Steal the Light (Thieves #1)(94)

My heart turned over in my chest. He couldn’t do this to me again. He couldn’t leave me here. “I’m going. I have a whole lot of things I want to say to that freaking Council.”

Marcus looked seriously at Daniel. “Perhaps you are right. She should stay here.” He flashed a look at the others, and they all pulled handguns. One of the vampires opened the coffin and pulled out what looked to be a mile of chains. There were gloves on his hands and he held the chains away from his body.

“Shit, I hate this,” Daniel said under his breath.

“Don’t you leave me like this.” I watched as Daniel fell to his knees and placed his threaded fingers behind his head. “Let me go with you. Please don’t do this to me again. I don’t understand anything. You said we were married. That’s for better or worse. Well, this is the ‘worse’ part.”

“I love you, Zoey.” He looked up at me, his eyes vacant. “They will not let you come.”

As they started to wrap the chain around him, his flesh began to smoke where he wasn’t covered by clothing. His mouth tightened, but that was the only indication that he felt the pain. I tried to pull it back off of him, but Marcus dragged me away and held me.

“That’s silver, you bastard.” I tried to kick him where it would hurt the most.

He held me too close for me to do any damage. “If it wasn’t silver, it wouldn’t work. Your master has spoken, companion. Do not make this worse for him.”

When his body was wrapped in silver, they picked him up and placed him not too gently in the coffin. I was allowed to see him before they placed the lid on.

“Don’t do this to me, Daniel,” I begged. Even after everything we’d just gone through, I still wanted to go with him. “Let me come with you. Explain this to me. Don’t shut me out. I still don’t understand anything.”

“I love you, Zoey,” was all he said.

Marcus gave the order, and the lid was closed. Neil said something like good-bye, but I just stood there. I just watched him being carried away, knowing he didn’t want me with him. No matter how much he claimed to love me, he would always shut me out. He would always keep his secrets.

I was left in that magnificent hotel room alone, mourning my friend and my lover.





Chapter Twenty-Six





A long, insistent knocking pulled me from my sleep. I shook myself awake, and it took me a moment to realize just where I was. Light streamed into the room, and for just a second, I thought it had all been a terrible dream. Then the knocking continued, and I was still alone.

I finally fell asleep on the couch sometime just before dawn, but I wouldn’t call it a restful sleep. Dark dreams plagued me all night.

I stumbled off the couch and toward the door. The clock read just before ten, and I wondered if the maid service was being especially polite or if the concierge had come to kick me out. I opened the door because an angry member of the hotel staff was the least of my concerns. It was worse. Marcus Vorenus stood in the doorway.

“Mrs. Donovan, I would like to talk to you.”

“Don’t call me that,” I said, every bit the grouch. I left the door open and walked back to the couch. He didn’t need an invitation. He hadn’t needed to knock.

Marcus came in the room and held out a mug of what smelled like coffee. “I brought it up from the dining room. I thought you could probably use it.”

I stared at it suspiciously.

Those dark eyes softened and the barest hint of a smile curved his lips up. He looked like he was roughly thirty years old and had stepped off the cover of a male fashion magazine. “I am not your enemy, Mrs.…shall I call you Zoey?”

“That’s my name.” I gave in and took a swallow of the coffee. If he wanted to kill me, he could have just ripped my throat out. And I wanted the coffee.

He stepped up to the big windows, looking out over the park, the sunlight on his face.

“Hey, shouldn’t you be all crispy by now?” He was a vampire standing in direct sunlight. Not a sight I saw every day. He was dressed slightly more casually than he’d been last night, but everything was still designer. He was a hard-looking man, and I found myself wondering which era he’d been born into.

Marcus chuckled and turned back to me. I noticed things I hadn’t the night before. Most vampires possessed almost alabaster skin, but Marcus had a nice tan. “I enjoy listening to you speak. It is refreshing. Too many people in my life are scared of me. To answer your question, I am a daywalker. It is the special gift of my class of vampires. All members of my class are born with the ability. There are other talents I have that took many centuries to acquire. You understand that after many years of living, a vampire often develops certain talents?”

“I know Daniel didn’t need many years.”

“Yes, well, our Daniel is a bit of a savant.” Marcus sat down across from me. “He, however, cannot walk during the day. I have often wondered if he had a regular supply of rich blood, could he possibly do this as well? When he came back here, I thought no, but now I realize he has been lying about you.”

He had my attention. I set the coffee down, ready for some explanations. If Daniel wouldn’t give them to me, I would take them from Marcus. “So I have this rich blood, and that’s why I’m attractive to vampires?”