by Lexi Blake
I smiled brightly because that was in millions. “That’s so sweet.” If one is going to be auctioned off, you should always hope you bring in a damn good price. The last companion I’d seen having her life, her soul, and her dreams sold off had only brought in half that amount. Danny had gotten me for the bargain basement price of absolutely nothing. He was the first vamp to get his fangs in me and he had the strength to back up his claim.
“Well, it’s true.” He looked up and down the side street before we crossed. “You can’t see it, I’m sure, but I can. You light up the night. I’m actually not into the whole blood-drinking thing, but I bet you taste pretty damn sweet.”
We turned into an alley. I considered my opponent. “You aren’t a full demon, are you?”
“I’m mostly demon. Somewhere in my background, someone liked humans a little too much. I’d love to meet that relative of mine. I’d give them a piece of my mind. The others think I’m weak. We’ll see how weak they think I am when I bring in more money than the rest of them put together.”
And just like that I knew I was dealing with the demon mob. They were annoying. They were ruthless. They took any job they could get their hands on. They lived mostly on the Earth plane, and many of them had some human in their background. They were also a hell of a lot weaker than a full-blood but just as susceptible to their weaknesses.
“Dude, wake up. Marini isn’t paying you,” I insisted as he peered around the parking lot for his getaway car.
“Of course he is,” the delusional halfling said. I was sure he had visions of everything he could buy with all that lovely money. I wondered if they made diamond grills to go over fangs.
“Ask yourself a couple of questions. First off, let’s say I am an uninitiated companion, which I’m not. Why would Marini need to hire someone to bring me in? He’s the head of the Council. The man can handle me all on his own. If he was too busy, he could have sent any number of vampire lackeys out to get me.”
“Well, maybe he was worried one of them would try to run off with you.”
I shook my head. “Those boys with him are very well trained. They’ve taken blood oaths and they are damned serious about their laws. Well, at least the underlings are. Marini seems to have forgotten them.”
“There it is.” The demon sighed as he spotted a bright red truck. It probably belonged to the dude he was currently inhabiting. “Look, lady, I don’t know what’s going on. I only know I got my orders. It’s nothing personal. The vamp wants a new chew toy and he picked you.”
“Or maybe the vamp wants someone else’s chew toy and you’re his patsy.” I dug my heels in a little, just enough to slow us down. “If you think about it for two seconds, it makes perfect sense. Why wouldn’t Marini send in one of his own vamps to bring me in? It would save him a buttload of cash. Do you want to know why he couldn’t get a vampire to come after me? Because not a one of them would go up against my husband.”
He stopped his quest to drag me to his car. “What did you say your name was?”
I hadn’t, but I wasn’t going to argue with him. “Zoey Donovan.”
He frowned as he quickly found the name. “Is your husband that big, blond guy with blue eyes?”
I smiled and nodded. “That’s Daniel, although in the vampire world he goes by another name.”
The demon obviously knew it well. His borrowed face went a pasty white. “But he’s the fucking Nex Apparatus.”
“He probably won’t kill you if you just let me go,” I offered.
The demon didn’t let me go but he shook his head and seemed a little dazed. “He hired me to steal the Nex Apparatus’s companion? Why would he do that?”
“Uh, so Daniel would kill you instead of Louis.”
“But we have contracts with the vampires,” he argued, looking for a way out of the trap he was in.
Sighing for the naïve demon, I explained a little fact of life to him. “Those contracts are for full-bloods only. Is your boss a full-blood?”
He nodded, obviously stunned at the turn of his circumstances. “Yeah.”
I felt a little for the poor guy. “Okay. Let me tell you what happened. Marini got a real taste of me last night and it made him a little crazy. He decided he has to have me. He doesn’t want to fight Daniel, so he called up your boss. Your boss decided the best way to handle the situation is to use you as a scapegoat. If you manage to pull it off, Marini will get what he wants and more than likely he has a way to fake my death or something. I’m sure the trail leads back to you so Daniel has someone to take his rage out on. If you fail, Danny just kills your ass and Marini assumes he’s so happy I’m safe he doesn’t ask questions.”
