Steal the Light (Thieves #1)(73)

I would have to get used to a nocturnal lifestyle because I didn’t plan to spend my nights sleeping anymore. I would spend them with Daniel. My boyfriend was a vampire, so daylight wasn’t going to be our special time. I smiled as I thought about it. There were things to be worked out and difficult conversations to be had, but I could get through that. I had everything I wanted. I was hours away from giving the package to Halfer, getting my contract back, and having a shitload of money to show for it. I already had the best thing of all.

I had Daniel back.

I glanced over at the package. It sat on the table where we left it. Everything was exactly as it should have been with one teeny, tiny difference.

The damn thing was glowing like a firefly.

I got out of bed and slipped into Daniel’s T-shirt. I walked tentatively to the box. It glowed and started to pulse as I approached.

“Damn it.”

This is where it all goes to hell. I will not touch that box, I continued my inner dialogue. Pulse away, little box, I’m not playing Pandora. I am going to leave you right where you are, and Halfer is coming to get you and I’m gonna hand you over and fulfill my end of the contract. It’s nothing personal, box, it’s strictly business.

And then I heard it.

The box, or whatever was in the box, cried.

All of my thoughts of self-protection flew away as I touched the box, and it opened without hesitation. The top slid open and there, sitting in the middle of the box that seemed much larger on the inside than it had from the outside, lay the one thing I could never hand over to a demon.

I picked up the soft, pink baby girl so perfect and human, with a ridiculously precious toothless grin, and held her close with a maternal instinct I hadn’t known I had. She wriggled against me.

She made some soft sounds and settled against my shoulder, and I knew in that moment I was going straight to Hell.





Chapter Twenty





“OMG! This is the single porniest room I have ever seen!” Neil exclaimed two hours later as I let him through the door. His eyes went wide as he took in the sights. He stopped when he got to Daniel lying in the bed. It was obvious I’d occupied the other side of the bed. “Then there’s the smell. Jeez, Zoey, change the sheets after you’re done. It’s really overwhelming. Oh, look Sarah, Mommy and Daddy got back together. See, I told you dreams can come true.”

“Porny?” I resettled the baby on my hip. I already felt better.

The last few hours I’d felt vulnerable. It had been just me, a sleeping vampire, and a baby who I had no idea how to care for. Though I figured Neil would be useless when it came to taking care of the baby, he did make me feel safer. Demons would have to think twice before dealing with Neil. It didn’t hurt that I knew his strength was enhanced with Daniel’s blood.

Neil smiled. “It’s something new I just came up with. Look, I made an adjective! I can’t imagine what my inspiration was. So, I’ll ask the question. Why are you holding a baby? You look cute—all Madonna and child. By the way, Dev is bringing in the stuff you asked for, and he’ll be here any minute so you should…well, there’s not a damn thing you can do to hide this, so just be ready. He’s been freaked out all day.”

“We couldn’t find you.” Sarah looked at the wards I’d drawn on the walls. She ran her hands across the symbols as though she could feel the power behind them, and maybe she could. “We were up all night. I tried every locator spell I know but got nothing. This explains it.”

“Thanks. I had a great teacher.” I was just the teeniest bit disappointed she didn’t seem more excited. It was the first time I’d done something with magic that worked. We’d been safe here.

“I thought we should just try your cell phone,” Neil said. “But you know, Sarah, always with the witchy stuff.”

“I tossed the cells.” They were in itty bitty pieces all along 183. I couldn’t take the chance that the demons knew about the whole GPS thing.

“And when would you have had time to answer?” Neil snarked. “What with all the porntastic fun going on? See, I made another one.”

Dev chose that moment to walk in carrying a large bag from Target. I hoped it contained the list I dictated to Neil over the phone. I’d rattled off all the baby stuff I knew and hoped I hadn’t forgotten anything. Up to this point, little baby girl had been a perfect angel. If I’d thought about it at the time, I would have been suspicious, but the truth was, I didn’t know what babies were like. I’d never had a baby sister or brother. I only had one real girlfriend, and Sarah was as far from procreating as she could get.

The baby hadn’t cried or wanted food, which was good because all I had were a few Tic Tacs and a can of Red Bull. She’d smiled and gurgled and tried to put lots of things in her mouth but not a single tear yet. She even allowed me to take a shower after calling the troops. It had been cooler than I would have liked, but I was clean and she was clean, and that was what mattered.

Daniel would probably be pissed I’d given away our location, but I trusted these people, and I needed help. I couldn’t believe that anyone on our crew had betrayed us. Lucas Halfer might have betrayed us but not Dev or Sarah. Daniel was going to have to understand why I’d called in the cavalry. He was dead to the world until eight thirty p.m., and I had a baby to deal with. I was so not cut out to be a single mom.