At Blade's Edge (21 page)

The Scion before Clive had been a spoiled child at a birthday party. He’d treated North America like his personal playground as he’d embezzled and wasted millions upon millions of dollars.

“Profits are up at long last. Our overall crime rate is down.” Which was a positive as his wife was the law. “My appointments are beginning to settle in and those I let remain from the last regime aren’t causing any trouble. There’s more work to be done over the next decades, but I don’t imagine that will ever not be the case.”

“What will you do about the lack of an heir?” Charles asked after a long silence.

“I’ve been bonded less than a month. Perhaps this is rushing that issue?”

Charles chose to ignore Clive’s dry tone. “It’s not
rushing
to ask if you’ve thought about something that
will
be important at some point.”

“We can’t have a biological child, but a great many heirs aren’t anyway. You know that. When the time comes, Rowan and I will decide together.” They could foster or adopt a child. He could take on one of his inner circle and appoint them as an heir.

“As you say.” Charles shrugged slightly and let the subject go.

“Father,” Clive murmured some time later, right before Charles planned to take his leave. “The Blood Front has let the enemy in. We’ve got leaks of information, more than one drain from Nation coffers, our security protocols have been exposed in some cases. Be wary.”

“I understand. If we don’t see you until the day after tomorrow when we travel to the Keep, take care of yourself as well. And my new daughter. Your mother has taken quite a shine to Rowan. Which I’m sure spells trouble for you and me.”

“Some trouble is worth it.”

Both men shared a quick smile before parting.

Dawn beckoned. He had maybe an hour and a half before he went to sleep.

Clive stalked the halls of his house, of
their
home, making sure locks were thrown and security systems engaged. David had his own system in the mews house, but a quick view of that panel showed everything locked and safe over there as well.

He’d doubled the security detail, though no one would ever even see most of them.

Rowan would immediately, which meant he needed to tell her about it before she punched someone and he had to pay workers’ comp.

Betchamp came to the base of the stairs, waiting for Clive to reach him.

Clive paused. “You should go to sleep. Rowan will be out for a while yet, but when she first awakes, it’s going to be David she’ll want.”

“Sir.” Betchamp licked his lips. “I will not let you down. Your safety is paramount. None will harm her within these walls while I draw breath.”

Absolute conviction and dedication.

“I know. I value that a great deal. Everything is as safe as it can be at this moment. My wife is, even when injured, a very canny and vicious creature. You may rest assured things are fine.” For the next hours anyway.

“As you wish.” Betchamp bowed slightly.

Chapter Twenty-One

Rowan made it to her office and got the door closed before she had to roll her eyes so hard she may have sprained something.

Hours upon hours of meetings and phone conferences.

A tap on her door indicated David’s presence, so she moved to the side and admitted him.

“They’re still in shock from yesterday,” he said quietly, knowing she’d escaped because she’d been driven nearly mad by all the dithering and, “I don’t know, what do you think we should do” stuff.

“We don’t have the time for it. Fragile people should work elsewhere. Let them sell shoes, or answer phones or play with their navels for all I care. The entire reason we’re in this predicament is because we let fragile people in our house to start with.”

David’s mouth flattened, as if he planned to argue. Rowan waited. His shoulders slumped and she patted his arm.

“I’m not mean for fun. Okay, that’s lie. Sometimes I am. But in a majority of the situations I find myself in, I’m the one who has to say things out loud because everyone else wants to be nice. Fuck nice. I’m trying to keep people alive. You can hold their hands while I do it, but it has to be done, or we’re all dead.”

“I understand more than you think I do,” David said at last. “Do you think I’m unaware of the weight on your shoulders? Of the cost to you to be the one who has to say the harsh things no one else has the courage to do?”

Well. Sometimes she did. A habit honed from a lifetime of being cast as the villain, she supposed.

“Oh.”

He nudged her to a chair. “Have some tea. More food has arrived so you should eat as well.”

She snarled. Her damned husband had been sending food over every few hours, which meant countless breaks to eat instead of pushing to finish up so this could all be handled.

“Eating doesn’t make you weak, you know.” David smirked as he began to pull things from a tote bag she hadn’t even noticed. “People get hungry. They need to sleep. Sometimes they need to dither a little so they can work through all the big, emotional and mental stuff they have to deal with.”

“When did you get so wise?”

Gyros and falafel. Clive knew her pretty damned well too.

“Sit and eat with me. Tell me what you think so far.” Rowan began to unwrap and eat as David did the same.

“I’m not sure you’re going to like what I have to say,” David told her.

“I’m sure I won’t unless you tell me something awesome like how everything is solved and I can go home.”

“Hunter Corp. needs you. Needs your leadership.”

“I know that much.” No matter how she wanted to ignore it, to go about her life as a free agent and kick evil’s ass or whatnot on her own schedule, it wasn’t to be.

“Yes, you do. But do you accept what needs to be done? They need your strength to steer Hunter Corp. through this mess and out the other side.”

