Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(117)

“You could get me back to the Order?” I asked even as I knew I would refuse him. I needed to stay close to Marini if I was going to get that stone. Daniel needed me to steal the stone back and take away Marini’s advantage.

Bris sighed. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I’ll take you someplace safe.” He placed his hand firmly on my belly. “The babies need safety now. There are two and they’re male. I can protect them. I can ensure that they develop properly. Zoey, one of these boys is the fertility god that Faery has been waiting for. It’s a second chance to have the child we lost.”

“This baby is Devinshea’s,” I pointed out to the god.

“This baby is ours. This child is yours and mine and Dev and Daniel’s, as the last one was. My goddess, I’m not trying to trick you. I love the children as I love you. I do not care who the children’s biological parents are.” He frowned suddenly and pulled away from me. “The wizard got to you as well.”

I sat up and touched him again, pulling him into my arms this time. “No, My Lord. I still trust you. You have to forgive me. It’s been a long day and it isn’t over. I can’t let you take me away. I have to steal that stone and I can’t do it if I’m hiding with you. We need you, now more than ever. You can give Louis something he wants.”

Bris nodded. “My magic.”

“I know it seems wrong to use it in this way…”

He laughed briefly. “It isn’t wrong to use everything I have at my command to aid my goddess and my host. I’ll do everything I can to protect you and distract the vampire so you can do your job. But, my goddess, once we have the stone…”

“Oh, Bris, once we have the stone I give you full permission to get me the hell out of there any way you can,” I assured him.

He pulled me close and we lay down on the small cot together. I let my head find his chest and listened to his heartbeat. The events of the day were a drag on my soul, and I felt so old in that moment.

“My goddess, I am so sorry about the wolf.” Bris tugged my chin up. “He was a good man.”

I nodded, feeling the tears well up again. “Bris, you know so much. Can you tell me something?”

“I can try.”

“Where did he go?” I asked a child’s question because it was the one I had wondered since the moment I felt Lee slip away from me. One moment he had been there and the next he was somewhere else.

Bris sighed deeply. “Zoey, I am a creature of the Earth plane. You may call me a god, but I’m not all-seeing. I think that’s a question better asked of the Heaven plane, but I do know this. I’ve lived long enough to have met the same souls many times. Our journey does not end with death. We have many chances. Your wolf will get another chance and perhaps this time will be easier on him.”

I rested my head again and hoped that wherever Lee was, he wasn’t alone.





I was roused a long time later from a blissfully dreamless sleep when the door to our small prison opened. I looked up blearily, slightly confused at where I was. I felt Dev look up, raising his head. We were cuddled close together on the narrow cot, most of my body on top of Devinshea’s.

Louis Marini walked into the small room, and it was illuminated only by the light outside in the hall. I wondered briefly where he’d slept but figured they probably had coffins in the hold for the vampires.

“Interesting.” Marini stood over us, an imposing figure. He’d changed from his all black battle wear to more carefully chosen clothes. He wore black slacks and an olive sweater. The olive color did nice things for his skin, and I knew he had spent time getting himself ready for this meeting. Dev was right. He was more invested in us than he would be in simple possessions. “I rather expected to find the two of you in a more compromising position.”

Dev’s arms tightened around me. “That wasn’t what she needed last night.”

Louis nodded at Dev. “She was very upset by the death of her wolf. She cared for him?”

“I loved him,” I corrected the vampire. “He was like a brother to me.”

Louis’s sensual mouth turned down, and I could see he was considering how to handle me. “I am sorry, then. He was right, though. I could not allow him to live. He was not a practical creature. He would have fought and fought until I had to put him down. The prince here is much more realistic. Now up, both of you. We’ve reached our destination and night has fallen.”

I got up, trying not to look too hard at the vampire. Dev got up behind me and tried to put his arm around me.

“No,” Louis said harshly. “If you want to touch my companion, you will ask permission.”

Dev held his hands up. He took a step back from me, a bitter expression on his face. “I understand. You don’t need to explain anything to me. Daniel warned us how it would be if we thought to run to you.”

Louis’s eyes flared with that last comment. Dev was playing his role and I did my best to look downcast as I nodded, agreeing with him. I stood by myself, allowing the cold to seep in and not trying to hide the shiver that ran across my skin. Marini had a lot to learn about taking care of a companion. We had been offered nothing to eat or drink and the cot was spare, with only one thin blanket that did nothing to fight the biting chill. I probably looked pathetic, but it might work to my advantage.