Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(46)

“I don’t consider them illegal,” Dev said with a jaunty smile.

“And the kickbacks you give to certain members of the mafia?”

Dev sighed as though the man was very na?ve. “Are merely one of the costs of doing business.”

“Who’s the girl? Is she one of his strippers?” the man asked Jacob.

I reached up, sparing Jacob the trouble of ripping my necklace off. I pulled the amulet off myself and was shocked when everyone took a step back. All those men with the guns seemed terrified of me. “Do I really look that bad, baby?”

“Find the vampire!” the suit yelled and half the troops ran back toward the plane, looking for evidence of Daniel’s presence. Whoever this Order was, it was obvious they had a file on me.

“He isn’t in there,” I said.

The leader looked down on me, his displeasure obvious. “You expect me to believe a vampire allows his companion to fly halfway around the world on her own? I think I know a thing or two about vampires, Mrs. Donovan. Let me ask you something. Are the rumors about your master true? Is he really a Nex Apparatus?”

“He isn’t my master.” I didn’t like the term. “He’s my husband, well, one of them, and I’m not answering any of your questions until you tell me who the hell you are.”

The men were coming back now.

“Donovan isn’t on the plane,” one of the men said. “We didn’t find anything that even vaguely resembled a coffin, though there were a lot of weapons. He’s got some wild shit in there. I don’t recognize some of that stuff.”

“I’m wondering if Mr. Quinn isn’t an arms dealer himself,” the suit said, shaking his head. “Let’s move this back to base. If the vampire is somewhere close, he won’t come after us until dark. We can get ready for him by then.” He gave a wave of his hand and everyone was suddenly in motion.

A Jeep pulled up and more men got out and began loading the wolves into the back.

“Where are you taking them?” I watched as they hauled my bodyguards away. Would I see them again? I couldn’t help the little sob that came out of my mouth.

Jacob put a warm hand on my shoulder. “They won’t harm the wolves. They’ll be placed in a holding pen while we question you. I promise no one is going to hurt you.”

The man in the suit seemed deeply disturbed by Jacob’s promise. “Are you serious, Jacob? She’s a companion. Do you understand what that means?”

Jacob stared at the other man. “I understand it more than you can. I like her. We shouldn’t hurt her. She is to be treated with respect. Trust me, Ronald. Have I steered you wrong in the past?”

“No, Oracle, you have not,” the man named Ronald answered with a deferential bow of his head. “I apologize for questioning you.”

Maybe I would have to rethink who was the boss around here.

“And perhaps we should talk to Mr. Donovan before we attempt to kill him,” Jacob offered. “I’m beginning to see an interesting pattern emerging. I must think on it for a while. I’ll meet you back at the base. I like this field. It’s peaceful.”

As he started to move off toward the field, I saw his eyes roll back and they were replaced with a glassy white I found somewhat disturbing.

“Of course,” Ronald said. He gestured to the others. “Let’s move, lads. Take the wolves to the holding pens. I’ll ride with our guests.”

“Come along, darling.” Dev put his hand in mine and led me to the limo. His head was high, as though the limo really was there to pick us up. He nodded to the driver as he held the door open.

Ronald sat across from us and we were flanked by two gun-toting guards. Dev sat back, crossing one leg over his knee and inhabiting the seat as though he owned it. I wasn’t feeling a tenth of his confidence. I wished the kid in the jeans was with us.

“Hey,” Dev said, catching my attention as the limo began moving. I was trying to watch to see where that Jeep was going. He ran a hand gently across my cheek. “It’s going to be fine, Zoey.”

“Are you on the run from the vampire?” Ronald watched our intimacy intently.

“I thought the vampire was Quinn’s partner,” the blond man with an enormous scar on his face said. He sat next to Dev and watched us like we were a particularly good TV show and he wanted to know what happened next. There was no mistaking that accent. Pure Sydney. I half expected him to say crikey at any moment. But that might just prove I haven’t traveled much.

The soldier on my side was even scarier looking, but he remained silent. He was dark to the Aussie’s light.

Ronald sat back, looking at us in a new light. “It wouldn’t be the first time a woman screwed up a profitable partnership. Terry, you’ve read the file on Quinn, right?”

“Many times, boss,” the Aussie replied. “He’s a favorite of mine.”

“And what did it tell you?”

“That he’s a moneymaking bastard who’ll f*ck anything that moves,” Terry said with a laugh. He regarded Devinshea with an amused sort of fascination. “The bloke likes guns and women and booze. And there’s hell to pay if you think about crossing him. I know he took out an entire band of Nagas who tried to steal from him. They said there wasn’t much left of those snakes when he was done with them.”