“I’m trying! They’re the ones sidelining forward momentum with all this hand wringing and talking over the same three points.”

He just looked her way as he chowed down on lunch.

“Fine. Yes, I accept it.” It meant she’d lead Hunter Corp. into the next phase, into the future. Maybe into a war.

She hoped not. But had long since given up latching her hopes to silly dreams.

“I can’t take all this retreading old ground. It’s counterproductive. We need to get moving.”

David shrugged.

“You think I should just lay it all out? Like this is what we’re doing and how we’re going to do it? Otherwise get the fuck out? Be the mommy they think they want?”

He didn’t even pause as he continued to eat, but he indicated his agreement.

She’d been leaning toward that very thing, but in the end she’d backed off. Because they’d been upset still about what had happened the day before.

“This is why field Hunters need to be in positions of authority.” They hadn’t fallen apart. They’d dusted themselves off, washed away the blood and had gotten back to work.

David finally stopped eating long enough to wipe his face off and speak. “I agree with you. Though I do advise perhaps not so blunt when you speak to others.”

“I’m not an animal. I do have
some
sense of what’s appropriate.” She just didn’t choose to be so at all times. Blunt got a lot more done, but, right now, those within Hunter Corp. who hadn’t been so quick to bounce back needed something to believe in and hold on to. They needed to toughen up.

Once they got over the hump separating their old lives from the ones they needed to accept as reality now.

Maybe instead of seeing everyone else’s reactions as weakness, she should realize her reactions were borne of the sort of pain she wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Rowan snorted. Sure, she was fucked up and had a crap childhood. But so did millions upon millions of other people. Well, not at the hands of Theo, but still.

There’d been long periods of relative peace. But that was over. And if they didn’t meet this challenge head on, it’d be over forever.

Time to take the endless feedback loop and flip the script. They needed a jolt so they could move forward.

“Can I play bad cop now? I’ve been so nice all day I have a backache.”

David tried to stay stern, but lost the battle. “A backache?”

“Yes, from making myself not hit people with things. I nearly threw the stapler once.”

“Which is why I moved it out of your reach.”

Rowan laughed. “You know me so well.”

“Just trying to keep people alive.”

“Dude. Me too.” She finished her meal, tossing the debris into the garbage. Standing with a deep breath, she grabbed her drink and headed toward the door. “Let’s go. I have bad cop to play. My favorite.”

* * *

When they entered the larger conference room and found everyone sitting around, Rowan knew something had to be done or they’d have meetings about having meetings forever because everyone was too cautious and nice to just stand up and lead the charge.

The other Hunters who’d worked in the field or at the other Motherhouse had begun to trickle in and sit, stand or lean against every available space. They all sought the heart of Hunter Corp. to reconnect and then redouble their efforts.

She strode to the head of the table and tossed her things down with a clatter that got everyone’s attention.

Within, Brigid was a warm, solid presence. Rowan shoved the panic aside that she’d make the wrong choice, say the wrong thing and tip the balance wrong. She couldn’t afford to think that way.

She had to trust her instinct because it was her path. It had been beaten into her head over and over. Now was the time—more than any other in her life—to believe in her abilities.

To believe she was born to be right where she was at that very moment because no one could handle this better.

Or something.

“Here’s what I propose. No more of these meetings about meetings. I don’t want to do that and no one else does either. With the exception of the same two people who constantly suggest such things. If we need a meeting, let’s have one. Otherwise, stop wasting time. “

Susan raised a brow but smirked and made no move to intervene, so Rowan kept on.

“Susan, will you please create whatever size force you think is necessary to hunt down and execute any remaining rogue ex-employees of Hunter Corporation?”

No one argued. Rowan continued.

“We’re at war. We can pretend it away or we can accept what is happening and make plans to meet our enemies on our terms.”

“We need to find who our true enemy is,” Celesse said.

“I agree.”

“
Bon
.” And then the trap sprung. “I think you’re the best person to liaise between the Conclave and the Nation. They’re involved in this too and have not insignificant resources.”

Sneaky bitch.

Rowan really had been learning from the best for a very long time.

“I’ll do it if Rex will handle the revision of the Hunter roster. We need everyone to be trained to the greatest extent possible. Yes, we need people here in the Motherhouses managing things, but the weight is wrong. We have too many administrative positions and not enough field Hunters.”

“I didn’t hire on here to fight monsters,” someone called out.

Rowan shrugged. “Sarah will decide what sort of staff we’ll need here. But overall, a Hunter hunts. Fighting monsters
is
the job.”

Rex was a brilliant strategist. It had been his training that’d helped Rowan form her team in Vegas. Which would now need to be enlarged. Another thing for later in the conversation.

“You can’t just turn everything upside down. It’s not fair,” the same whiner said.

