Steal the Day (Thieves #2)(96)

“Oh, that’s a good question, Mrs. Donovan.” Halfer let his eyes go black as they swept down me. “I think we’ll go with Lucas until I get a chance to kill you. Then you can call me Brix. You look delicious tonight, Mrs. Donovan. Someone is offering you up on a lovely platter.”

“Stand back, Halfer,” Neil said flatly, putting himself between me and the demon.

“I’m just talking to her, wolf. Back down.” Halfer held his hands up as though showing us all that he didn’t mean any harm.

I sure as hell didn’t buy it.

“You were warned to stay away from her, Lucas.” Marcus walked around and placed himself at my side. I already felt better.

“I didn’t realize there was a restraining order.” The demon looked around, pleased at the scene he was creating. “Aren’t you just America’s sweetheart, Zoey? Oh, look, you didn’t get rid of the faery. Well, I called that.”

Dev sort of slid in behind me, putting his hands around my shoulders. He was out of breath. I wondered if he’d had to fight Cecilia to get to me.

“And what the hell do you think you can do, faery?” Halfer waited as if amused that Dev thought he could do anything about it if Halfer chose to attack.

“Well, everybody else came. I’m just following the crowd.” Dev’s arms tightened as he looked around. He was looking for Daniel.

“Where’s that vampire of yours? Or has he already gotten tired of you and made a profit selling you to Marcus here? Well, it was probably a good move on his part. I didn’t come to cause trouble. I just had a message from your little witch friend. She sends her best.” Halfer laughed. “Hell, I can’t lie. She really just cries a lot and begs, but I’m sure she would send her best if I didn’t rip her throat out on a daily basis. I would have brought her as my date, but she was in two pieces after I got through with her earlier tonight. I’m sure she’s back together by now.”

“I’m going to make you pay, Halfer,” I swore, all my thoughts of running gone as blind rage pretty much took over. Dev’s arms were now a cage.

“Marcus, I believe your bitch is threatening me,” Halfer laughed, his voice a silky evil.

Marcus growled, and I knew if I could see him, his fangs would be long in his mouth.

“I love it when there’s trouble in paradise.” Halfer bowed formally to me. “I believe I’ll pass on our dance, Mrs. Donovan. When I dance with you, I’ll need a little more privacy than we have here.”

Halfer turned, and before I could sigh there was a sudden hush that fell over the ballroom. My gaze moved from Halfer striding away to Daniel walking in with Sebastian at his side.

Dev leaned his head in close and whispered. “This is the presentation we were talking about. Zoey, keep your face free of emotion. Do you understand?”

I nodded, and his arms came from around my shoulders to settle on my waist.

Everyone forgot the excitement of my throwdown with a demon and watched Sebastian. Daniel took a place beside him, both men above the crowd though Daniel seemed to be the authority figure of the two. With the exception of members of the Council, every vampire in the room and many of the demons cast their eyes down rather than meet his gaze. If this had been a wolf pack, there would be no question who the alpha was.

Two demons pulled a heavy cart behind the vampires. It was covered and on wheels. It shook mightily from time to time. It seemed to be a cage of some kind, like the ones they kept circus animals in. I steeled myself because I knew the animal in that cage. I tried to reach out to grab Neil’s hand, but he merely stood there and stared at the proceedings, his whole being blank.

“Demon kind, vampire kind, I welcome you,” Sebastian greeted the crowd. “It is my greatest pleasure to introduce Mr. Daniel Donovan, the Council’s Nex Apparatus. He has a special presentation for the Council on this evening. If the Council would come forward?”

Marcus looked back at me. “I have to go, cara. Try not to cause too much trouble.” He stopped before Neil. “You, wolf, do not leave her side.”

Marcus took his place beside Niko, Niles, and Elof. They were joined by the fifth and final Council member. From what I understood from several long, boring lectures Dev had given me, his name was Louis Marini. He was a dark, stunning Frenchman who was born long before Christ. He was the head of the Council. The full Council stood before the cart and waited for the presentation to begin.

Sebastian continued to speak. “I have been asked to explain the nature of tonight’s exhibition. As you all know, our numbers fade with each passing decade. We were once an army of blood seekers, feared and worshipped as gods. We now must hide in the shadows as humanity has ravaged the Earth like a plague. Every vampire is precious, yet many choose to meet the dawn rather than walk the night in an aged body. We can no longer wait idly by for our brothers to rise. We must find them. We must turn them when they are strong. We must build our army once more. This is the task set by the Council for the Nex Apparatus. Tonight he has brought our first solider, discovered in the prime of his life and brought over successfully to walk the night.”

There was a gasp that went through the crowd as Chad was revealed. He looked much as he had that first night. He was disheveled and savage looking. He screamed and howled his rage as he tried to break out of his cage.

“He hasn’t fed for almost four days,” Dev whispered in my ear. “It was necessary to emulate his recent turn. This way they believe Daniel killed him, but did not feed Chad his blood. The Council will feed him their own ancient blood and treat him as a normal vampire.”