“That’s not fair.” The demon had managed to turn a lovely shade of pale.
“You’re preaching to the choir, buddy,” I said with a shake of my head. “I’m a companion. No one asked if I wanted every vampire on the plane chasing after me. One day you’re just a normal girl and the next you find out you’re the vampire equivalent of Kobe beef.”
“What am I going to do?” he asked more to himself than to me but I chose to answer.
“You give me back to Daniel and beg his pardon. And then you should probably run like hell. It won’t be hard. Just let this host go and find a new one. You get a new face and a new life.”
“My boss can find me,” he explained. “He can find me anywhere I go. He won’t just accept that I left.”
I shrugged, not sure what else to tell him. I wasn’t the one who had forced him to join the mob. “Sorry.”
He frowned and his face took a turn for the stubborn. “No, I do the job. They think I can’t manage this, well, they’re wrong. I can certainly handle one small female and then I’ll take my money and do exactly what you suggested. I’ll take a new host and hide. I’ll leave my boss his cut and get the hell out. I can go to a completely different plane with that kind of cash.”
He was pulling me along again, and I knew the time for logic had passed us by. It was time to go with plan B.
“Help!” I yelled across the empty parking lot, and he immediately did what I needed him to do. He pulled me against his chest, my back firmly against him. His free hand wrapped around my waist and the gun found my side.
The thing that makes kidnapping so precarious is the inherent need to have the kidnappee comply with your nefarious plans. For the most part, a kidnapping victim assumes that they can be killed at any moment and only their compliance will save them. I was not under that assumption. In this guy’s case, it was even worse. He really needed me alive and whole to have any hope of getting out of this job with his head attached to his body. It made it easy to maneuver him into a position where my skills in accessorizing came in handy.
I brought my Italian-made, four-and-a-half-inch stiletto down as hard as I could on the bridge of his foot. He was wearing sneakers that did next to nothing to protect him from that mini sword coming down on his flesh and bones.
He howled his pain and dropped to his knees. I then wrapped the silver chain of my bag right around his neck, which immediately started to smoke. I don’t know why silver works on demons and vampires. I only know that it does. He gasped and tried to get his fingers in between the silver chain and his neck, but the silver burned his fingers as well and he begged me to stop.
“Leave this host,” I ordered him.
“They’ll kill me.” He tried to twist away.
“Fine, then I’ll kill you first.” I put the toe of my bootie into the small of his back. I just needed enough leverage to let the silver do its job. It would eventually slice neatly through his throat, but there would be a lot of pain first.
I felt the instant the demon let his host go. The body I was garroting kind of went limp for a moment and then he started fighting again, but he was so confused about what was happening he didn’t know which way to go. His flesh had stopped smoking, and he was able to touch the chain at his neck. I pulled my foot out of his back and in one quick motion had the chain
over his head. He fell forward and moaned a whole lot.
“Are you okay?” It was a dumbass question. The poor guy had been the vehicle for a demon. He wasn’t okay.
“What happened?” His voice was lighter and younger now that it was back to being his own. His fingers found his neck, and he rubbed the raw places with a wince. He looked down and jumped back when he saw the gun at his knees. “Why the hell do I have a gun?”
“Dude, chalk it up to a really bad trip.” It would be easier to live with if he thought it was a dream or a hallucination. If I told him the truth, he would either assume I was crazy or worse, he would believe me and spend the rest of his life praying it never happened to him again.
I hustled back to the lighted street and saw Dev and Daniel standing outside the bookstore. Dev had a bag in his hand. They couldn’t have been out there too long because they still looked merely annoyed. They hadn’t reached a state of panic, and I was grateful for that. I slowed down and caught my breath.
