Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(144)

“Fuck,” Louis cursed as he dropped me so abruptly I fell back down.

Niles leaned against the doorframe with a smile on his face, enjoying the show. “Louis, as much as I love that little bitch getting her comeuppance, you really should think before you beat the fetuses from her body.”

I backed up, primal instinct taking over, and I covered my belly. It wouldn’t help if Louis wanted to kill me, but I had to try something. I had to do anything to protect my babies. I’d failed to protect their father. I had to save them.

“How could you?” Louis loomed over me, growling.

I put my head down and curled into a tight ball. I couldn’t lose my babies.

Niles sighed. “Louis, you’re an idiot when it comes to her. Think for two seconds. Those children might keep the Seelies out of this war or it might bring them to our side. The prince was a fertility god, the last of his kind. If little Zoey there has his spawn in her womb, that’s a bloody big bargaining chip.”

I huddled against the wall, hoping Niles’s words got through to Louis. I was also wondering how the hell Miria knew I was pregnant. Had Bris somehow found a new host and informed the Seelies? I’d wondered where the fertility god had gone when Dev died. I had so missed his warmth.

There was no warmth at all as Louis hauled me up again, though this time he took his pleasure by nearly pulling my arm out of socket. “Tell the Queen she and her son will be allowed in with one guard apiece. I will assure their safety and we can discuss this mess we’re in.”

Niles nodded and smiled at me as he left.

“How could you lie to me?” Louis growled the question as he twisted my arm. I wondered if he planned to break it.

“I didn’t lie,” I replied through the pain. “I’m not sure if I’m pregnant.”

“Menteuse.” He pushed me away and sat down in his chair. His claws were out and now I felt the blood where he’d dug them into my skin. “You have another man’s seed growing in your belly and you do not see the betrayal.”

I tried not to whimper as I rotated my arm. It still worked. Mostly. “It happened before you took me. You know Dev died before we were married. How can you blame me? He was my husband. Of course I slept with him.”

Louis brought his big fists down on the desk. It cracked and he seemed satisfied with the destruction. “Get out of here, Zoey. Go and change your clothes and clean the blood from your body. You have ten minutes to be ready. You will be at my side when I greet the Queen. Understand this, my companion, you belong to me so whatever is in your belly is mine to do with as I please. If I decide giving those babes to the Queen when they’re born is to my advantage, then that is what you’ll do.”

I fled the room to do what he asked and prayed I could survive seeing Declan Quinn again.





“You have to stay here,” I told Neil when Trent came for me ten minutes later.

Neil shook his head. “After what he did to you, you expect me to leave you alone with him?”

“You don’t have a choice. I’ll take care of her.” Trent was grim and had been since he’d heard the news. My pregnancy made his job ten times harder. “Look, Zoey has the combination to the safe, right?”

I nodded. I was sure it was one of the six numbers I had hidden in the bathroom with the fake stone.

“Tomorrow we take the stone and we run,” Trent said. “We do it during the day and I just kill anyone who gets in the way. We can’t wait for Donovan any longer.”

It wasn’t the best solution, but I had to think about my sons. They had to come before anything else, so I nodded.

“How does Miria know about the babies?” Neil asked. “She said babies, right? Not baby. How does she know you’re having twins?”

Trent held the door open for me. I glanced back at Neil. “I don’t know.”

He looked like he wanted to say something, but when he opened his mouth he merely wished me luck and told me he would be waiting for me.

Trent cursed under his breath the whole time he walked me to the great hall. My pregnancy put him in a really bad mood. He’d been pissed when he’d seen the blood covering my arms and dotted on my face. The wounds had healed quickly, but there was no mistaking I’d gotten my ass kicked. Any questions I had about the blood bond being the same for all vampires had been answered forever. Daniel could be out of his mind angry and he wouldn’t hit me. Daniel Donovan loved me and it had nothing to do with blood.

The great hall was filled to capacity by the time I got there. It looked like every vampire in the catacombs had come to see the Queen and her heir. Louis had changed his clothes. I was sure I’d been rude enough to bleed on him during his assault on my person. His stance was arrogant and angry as he motioned me over.

“You say nothing, do you understand?” he said harshly, pulling me to his side. “You are to speak only when spoken to and you obey my every command. When this is over we’ll have a long discussion about the future, my companion.”

Then the golden doors that led from the catacombs opened and I got my first glance at Miria, Queen of the Seelie. She was dressed in contemporary clothes for the first time in our acquaintance. Despite her five hundred plus years she appeared to be in her mid-twenties. Her golden red hair brushed her waist, hanging in a perfect waterfall. She wore a fashionable business suit that draped her slender figure. She moved down the grand staircase with a grace and elegance that befitted her royal status. I stared at her for a moment, putting off the time when I had to see Declan.