Steal the Day (Thieves #2)(20)

“Not at all, dear,” Alexander said, smiling his creepy grin. “You’ll be dead by the morning if we don’t get some blood in you. I believe it’s the residual effects of sharing blood with your husband that’s managed to keep you alive and talking this long. I’m surprised. I didn’t think you shared blood with him. The gossip is you donate but choose not to receive.”

“I haven’t taken Daniel’s blood in months.” Seven months to be precise.

Alexander stared at me, for once his mouth closed in shock. He looked back at Michael. “He really is a bloody king, isn’t he?”

“I told you,” Michael said.

The door opened, and Dev’s voice rang through the house. “Where the hell is she, Harry?”

“Ahh, let the recriminations begin.” Alexander smiled, obviously enjoying the drama. “Your lover is here, dear.”

My father stalked into the room, a fierce frown on his face. He didn’t like Dev, and he certainly didn’t approve of my relationship with him. Daddy was firmly on Team Daniel. I’d been asked several times in the last few months when I was going to stop “f*cking around with that faery.” Dad was just one more person who didn’t understand how I felt. In his view, Danny and I had been planning to get married and Danny had finally come around, so I should fall in line with the life plan that had been laid out when I was seventeen. It didn’t matter that I’d been lied to. It didn’t matter that I had questions no one seemed willing to answer.

I pushed Felicity Day’s promises firmly out of my mind.

Dev followed my father. He’d gotten dressed in a hurry, it seemed. His clothes were usually immaculate, but now his slacks were slightly wrinkled, and I recognized the dress shirt he’d worn earlier in the evening.

“Well, I don’t need to ask how the meeting went, do I?” Dev asked, looking down at me.

Gosh, he was tall. He towered over me, six foot five inches of pure disapproval. His green eyes didn’t look sexy now. Anger had replaced his natural sensuality. I was glad the blanket was up around my neck. I’d pulled it up because I was so damn cold, but now it offered a certain amount of protection from his disapproving eyes.

“There might have been a few minor problems.” I tried to look as cute and vulnerable as possible, hoping to tap into his softer side. I didn’t want another lecture, especially not in front of company.

“Let’s see it, Zoey.” He braced himself for the sight, his feet planted on the floor, his shoulders squared. “There’s no point in putting it off. I’m not an idiot. I get called in the middle of the night because you need a freaking blood transfusion. I can put two and two together, sweetheart. Let’s see how stupid you got tonight.”

“Hey, you treat her with respect,” Michael demanded, to my surprise. “Watch your mouth around her.”

Dev turned, his eyes flashing and ready for a fight. “Asshole, I’m not the one who caused her to need a blood transfusion. You want to get pissed off at someone, talk to her husband. Trust me, buddy, when I f*ck her she doesn’t end up needing a doctor.”

“Dev!” Even in my weakness, I wasn’t going to stand for that.

Ugly claws popped out of Michael’s hands, a particular talent of his. He pointed one at Dev, who proved he had a death wish. He moved aggressively toward the angry vampire. It was one of those testosterone fueled gestures that no female can understand.

“If my mas…my friend hadn’t forbidden it, I would kill you here and now,” Michael proclaimed. “I would kill you and it would be a righteous kill, you understand. You live on his sufferance.”

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.”