Steal the Light (Thieves #1)(49)

Halfer stood again, and it was obvious the violence really did something for him. “You liked that didn’t you, night crawler? You enjoyed hurting the Fae creature.”

“Yes,” Daniel said. I knew in an instant he was still feeling the effects of Halfer because that yes came out with several extra esses as he struggled to speak around his fangs. Daniel was careful about those fangs, but now he seemed to not even notice they were there.

“He’s gonna f*ck her, you know,” Halfer said with glee. “He’s gonna ram his cock in her, and she’s gonna love it.”

“Daniel!” I yelled and tried to get between him and the circle.

Neil was at Daniel’s back, and I was at his front. Neil was definitely more effective than I was as I seemed to just be getting closer and closer to that damn circle, and Halfer just kept running his mouth.

He clapped his hands with glee, like the ring leader of a sadistic circus. “She’s going to howl when he does her. She won’t even remember you once he’s f*cked her right and tight.”

I forced myself to think. While I tried to push back the determined vampire, I shouted over my shoulder at the demon. “Do you want me to do this job or do you just want a blood bath? If you kill Daniel, I won’t be doing anything for you. I’ll find whoever else wants that stupid box and I’ll make sure they get it. If you think I’m bluffing then you didn’t do your job right. If you know my deepest fears then you know I mean what I say. I won’t have anything left but the deepest desire to screw you over.”

And just like that the oppressive air in the room was gone, and we could all breathe again. Daniel stopped pushing me closer to our doom and let Neil drag him back. Sarah and Christine stopped crying, and I felt so much clearer without the demon’s influence.

Halfer huffed and shook his head. “You’re right, of course. I apologize for the discourtesy. Apparently I’m more like my chaotic brothers than I thought. It’s really your own fault. You’re all so full of delicious doubts. I really could make a meal of you but business before pleasure. So, the money is gone. That really is too bad. I guess that would have come in handy.”

A nasty suspicion took hold. “Considering I was going to give it back, yes, it is unfortunate.”

He chuckled at the thought. “I wondered if you would try that. Well, even if you could raise the money again, I think you would find I have a special attachment to those particular bills. I wouldn’t be able to accept anything but the same money I gave you.”

“You stole the money.” And thereby put me in a neat little corner with no way out.

“I admit nothing of the sort,” he returned with a self-satisfied smile. “I will, of course, be happy to provide you with another payment. We can’t expect you to work your magic on a limited budget. I’ll have my assistant equip you with anything you need first thing in the morning.”

“Zoey, he’s getting you in deeper, can’t you see that? He stole the money so that you couldn’t give it back to him.” I turned to see Dev holding his head as he tried to stand.

“Whether he stole it or not doesn’t matter. We don’t have it now. If she doesn’t do the job, she fails to fulfill her part of the contract. What the hell else are we supposed to do?” Daniel asked.

“We’ll figure something out,” Dev said with a na?veté I was surprised he had.

I simply turned back to the demon. I wasn’t going to have this discussion with Dev right now. Daniel was right. I was in a corner with only one way out. Halfer had made sure of it. “Fine. I’ll have a list ready for him by morning.”

Halfer nodded. “I’ll try to find out who our competitors are. Although I suspect they don’t have the information they need. You said they tried to take you. If they knew when and where the box was being delivered, they would have just killed you and taken it themselves.”

“Lucky me.” There was one last thing I wanted to be clear on. “I want you to know that I forced the witches to call you. I wasn’t sure you hadn’t tried to kill me. I needed to know.”

“Perfectly reasonable,” Halfer replied in his business-like manner. “I would probably have done the same if I were a pathetic human in your predicament.”

“So any repercussions should be on me.” I heard the boys behind me start to argue.

“Agreed,” Halfer said, and I was finally able to take a full breath. “We’ll consider it one of the dangers of doing business. Get me the box, Zoey Wharton, and we’ll be even. If not, I fully plan to devour that soul of yours. I’m going to eat it up and make sure you serve me well on the Hell plane.”

I stopped breathing again since I figured without any real magical ability, my “service” would probably be hard physical labor of the grossest kind. “You’ll get your box. Sarah, do whatever you need to do to get Mr. Halfer back where he came from.”

The demon stopped me. “There is, of course, the matter of my payment.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Silly girl, you don’t call a demon without giving him a gift, unless, of course, you want to offend the demon greatly.”

I looked at Sarah.

Sarah nodded, her whole body still trembling a bit. “He’s right. I took a bottle of scotch from your dad’s vault. It’s really old and expensive. If your lordship would just look behind the chair, I think you’ll find it to your liking.”