Steal the Light (Thieves #1)(44)

“Damn you, Danny.” My eyes filled with tears. “Why now? Years you spend pretending I mean nothing to you and now you say these things to me. Now you care about our past just when I’m starting to believe I could find happiness with someone else. You really are a bastard.”

He turned to me, and I was so surprised at the sight. There were tears in his eyes, and he looked so confused. “I never pretended not to care. I can’t anymore, Zoey. What I am, I can’t love you like you deserve. I can’t give you what you need so I had to stay away and make sure you were all right. You don’t understand the truth of this world. I don’t even want you to. I never stopped loving you. I just…I’m a monster. I would only hurt you. I’m sorry about…what I said. I just never imagined it would hurt so much to see you…like that…with someone else.”

I sighed, a deep, tired sound. “How do you think I felt about all those other women?”

“What other women?”

“The ones at your club.” I wondered just how many there had been. It was not in a vampire’s nature to be celibate. Sex went along with the feeding. I knew it was just sex, but it still hurt.

Daniel grew still. “In all the years that I have been a vampire, I have never taken a lover. I have fed, but it went no further. I have no intentions of betraying you, Zoey.”

I was confused. No vampire was celibate. The need for sex was hardwired into their systems. It was beyond longing. It was an actual physical need. It was part of the feed.

“How can that be true?” And then another question hit me. “You can’t go an eternity without sex, Danny. What are you going to do when you’ve happily married me off?”

He smiled sadly, and I knew the answer. I bit back a cry at the thought. He was planning to walk into the light.

“Zoey, Daniel, it’s time.” Neil’s far too subdued voice told me he’d heard enough.

I wiped the tears from my face. “We’ll finish this later,” I vowed.

I had a demon to call, but I walked out with the knowledge that my own personal demon was going to be so much harder to deal with.





Chapter Twelve





Neil had properly drawn the circle on the living room floor. It was a nice hardwood floor, which is so much better than carpet. Carpet consists of hundreds of separate fibers that have a habit of not always sticking together in the manner one wishes they would. When you’re just using the space for watching television and doing the occasional yoga session, it’s a perfectly fine form of flooring.

When calling a demon, carpet sucks. It doesn’t hold the circle firmly, and once the demon has the slightest centimeter of a crack, the carpet-loving demon caller tends to find himself in intimate contact with said demon. Those sessions never end well. Trust me, hard floors, wood or concrete, are really best.

My father’s house contained beautiful solid oak floors that now boasted a large, red spray-painted circle decorated with a bunch of arcane symbols meant to keep the demon inside. I was fairly sure my father would have a heart attack when he saw it, but he would probably be more pissed off that I called Halfer in the first place.

The doors to the room flew open and Sarah stormed in. “Zoey, I talked to my coven leader.”

Christine walked in behind her carrying a sack. I was pretty sure the small blonde was the reason for Sarah’s annoyance. Looking at the pair, it was hard to imagine they were both witches. Sarah, I could see. She cultivated that cool Goth look pop culture associated with post-modern witches. She wore a black mini-skirt with fishnets and combat boots.

Christine had pageant hair and wore a cutesy business suit. She was wearing pumps, and no one who has to deal with the supernatural world on a regular basis would wear pumps to a demon calling. Christine looked like she should be heading home to make dinner for her hubby and two point five kids. She did not look like a chick who would be excited about calling her first demon.

“What did Emily have to say?” Emily was the head of Sarah’s coven and the most powerful witch in the area. If anyone could give us advice about this calling, it would be Emily.

“What did she say beyond the fact that you’re insane and we’re all going to die?” Sarah flipped a lock of pink hair out of her eyes.

“Yes, beyond that.” Emily apparently hadn’t said anything I didn’t already know.

Sarah frowned. “It isn’t possible. Neither Christine nor I have enough magic to handle a demon as powerful as this one. You should have seen the look on Emily’s face when I gave her the name Brixalnax. Man, I have never seen a black woman turn that white. He’s old. He’s royalty in Hell. This is dangerous, and we don’t have the fire power.”

“If we use the coven…” I began.

“Not a chance,” Sarah said firmly. “There is no way Emily will put her people in danger. She tried to forbid me from having anything to do with this.”

“She was very negative.” Christine wrinkled her nose in distaste. “I would have expected a witch at her level to be a little more open to new experiences. It made me glad I’m a solitary. I don’t think I’d like someone telling me who I can and can’t call. I’m totally bringing up this experience at the next meeting of the Junior League witches.”

I wanted to ignore her. I really did. I just couldn’t. “Junior League witches?”