Steal the Light (Thieves #1)(5)

“Then I will take my leave of you.” Halfer pushed his chair back and slid a manila folder across the table. “Here’s all the information you’ll need, including my contact numbers. I’ll be waiting to hear from you.” He turned to walk away but looked back at me one last time. “I expect great things of you, Zoey Wharton.”

My stomach turned over slightly as I wondered what this man would do if those “great things” he expected failed to materialize. I thought it best not to find out.

As the door closed behind Halfer, I was left with more money than I’d ever made on a job before and the promise of much more to come. I stared at the door he’d just disappeared through. I’d never before accepted a client on the first meeting. It was one of the things my father taught me about the business. The first meeting was about learning the job and getting information on the client. My instincts failed, thrown over by the glitter of cash and the promise of glory. If I pulled this off, I would move into an entirely different playing field. I would be competing with the best and my reputation would be made. The little girl in me whispered in a small voice that my father would have to acknowledge me. If I pulled this off, he would have to be proud of me. He would have to treat me as an equal.

When I looked over at Daniel, there was a panicked look in his eyes. He was staring at the chair recently vacated by Lucas Halfer.

“What is it?” I asked, not really worried. I was still thinking about the money and the potential glory. I would be the talk of my professional world. I could start being choosy about my clientele. I might even get an office and an assistant.

“Z, I am so sorry.” If possible, his face was even paler than usual.

My pulse sped up, and I started paying attention. Daniel didn’t usually apologize, so I knew this was something he considered a big mistake.

“I didn’t feed before I came here. It’s my only excuse. I was running late,” he stammered. “It’s so subtle. He’s damn good, but I should have caught it.”

“Caught what?”

“That smell.” He breathed in again, his nose turning up in distaste.

“What smell?”

“Brimstone. He’s a demon, Zoey.”

I pushed the briefcase away as though my rejection of it would solve my problem. What seemed for a moment to be my glittering future now looked like a potential tomb with a one-way ticket to a vacation spot I didn’t want to visit. I sealed the deal by taking the money. There was not a lot I could do. The damage was done.

The waiter slipped the check onto the table. I absently took note of the shockingly large amount.

I had made a deal with the devil, and the bastard stuck me with the bill.





Chapter Two





The briefcase sat in the middle of my kitchen table, the overhead light shining down like the money was about to sing a solo in a Broadway show. My entire crew sat in still silence watching the money with equal parts awe and fear.

“Dollars?” Neil pointed to the briefcase.

“Yes,” I replied testily, though I’d asked the same thing myself not an hour ago. “Yes, I meant dollars. I meant five hundred thousand dollars from a demon.”

“And we get another five hundred thousand dollars after we get this light thingy?” Neil never took his eyes off the briefcase.

“Another five hundred thousand from a demon,” I reiterated, hoping he would get the point.

“And it’s not really light, right? I’m assuming that’s a metaphor. Is it like the time we got paid to steal the Essence of Tor and it turned out to be goblin dung? Because I don’t see how we steal light. Did he give you something to catch it in?” Neil gave me his best confused cute-boy look.

I was not in the mood. My one-way ticket to Hell was staring me straight in the face, and Neil was playing dumb. “According to the demon, it’s a box. But as I said, this is according to the demon, who is by nature evil and probably lies a lot.”

Sarah, dressed in her ever-present skinny jeans and a concert T-shirt, held herself away from the table as though it was diseased. She looked like she’d stepped straight out of a Deep Ellum club to come to this meeting, and she probably had. “This is a bad idea.”

“You think?” My panic was on the verge of taking over. I reached out and brought my now lukewarm beer to my lips, swallowing gratefully. It was cheap beer I bought in a convenience store, nothing like the ultra-expensive vintage Halfer had ordered. I put the whole bill on a credit card because I didn’t carry that kind of cash and I sure as hell wasn’t about to open up the case and start flinging money around. The beer was cheap, but it tasted safe and normal.

“If it’s such a bad idea, then just give it back.” Neil crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “But I just can’t see that two hundred fifty grand apiece is such a bad idea. I could finally buy a car and go to Mexico, and OMG, makeover!”

Neil clapped his hands together looking nothing like the werewolf I knew him to be. It was times like this that Neil’s true value came out. In his human form, there was absolutely nothing to hint at his ferocious other nature. Of course, this was also the reason he was a virtual outcast in the dual-natured world. Werewolves tended to look like bikers or roughnecks. There was nothing butch about Neil. He gravitated toward eclectic pieces he found in thrift stores and used far too much product to ever be accepted in a biker bar. In a small, tight-knit world, Neil was in the minority. It was one of the reasons he had come to me looking for work. After the rather terrible death of my last werewolf, I found myself persona non grata among that set. But I also had no problem working with and being friends with that rarest of species—the gay wolf.