Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(23)

Dev guided the Audi into his reserved spot. “Why? What are we supposed to do there?”

“There’s some sort of meeting. We’re supposed to entertain the Council. Marini wants to witness a fertility ritual. He was impressed with what he heard about our wedding ceremony. He’d like an encore, Dev.”

“That is a sacred ceremony,” Dev said, obviously outraged at the thought. “It is not an entertainment. Why would I perform fertility rites for a group that can never hope to have children?”

“Because they can feed off that magic. Marini wants to feed like Daniel.” I tried not to shudder as I remembered how he’d last fed.

“I feed Daniel because he’s my partner,” Dev said. “I feed Daniel because I care deeply for him. I would never willingly allow another vampire to feed off of what is essentially the passion and love between the two of us. Daniel is a part of that. Marini is insane if he thinks I’ll allow a sacred ritual to be perverted for his curiosity.”

“It isn’t curiosity.” I opened the door to the car and got out. I started toward the elevator. At least the club would be quiet at this time in the evening. The only person who might be there was Zack, who went over the security tapes every day. “It’s jealousy. He wants whatever Daniel has.”

Dev stalked behind me. He was pulling at his tie. “How did Marini even know about our marriage?”

“Chad.” I was worried about our spy. He’d seemed…wrong somehow.

The elevator closed and began the descent to Ether. “Why would Chad have said anything about that?”

“I don’t know, baby. Have you talked to him since we got back?”

“Daniel’s spoken to him,” Dev replied. “He didn’t seem concerned. Marini is quite taken with his talent. Chad was asked to stay on after his training was done. He thought it was better to not arouse suspicions by denying the request.”

“He could have given Neil a call,” I muttered.

“I can’t tell you why he neglected that. We agreed that he could ask about Neil since they could have met in Colorado, but he had to treat him as an acquaintance would. He didn’t ask about him last night?”

I grimaced as I remembered the previous night and how Chad had mentioned Neil. “You guys need to clue me in on this stuff. He did ask about Neil and now I can see where he was coming from. At the time, I just thought he was being a typical vampire *.”

Dev laughed lightly as he shook his head and gave me a look that told me I was hopeless. “Should he have gently asked about his true love in front of Marini? He needs to protect Neil and the only way he can do that is to treat him as though he doesn’t really matter. Neil can be a quick hook-up, but anything more is dangerous. Hey, they didn’t actually hook up last night, did they? Shit, I forgot to warn Zack.”

“Warn Zack?”

His eyebrows rose suggestively. “Zack runs through the security tapes every afternoon. Sometimes he catches a show like the one we put on in the office last night. I’ve started trying to warn him so he can skip that part.”

That wasn’t the only show he was going to see, and there was no way I could intimidate him into keeping my meeting with Marini to himself. If Zack saw that tape, he would take it straight to Daniel.

“Oh, my god,” I breathed and I was sure I went pale.

“Sweetheart, it’s not a big deal. Zack knows we have sex.”

The elevator doors opened and I ran for the security office.

“Zoey!” Dev yelled, running after me.

We both stopped as a table flew past our heads. It knocked into the wall opposite us and smashed to pieces.

Dev pulled me back and I had a moment to survey the damage. If I hadn’t known better, I would have said a bomb had gone off. There was smashed furniture everywhere. My eyes followed the track of where the table had come from. Daniel was in a full-on rage. He looked like he’d gotten straight out of bed for his berserker episode. He was still in the T-shirt and sweat pants he’d worn the night before, and his normally shaggy hair hadn’t seen a shower yet. The rest of him…didn’t even look vaguely human. His eyes had bled to a deep sapphire blue. His fangs were enormous and his claws were out.

The beast was loose.

“He’s been at it for fifteen minutes.” Zack stood beside me watching the scene calmly. His arms were crossed over his chest.

“What the hell is going on?” Dev asked, his face a mask of confusion as he watched Daniel put his fist through a wall.

“He saw the tape.” Zack turned to me and I expected him to be pissed, but his brown eyes were sympathetic. “I couldn’t keep it from him, Zoey. I know what you were trying to do and I admire you for it, but you’re wrong. I’m sorry. He had to know.”

“Know what?” Dev asked. “I thought he knew I f*cked our wife. Most of the time, he’s there when I’m doing it. Why exactly has this very common occurrence suddenly turned Daniel into a bull in my china shop? Damn it, Dan! Not the bar!”

Dev stepped out into the middle of the room like he wasn’t staring down an enraged vampire who he thought was pissed at him. “Stop it this instant, Daniel! If you have a problem with me then fight it out. Do you have any idea how much this is costing us? Contractors are expensive and those freaking shapeshifters are cons, I swear it. They charge exorbitant rates and half the time I find them standing around.”