by Lexi Blake
Chapter Sixteen
We arrived at the farm just as another car was pulling in. Justin Parker was getting out of an old Chevy Malibu, his hands full of grocery bags. I slammed the passenger door shut, my feet hitting the gravel with a satisfying crunch.
“Hey there, Justin.” I gave the vampire a friendly smile. “How’s it going?”
“Zoey, you’re just in time. Angie’s making empanadas.” Justin waved a hand toward Lee. “Though I’ll have to tell her to double the recipe now. Have you seen that guy eat?”
Lee scratched his stomach but made no comment as his eyes checked out the area. I had no doubt his senses were wide open, and he could give me a rundown of every living creature in a three-mile radius. He chose to follow me into the house, so I figured we were all right.
The heavenly scent of frying food wafted from the kitchen. Justin walked through the doors that separated the kitchen from the dining room.
“Thank god.” Angelina Hernandez took the bag out of his hand. “I thought you were going to take forever, baby.”
Justin shrugged, looking down at his girlfriend with great affection. “I wasn’t sure which one you wanted, so I bought all three.”
Angelina was contemplating the three pounds of cheese Justin had bought when her sister, Lisa, looked up from the conversation she was having with Zack. “Hey, Zoey. Good to see you, girl. Are you hungry? We’re making plenty.”
“I’m starving,” I admitted, but a thought crossed my mind. “Please tell me that’s chicken and not cat.”
Angelina shook her dark hair. “No, honey. If you want good cat, there are some vendors on Good Latimer who make great tacos.”
Everybody knew that but me. I really needed to start getting those memos. Maybe there was an underground Zagat’s survey.
“I see you managed to survive the day.” Zack congratulated his brother with a manly slap to his shoulder. He looked younger and happier now that his day was over. His tie was loose and his dress shirt was slightly rumpled, probably from making out with Lisa. I was never going to tell him I had made that happen. “Did she thrill you with endless rounds of shopping and salon services?”
“It was an interesting day.” Lee’s yawn didn’t make the case for “interesting.” “I got to watch another vamp try to seduce her, though he was strangely less annoying than that faery. On the plus side, it looks like we’re going into the hijacking business, brother.”
Zack held a hand up. “Nice. See, maybe if she’d tried something like that when I was around, I would have found her less obnoxious.”
“I seriously doubt that, Zack. We’re only getting into the hijacking business if I can convince the boys.” Of course, I was going to convince the boys. I would ask until they said yes. “Where are they?”
I’d noticed Dev’s Audi outside. Danny wouldn’t have taken a car.
Justin was attempting to disentangle himself from his girl. “I have to go. I’m already late, baby. My master’s going to be pissed.”
“You tell your master if he has a problem he can just come and see me,” Angelina said. It was the voice of a female who knew how to handle a man.
A couple of months before, I’d asked Angelina if she was happy with Justin. Most of the wolves I knew wanted to be with wolves. They weren’t happy dating other species, but Angie always seemed glad to be with the vampire. She told me that Justin was sweet and so much easier to handle than a wolf. If he stepped out of line, and he never did, not only could she cut off his access to sex, she could deny him dinner.
Looking around the house, I wondered if any of the occupants realized just how odd their lives were compared to normal vampire society. The vampires here were trained with discipline but allowed to make their own decisions. Torture wasn’t a part of their training. These men had chosen to turn and become a part of Daniel’s army. The women here were all wolves or shifters. From what I could tell, their vampire boyfriends treated them like queens. They ran this household. It was the opposite of the relationship the vamps would have had with Council-trained companions.
“Come on, Zoey,” Justin said. “I’ll take you out to Daniel.”
I followed the vampire out the back door. There was no real yard with a fence. The house sat on a couple of acres of land. The nearest neighbor was over a mile away and his name was Chad Thomas. As Chad was with Marini and Marcus flying to Los Angeles, there was no worry about prying eyes. This was the country and people for the most part left others alone.
Daniel stood, watching his small group of trainees as they fought each other using only hand-to-hand combat. He also trained the vamps in weapons, both handguns and heavier artillery. There were lessons in stealth and hunting.
