by Lexi Blake
Dev smiled that sarcastic grin I was sure would be on his face just before he died. “Don’t let Daniel keep you on a leash, Mikey. Since when did you become his bitch?”
“As much as I enjoy a good bloodbath, and make no mistake Mr. Quinn, it is your blood I refer to since Michael could gut you before you thought to scream, I have to ask the question,” Alexander said, his voice a little island of creepy calm. “Are the two of you going to allow my patient to expire while you work out your differences?”
Michael took a deep breath, and his hands shifted back to normal. The tension in the air went down a notch.
Dev turned back to me. “Not until I see it, Zoey.”
It was nice to know his cooperation in saving my life came with ultimatums. I was just pissed enough to pull the blanket back and twist my neck so he got a really good view. It hurt, but I turned into the pain because I didn’t want him to miss an inch of what he’d come to see.
If I expected a sudden onslaught of sympathy, I was disappointed.
“Nice.” He bit off the word before settling into the seat beside me. He unbuttoned his sleeve and started to roll it up. “Any other places he decided to chew on?”
Alexander was busy tying off Dev’s arm with a rubber band. I wore a thin T-shirt, Neil’s blazer long ago discarded. I pulled up the blanket until just my arm was outside its warmth. I looked forward, trying not to watch as Alexander prepped Dev.
“Make a fist, please,” the doctor ordered.
“You don’t want to answer the question, Zoey?” Dev asked. “I’ll find out later. If I have to strip you down and examine you, I’ll find out every bit of damage he did.” There was a pause as I stared sullenly straight forward. Dev huffed a little before continuing. “Seriously? You want to shove that in my arm? That’s not a needle, dude, that’s a drainage pipe.”
Christine pressed a glass of something cold in my hand. “Drink it up, fast as you can.”
“Witchcraft?” I asked, hoping it would knock me out.
“Vodka.” It was Christine’s go-to medicine of choice. I swallowed it before Alexander could stop me.
Alexander’s head shook. “That’s going to go straight to her head. It’s not a good idea.”
“It’ll go straight to her head and maybe she’ll forget you’re shoving a…whatever that is you’re about to shove up her arm.” Christine took the glass from me and refilled it.
“Good point,” Alexander replied as he placed the needle in Dev’s arm. There were several curses in languages I didn’t speak. “Perhaps a dose for this one, too.”
“Just give me the bottle,” Dev demanded.
Christine passed it over and sat down beside me. She took the hand that wasn’t attached to the arm Alexander was working on. “It’s going to be all right, Zoey. Just watch me and listen to my voice.”
She rubbed my cold hand between her warm ones. I felt a great debt of gratitude for the sometimes annoying witch. She started intoning something in Latin in a pleasant sing-song, and I found my world narrowing to the sound of her voice.
“Done,” Alexander said. I was startled by the pronouncement, and when I looked, sure enough, there was a large-bore needle taped securely in my arm. The doctor pulled up on the plunger and bright blood began to flow from Dev’s arm. “All right, get comfortable. This could take a while.”
Dev cursed again and took another long swallow from the bottle of Grey Goose. I laid back and let Christine’s voice soothe me, and before long I was feeling warmth flow inside me again. I don’t know how long the process took, but I was grateful when the needle was sliding out of my arm and the wound was being wrapped. I was ready to fall asleep on the couch when Dev slid his arms under my knees and shoulders and lifted me against his chest. I was completely limp in his arms.
He looked at the assembled room, which now also included Neil. I guessed he’d gotten Daniel settled in the room my father had built for just such an occasion. It was a solid, interior room, with no possibility of that pesky sun finding its way in. Dev turned his gaze to my dad.
“All right, do I go upstairs or bundle her up and take her back to Ether? It’s your choice, Harry, but understand I’m not leaving her here alone with three vampires, even if one of them is incapacitated.” Dev looked to the vampires. “By your own laws, I have the right to care for her. My blood sustains her. At least for tonight, she is mine by right of law. If Daniel has a problem with that, he can get his ass up here and we can handle it here and now. Stay or go, Harry?”
