Steal the Day (Thieves #2)(23)

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.