Blade to the Keep Read Online Free

Blade to the Keep
Book: Blade to the Keep Read Online Free
Author: Lauren Dane
Pages:
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Hunter Corp. who wanted war. The stakes were high and Rowan would not fail. Too many lives were at stake to let ignorance win out.
    She had the tools to do this right. She just needed to keep herself focused on the end goal and not allow herself to get sidetracked.
    Which was easier said than done, of course. Everyone had an agenda. All those people with some measure of influence had to be dealt with, all while the process kept moving forward.
    Politics sucked.

Chapter Two
    Rowan leaned back and sipped her tea. After that interminable meeting, it was a relief to be there in Susan and Rex’s town house.
    Susan sighed. “I have underlined my belief that your being made Liaison is crucial in our relations under the Treaty.”
    They’d been discussing the events of the last months, from when the first body had been discovered in the desert right through to her apprehension and execution of the Vampire serial killer responsible.
    “Politics, Susan. They’re getting in my way. I’m heading to Germany tomorrow, and I’ve got to play games over where we sit and all that nonsense. Who I tell what first. It’s a waste of my energy when I’ll need it to keep everyone on track.”
    Susan snorted and waved a hand. “Darling, your job is incredibly political. Moreover, Vampires are more political than Hunters ever could be. You’ve been weaned on politics and hierarchy and are perfect for this position because of that. As annoying as it might be, you can’t pretend that away. I’m still concerned that you’re only taking along David. You need a retinue.”
    Rowan groaned. “I don’t need a retinue. Hell, Valerie and Celesse will be there in their own, right along with however many valets they bring to butter their bread and wipe their asses.”
    Rex, Susan’s husband, burst out laughing. “I’ve missed you so, my delicate flower.”
    She laughed. “You know what I mean. Anyway, I tried to explain to them that the more people they bring, the weaker they’ll look. But you heard Valerie. She thinks she knows more about Vampires than I do. So what can I do?”
    “When you told her you had grown up in their midst and you understood them better than a social climbing bitch? That seemed a nice touch.”
    “I was sorry I had to be out on a phone call when that happened.” Rex winked at Rowan.
    “She’s totally a social climbing bitch. But no one does social climbing like a Vampire. She’s outclassed, and she’s so self-centered she won’t even see it.”
    “Will she be in your way? Be honest.”
    Rowan put her teacup down on the low table and thought before she shook her head. “No. What Valerie doesn’t understand, because she can’t listen, is that she doesn’t matter to this process. She can hate me all she wants and pout because her little minion lost the job. Her weakness, not only in this case, but in her job in general, is that she cannot see that her ambitions won’t be realized with the Vampires.”
    Part of Rowan’s biggest issue with Hunter Corp. was who rose to the top. Leadership and power positions were often filled by people who understood how to fuck each other over to get ahead. But that was a human strategy, and it didn’t work on Vampires. Vampires loved power and hierarchy, but how they gathered it was not something Hunters like Valerie understood at all.
    In her opinion, only Hunters who’d done field work should be allowed to deal directly with Vampires.
    So yes, while Vampires responded to power, what got overlooked by many in Hunter Corp. was what sorts of power they respected. To Vampires, how big an office was, or what shoes you wore, was a passing fancy. That wasn’t the power they cared about.
    But who took what call and how fast? Where one sat at a table. Who got invited not to a cocktail party—which most humans used for what Vampires would see as cosmetic reasons—but to a meeting, that was what they cared about.
    Rowan turned her attention back to Susan. “Celesse will be
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