“Upstairs, second door on the left.” My father gestured toward the hall, a grimace of anger on his face, but he allowed Dev to carry me.
Dev turned his back on the room and whisked me upstairs. My old bedroom had been redone as a guest room and now boasted a king-sized bed. Dev laid me down on the bed and stared at me. It looked like he was going to make good on his threat to inspect every inch of me. Normally, I would have gotten a little excited at the prospect, but right now it just pissed me off.
“I didn’t sleep with him, Dev.” I tried to put some fire into my words, but I failed. Though my blood volume was up, I was so tired. Still, it was all he really wanted to know so I decided to put the truth out there. It was good to know my lover wanted to make damn sure my husband wasn’t getting some.
“Right, Zoey.” Dev’s hand found the waist of my jeans. He was an expert when it came to undressing a woman. “I’m supposed to believe he gets his fangs in you for the first time in seven months, but that’s all he impales you on?”
“He was a little concerned about the fact that he was on fire, Dev.” I pushed my hips up because fighting him wouldn’t help. “I doubt he was thinking about how to get in my pants.”
“You would be surprised, sweetheart. I would be thinking about it.” Dev ran his hands up and down my legs before he pulled the T-shirt over my head and dispensed with my bra. His hands smoothed over my skin. Even though I was angry with him, the touch was sweet. He seemed satisfied there was no further damage or evidence of vampiric possession. “On fire, huh? Did the client have a flamethrower?”
I shook my head as he placed me under the covers. Dev stepped out of his slacks and tossed his shirt aside.
“We got surprised. Didn’t know what we were dealing with.” I’d been stupid. I should have never taken that meeting without knowing what I was getting into. I was obsessed with this job, and it almost cost Daniel his life.
Dev was down to his boxers and slipped into the bed beside me. He pulled me into his arms, and I let my head rest on his chest. I was still mad at him, but he felt safe and warm and the events of the day just slammed into me. Tears started to run down my face. I wish I was one of those tough chicks who never cried, but I always do. Dev pulled me closer, his hand tangling in my hair.
“What was it, Zoey?” He laid a sweet kiss on my forehead, his voice gentler than it had been all night.
“Angels. They were angels, and they nearly killed him.”
“Real angels? From the Heaven plane?” Dev asked, his voice hushed with awe. Dev might have contact with all manner of supernatural creatures, but angels didn’t frequent Ether. “Jesus.”
“Yes, those angels,” I agreed. “It was horrible. The light was everywhere, and he was burning.”
“Well, he’s fine now, Zoey,” Dev said with more sympathy than I expected since we were talking about Daniel. “These angels, were they gunning for Daniel or you?”
It was a question he had to ask because I’d had fairly nasty things come after me before. He also knew that if anything wanted to come for me, it would have to get through Danny. I shook my head against the firm muscles of his chest. “Neither. I think Danny just managed to piss one of them off. It doesn’t matter. I won’t have anything to do with either of them again. I think I made myself very clear. I’m only taking straight jobs from now on. Get in, grab some stuff, and get paid.”
Dev sighed. “Yeah, I’ll believe that when I see it.”
Chapter Seven
When it comes to my chosen career, Tom Petty is totally correct. The waiting really is the hardest part. There’s no Monster.com for thieves. We don’t have a social network where we can put out the word we need a little green. There are several reasons for this omission in the modern world of networking, the first being thieves tend to not like one another. It’s a competitive world, and let’s face facts, thieves tend to not be really good people.
Unlike some IT guy who calls up old friends when he gets laid off, a thief is probably trying to hide from his old colleagues. I don’t know what it’s like in real-world thievery. By that I mean guys who steal paintings that don’t bring about the apocalypse or cars that aren’t inhabited by their former magical owners. The real-world guys might refer for each other every now and then. They might get together for a beer years later, but that’s not the way it tends to go in the arcane world. If your crew splits up in the arcane world, it’s probably because someone tried to screw someone else.
