BLOOD AND BLADE by Lauren Dane
Releasing December 30, 2019

“You gotta roll tough if you ride with me. That’s all I’m saying.”

“That’s never all you’re saying. There’s always more for you to say.”

She tossed up a balled up sheet of paper at his head.

“Obviously you love and adore my dulcet tones and yearn to hear me talk all the time because I am super fucking wise. Duh.”

“So very correct,” he told her with a smirk. “Thank you. Truly. For your sacrifice. I know how hard it is for you with him. That you did it for me and my parents is something I’ll forever be grateful for.”

She ducked her head but he scented her blush. “You’re welcome. I like your parents and I’m rather happy they weren’t executed and I like our life. Well the parts of it where no one is trying to kill us. So if you weren’t Scion, it would be very different. Really I’m just selfish.”

When he first met her he’d have agreed with that statement but years and countless selfless acts later, he knew the truth. She was the opposite of selfish.

“What have you been up to today?”

“I updated my files with everything we found out in London. I forgot that Theo told me a bunch of stuff about Lyr so I added that as well. I don’t know if any of it is very useful but we have it.”

“Information is always useful, even if you don’t know it just yet,” he said

“Someone super wise must have told you that,” she said of one of her favorite phrases.

“Let’s go to dinner and then I’ll bring you back here and head to work. We haven’t had a proper date in some time.”

Her brows rose. “Really?”

“Yes. Fleur will have a table ready for us. I know you like the food there.” It was a Nation run restaurant with all the stars, ribbons and medallions it could count. He had fond memories of a spectacular fight they’d had in a back office before it had gone the other way and they’d had spectacular sex on the desk in the office where they’d been quarreling.

“It’s cute you’re sentimental about the place you bent me over a desk.”

“So romantic and poetic, darling.”

“I know. Okay, give me half an hour to change clothes and get ready.” She kissed him quickly as she dashed out.

He made a call to Alice, who told him to leave all the arrangements up to her. Which he did. As he was already dressed for his day, he then called his parents and left a message they’d get when they woke up for the evening. He’d call again before he went to his rest. It’d be after dark in London by that time so he could give them an update then.