Dev had taken to teaching the more academic pursuits. He taught the vamps about the creatures of the supernatural world. These men had grown up believing they were human and knowing nothing of the hidden world around them. Dev taught them how to deal with such things as weres, shifters, demons, and Fae creatures. Dev knew the cultures and how to get along. Daniel knew how to kill them if it became necessary.
Daniel’s new vampires numbered seven, including Chad. Chad’s year of training was almost up, and Daniel would be forced to send them another fledgling. I didn’t recognize the new guy. Daniel had turned him two weeks ago. I knew his name was Joel and Daniel had found him in Oregon.
“Nice of you to join us, Justin.” Daniel sent a glare to his fledgling as we entered the training field. The fighting stopped and the vampires moved back. “I believe we said nine o’clock. It’s now nine fifteen.”
“I’m sorry, master,” Justin began, his head slightly down, not making eye contact with the man who’d guided him through his turn.
“Give him a break, Danny.” I never liked watching the way all these vamps kissed Danny’s ass just because his blood gave them power and strength and crap. “Angie’s making dinner and she needed cheese. Cheese is a serious thing. You used to love cheese.”
Daniel’s blue eyes widened with sarcastic glee as he looked at Justin. “Well, don’t let a little thing like training for a war stop you from some serious grocery shopping, buddy. Is there anything else you need to do for your girlfriend? Does Angie need new shoes?”
“No, master,” Justin said, utterly chastened. He took his place next to the new guy.
I glared at Daniel, shocked at that attitude. This was not a man who told his wife no often. This was a man who said “sure thing, baby” and “right away” when I asked him to do something. He might put his foot down on occasion, but he could show Justin a little sympathy. “Daniel Donovan, is that any way to talk to Justin? He was just trying to be a good boyfriend.”
Daniel made sure he turned his back on his men. He kept his voice low. “Hey, baby, don’t do this now. I have to…you know, at least look tough. I have to keep these guys in line.”
I moved around my husband because there was a more pressing problem than Daniel’s unreasonable attitude. The new guy had just gotten a look at me.
“All right, Joel.” I pointed at him with my best “do not mess with me” hand gesture. Joel’s fangs were long and his eyes were focused on me, the iris bleeding out to fill his eyes with brown. It was a very scary thing that I no longer put up with from any vamp, much less a baby one. “Let’s get some things straight right off the bat…”
“Zoey.” Daniel tugged me behind him. He placed himself between me and the hungry baby vamp. Newbies aren’t known for their rigid control, and I was a tasty treat.
Justin had a steadying hand on Joel’s shoulder. He leaned into the new vamp, his voice filled with understanding. “Really man, I know she’s pretty and all glowy and stuff, but you do not want to mess with that. If you try to get a bite of that, you better hope the master kills you first because he’ll do it quick. If she gets ahold of you…”
Justin leaned in and whispered into Joel’s ear. The new vampire’s eyes got wide and I was surprised when his fangs detracted and his eyes went from scary
to scared.
“Do those grow back, man?” Joel asked Justin, his voice slightly shaky.
“I think so, but it probably hurts,” Justin replied sagely.
Now all the vamps were taking a short step back from me. Daniel turned to me with a shake of his head.
I grinned up at him. My reputation was secure in at least one venue. I went up on my toes and planted a kiss on his perfect lips. “You were worried about your tough-guy reputation? They’re all impressed you’re brave enough to risk your balls around me.”
Danny’s dimples came out in full force, and he gave my bottom a nice little slap. “After what you did to me last night, I’ll risk a lot more than that. I’m a brave man.”
One more little kiss and I pulled away. He was obviously busy and besides, I really wanted to break through the weakest link before I started in on Danny. “Where’s Dev?”
Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “He’s in the weight room. What’s this crap about him growing out his hair? We need to talk about that, Z. I already have to unclog all the drains in the condo twice a week because you shed everywhere.”