“Zoey!” Daniel barked as I walked toward him. “Where were you? Why can’t you stay put? You said you would be just outside.”
Dev frowned down at me. “You went into the sex shop without me, didn’t you?”
“No, I did not.” I turned to Daniel and patted the lovely leather bag/weapon at my side. “And let me tell you something, buddy, the bag stays.”
Chapter Nine
“Why would he try to take her now?” Dev asked quietly hours later. “I mean it doesn’t make sense to me. Have we been found out?”
“I don’t think so.” Daniel sat down on the couch beside Dev.
I was lying down on the sofa opposite them in my father’s house. From the den, I could hear the hum of Christine preparing the space. Nim busily chopped herbs in the kitchen. The boys had been waylaid by my father the instant we entered the house. He had been standing on the stairs like he’d been waiting for us.
“Upstairs, boys,” he’d commanded.
Daniel’s face had fallen slightly, like he had been dreading this conversation for a while, but Dev had been up those stairs as fast as his long legs could carry him. Danny had gone up slowly, and when I tried to join them, I was told no girls allowed. This was a boys only talk. I was certain Danny and Dev had told my father all about my recent almost-kidnapping. I’d gone over the entire event with them in complete detail on the car ride over. While the boys filled my dad in, I tried to help out with the witchy stuff, but Christine kicked me out of the kitchen. I’d been relegated to watching Lee drink beer and trying to toss M&Ms into Neil’s mouth. Sometime after two, I’d settled down on the sofa and fallen asleep.
I was still drowsy as I listened to my husbands talking softly.
“If we’d been found out, they would be doing a hell of a lot more than sending some idiot demon to try to pick Z up off the street.” Daniel sounded confident, but I heard the worry underneath. “He would have come after me. No, I think Marini just got a dose of medicine he wasn’t counting on.”
“He’s tasted her before, Daniel,” Dev admitted. “Once at the ball a few years back and then again the night he forced her to become his thief.”
There was a low growl. “And you didn’t tell me?”
Dev’s response was immediate. “Daniel, he had the right. It’s a formal greeting between Council members and companions. The other Council members used the informal greeting, but you had no right by law to challenge Marini over it.”
“I hate that,” Daniel groaned. “I hate all of it.”
“I know and we’ll change it when we take over. But it doesn’t explain Marini’s sudden obsession with our wife.”
“You don’t understand, Devinshea.”
“Then explain it to me.”
There was a long pause. “You don’t know what it’s like to crave her. Don’t tell me you do, man. I’m not talking about wanting to make love to her or even needing to be with her. I need her like you need to breathe. That little taste Marini got is nothing compared to drinking his fill. Her blood invades your soul. It makes you want to do nothing but protect her. She’s the most important thing in the world. Everything narrows down when you get that first taste and then suddenly nothing else matters. As long as she’s there, the world is fine.”
“And when you can’t have her?”
Daniel let out a discontented sigh. “It’s fucking awful. I go more than three days and I start to get the shakes. I can’t take regular blood for a week because the very taste makes me throw it back up. I’m weak and I just feel lost, like it isn’t worth living without her. I never did hard drugs when I was alive, but I can’t imagine breaking an addiction is any harder than getting off her blood. The good news is if she’s my heroin, you’re kind of like methadone. It’s not perfect but you keep the shakes away.”
“It’s good to know I can help,” Dev replied with an amused chuckle.
“There’s a reason your mom closed the sithein to vampires,” Daniel said. “I think if we asked your brother he would say I’m the villain of the piece. He thinks you’re addicted to my bite.”
“I’m addicted to having a family. I’m addicted to belonging somewhere. Besides, we don’t have to worry about my brother anymore. He has his wife and son. He no longer needs his perverted brother around to embarrass him.”
“Dev,” Daniel began but quickly let the matter drop.
