Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(113)

I bit back a cry as the demon forced the collar over his head and tightened it around his neck. I tried to pull away from Lee to stop this atrocity but he held me tightly against him.

“Don’t, Zoey,” Lee said quietly. I heard the strain in his voice. He wanted…needed to kill something but he couldn’t. “They’ll kill Dev and god only knows what they’ll do to you, darlin’. They won’t be gentle. They’ll shoot you and just figure they can bring you back with their blood. You have to think of your baby now. We’ll get out of here and I promise you, I’ll find Neil. I’ll track him if I have to go to the Hell plane to get him back.”

I cried and felt Daniel’s eyes on me. Lost, he was lost and agonized as he realized there wasn’t anything he could do to save me. I was the only one who could help us now. I was the only one with anything Louis wanted beyond their deaths.

“Louis,” I said, giving him as much of my vulnerability as I could. “Please. Please don’t hurt Dev and please don’t let that demon take my friend.” I pulled away from Lee and let myself fall to my knees because when it came to my friends, my lovers, I had no pride. “I am begging you, Louis.”

His dark head turned toward me and his eyes gleamed down. He liked me on my knees. He liked me begging. His big hand came down to touch my hair even as I heard Daniel snarl. “I don’t want to hurt the prince, chère. If you like, we will bring him with us. I’m not a monster. I want to make you happy, companion.”

I felt a bit of my power. He meant what he said. He wanted to make me happy. I would use it against him. “Then don’t let a demon drag my friend off. I thought the demons had been told to stay out of this fight.”

Louis shrugged negligently. “In this, I can do nothing. I made a deal with the demon. He gave you to me, and now I must let him take his prize. I’m sorry. Not even I can go back on a deal with a demon lord. It will be fine. Perhaps Lord Nemcox will come to visit and he can bring your friend.”

“Absolutely,” Stewart said as he started to drag Neil away. Neil struggled, trying to dig his paws into the ground. The silver in the collar was smoking as it bit into the flesh around his neck. Stewart pulled and Neil was losing the fight. “I would love to have a good relationship with the Council, Mr. Marini. I’ve always been fond of the little companion. I find her antics very amusing. And Zoey, don’t think I’ll be punished. We were told to stay out of the vampire king’s way. This wasn’t about him. I read the fine print, companion. It said nothing at all about making an exchange. You for my love. It’s mere coincidence that the king happened to be here. Oops.”

The little bastard. He thought he could skirt the language of Lucifer’s orders.

Stewart merely gave me a wink. “I’ll bring my boy by as soon as I’ve brought him to heel.”

Neil’s head swung around and I heard him whimper as Stewart dragged him away. I let my eyes follow him and prayed to anything that would listen to make this all one long, horrible nightmare.

“Now, Ivan, if you would please prepare Mr. Donovan for transport,” Marini said. “I want him in Paris this evening. We’ll meet in the arena and I will legally kill the pretender. I’ll take my companion with a full and properly witnessed ceremony. There will be no doubt at all about whom you belong to after this night, my Zoey.”

There would be no begging for Daniel’s life. I knew that wasn’t negotiable with Louis. It wasn’t even smart. The best case scenario here was Daniel getting away. I wouldn’t get away. I would be in Marini’s clutches and I didn’t see a way around it. I needed to distance from Daniel in Louis’s mind so I wasn’t about to plead for my husband’s life. But Daniel had to run. He couldn’t fight in his condition.

My mind raced as Ivan approached my weakened husband. Adrenaline coursed through my blood because it was time for Daniel to make a move. When he got in reaching distance, Daniel’s arm shot out and he threw Ivan to the ground with a vicious twist of the Russian vampire’s neck. Daniel moved very quickly. Before anyone could react, Daniel was behind the man who held Dev and after separating them, he neatly took off the vampire’s head with one swift move from Excalibur.

“Run, Dev,” Daniel ordered.

Dev was on his feet and running for me, but Marini was behind him and he was now just as fast as Daniel. He caught my faery prince and tossed him aside like a child’s toy. Dev hit the ground an impossible distance away and he stayed down. Just like Daniel, he wasn’t anywhere close to full strength and he didn’t have Bris to call on.

But Marini was at full strength, a king’s strength. He stared at Daniel, a predator stalking his prey. Daniel was stark white in the moonlight, his energy obviously expended. Despite Daniel’s efforts, the vampires still heavily outnumbered us. Marini approached Daniel, and Zack was at Danny’s back.

“Come along, Daniel. This will all be over within a few hours,” Marini promised.

Daniel stared at me, his face a mask of agony. I shook my head. He had to let me go. He had to live to fight another day. If he allowed them to take him to Paris, he was dead and everything crumbled.

“You’ll let me take Dev?” I asked, hoping and praying Dev was still alive.

Louis turned. “Yes.”

I tried my nonchalant shrug. “Then let’s go, Louis. I’m tired and I need a bath. Please collect the prince and don’t put me anywhere near the traitor. You have to know I didn’t understand what Daniel was doing until a few days ago. He dragged me and Dev into this. We aren’t disloyal, Louis.”