The idea of waiting was heavily on my mind for the whole two days I was forced to lay in my father’s guest room. Despite the success of Dev’s donation, the doctor had convinced my dad and my boyfriend that I should lay around doing nothing for a couple of days. Dev made sure I was inundated with flowers, movies, and books but refused to allow me out of bed. For a man who didn’t like vampires, he was certainly willing to listen to Alexander. Dad had tried to bar Dev from the house, but one way or another he showed up every night and climbed into bed with me, holding me to his chest and threatening me with all manner of torture if I didn’t follow doctor’s orders. Not even the promise of sex had moved him this time since he decided I was too fragile. To my father’s surprise and Neil’s delight, Dev even sent over a chef to make sure I ate well.
All of that was nice, but I really had work to do.
I needed a job. I needed to make some hard decisions about the way my life was going to go. The past seven months had been spent in a strange waiting pattern, allowing the way I felt after Sarah was taken to keep me in limbo. Dealing with the angels was a wakeup call. I couldn’t just sit around and hope for some magical solution to fall in my lap. I wasn’t giving up on the idea of saving Sarah. I just had to start living my life again. The morning after my meeting with the angels, I told my dad I wanted to work, needed to work. Daniel needed cash, and I was sure Neil had gone through most of his. I was the leader of this crew. It was my job to bring in the clients, and no one could find a job faster than Harry Wharton.
I was hoping he would find something soon as I let myself into my house the afternoon I was sprung from my comfy jail.
“So, don’t get pissed,” Neil said as he graciously held the door open for me.
“What did you do?” I prepared myself to get really pissed.
I threw myself down on the couch. Alexander had been right. I was still really tired. I tried not to think about how Daniel must feel. His wounds had been grave, ultraviolet rays being one of the only things that can really cause a vampire some serious downtime. Coupled with the fact that he’d weakened himself by trying to detox, he was taking his time healing. He was still being held in the safe room. If the doctor proclaimed him healthy, he would get out tonight. I knew I should have waited to see him, but I didn’t want to deal with it. I knew how it would go down. Daniel would feel guilty, and he would undoubtedly pull away for my safety. When he found out I needed a transfusion, well, I was just hoping he didn’t decide to leave town.
“Okay, I got tired of waiting and invited Chad to dinner,” Neil said with a look of hopeful anticipation on his face.
I let out a deep breath. Chad I could handle. “Please tell me you don’t expect me to cook, and I’ll be fine with it.”
“As if. Honey, you can barely microwave soup. I will be thrilling our audience with my amazing manicotti al forno, a spinach salad, garlic bread, and I made a raspberry cheesecake.”
“This is why I let you live with me.” My stomach rumbled at the thought.
“Let me? You couldn’t live without me.” Neil sat down on the couch next to me. He was wearing neatly pressed jeans and a lavender polo. He sat closer than I would have felt comfortable with any other male friend, but that contact was necessary to Neil, and I had come to find it soothing. I let my hand find his. “So, are you going to ask or should I just tell you and we can pretend you don’t care?”
“How is he?”
He sighed, clasping my hand in his. “He’s all right, Z. The first day was touchy, but he’s going to be fine. I think Alexander was wrong about keeping you away. Daniel wouldn’t have attacked you. He was so weak, but he was back in his right mind. He wanted you, Zoey. Not the beast. Daniel wanted you. He looked so sad.”
“It’s the guilt,” I replied, Neil’s account verifying my worst fears.
“I don’t think so. I mean, it’s in there, but it’s more than that. He loves you.”
“He craves me.”
Neil pulled away, his eyes rolling. “What the hell does it matter? I don’t get it, Zoey, I really don’t. You have this guy who would do anything for you, who loves you to the bottom of his soul, and you go sleep with Dev. Don’t get me wrong. If Dev was gay, I’d be in his pants in a hot minute. He’s spectacular, but he’s not the guy you spend a life with.”
