Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(34)

“Well, I bought some very nice spray paint just for the occasion,” I offered. Nim sometimes didn’t understand the world had new technology.

She smiled slightly and I found it reassuring. “I’m sure that works well for you, but I prefer the old ways. I might be out of practice but I assure you, I can handle this. I feel my power tonight and it’s good.” She turned to Daniel and her eyes narrowed. “There will be more blood, vampire. If you can’t handle it, I would advise you to leave. I want nothing to disturb the calling.”

She had moved quickly from sweet, silly Nim to a person I was very certain had been called by many names in her long time walking the planes. This was Nimue we dealt with now, and she brooked no disobedience. She turned her violet eyes to my faery prince. “Come, Devinshea. Take your place on the circle.”

She indicated a place for him to stand at the tip of the pentagram.

“Tell me something, revered one.” Christine regarded Nimue with the greatest respect. “Why do we really need him? I feel the power and magic pouring from you now. You hide it well, but surely we can’t need any more than what you have.”

Nimue chuckled. “You are young and untried, witch. If I used my own power, I would blow the glass out of all the windows of this home. I doubt our host would be thrilled with that. I need a softer power. The sex god will do, though he seems surprisingly closed off now.”

“I don’t understand it.” Christine studied Dev with a frown. “We did this before. He had magic just pouring off of him.”

“I apologize if I am not able to help.” But Dev wasn’t sorry, not really. He looked almost relieved.

“What was different then?” Nim mused.

Christine thought about it for a minute. “I can still feel the power in him. It just seems more controlled than it was before.”

Nimue laughed and for a moment sounded like Nim. “Of course. He found his goddess. Those Fae are serious about their magicks. It flows from his goddess and whatever you would call Daniel. Zoey, I’m going to need your help. I think I can solve both your husbands’ problems if you don’t mind donating a little blood.”

I shrugged. It wasn’t anything I didn’t do every day. “You want Danny to bite me?”

She shook her head. “I want the two of you to sit on the couch where Dev can see you and then let the vampire do what comes naturally to him.”

Daniel was more than happy about that suggestion. The smell of blood was obviously getting to him. He threw his big body onto the sofa and pulled me down with him. In the past he would have fought to hide this part of himself, but now he just sat me on his lap and let himself do what his instinct insisted he needed to do. He ran his arms over my shoulders and let himself breathe in my scent. I hugged him to me and I felt him start to relax. He buried his face in my neck and I felt the tiny prick of his fangs as he dragged them lightly across my skin and then the warmth of his tongue as he licked up the blood he’d drawn. He sighed, deeply satisfied by our close contact. He would play like this for hours if I let him.

“There it goes,” Nim said quietly and I could feel it, too.

The warmth of Dev’s unique magic pulsed through the room. His eyes were filled with affection and desire as he watched us. He gave me a stare that let me know he wanted to be there with us. Nim and Christine took their places and they began the ritual.

I closed my eyes and let Daniel’s affection wash over me. I settled in because I knew this was a long ritual. Nim asked Dev for his arm and I heard him hiss. Daniel’s head came up as he smelled blood and he gave Nimue a pointed look.

“For the ritual I’m performing I need three types of blood,” she explained logically. “I’m not hurting him. I’m using my blood, the high priest’s, and I need the blood of another. It would work best if it is someone the demon knows, perhaps someone he likes. You said you knew him, Zoey.”

Neil growled as he stepped up to the plate. “I’ll do it. He has a thing for me. I know it’s so typical.”

Nim drew a dagger lightly across Neil’s forearm. She added the blood to a little pool in a ceramic bowl. Like Dev, the cut on Neil’s arm healed almost immediately. Neil’s was the result of his werewolf powers but Dev’s was all Daniel. Like me, Dev regularly took Daniel’s blood, gaining all the positive impacts. Dev and I had stopped aging, and we healed very quickly.

Nimue walked to the center of the pentagram and poured the blood in the middle of the symbol. She sighed and stepped back out of the circle. She, Christine, and Devinshea stood just outside the circle. I’ve watched this ritual performed before. Sarah had performed it and I’d watched an entire coven call a demon. It always seemed to take forever, with the witches’ voices calling and calling to the demon until he had no choice but to come forward. They chanted and intoned for hours.

Nimue said but two words. “Nemcox, come.”

There was a loud crack and suddenly the whole world smelled like brimstone. Daniel’s arms tightened around me as the smoke cleared. In the center of the circle, a demon stood, looking surprised. He was roughly five foot ten, his skin a deep red. His head appeared almost too large for his body as it was crowned with curved horns. His form was a testament to power. Every muscle was ripped and he stood naked and proud in the circle. His feet were cloven but he was graceful and his pitch-black eyes stared forward ignoring everything but Daniel and myself. He bowed deeply.