Rowan didn’t bother to hide the curl of her lip. “Fair?
Fuck fair
. And fuck you too. With everything this organization has been through of late and you want to cry to me about fair? Our co-workers and friends sold Hunter Corp. and the Treaty out. Now isn’t the time for fragile. And it’s really not the time for fair. We’ve been
compromised
. Our agents have been exposed. Our people have been assassinated. Because of our own. No one could have killed our brethren without the aid of Roth and Hilary. It makes you uncomfortable to stare that in the face and own it? I don’t care! That’s some fucked up, weak bullshit. Fuck you for expecting someone else to always bear the cost.”

Truly angry now, she pounded the table and looked each person in the room in the eyes, one by one.

“You’re a Hunter or you aren’t. If you’re not, get out now so we can wipe you clean and send you on your way.”

Some feeble attempts to talk about emotions and healing and a bunch of crap only pushed her to the very end of an already frayed rope.

“Oh. My. Goddess. Shut up! There’s no more debate. You’re in or you’re out. Period. You know the penalties for betraying us and you know I’ll personally make it my life mission to find you and kill you myself if you do. You leave here, you get your memory and life scrubbed and we forget about you. Bye.”

She waited until two people got up with so much energy she knew they expected others to follow suit. But none did.

Rex stood, smoothing a hand down his tie. He gave a quick hand signal to several of the others who came forward to escort the soon to be ex-employees from the room.

At the door he paused to give Rowan a measuring, proud look and she nodded her thanks.

“Now, for the next agenda item,” she continued once they’d gone. “Some re-organization. We need to be more nimble. Which means less emphasis on two or four Motherhouses full of Hunters and more smaller cells working out in concentric circles from a hub in the center. There’s no reason to get rid of London and Paris because we’ve got excellent networks in place, though we’ll have to assume our current protocols have been compromised so we’ll need to rebuild new caches, safe houses, contacts and the like.”

Celesse took that on, thank the Goddess.

“I assume we’ll be adding a Motherhouse in North America?” Susan asked as she pulled the map down from the ceiling.

* * *

Rowan came into the house just as the sun was setting. She held up a hand to quiet everyone who’d gotten in her path.

“I’ll be back down shortly.”

Clive had woken up and she’d felt it.

Like, inside her stomach, when he’d started to surface toward consciousness she’d simply
known
.

He met her in the sitting room, pulling her into his arms.

She’d known and it hadn’t freaked her out. It had settled her. In that exact moment, it had been all right. He understood her and gave her the room to kick ass and be bitchy. And even though he could have barged right into her consciousness to check on her, he’d let her come to him.

“You don’t know what it means to me that you let me come to you. I know you want to push and get in my space and demand things but you let me come at you how I need to. Thank you.”

She put her head on his chest and simply loved him with every single bit of herself for long moments.

The sounds of the household came to life all around them, slowly pulling her back to herself.

“I’m quite enjoying marriage so far,” Clive said as he kissed her neck before letting go. “I’m glad you’re alive and appear to have shed no blood today.”

“Not even a stubbed toe.” She reached out to knock the doorjamb.

“I need a cup of tea and doubtless you need dinner.” He turned her so she stood at his side, her hand in his.

“I don’t actually need dinner as someone arranged for food to show up at work every five minutes. You can’t feed people or they will never go away. Haven’t you learned that?”

“I had two meals and some snacks sent. Don’t be so ridiculous. I knew you’d be busy and wouldn’t take the time on your own so I helped you along a little.”

“Well, I must admit having ice cream delivered was awesome. I took a pass on the kale smoothie thing though.”

“Of course you did. Tell me what happened today while you eat dinner. You had lunch, but dinner comes next. You have broken bones. Your body needs the calories.”

“You’re a nag.”

He didn’t argue but she did hear his tiny sigh at the sight of a full table in the dining room as they entered.

“I told you what would happen when you started feeding people.” She lifted a shoulder briefly. “Elisabeth’s an awesome cook too.”

“I made you coconut cake,” Elisabeth called out as she brought a cart into the room and began to serve all manner of delicious looking things from covered dishes and bowls.

Genevieve waggled her eyebrows at Rowan from her place at the table. “I brought tea and some information.”

“Price of admission for dinner, easily,” Rowan assured her.

Everyone filled plates and got comfortable before Rowan spoke again. “I’m going to set up a Motherhouse in Las Vegas.”

Clive managed to cover his near choke well enough for everyone but Rowan. She’d come to London ready to walk away from Hunter Corp. and now she’d just gotten in even deeper with them.

“You’re going to have to negotiate that with the Vampire Nation,” Clive told her.

“Believe me when I tell you I’ll shove a dozen reasons up anyone’s ass who gets in my way,” she replied cheerfully. “I haven’t had to stake a vampire in a week or so. Don’t want to get rusty.” And with their little rogue problem in London, she could weight that around their necks and run past them to do what she wanted. She needed to corner Warren when she saw him next to poke at him over the resolution to that problem.