Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(45)

They had us line up and lock our hands behind our heads. Then, one by one, they had us toss our guns their way.

“I don’t have one.” Neil never carried. In the entire time I’ve known him, I’ve only seen him with a gun once. “Search me if you like.”

“Don’t touch him,” the pilot ordered. “We have no idea what these beings are yet. Follow standard protocols until we have confirmation of their species.”

The rest of us gave up our guns. Well, we all gave up one. If they were afraid to touch us, then we could use that to our advantage. They didn’t know how many we were wearing. I knew Dev was practically an armory on his own. They would have to get him naked to find everything he had on him. When they had the guns, the pilot nodded to the limo driver, who opened the car door.

Two men stepped out. One was dressed in a T-shirt and jeans. I would have guessed he was nineteen or twenty. His face had the softness of youth that hadn’t reached its masculine potential yet. The other man was older and dressed in an immaculate suit and tie. His hair was dark, matched by his dark goatee. He was obviously the big guy. Everyone treated him with the utmost respect.

“Who do we have here?” the older man asked. His voice was strong and sure and his dark hair was just beginning to show lines of silver. He asked the question as though we’d been invited to tea and simply hadn’t been properly introduced yet. He focused on the younger man, who was a good half a foot shorter. “Jacob?”

The young man named Jacob walked up and down the line, staring at each of us in turn. He stopped and studied me, his youthful face lighting up a little bit. “Who did your glamour?”

I wasn’t sure how he knew I had a glamour, but there was no point arguing with him. His voice was soft and curious, with a very cultured British accent. I answered him quietly. “A friend.”

He watched me for a moment. “You’re so much prettier in your natural form. Your hair is truly beautiful. Like the finest mahogany.”

So he wasn’t human if he could see through Ingrid’s magic.

“Are you going to hit on my wife all afternoon?” Dev asked, annoyed with the kid. “I thought we had an interrogation to get to.”

The boy blushed and stared at his shoes for a moment. “Sorry. She’s just very pretty on the inside as well as her outside. She’s tough and practical, but she’s also quite loving.” He turned to Dev. “It’s obvious you love her very much.”

Dev had that look on his face he got when he was playing poker and trying to get an opponent to muck the best hand. He kept his voice solid, but I knew he was appealing to the boy’s better nature. “I do. I would do just about anything so these men don’t shoot her. She isn’t a threat. Please let her go.”

“I am sorry, Mr. Quinn. I cannot authorize that. We have questions that must be answered,” Jacob said sadly. His face changed and became very professional. His hand encompassed our guards. “Those three are werewolves.”

The man in the suit nodded and just like that Neil, Lee, and Zack were hit with gunfire. I screamed and tried to get to them but Dev held me back. I could feel his hands shake with anger and fear, but he knew there wasn’t a lot we could do about it. Zack and Neil fell almost immediately. Lee went to his knees, and his eyes watched me bitterly as he finally fell forward.

“They didn’t do anything to you,” I yelled at the * in the suit. “They were doing what you asked.”

The suit waved off my anger. “They’re wolves. They will inevitably attempt to protect their masters. Calm yourself, woman. I only knocked them out. They were tranquilizer darts. Please, see for yourself.”

I looked down at Neil and sure enough, there was a dart sticking out of his thigh. I just had to hope it wasn’t too much.

“Mr. Quinn, please don’t,” Jacob said softly. His look was sympathetic but firm. “It won’t work. They’ll just shoot you and then your wife will be left alone to answer their questions.”

Shiny green vines crept across the asphalt, working their way toward us. Now all those guns pointed straight at my faery prince’s head. His hands relaxed and the vines curled back up, finding the field once more.

“Well, I don’t need Jacob to tell me what you are,” Pin Stripe Suit said. “You don’t look like Devinshea Quinn. Is he wearing a glamour? He doesn’t look like the photos we have of him.”

Jacob walked up to Dev and shrugged apologetically before pulling the amulet he was wearing off his neck. Dev was immediately Dev again, his natural glory back in full measure.

“Yes, that’s him.” The suit nodded, satisfied. His voice took on an academic nature, like he was lecturing. “Gentlemen, this is Devinshea Quinn. I hope you’ve all read the file on him. Be careful around him. He looks like an idiot male model but, by all reports, he’s quite dangerous. He’s considered a fertility god by the Fae. You’re in the presence of actual royalty. Mr. Quinn is what we call a sidhe. His mother is the Queen of the Seelie. He’s chosen to come to our plane and become a notorious gangster.”

Dev laughed at the thought. “I’m hardly a gangster. I’m a legitimate business owner.”

The suit shook his head, not buying Dev’s claim. “We’ve tracked several arms shipments that went directly to those clubs of yours. You buy weapons, explosives. You deal with smugglers. If someone wants something illegal in the supernatural world, they go to your clubs to obtain it. Two of your clubs are strip clubs catering to some of the more predatory creatures on this plane. There are rumors you run illegal gambling rings.”