Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(62)

Daniel looked over my head at the vampire. “I appreciate everything you have done, Hugo. Please pass on my thanks to Henri. You’ll have to forgive me, though. It is the first time I have lost my wife’s home. I find the feeling unsettling.”

“Daniel, we knew this could happen,” Dev said reassuringly. “Everything is in place for us. We have a network of supporters willing to help us. We planned for this.”

“I lost your home, too, Devinshea,” Daniel said bitterly. “Shouldn’t you be more pissed off?”

“I’m not angry,” Dev said quietly, trying to get Daniel to look at him.

I stood up. This was rapidly turning into a discussion that was not for public consumption. “Gentlemen, I thank you for everything you’ve done for us tonight, but the king is tired and needs to rest. We’ll retire for the evening and see you tomorrow.”

Daniel allowed me to take his hand and lead him out of the room. It was time to discuss this privately. More importantly, it was time to comfort my husband. He’d had several shocks tonight. Daniel didn’t handle change well. Dev said his good nights and followed us back up to the guest suite assigned to us.

Daniel was silent as he sat down on the bed. I looked back at Dev, who seemed as concerned as I was about Daniel. I didn’t like the hollow look in his blue eyes or the way he quietly let me slip his jacket off and then pull his T-shirt over his head. Dev walked into the bathroom, and I heard the shower running.

“Baby, I need to get your pants off if I’m going to get you in the shower,” I said, trying to pull him up.

He ran a hand through his hair. It was a gesture he always used when he was frustrated, and I knew what was coming. “No. I’m really tired, Z. I’m going to have Diana set me up in one of the smaller rooms so I can get some sleep and not disturb you and Dev.”

I looked up and saw that Dev was back in the room, and his face had flushed with anger. This was what Danny did when he felt guilty. He ran. He might not be running very far, but I wasn’t about to let him get away with even a short jog away from us. We had moved past that and he needed to be reminded. Forcefully, if necessary. I wasn’t above manipulating him to get my point across.

“Let me get this straight, Danny.” I looked down on him. “Dev and I went through hell today. I got shot. Dev got searched in places he was really sure no one would ever search. We’re on the run and without a home and you want to sleep by yourself?”

Danny was suddenly deeply interested in the floor. “I’m just tired. You and Dev will sleep better by yourselves anyway.”

“I won’t,” Dev said and I saw that he was itching for a fight. I knew what he was thinking. Danny didn’t respond to sympathy. He needed a swift kick in the ass from time to time. “I don’t know about Zoey, but I feel vulnerable sleeping in a strange vampire’s home. But really, Daniel, we wouldn’t want to disturb you with the possibility of us needing you. Feel free to sleep wherever you wish. I’ll take care of our wife as I always do.”

Now Danny’s blue eyes were heating up. “Do you think I like being at other people’s mercy any more than you do, Dev?”

“I’m not the one pulling away, Daniel,” Dev pointed out. His voice went low. “I’m not the one who has stayed away. I’m not the one who won’t talk about it.”

I went completely still because I was suddenly fairly certain that they weren’t talking about what had gone on today. Something had happened between them while we’d been in Faery. It happened when they went off by themselves right before my miscarriage. When they returned to me, there had been a distance between them. Even after we were back together, I would still catch them at odd times, staring at each other when they thought no one was looking. Something was sitting in between them, and I had been very patiently waiting to find out what it was.

I had a suspicion and it made my heart ache.

“Don’t you dare bring that up here and now,” Daniel said, his eyes drifting away.

Dev growled his frustration and began to pace. “Of course not, Your Highness. Fine. It doesn’t matter and it never did. Let’s talk about what does matter. Let’s talk about our wife. Let’s talk about the fact that you’re leaving me alone to take care of her yet again. Why do I have a partner in the first place?”

And just like that I got really frustrated. Daniel stood up and got into Dev’s space. I was tired of the posturing and that shower sounded really good to me. While they faced off, I got out of my clothes. I let them fall wherever and didn’t care that they would get wrinkled.

“I’m not pulling away,” Daniel snarled. “I’m a little f*cked up because we’re on the run and it’s my fault. Z got shot and it’s my fault. The club is under lockdown and it’s my fault. Forgive me if I want to give y’all a little time to get over being pissed at me.”

“There’s only one problem with that scenario, Daniel,” Dev said, his voice rising. “I wasn’t pissed at you until you pulled this shit.”

I sighed as they started to yell at each other in earnest. I was tired. I was worried. I was needy and not a little bit scared. We were on a path and there was no way off of it now. Maybe there had never been a way out since the instant Daniel died in that car accident all those years ago, but it was settling in on me now and I could use a little comfort. I needed their arms around me, telling me we would stick together, but the boys had opted for another form of stress release. I was on my own. I thought I might point that out to the boys. They had told me not to go off by myself, and I didn’t want to make them worry.