Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(78)

Ronald turned his attention to the newcomer. Though Dev held his gun and the wolves were known quantities, I saw the minute Ronald decided that whoever this dark man was, he was potentially deadly. “I intend to lose no more men this day. I’ve lost enough to a common criminal.”

That last bit was said straight to Dev. “I take offense to that, Ronald. I’m anything but common.”

“Tell me, Quinn, you bottom-feeder,” Ronald spat out. “How did you kill Terry? He was twenty-three years old, you know. His father is one of the men on the rooftops, and he’s itching to pull that trigger. I promised him a little alone time with you, if you understand my meaning.”

“We didn’t kill Terry.” I moved a half inch forward before Lee’s hand had me in a vise grip.

“Zoey, stay back,” Dev growled. He gave Lee a pointed look that told him to control me.

“You’ll forgive me if I suspect your husband keeps you in the dark, Mrs. Quinn,” Ronald responded with a hint of sympathy in his voice. “As you discovered yesterday, he has been damn good at hiding his crimes from you. He lies to you, Mrs. Quinn. He’s a stone-cold killer.”

I shook my head because Ronald was just flat out wrong on this one. “I was there. I interrogated Terry myself, although it wasn’t so much a Q&A as a lecture once Jacob showed up.”

Ronald stilled. “The oracle found you?”

I nodded. I had found the discussion with the oracle both illuminating and intensely disturbing. I didn’t know what to think about the fact that he’d spent an enormous amount of time maneuvering Daniel and me into position. “Apparently he’s known where I was most of my life. He explained a lot to me. Look, I know you guys think that Merlin is the enemy, but we need him. What will happen if we don’t get Merlin to help is all-out war. We’re not going to let that happen, so you should just get out of our way and let us do what we need to do. We’ll help you deal with the ramifications of anything that goes wrong. The oracle thinks we’re on the right path. He’s gone, by the way. He said he was done with this particular mission and he took Terry with him.”

“I don’t believe you. The oracle has been a part of the Order for seven hundred years,” Ronald explained. “He wouldn’t walk away as the biggest threat to our mission is standing in the doorway of the wizard’s prison.”

I looked straight into Ronald’s eyes. “He said the king will handle everything from now on.”

Ronald’s head whipped back around to Daniel, and his jaw dropped open. “No, I don’t believe it. The oracle would have warned us.”

“I think you’re the one who’s been lied to, Ronald.” I felt some sympathy for him. He’d dedicated himself to his cause, to a creature he believed was as dedicated as he was only to find out he’d been manipulated for reasons he couldn’t fathom. “My husband is the king the oracle has been waiting for. He waited seven hundred years for the King of all Vampire to rise.”

“Daniel,” Dev said quietly. “I don’t think he’s going to believe it until he sees it for himself.”

Daniel reached up and pulled down his hood, revealing his face. He pulled his sunglasses off and when he smiled at Ronald, he made sure everyone got a good look at his fangs.

Ronald’s reaction was to take a step back. “But it’s daylight.”

“Daylight doesn’t affect the King of all Vampire.” Dev didn’t mention that it was because of him that Daniel could walk in the light but after what the oracle had said, I had to believe that Dev coming into our lives wasn’t a coincidence either. We needed Dev and he’d been given to us.

“And my queen will be referred to as Her Highness,” Daniel said seriously. “I’m told the Order should be well informed of our traditions. Traditionally, it’s not considered proper to greet a monarch with bullets and a show of force. I’ll allow that you didn’t know who Devinshea and my queen were the first time you met them, but you know now. I will take any threat to my partner or my wife very seriously.”

Ronald was talking on his Bluetooth again. “The newcomer is a vampire. I want every operative trained on the female.”

“Down!” Lee yelled and I found myself eating dirt as Lee covered my body with his. Neil added his own body and I just tried to keep breathing.

“Keep her head covered,” Lee ordered, but Neil was already doing his job.

“Mr. Donovan, stand down,” Ronald said, his voice shaky. “We have all our weapons aimed on your companion. Please inform your guard that our weapons are of a high enough caliber that they should merely pass through their bodies on the way to hers. What they’re doing, while noble, won’t solve your problem.”

“We’ll take that chance.” I heard Daniel say. “You’ll have to kill us all to get anywhere near her.”

“This time I kill you,” Dev vowed.

“And then my men will simply shoot until your wife is dead,” Ronald replied, sounding more sensible now. He was a professional at heart and he was getting himself under control again. “I’m sorry, but I really have no other choice. I don’t like to use a woman in this fashion. It goes against all of my teachings, but we cannot fight a death machine. If I attempted to fight honorably, I would merely watch my men die one by one at your hands, Mr. Donovan. She’s the only way we have to counter the threat you pose. We can only hope your feelings for your companion will lead you to rethink this mission.”