There was a long pause before Dev changed the subject. “Have you ever considered that the universe always seems to find a balance? You’re a king because of the strength of your blood. It makes you stronger than other vampires. It holds up its influence when pitted against even much, much older blood. Why wouldn’t there be an equivalency in companions? As you are a king, perhaps Zoey’s blood makes her a queen. Her blood influences vampires when she uses it properly. We have to consider that her blood is stronger than other companions’.”
Daniel sighed. “It makes sense. It’s hard for me to tell. She’s the only companion I’ve ever had, will ever have. I only know that I find myself fighting my every instinct in order to keep her happy. My instinct tells me to hide her away, to protect her at all costs. You have no idea how hard it was for me to share her with you.”
“Was?” Dev asked.
“Yes, I used the past tense. Somewhere along the way, I stopped thinking of it as sharing and it all just became mine. You and Zoey, you’re my precious blood. The two of you belong to me. I’m sorry to put it that way, but I’m a possessive man.”
“And I accept that about you. I’m possessive as well. I’ve often found it curious that my particular brand of magic is so dependent on true love and passion and yet I slept with Zoey for a year without it coming back to me. It was the night the three of us came together that brought me into my magic. I was content. I needed you both and I had you and that’s where my power lies. Now it works when Zoey and I are alone because I trust that you’re there.”
“I’m always there, Dev,” Daniel said with quiet determination.
There was a long pause and I opened my eyes to watch them. They sat a foot or so apart but they seemed content to merely share the space. It was like they left a place for me between them.
“So you think Marini got all addicted to me?” I asked quietly.
Daniel’s mouth tugged up at the corner. “Yeah, baby. You’re like the flu, extremely contagious.”
I frowned as I sat up. “That’s romantic. Will he send someone else to try to take me?”
“I have no doubt if they send someone else you’ll handle him with your Chanel sunglasses, my love,” Dev replied, grinning at me. “You’re much more formidable than Marini believes. He has no idea what you can do with a tube of lip gloss and a well-placed heel.”
Returning his smile, I had another thought. What if Marini decided the way to get me to comply was to target my loved ones. “What if they send someone after Daniel?”
“They can send whoever they want, but unless Marini uses his final option, I doubt they can take Dan. Of course
if he wanted to bring Daniel in alive for some reason, then his best course of action would be capturing you and using you to lure Dan out,” Dev said.
Groaning, Daniel fell back against the couch. “I don’t want to think about that.”
I leaned forward to let him know I was serious. “If that happens, you have to know that he won’t kill me. He would never waste all that blood. You have to bide your time, baby.”
Daniel’s eyes started to bleed blue, a sure sign that even talking about the subject was making him angry. “Z, you can’t expect me to leave you with him. He wouldn’t just lock you away somewhere.”
“No,” I agreed. “And I could handle anything he does to me. You can’t risk everything we’ve worked for. If he takes me, you have to be patient.”
“It won’t come to that,” Dev interjected. “Lee is on full Zoey patrol again. You are not to go anywhere without Lee and Neil if Daniel isn’t with you. And no more walking off by yourself. We received a stern lecture from your father tonight on how it is our sacred duty to keep you alive. And I was informed my hair is still too long.”
Now that was a serious discussion. “No way, Dev. That is as short as it gets. I swear you cut another inch and I’m cutting mine into that bob I think will look good on me. You know, the one that makes Neil stick his finger down his throat when I mention it.”
“Not another centimeter, lover,” Dev agreed and Daniel breathed a sigh of relief.
“Is she talking about the bob again?” Neil asked, walking into the room. “Do you understand how curly your hair would be without all that weight? You would look like a poodle. I have personally threatened every decent stylist in the DFW area with death and dismemberment if they listen to your hair choices. Now, Nim and Christine are ready and they need their nine volt.”
Dev sighed. “All right. Let’s go, guys. If I have to listen to thirty minutes of chanting followed by the smell of brimstone and regret, you at least have to be in the room.”