I shrugged as I backed away. “I can’t help it, Danny. That hair is hot. If I have to get a naval ring then Dev has to grow out his hair. I’m not sure what I want from you, yet. Maybe a sexy tat on your ass.”
I heard his groan as I practically skipped back into the house. I loved being at the farm. I loved the chaos and the noise and the weirdness. I neatly sidestepped a lovely black wolf being pursued playfully by a larger chocolate brown one. Lisa was leading Zack on a merry chase into the woods. I would know exactly what those howls meant later on tonight. Angie handed me a perfect empanada as I sashayed through the kitchen. Gwen, a shifter involved with Jean-Marc, was mixing margaritas, and I promised to come back and share the pitcher.
I passed Lee, who had parked his butt in front of the TV and was already on his second beer. He grunted something as I went by. I told him Danny could take care of me for the rest of the evening, but he was already half asleep.
I was ready to greet my boyfriend with a happy hello on my lips when I looked into the weight room and my mouth dropped open. I left it there, helpless for a moment to do anything but drool. Dev was doing chin-ups, his body in nothing but a pair of cutoff sweats and sneakers. His back was to me and it glistened with sweat, making every muscle ripple as he pulled himself up. His legs were crossed at the ankles and he never paused to breathe, just kept pulling his body up and down, up and down. After a couple of minutes he dropped and stretched, pulling his muscles this way and that. He turned but didn’t notice me. He had earbuds in. Despite the hip-hop and dance music he played in the club, I knew Dev was an emo boy at heart.
When I met Dev he was a gorgeous man, but the last few years had been damn good to him. He’d been gifted with excellent DNA and was stronger than a human without the aid of regular workouts. After our experiences in Vegas, Daniel had taken over his physical training and he was now extremely proficient in hand-to-hand and his body…athletes would envy that body.
He adjusted the weights on the bar and settled down on the bench, his long legs on either side. He smoothly started pressing the weights up and down. I sighed and watched him for a moment.
“Are you enjoying the show, my mistress?” Dev asked, replacing the weights and turning his head toward me with the sexiest smile on his face. He pulled the buds from his ears and let them dangle.
I giggled because sometimes just the sight of him makes me a little giddy. “Yeah, don’t let me stop you.”
“You’re just in time,” he said, his voice low. “There’s one last muscle I need to exercise. I’m pretty sure I can press about one twenty-five with it.”
I straddled the bench, putting myself right over that muscle he was interested in exercising. It was the one workout the man never avoided. I playfully squirmed a little and felt his interest rise. “Did you have a good time with your brother?”
“I did indeed have a fine interview with my brother, though I spent the entire time thinking about copulating with your luscious form, my lover. It is so distracting to be constantly assaulted by the mental vision of your body twisted in coitus,” Dev said with a devilish smile, proving he could do a mean Declan impression.
“Yeah, what’s up with the formal speech?” I asked. “It’s weird talking to him.”
“It’s the way they talk at court.” Dev’s hands went to my waist. “It’s a very formal place. I prefer our little court where I can just look at you and tell you to fuck me, baby.” He pressed his hips up, letting me know he was ready to go now. I wondered just what he’d been thinking about during this workout of his.
“Did he order you to come home?” I asked, knowing that had been Declan’s plan all along.
“He did, indeed.” Dev rolled his green eyes. “He treated me like his snot-nosed little brother having a tantrum. He’s generously offered to allow you to come with us, but I think he has ulterior motives. He thinks this plane is far too dangerous for one as gentle as me.”
I laughed because he didn’t feel gentle grinding his hips up against mine. As good as it felt, and my body was ready to go, too, I needed to have a little talk with my boy. “I had an interesting day, too. I have a job.”
He pulled me down and his hands pressed our pelvises together. He rotated his core in a tantalizing fashion that made me groan and almost forget I was on a mission.
“Did you hear me, Dev?” I said, trying not to get lost in that feeling. “I’m taking a job. I’m going back to work.”
“What are you planning on stealing, my mistress?” Dev asked as his hands started to find their way into my shorts. He sounded only vaguely interested.
