Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(30)

Well, that answered one question and posed another problem because now I had to deal with the demon’s host. I thought about the bag I was carrying. What all had I shoved in it earlier this evening? There was at least one handgun and two knives, and a handy can of mace. The question was could I get to them before the demon wrestled the bag away from me? The silver chain was heavy on my shoulder, and I was suddenly really happy that Dev just bought the most expensive version of anything I liked. Daniel had been disturbed by the actual silver in the long chain. I’d taken it out tonight because he was making me return it to Neiman’s for something that wouldn’t burn his skin if he happened to brush against it. Now he was going to have to admit that accessorizing was an art form. I would keep that little plan in my back pocket because I always liked to try reason first.

“Is that the line of crap Marini fed you?” I dropped the innocent girl ploy. This guy needed to know exactly what he was up against.

His host’s brown eyes opened wide as he started to pull me along with him. He kept his voice low as we pushed past the people on the street. “How did you know his name?”

“Because he’s the head of the Vampire Council and I’m a companion. I’ve met the man many times,” I said flatly, letting my stilettos slow us down. “I don’t know what he told you, but I’m certainly not shocked to find out vampires are real. I’ve been sleeping with one for years.”

His whole face scrunched up in obvious confusion. “He told me he’d seen you on the streets and I could have half the money you would bring at auction. Your glow is powerful, lady. You could go for a hundred and fifty, easy.”

I smiled brightly because that was in millions. “That’s so sweet.” If one is going to be auctioned off, you should always hope you bring in a damn good price. The last companion I’d seen having her life, her soul, and her dreams sold off had only brought in half that amount. Danny had gotten me for the bargain basement price of absolutely nothing. He was the first vamp to get his fangs in me and he had the strength to back up his claim.

“Well, it’s true.” He looked up and down the side street before we crossed. “You can’t see it, I’m sure, but I can. You light up the night. I’m actually not into the whole blood-drinking thing, but I bet you taste pretty damn sweet.”

We turned into an alley. I considered my opponent. “You aren’t a full demon, are you?”

“I’m mostly demon. Somewhere in my background, someone liked humans a little too much. I’d love to meet that relative of mine. I’d give them a piece of my mind. The others think I’m weak. We’ll see how weak they think I am when I bring in more money than the rest of them put together.”

And just like that I knew I was dealing with the demon mob. They were annoying. They were ruthless. They took any job they could get their hands on. They lived mostly on the Earth plane, and many of them had some human in their background. They were also a hell of a lot weaker than a full-blood but just as susceptible to their weaknesses.

“Dude, wake up. Marini isn’t paying you,” I insisted as he peered around the parking lot for his getaway car.

“Of course he is,” the delusional halfling said. I was sure he had visions of everything he could buy with all that lovely money. I wondered if they made diamond grills to go over fangs.

“Ask yourself a couple of questions. First off, let’s say I am an uninitiated companion, which I’m not. Why would Marini need to hire someone to bring me in? He’s the head of the Council. The man can handle me all on his own. If he was too busy, he could have sent any number of vampire lackeys out to get me.”

“Well, maybe he was worried one of them would try to run off with you.”

I shook my head. “Those boys with him are very well trained. They’ve taken blood oaths and they are damned serious about their laws. Well, at least the underlings are. Marini seems to have forgotten them.”

“There it is.” The demon sighed as he spotted a bright red truck. It probably belonged to the dude he was currently inhabiting. “Look, lady, I don’t know what’s going on. I only know I got my orders. It’s nothing personal. The vamp wants a new chew toy and he picked you.”

“Or maybe the vamp wants someone else’s chew toy and you’re his patsy.” I dug my heels in a little, just enough to slow us down. “If you think about it for two seconds, it makes perfect sense. Why wouldn’t Marini send in one of his own vamps to bring me in? It would save him a buttload of cash. Do you want to know why he couldn’t get a vampire to come after me? Because not a one of them would go up against my husband.”

He stopped his quest to drag me to his car. “What did you say your name was?”

I hadn’t, but I wasn’t going to argue with him. “Zoey Donovan.”

He frowned as he quickly found the name. “Is your husband that big, blond guy with blue eyes?”

I smiled and nodded. “That’s Daniel, although in the vampire world he goes by another name.”

The demon obviously knew it well. His borrowed face went a pasty white. “But he’s the f*cking Nex Apparatus.”

“He probably won’t kill you if you just let me go,” I offered.

The demon didn’t let me go but he shook his head and seemed a little dazed. “He hired me to steal the Nex Apparatus’s companion? Why would he do that?”