Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(131)

“No, Zoey,” Marini said, hauling me up by one arm, “You’re not going anywhere.”

I struggled against him, crying in my frustration. “Let me go.”

Marini sighed even as Elof and Niles started escorting a very shaky Marcus to the door. “Calm yourself, Zoey. It was a ruse to create a bit of panic. I’ve long suspected Marcus of perfidy. I put a spy in Niko’s household as well. I knew the academics would betray me in the end. Mr. Thomas was a distraction. He won’t kill the prince. I still intend to get a taste of that magic.”

Marcus struggled against his captors. “You cannot allow this to happen, my queen. This will be disastrous for Daniel. You must not allow the prince to perform this ritual.”

“She has no choice, Marcus,” Marini said. “The prince will perform or I’ll kill him and toss his body like garbage on Donovan’s doorstep. Now, take him to the dungeons. The coffin is there and ready for its new occupant. I want Zoey’s face to be the last thing you see, Marcus.”

Marini dragged me along. Marcus, upon realizing there was absolutely nowhere to go, had chosen to walk with dignity toward his grave.

“Come, mon ange,” Marini said as we headed down the stairs toward the same dungeons that held Dev’s jail cell. “You’ll feel better once you see that the prince is alive and well. You should be happy with my plans, darling girl. It means you’ll be allowed sexual access to the prince. Perhaps I’ll find I enjoy watching the two of you.”

“Zoey, I’m begging you.” Marcus was ahead of me, but he kept trying to turn, to plead his case. “Do not allow this to happen. You know what that magic did for Daniel. Don’t allow Louis access to it. It will cost Daniel his existence.”

But I didn’t know what else to do. We were caught, Dev and I. If we didn’t give Marini what he wanted he would kill Dev and that would leave me alone. I couldn’t let that happen. Daniel wouldn’t want it to happen.

As we walked toward the dungeons, I tried to come up with some plan that would work. I needed to talk to Dev, to Bris. Mostly I just needed to see him.

“Oh, god,” I heard Marcus breathe as he entered the dungeon. “Oh, no.”

That coffin must be really awful I thought as Marini guided me in, but then I realized that wasn’t what he was upset about.

Dev’s cell was open and Chad held Dev firmly in his arms, his fangs in my faery prince’s neck, his throat working. He looked up and saw us and released Dev. His big body hit the floor and he didn’t move.

“You wanted me to kill him, master,” Chad said with a smile as blood dripped from his mouth. “It was a pleasure to obey.”





Chapter Thirty-Two





I couldn’t quite make my mind believe what I was seeing. Chad stood over Dev’s body and he practically glowed with health. Somewhere deep in the still functioning parts of my brain I knew a vampire only did that when he gorged himself on blood. The room was silent as I stared down at Dev. His face was to me and his eyes were closed. He looked like he was sleeping.

Louis dropped my arm and I ran to help Dev up. It was obvious Chad had taken too much and I needed to get some blood in him. He was going to need a transfusion.

I hit my knees and put my hands on him. “He needs blood.”

“Oh, cara,” Marcus said, his voice quiet and deliberate. “He’s blue. He is past needing blood.”

I held his hand in mine. Marcus was right. His skin was a ghastly pale and he was cold to the touch.

“He needs a blanket,” I heard myself saying. “He’s cold.”

It seemed wrong that he was cold because he was always, always so warm. His skin was almost hot sometimes and I complained on many occasions that sleeping with him was like sleeping next to a furnace, but he’d said I’d been stupid enough to marry him so I had to put up with his body heat. He would wrap himself around me when he slept. He didn’t like to feel alone even when he was sleeping.

He needed blood. Why weren’t they giving him blood?

“Mr. Thomas, what have you done?” I heard Marini ask harshly.

Why was he worried about that now? Dev needed blood and I didn’t care that it would come from Marini.

“You have to give him blood, Louis,” I implored quietly, my hand on Devinshea’s chest, looking for his heartbeat. I couldn’t find it. He was still under my hands. So still. There was nothing moving, no heart beating, no lungs filling with air.

I felt Chad moving behind me. “He doesn’t need blood, Zoey. He needs a coffin. I took all the blood. He tasted so good. He was like heaven.”

Louis pulled him roughly away from us and tossed him to the far side of the room. “I swear if you weren’t so f*cking important to my plans I would kill you where you stand. You insane idiot. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

“Louis,” I shouted because we were running out of time. I could barely see him through my tears. “Stop talking. He needs blood. Save him.”

“Zoey, he’s dead,” Marini said sharply. “I’m sorry, but there is nothing I can do. He has no blood left. There is nothing for the vampire blood to work on. If I gave him blood at this point he would come back as a revenant and I would be forced to kill him again.”

My hands started to shake as reality set in. Dev was beyond cold and he wasn’t moving at all. His face, so full of life, was passive now with nothing left to animate him.