Steal the Light (Thieves #1)(24)

“I was just…” I started, not really sure where I would go from there.

“Damn it!” Dev cursed under his breath when the safe came open. He punched a fist in the air to show his frustration. “Seriously? This is seriously happening? I can’t believe it. That freaking company came highly recommended. I wanted to go American, but no, I end up off-shoring my security to a bunch of Nagas because they give me this Buddhist ‘save-the-earth green security’ crap. Then they turn out to be scamming me? Do you have any idea how much I laid out for that system? I have them working on my new clubs. Now I have to change everything. Crap, this is gonna cost me a fortune. Next time I’m gonna say ‘f*ck the whales’ and hire some firm that doesn’t recycle.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “Albert talked to you.”

Dev finally took a breath and seemed to calm down a bit. “Yeah, I didn’t believe him. Then I watched the cameras from the security room. They didn’t pick you up at all. They picked up the big, scary vampire though. What the hell did you do to my bouncer? He’s asleep in the alley mumbling something about beef jerky and bunny rabbits.”

“I wasn’t trying to go unseen,” Daniel said in his defense.

Neil stepped forward. “Um, Daniel, Charlene said your time was up, and she left with a really hot shape shifter. She also mentioned you were a cheap date and there was some talk about your parents not being married, but I don’t think that’s a big deal anymore.”

“I don’t see how she can call me cheap with what she charges.” Daniel sounded offended. “I could only afford to pay her until two am.”

“I knew she was a hooker.” She just had that look about her.

“Did they really think I wouldn’t figure this out?” Dev was asking no one in particular.

“Yes.” I would have thought it was obvious, but Dev seemed to struggle with the idea.

“You didn’t figure it out,” Daniel seconded. “Zoey did.”

“Ooo, pretty guns.” Neil’s eyes widened as he looked into the safe.

There were three shiny handguns in the safe along with what looked like a big hunk of cash. That security firm was losing a rich score. I decided to ask Dev to maybe not mention my name when he confronted the Nagas. Nagas were Indian river creatures who were usually peaceful, but they could turn into giant ravenous snakes, and I didn’t particularly need anyone else pissed off at me. And their heist methods were actually quite earth friendly. They hadn’t planned on killing anyone, and I’d heard that they gave ten percent of all their profits to Greenpeace.

“Yeah, well I’m going to be using those on one slick salesman when I can catch him,” Dev swore.

Neil’s head came up, his whole body on alert. “Do you normally let people come up the stairs?”

Dev frowned. “No one should be here. I’ll go look.”

He started for the door, but Daniel stopped him. “Neil, pass out those guns. I don’t like the sound of this.”

“Take it.” Neil pressed a gun into my hand. He was the closest one to the safe. He tossed one to Dev, and then placed the third in Daniel’s hand before anyone could speak.

“Are you sure this isn’t overkill?” Dev asked. “It’s probably just a guest who thinks this is a snack bar or something. All of this could have been avoided if you hadn’t put my bouncer to sleep.”

I checked the clip and eased the safety off because the back of my neck was tingling. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t explain that to Dev.

Neil didn’t arm himself. Neil preferred the old ways. He would never use a gun when he could rip and claw an enemy. Of the four of us, Neil was the only one smiling. Despite his sweet-looking face, he genuinely enjoyed a little violence.

“If it’s a drunk guest, we’ll just quietly escort them back down,” Daniel explained, his voice tight.

The door to Dev’s office exploded inward, silencing any further discussions.

The sound cracked the air around me, and I acted on pure instinct as pieces of wood flew everywhere. I threw myself in front of Daniel.

Pain, pure and visceral, bloomed from my shoulder. I winced as I looked down. The door had splintered into stake-like pieces and one lodged itself just under my clavicle. It wasn’t deep, but there was just enough blood to worry me.

“What the hell were you thinking?” Daniel twisted me around so he covered my body with his.

I decided no answer I could give would satisfy him, so I pulled the stake out of my shoulder. It easily could have been Daniel’s heart had I not stepped in. The pain raced across my skin. I moved to get a glimpse of whatever had managed to make that lovely, heavy oak door explode.

Three large men walked through the door.

“Wolves?” Dev’s voice showed not a hint of the panic a normal person would have. I had to believe it wasn’t his first time at this particular amusement park. It was a good thing because I didn’t want to be the one to babysit the civilian.

Neil breathed the air deeply. “Oh, no. Those are shifters, my friends. Don’t worry. We’ll be all right as long as they don’t turn into bears. I’m sure they’ll turn into something less frightening.”

The three shifters filled the front of the office. Even without Neil’s super smell, I could tell they were more than human. They moved differently, holding themselves with an odd grace that came from spending much of their time in other forms. There were two large men and a slightly smaller one whose head moved back and forth in an almost hypnotic pattern. His eyes were pitch black, seemingly endless pools of darkness. While the other men were bigger, he was the one who scared me. He was the one who seemed the most far from human.