Steal the Day (Thieves #2)(63)

It was, as Felicity had said, an odd little piece of jewelry. It was fashioned from gold, although knowing it had been made by an alchemist’s hand, I wondered what that gold had started out as. The amulet itself was teardrop shaped, the center a large, near-perfect diamond. If I looked closely I could see a golden strand of hair trapped in the diamond. It was oddly beautiful. It stopped glowing around me the second day I wore it. According to Felicity’s information, this was because now the amulet was used to me. It was primed to its owner.

All around me, music throbbed and club goers danced and drank and generally partied. Ether was packed. The moon was new, and when the wolves weren’t running, they liked to get their drink on. I ignored everything around me, watching the amulet as it started to gently pulse. Every time I managed to get the sucker to work, a little thrill went through me.

West. He wasn’t making this easy on me. The dance floor was between me and my target. Using the amulet was like a game of hot or cold. I had to pay very close attention or I would get off track and have to figure out where I’d gone wrong. If I tried to go around the gyrating werewolves, I could lose the signal. It was odd. I could get fairly close to some wolves, but the minute the bouncer named Kevin walked into the room, the Revelation went dead. I had to make sure Kevin was working the line outside the club if I wanted to practice with it. I’d decided it had to have something to do with how strong the wolf or vampire was. It immediately went dead when Neil walked in the room, even faster than it did with Kevin.

Dev had made sure he was off tonight, and Neil had a date with Chad, so I could practice with relative ease. The pulse became stronger, and through the crowd I caught a glimpse of what I sought.

Dev leaned against the wall, one foot propped up behind him. He’d been patiently allowing himself to be experimented on for the last couple of days. The Revelation recognized him, though I suspected the effect would be stronger when I went looking for Felix Day. Dev and I had been playing hide and seek all night.

“That was fast,” he said over the noise as I joined him. “You’re getting better with that thing.”

I placed the amulet back around my neck, a sense of satisfaction flowing through me. “I think I’m ready.”

His face went grim. He wasn’t exactly on board with my new plan to call up Stewart and ask him to the prom. Dev was already upset that I was in debt to the demon for his sake. He didn’t want me in any further, but there was no other way around it since Daniel wouldn’t take me. I also suspected Dev wasn’t happy about my request for new living arrangements after the job. I was serious about leaving the city. I couldn’t move on when Daniel was everywhere I looked. I asked Dev to consider coming with me to Miami. He owned a club there. Albert told me he had a condo right on the beach.

I was waiting for his answer. The idea that I could lose both Daniel and Dev was a heavy weight on my heart.

Dev looked up, his eyes on the dance floor. He frowned. I turned to see what had caught his attention. My husband stood across the illuminated dance floor, looking incongruous among the throng of party people. No happy dance time for Daniel Donovan. No, he was like a big-ass bird of prey looking for a mouse to swallow. His eyes latched on to me and he headed my direction. I had to bump my way through the dancing crowd, but they moved for Daniel. He was like Moses parting the Red Sea. People just got out of his way.

“I told you to call him back,” Dev said with a shake of his head.

He had. He’d told me to call Daniel several times, but I was stubborn. I hadn’t even gone home because I wanted to avoid this confrontation. We said all we needed to say in Arkansas. He’d left me high and dry, and I needed to concentrate on the job at hand. Daniel had been the one to accuse me of paying too much attention to my personal life. He’d been the one to point out that I was letting the job suffer. Well, I’d paid my love life almost zero attention in the last couple of days. I ignored Daniel’s every attempt to contact me. As far as I was concerned, I would see him at the ball.

Dev put an arm around me and leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Please try to remember everyone is watching. Keep it civil.”

“Zoey,” Daniel shouted. So much for civil. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? You ignore my calls. You don’t even bother to go home. Did you think I wouldn’t come looking for you?”

Dev smiled broadly and held out his hand. Daniel just looked at it like it was diseased. “Shake my hand, Daniel, or I’ll have you thrown out of this club.”

Daniel huffed out an amused laugh. “I’d like to see you try.”

“Every wolf in town is here tonight.” Dev spoke slowly as if he was talking to a child. “You know, the same wolves you’re trying to negotiate with. They’re all here, and they’re all watching you right now. You can take my hand and act like we’re friends, or you can throwdown with your wayward wife and her lover in front of the world. Trust me. You don’t want those wolves thinking you can’t handle your bitch.”

“Hey,” I protested.

“It’s a technical term only, sweetheart,” Dev said, his lips quirking up with humor.

Daniel looked around and confirmed that he was, in fact, the center of attention. They were far enough away that they probably couldn’t hear over the loud music, but they were definitely interested in us. Daniel took Dev’s outstretched hand and shook it.