Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(38)

My father walked straight up to Stewart and smacked him upside the head.

“Well, that was rude.” Stewart rubbed the back of his borrowed head.

“Shut yer trap, demon,” Dad said forcefully. “You leave my kids alone or I’ll forcibly evict you from that body yer riding and you won’t like how I do it. I don’t believe in exorcisms. They’re for pussies and priests. I’d rather just beat that body until you can’t take the pain no more and you leave. And I don’t give a damn what happens to the host. Do we understand each other?”

Stewart held a hand up and managed to look halfway apologetic. “I believe you. Sorry. I got carried away. I really am pulling for the three of you, you know. I love a romance, especially when it involves a good old-fashioned double play. I think the vampire king will look awfully cute with one of those baby carriers strapped on his chest, and obviously two fathers will be required to keep the Fae creature’s spawn in check.”

“How soon can we leave?” Daniel asked Dev, a pained expression on his face.

I was with Danny on this one. The sooner we left, the sooner Stewart did his job, the sooner we got to give him the boot.

“We leave two days from now, Dan,” Dev said with a shake of his head. “I couldn’t get the jet until then and don’t think you’re going to go ahead and fly out before us. You aren’t leaving me with him.”

I could see the thought had crossed Daniel’s mind. “No way, mister. You are grounded until the rest of us can go with you.”

“Fine,” he said.

“Then we have a few days,” Stewart interjected. “Who wants to go to Six Flags?”

Daniel ignored him. “Where the hell are you planning on putting him for two days, Dev?”

Holding up one hand, Stewart interjected, “I have a suggestion…”

“Not happening,” Neil screamed from another room.

Stewart winked at me. “He’s playing hard to get.”

Nim walked up and put a hand on Stewart’s shoulder. “I’ll take him, Daniel. It’s the least I can do. Consider it partial payment for my boyfriend almost killing you a couple of months back.”

“Thanks, Nim.” Daniel breathed a sigh of relief.

The door from the kitchen opened suddenly, and Neil walked out, carrying his cell phone. He walked straight up to Lee. “Could you take me back to Ether now?”

Neil’s face was blank when he asked the question, and I could see plainly he was trying to reign in his emotions. Unfortunately, Stewart could see it, too.

“What’s wrong, puppy?” Stewart was really good at sounding like he gave a damn. “You’ve completely shut yourself down. You don’t have to do that. I’m a good listener. And if that boyfriend of yours has done something he shouldn’t, I am also an excellent eviscerator.”

Neil ignored the demon, looking up at Lee.

“Sure,” Lee said. “I just need to get some stuff together and get everyone ready to go.”

“I need to go now,” Neil said firmly.

“I’ll take you,” Dev said. “I’m ready to go home.”

It didn’t take long to say good-bye to my father and Christine, and then we were pulling out of the driveway. I sat in the back with Neil, letting Danny ride shotgun. I peered across the darkness at my best friend whose face was still closed off. He silently passed me his phone and I read the last text. It was from Chad, asking Neil to meet him at Ether. I felt Neil relax as we got farther away from the empath. The last thing we needed was for Stewart to figure out we had a spy in Marini’s camp. I certainly didn’t trust him that far. Daniel was offering him power in exchange for his help, but I didn’t think we should give him anything else to use against us.

Neil knew exactly what I was worried about. “It’s all right, Z,” he said. “I might not be the best liar in the world but, trust me, I’m damn good at making my mind blank. He feeds on emotions. He doesn’t read minds.”

“It seemed like he was reading mine,” Dev said bitterly.

“You can’t let him get to you,” Daniel replied, but I sensed that he was upset about what had happened as well.

“Do you really view this as a contest between us, Daniel?” Dev asked, his voice short.

“No, I don’t,” Daniel responded just as tersely.

“I thought we had settled everything but we haven’t, have we?” Dev’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel.

Daniel ran a frustrated hand through his hair. “My hang-ups are my own, Dev. I’m allowed to be worried about things. Damn it, you’re really going to let that f*cker do this to us?”

“Dev, if you were in Danny’s place, you would be worried, too.” I wasn’t able to stay out of it. I understood what Daniel was worried about. It was hard for him to think about Dev and I having children. I knew he wanted them, but it was difficult knowing he could never get me pregnant.

Dev was quiet for a while, simply driving on autopilot. “I don’t understand why he would be worried. It makes me think he doesn’t trust me. I’m not trying to take you away.”

“I know, baby.” I put a hand on his shoulder.

“I know that, too,” Daniel interjected quietly. “But when Harry said he wanted you to marry Z…I can’t help being jealous.”