Steal the Light (Thieves #1)(91)

Daniel smiled, but it was a hateful thing. “I’d like to see you try. Tell the Council to send their best, and I’ll send them to Hell one by one. Or if you like, I can give them a group rate.”

“Now see, that’s why I want you, Donovan.” Halfer sighed with appreciation. “You’ll enjoy the work I have for you. If you’re a very good boy, I’ll let you have access to the girl. You’ll like that.”

“No, I’ve made arrangements for my companion,” Daniel said, and I felt the tears start to run down my face as he discussed my dispensation. At least now I knew why he had to talk to Dev. “I sold her earlier tonight. It’s my right as her master. As part of any agreement I make with you, she’s to be taken to a man named Devinshea Quinn. The money has already been transferred by now. I won’t do anything until I know he has taken possession of her. And Marcus, don’t think you can swoop in and take her.”

“She belongs to the Council. You can sell her, but it must be to another vampire. Companions belong to the Council.” Marcus spoke in an academic tone. “She will go on auction as she should have the moment she was found.”

Daniel crossed him arms over his chest. “She’ll be safe in a sithein before you can find her. I believe the faeries have forbidden vampire kind from the mounds.”

“Do you understand what your husband is doing, Mrs. Donovan?” Marcus asked, finally glancing my way.

“Don’t call me that.” It was cruel. I’d wanted to be Daniel’s wife, to have his name, and now it simply made me bitter.

“He is placing you in a faery mound from which he expects you to never return. He is paying another man to hide you,” Marcus explained. “He is putting you in a cage because if he can’t have you, then none of us can. What do you say to that?”

I shook my head. Now he wanted my opinion?

“My will is of no consequence.” I repeated his earlier words because I finally understood what Dev had been trying to tell me. I was a commodity to be bought and sold. I didn’t really understand why. There was something about my blood, but I didn’t care. I only cared that he’d lied to me. He’d sold me.

Somewhere in my rage, I also understood that this was what Daniel had been trying to protect me from. He’d stayed away from me. He’d begged me not to send us here. I played a hand in this as well, but in that moment, with a demon at my back and the love of my life treating me like property, I didn’t feel like being fair.

Daniel was a gorgeous god, his face devoid of any emotion. “Let her go, Halfer. Let my servant take her to her new master, and we can discuss the terms of my service.”

Halfer let me go, and I fell to my knees. Neil was suddenly at my side, helping me up. His eyes were filled with sympathy as he got me to my feet. All eyes were on me, some looking at me with pity, others with lust, and Daniel’s with no emotion at all. I was nothing compared to those dark gods who could kill me without a thought. I was a tiny detail in their plots that could be brushed aside like a piece of lint.

“Zoey, I’m going to take you to Dev now,” Neil said quietly. “He’ll take care of you.”

And that’s when I got mad.

I pulled my arm away from Neil and walked straight up to Daniel, who stood there so rigid and unmoving. He’d lied to me for years, hiding the truth of his existence even as I pined for him. I’d made mistake after mistake, but I was honest about them. My only real sin was being dumb, so damn dumb. But I was done playing the sad-sack little piece of fluff. I was worth more.

I pulled back my hand and slapped him as hard as I could. “I have no intention of going into any sithein. I won’t go quietly into a cage, Daniel. Consider that a divorce.”

I turned to Marcus, whose dark eyes widened. “As for you, you piece of Eurotrash, I don’t give a shit how old you are or what your rules are. I’m not your bitch. If you want to come for me, feel free to try, but you have to sleep, buddy, and I promise you I know how to use a stake.” I included all the vampires in the room in my tirade. “That goes for every one of you. If you think you can master me, don’t expect to see the sunset. I don’t know what kind of women you’ve dealt with before, but you have no idea how to handle me. I’m not some detail you sweep under the…”

And just like that I knew how to save us all.

I stood in the middle of the room and went from screaming Harpy to hysterical laughter in the blink of an eye. Neil came up behind me, deep concern on his face. Even Daniel suddenly looked like he gave a shit.

“Daniel, she is unwell,” Marcus said quietly, as though he didn’t want to set me off again. “She does not need to be here. Your servant should take her now.”

“Not on your very long life.” I gave him my most brilliant smile. “I’m not going anywhere. I just found door number three.”

Somewhere in the midst of my raging against fate, a simple voice came to me. I guess I’d been thinking about it for a while. It had been a little thought in the back of my head, crowded out by terror and indecision. It was something Halle said to me when all of this began. I heard his voice as clearly as if he had been in the room.

Just remember that when dealing with the demon world, Halle had told me, the devil really is in the details.

I was really going to have to buy him a better bottle of wine the next time I saw him. A whole case!