Steal the Night (Thieves #5)(9)

“We got along really well, Mrs. Donovan,” Chad drawled with great relish. He set his booted feet on the expensive coffee table. “Mrs. Donovan likes to surround herself with beautiful men. I envy her greatly. Her husband is a paragon of male dominance, but the wolf and the faery are just to die for. I swear that faery is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, and the wolf isn’t far behind.”

“Unlike me, Zoey, you will find my friend here is only interested in his own sex,” Marini laughed. “It isn’t surprising he would love to switch places with one such as you.”

The dark-haired vampire was a vision of decadence sitting negligently on the couch and talking about the men he wanted. Chad’s dark eyes found mine. He licked his lips, and I could see a hint of fang. “Of course, if Mrs. Donovan here wanted to try me, I wouldn’t kick her out. What do you say, sweetheart? Want to see if you can turn me straight? I’d try it just to get a taste.”

Marini’s hand shot out and suddenly there was blood on Chad’s mouth. He didn’t react at all to the fact that the Frenchman had slapped the holy hell out of him. He just ran his tongue along his lip, making sure he got that blood back.

“You will not speak that way to her.” Marini stood over him, violence in his very stance. “She doesn’t belong to you.”

“Of course, master,” Chad said evenly as he gave me a serious look. “I apologize, Mrs. Donovan. I hope you don’t take offense. I meant neither you nor your husband any disrespect.”

I wished I could read people better. It seemed like Chad was trying to tell me something. Maybe he’d set up the entire scene to show me that Louis Marini was getting terribly possessive of things that didn’t belong to him. It wasn’t a good sign. Marini sat back and continued speaking like he hadn’t just exploded.

“You will have to excuse our Mr. Thomas,” Marini said, looking at Chad with a strange sort of affection. “He’s different. His powers of illusion are very rare, and it makes his idiosyncrasies worth putting up with. He’s a class of vampire that has gone almost extinct.”

“Class?” I’d heard a little something of the different classes, but I’d mostly met warriors.

“It’s rare, but some would qualify,” Marini explained. “Most vampires are of the warrior class, your husband being a splendid example. Marcus is not a true warrior. His talents lie in persuasion and obviously his ability to walk about during the day. We used to call them academics because they tended toward study and a fascination with specific intellectual pursuits. Mr. Thomas here is what would have been called a magician.”

“That’s me, full of magic,” Chad said with an odd little laugh.

Marini shook his head. “They were not the most stable of vampires. Mr. Thomas is the first to rise in centuries, and he finds himself alone. Most of his class don’t survive long. There are other classes who never leave the underground. They are misshapen and deformed, but their brothers care for them anyway.”

I decided then and there to never spend much time in the underground.

“To get back to the topic at hand,” Marini said, relaxing again, “Mr. Thomas was fascinated by the fertility rites of the prince’s people. He said they contained some powerful magic.”

Chad’s eyes closed like he was experiencing it all over again. “They made me stay far away, but I could still feel it. I was so full. I hear the wolves were happy, too. Many of the couples who were there managed to conceive.”

“Yes,” Marini murmured, “I’m sure they feel a debt of gratitude toward Daniel. I know they paid him well.”

I didn’t like where this conversation was heading. I frowned and pouted. Hopefully it was a pretty sight. “They should be grateful to me. I was the one who nearly broke my jaw.”

Both the vampires thought that was very amusing. Marini was still smiling when he said, “Perhaps you will perform this little ritual of yours for the Council. We meet next month and we always have certain entertainments to make our political sessions more palatable. Your husband is already required to be there. I think you and the prince should come as well. I would like to feed from this magic as Mr. Thomas has, as Daniel does every night.”

“You’ll have to speak to Daniel,” I said quietly. Daniel would never agree and it would cause a lot of trouble, but I would have to deal with it later.

Marini stood now and he held out his hand to help me up. “I’ll do that. If you will excuse us, Mr. Thomas, Zoey and I have some business to discuss. I assume we can use the office.”

My eyes went wide. “You want to go to the office?”

He reached down and hauled me up. “Yes, we shall speak privately. I don’t think you have my item in the pocket of your charming little pants, do you?”

This was the moment I’d been dreading. This was the moment I’d been trying to find a way out of for months.

“Or do you want out, companion?” Marini asked, his deep voice silky. “I do have an eject button, if you recall.”

And there was no way around that. I took a deep breath and let him start to lead me out of the VIP area. Ivan gave us a look that had me worried.

“Have fun, boss,” he said in a thick accent as we walked by.

I glanced back at Chad, but all he did was wink.