“A little artifact, nothing big,” I murmured, letting my hands run over his really perfect chest. His whole torso was cut. I thought seriously about locking the door and discussing the whole thing over a little oral sex.
“Is it privately held?” His fingers played at the edge of my pussy.
My answer came out a breathy little moan. “No, it’s part of an exhibit, but I’m not going to rob the museum. Too much work.”
“Then what are you going to rob, you pretty little thief?”
“I’m going to hijack the truck transporting the stuff to the museum,” I explained, leaning down to run my tongue around his nipple. I was rewarded with a husky laugh.
“Is that all? Well, that seems reasonable. I look forward to the experience. How about you take off these shorts and let me play?”
I looked at his amused face, a little surprised he’d been so easy. This was Dev, so I shouldn’t have been. He was the easiest person I’d ever met. Still, I expected a little push back. “You’re saying yes?”
“Of course,” he agreed.
Now I was a definitely suspicious. “I thought you would be worried.”
“Oh, I am worried. I can say yes to you with a completely free conscience because I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that he—” Dev pointed to the doorway “—is going to say no.”
My head whipped around to see Danny watching us. He leaned against the jamb and shook his head. “No, Zoey.”
I sat straight up, my hand absently slapping Dev on the chest. “Now that’s just rude, Danny. You haven’t even heard my plan and you’re arbitrarily telling me no.”
“Oww,” Dev groaned. “I said yes. Why am I getting hit?”
“I don’t have to hear the plan, baby,” Daniel replied. “It goes something like this. ‘Hey, Danny. I’m going to go and steal this one little, tiny thing that won’t mean anything to anyone. No one will even notice it’s gone, baby. We’ll make some easy money.’ Then just when we get the damn thing in our hands—that’s when the apocalypse starts.”
I swung my legs over the bench and got toe-to-toe with my husband, who had just done a fairly good impression of my entire planned presentation with the exception of the money. We wouldn’t make any cash on this one. “It’s been a long time since I triggered an apocalypse
, and I did a fine job of stopping the one I did start.” It was true. It had been a really long time ago when Danny and I had started running jobs together. He was never going to let me live that down. “This is nothing like that.”
Dev had turned on his side and was watching the byplay with his head in his hand. “Of course not, sweetheart. Like you told me a long time ago, you’re only going to do easy jobs from now on. Simple smash and grabs, I think you called them. Then you ran a job on the Hell plane. That was not a simple job, Zoey, and I doubt robbing an armored car is simple either.”
“It isn’t,” Daniel agreed shortly. “It’s incredibly complex. You have to have some good intelligence. You have to know when and where that truck is going to be, which means placing a finger man at the security company. Who are you planning on using? I doubt Lee could get another job. Zack won’t do your bidding, and Felix won’t let Sarah do anything vaguely criminal. Face it, baby. Your crew is gone.”
I smiled because I’d already solved that problem. “I don’t need a finger man, Danny. I had Marcus. The director of the museum just printed out all the info I needed and handed it to me with a smile on his face.”
That last part wasn’t true. It had been more like a catatonic stare, but smile made it seem more like an accomplishment.
“You’re bringing members of the Council into your heists?” Daniel asked, shocked.
“He was surprisingly good,” I admitted. “I told him he could join my crew if you ever decide to give up the game. Besides, it’s not like I have to hide my criminal endeavors from the Council. I’m their officially sanctioned thief.”
“Don’t remind me of that, Zoey,” Dev said with a groan.
I frowned at him. “What’s up with you? You said yes.”
He sat up. “I always say yes. It’s what I do. Situations like this are why we work as a threesome. If either Daniel or I were gone, you would most likely be dead, sweetheart.”
Daniel laughed.
“Don’t discount my input, Dan.” Dev swung his legs around, sitting on the bench facing us. “If you were gone, I would always say yes and then Zoey and I would be dead. But if I were gone, you would have pushed her away for her own good and, bang, same result. Zoey’s dead. Face it. If I hadn’t come on the scene and swept her off her feet, you wouldn’t have gotten jealous of all the sex we were having and you wouldn’t have decided to join us.”
