” Carey hung up shortly after that.
David made himself comfortable and they both took in the scene across the way. Patience was a weapon. She used it often. Roth had no idea what he’d done by making an enemy of Rowan Summerwaite. But he would. Before she was done, everything Roth loved would be destroyed.
* * *
Hours later, after the house had finally emptied and it appeared they had a window of time, Rowan called Carey to tell him she was going in and she needed his eyes.
“On it. Give me three minutes. Do you have a preferred place to get inside?” Carey asked.
“Back gate. When I took a walk earlier it appeared to be pretty shielded from the street.”
True to his word, no alarm sounded once she’d picked the shamefully flimsy lock on the back door.
The interior was as pretentious as she figured it would be. Expensive furniture that most assuredly would be uncomfortable as well as unwelcoming. No pictures on the walls. Art here and there that wasn’t her personal taste. It seemed bland and yet the sort of thing that showed up on walls of people who wanted you to know how much money they had.
Sneering, she moved quickly to the room she knew was his office. No work on his desk. Naturally. It wasn’t like he did much of anything in the office either.
But he was a weasel, which meant he had a hidey hole somewhere. A man like Roth would want something to hold over people. Something he could pull out of a safe to fondle and pretend to have aspirations far above himself.
Using it to hang him would be so much fucking fun she found herself actually snickering.
David was in her ear. Making sure no one was coming home. Carey would be keeping an eye on all police and security activity in the area as well. But it didn’t mean she wouldn’t be careful.
His desk was all chrome and glass. Lovely but impractical. Unless you had a full time cleaning lady to deal with fingerprints like Roth appeared to.
No secret drawers or slots that she could find on it.
Perhaps Roth was smart enough to use some magical means to help hide things.
Rowan opened herself as she stood there, letting Her spool up. Brigid, the Goddess Rowan shared her life with—as well as her body and consciousness—had magic and skills far beyond those Rowan had on her own.
When Rowan called Her, She came. She came whenever She wanted, actually, which was what Goddesses did.
The tingle of Brigid’s presence started at the pit of Rowan’s belly and flowed outward. Warm and nearly narcotic, sometimes it was all Rowan could do to keep her feet because it rendered her drunk.
Moments later, things began to right themselves again so, perception altered, she turned her body, gaze taking in every single inch, magic rushing to fill the space to overflowing.
And still...nothing.
Improbable.
Rowan headed toward the bedrooms. The master suite was clearly a place Roth spent a lot of time in. His energy marked the air. Smudges of muddy yellow and red here and there. Not good at all.
Someone was being a very bad boy.
Rowan smiled. She hoped he had explosive diarrhea from the stress. Every day. And that he couldn’t get it up. Ever again.
She checked in the usual places. Under the mattress, the dressers and nightstands. Nothing more edifying than some fuzzy handcuffs and some lube. Using the edge of the sheet, she uncapped the lid just a little and left it on the side to ooze out into the drawer.
No secret spaces that she could discern. Which meant something really good was spirited away and hidden by magic she couldn’t counter.
Yet.
Rowan took a look through the other bedrooms and then stopped by the pantry once she was back on the main floor.
Lots of sardines. Lots of crackers for caviar. A decent selection of wine.
She grabbed a tin of sardines, rolled it open and went back into Roth’s office. She tucked the opened fish on the top shelf of his bookcase, behind some books she was sure he’d never even read.
Asshole.
“Rowan, time’s getting short,” David murmured into her earpiece.
Meant someone was on the way so she left quickly and carefully, knowing she’d be back.
* * *
Clive checked in with Betchamp once he’d gotten out of his last meeting. He hadn’t wanted to wake Rowan if she’d managed to get to sleep. He worried about the weight she carried on her shoulders.
Hated that he wasn’t there with her though she was more than capable of taking care of herself. There was an ocean between them, which meant less opportunity for him to connect with her. His beautiful Goddess out in the sunshine he couldn’t travel through.
He despised those within Hunter Corp. who’d placed her safety in jeopardy. Hated that they used her loyalty to manipulate her. Most of all he hated that it had hurt her heart and her trust. Things she did not give lightly.
He was supposed to be there already. He should have accompanied her to London when she’d left Las Vegas just three days before but he’d had to deal with work and she refused to wait for him until he’d won free.
They had important jobs. She’d told him that and she was correct. But she was part of his job now. And damn if he wasn’t itching to drop everything and run to her. Once he was done putting out the fires that had cropped up in his absence, he’d be on his way to London. Woe be to those who’d held him up as long as they had.
“She left several hours ago. Elisabeth said she had breakfast with her valet and seemed to be in a good mood. Would you like me to attempt to find her?” Betchamp asked.
“My wife would not be pleased were I to do such a rash thing. She’ll let me know when she’s ready to. I imagine she’s doing her job right this moment. The protocols are in place?”
As his wife, Rowan would be afforded such things as guards and security of all types. But Clive also knew his lovely Hunter was far more deadly than anyone who’d be assigned to her.
And that she was far too cranky and distrustful of Vampires to allow them to shadow her.
So he’d worked with her to build levels of security in their home and while she was in London that they could both live with. The protocols they put in place would serve not only her, but the house and her people as well.
“Yes, Scion. Ms. Summerwaite looked it over after her arrival and everything met with her approval. Unless she didn’t want to address me about it.”
“Believe me when I assure you that my wife has no problem letting anyone know when they’ve done something that hasn’t met with her approval.”
He didn’t worry that she’d be unpleasant to his staff. She had respect for the families who served the Vampire Nation and given her own position within it, Clive had never seen the slightest bit of disrespect from her on that count.
“She does seem quite confident in herself.”
?
??She’s the most dangerous creature I’ve come across in all my life but one. And she learned at His knee.” Clive wanted Betchamp to understand her better.
His wife was the daughter of the most powerful individual walking the earth. Not only that, she carried a millennia-old Goddess inside. Clive wanted to watch her back because he loved her. But she didn’t need it.
Which was quite often what made him want to do it more. Because she should be protected. Coddled. Cosseted and spoiled.
She rarely allowed such liberties, though he understood the leave he was given to do such things for her was something special indeed.
Moreover, she was magnificent when she was on a hunt. Her ferocity and canny, inventive viciousness never ceased to make him hard. She was in his blood.
“Your mother called. She wanted to know when you and Rowan were arriving at their estate,” Betchamp told him.
He needed to handle that as well, but it was daylight in London, which meant it had to wait until the sun went down.
“All right. I’ll contact her when the sun is down.” The last thing he wanted was his mother and father showing up on his front doorstep. A cornered, panicked Rowan wasn’t something he wanted.
“As you wish, Scion.”
Clive rang off, texting Rowan but got no reply before he needed to head into yet another meeting.
Chapter Three
Rowan waited on Rex and Susan’s back porch until someone responded to her text. She should have come to them the day before, or even the one before that, but she’d been getting everything in place, watching, making notes and creating the plan that would end this mess.
That and she wanted them to react well to her announcement. She was sure they would. Ninety percent anyway. That last ten percent gave her pause. Enough that she’d avoided this moment.
Susan quickly came through to admit Rowan, pulling her into a hug once she got the door open. “Sweetheart, I’ve been worried.”