“I don’t think what Daniel feels for me is love.” That was my deepest fear—that neither one of us could trust our feelings.
“It feels like it. If this isn’t love, then screw love, I’ll take this.” Neil took a long breath, tears in his clear blue eyes.
“What are you talking about?”
A rueful smile crossed his face. “I fed him for two days, Z, and there’s not a mark on my body. I feel fantastic.”
“You took his blood.” I remembered how good just a sip of Daniel’s blood could make me feel. It made me feel younger, faster, and stronger.
“More than I’ve taken before. The effect was stronger than ever.” Neil was Daniel’s servant. He’d taken a blood oath to serve the vampire years before. In exchange for his loyalty, Neil received weekly blood from Danny. That blood had taken Neil from werewolf runt to badass. “Did Daniel tell you how I was when Harry found me?”
I nodded. Daniel needed backup after he came home from his training with the Council, and my dad found Neil living on the streets. In the normal course of the world, werewolves and vampires rarely mix. The were community is insular by nature. Even the different species tend not to date or be friendly.
But Neil was different. He was rejected by his family because he liked boys. There is no GLAAD—werewolf chapter. He was an embarrassment to his family, and they kicked him to the curb. Perhaps if they left it at that, he would never have accepted Danny’s offer but no, they had to get mean. Neil had become the pack’s whipping boy. My father found him after a particularly brutal episode.
“You don’t know what it’s like living on the street, wondering where you’re going to get your next meal and which of the people around you is going to try to kill you next. I wasn’t strong then. I did things I don’t like to think about now. I did them to survive, but it didn’t make me hate myself less. I sold myself, Zoey.”
I leaned forward and took his hand. I didn’t give a shit what he’d done. I was just glad he’d made it. “I don’t care.”
He laughed a little. “I know. It’s one of the reasons I love you, but there are others. I was shut down before I met Daniel. I didn’t care about anyone or anything except surviving to the next day. I told Daniel I’d be his whore if he’d just save me. Blood, sex, whichever way he wanted it, I offered it all.”
I smiled because I was sure that had been an uncomfortable conversation for Daniel.
“Obviously, that wasn’t part of our agreement,” Neil continued. “But that blood of his, god, Zoey, you know what I mean. I was a different person after a few weeks. I was stronger in every way. I was confident. I liked myself again. I didn’t really understand what was going on until the day I met you. It
was then I realized how important it is to love a person. I take Daniel’s blood once a week. We have a connection. When I saw you for the first time, I felt my heart open up in a way it never had before. For a minute, I thought I’d found the one woman who could make me straight. Then I realized it wasn’t me. It was Daniel. I felt an echo of what he feels when he looks at you. God, Zoey, you’re the sun in his sky. If that isn’t love, then I don’t know what you want.”
My heart hurt just thinking about it. “He’s programmed to feel that way, Neil. A vampire wants a companion. It’s as simple as that.”
“We all have our addictions.” Neil shook his head, obviously disappointed. “I hope you wake up soon, Z. I don’t say that because I think Daniel won’t wait forever. I say it because I’m pretty damn sure he will.”
Neil walked back toward the kitchen, and I wished I could give him a better answer. This ache in my heart was what had sent me to Dev in the first place. Daniel spent two years pushing me away, and I finally understood why. He hadn’t trusted his feelings then any more than I trusted mine now.
“Hey, go make yourself presentable,” Neil commanded from the kitchen. “I laid out some very nice clothes for you, and for god’s sake, put on some makeup. Oh, and a scarf around that neck of yours, please.”
I groaned because I thought it would require more than makeup and a scarf to make me look good tonight.
* * * *
“Dinner was delicious, Neil.” Chad pushed his plate away. He was an affable man of twenty-seven, dressed in olive slacks and a silk shirt. He’d obviously worn a tie at some point in the day, but had discarded it in favor of a casual chic this evening. He was well-groomed and well-manicured. His haircut was on trend and probably required more product than mine. If he wasn’t gay, then he was one of the most metro guys in Dallas.
