Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(102)

“This isn’t a traditional surgery, Zoey. This is a whole lot of magic to deal with, and it’s going to make Daniel very ill. He’s going to be weak for a while,” Nim explained, making my stomach churn. I didn’t like to think about a weak Daniel.

“How long?” Daniel asked, his voice tight.

Myrddin waved off the worry. “You’ll need a week or two to recover, Your Highness. A month at the most. That’s all. When you do recover, your heart will be as strong as it ever was.”

“We’ll consider it a small vacation, Dan,” Dev said reassuringly. He seemed to let go of the tension from before. “We’ll move into the Order’s headquarters where we’ll be perfectly safe. Justin and the others will join us there. I talked to Justin before we came here and he’s bringing along your emergency supply of blood so you can gorge on companion blood. That should quicken the process. We need time for our allies to gather anyway. It won’t hold us back. It will give us time to figure out exactly how we should use our forces.”

I saw Danny and Dev exchange a brief nod and knew what they were thinking. It would give them time to figure out if I was pregnant. If I was then I would be sitting out the last battle. I wouldn’t argue with them. I didn’t want to endanger our babies any more than they did. My reckless days were coming to an end.

“All right,” Daniel agreed. “Where do you need us?”

“Daniel, if you would take your place on the table.” Myrddin nodded toward the narrow but long table Nim had placed on the raised circle in the center of the room. I could see symbols painted on the circle and the matching ones on the ceiling. The circles were perfectly in line. “Unfortunately, Devinshea, I need you to take the purgative.”

Dev sighed as Nim passed him the small metal cup. He took a sniff, his nose wrinkling. “I suppose it does what the name implies.”

Nim nodded and handed him a bucket. “You’re going to need it. There’s a small room right over there, if you’d like some privacy.”

He stopped in front of me, pulling me close. “Everything is going to be fine, Zoey. We’ll fix Daniel’s heart and then we’ll figure out where to go from there.”

His eyes met mine and I knew he wasn’t going to allow the wizard to pull us apart. He would fight to keep Daniel. He kissed my forehead.

Dev already looked a little green as he walked into the room. I tried to follow because I could at least rub his back or put a cold rag on his neck, but he didn’t want any help. When he came back after what seemed like the longest time, he was shaky and his skin had turned a pale white. He had discarded his shirt and shoes.

“I believe I have sufficiently purged,” he stated quietly.

Nim handed him a second cup. “For strength.”

“Because you’ve just taken all of mine,” Dev replied sarcastically. He sniffed this one as well. “Do you make anything that tastes good, Nim?”

She thought about it for a moment. “I make a mean pi?a colada.”

Dev growled but downed the entire drink. I reached up and held his hand. After a moment he seemed steadier. “I’m ready.”

I was glad Dev was ready because I wasn’t. I followed him, his hand squeezing mine as we made our way to the platform. I walked onto it with him. Daniel lay on his back, but he smiled up as I came into view.

“Hey, baby.” Daniel took my other hand and placed it over his heart. “It’s going to be fine, Z. I love you.”

I leaned down and pressed my lips to his, fighting back tears the whole time. “It better be.”

I got back up and kissed Dev while he made me the same promise.

“Your Highness, it’s time,” Myrddin said quietly and I could almost believe he cared about us.

He held his hand out to help me down. I touched them both one last time before allowing the wizard to lead me away.

Lee, Neil, and Zack were crowded together.

“Lee,” I heard Dev say, “if anything goes wrong…”

“I know what to do, Dev,” Lee replied.

“Even if it’s both of us?”

“Especially if that happens,” Lee promised. “She’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it. We’ll disappear and no one will ever find us.”

Dev nodded and then Myrddin was staring at me. “I apologize, but this is too many people. Could we please bring it down to two? I understand that you need to be here and I’m willing to accommodate you.”

“Zack will stay as well,” I said, much to Neil and Lee’s surprise. “You won’t be able to get him away.”

“No, you won’t,” Zack said stubbornly.

Of the three wolves, Zack was the only one who truly loved the men on that table. Lee tolerated them. Neil was their friend, but Zack had a true connection. I wasn’t about to toss him out because Neil would be better comfort for me.

“Excellent,” Myrddin said. “I was going to suggest the same thing.”

I felt Lee press something cold into my hand. One of his semiautomatic pistols. I palmed it and liked the weight in my hand. I shoved it in the back of my jeans and pulled my shirt over it. He nodded as he left, and Neil made me promise to get him as soon as it was over.

Then there was nothing left to do except get to it. My stomach turned over as the wizard and Nim made their final preparations.