Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(121)

I saw Chima’s head shake. She crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh, Con, you prove yourself a traitor with every word your lips form. My father knows the truth of Sean’s birth. He would never seek to hurt Devinshea Quinn in this way.”

This seemed to confuse Con to no end. I watched as his mind sought out another avenue to go down, his jaw tightening as he thought. He gazed up and chose to give up the game. “I don’t understand and have no time to delve into your enigmatic words. Even now the armies are gathering on the battlefield. Angus has requested a meeting with the Seelie’s bitch queen to try to avoid a blood bath. I don’t want to avoid a blood bath. I need to make sure Her Grace’s head decorates one of our pikes. Then there will be no way Miria will listen to anything he says. If you refuse to listen to reason, then I’ll have to take a more direct route. Let us see what the truth of your son is now, Your Highness.”

He motioned to someone I couldn’t see, but I had a suspicion what was happening when Chima cried out.

Neil grabbed my hand and tried to pull me away. “Time to go, Z.”

I fought him and slipped from his grasp. I walked forward and saw the horrible sight of that sweet little boy being hauled out in front of the army of red caps. His legs kicked as he fought with everything he had. They cheered as he was held up for his mother’s inspection.

“He has already witnessed the brutal death of his nanny,” Con said with a satisfied smile. “I think it scared him to have to watch her heart being ripped out. I told him that if his mommy loved him very much, maybe I wouldn’t do it to him, too. How about it, Chima? Does mommy love him very much?”

“You bastard!” Chima screamed. “You let my son go!”

“As soon as Her Grace is in my custody,” Con promised soothingly. “I’ll exchange the boy you love for the human who means nothing to you. But Chima, don’t think for too long. My offer will expire soon. The red caps are crying for blood. The blood of one so innocent is very sweet. I would hurry before they decide they would rather have his blood than hers.”

Chima turned and her face had aged in those few seconds. All the safety and comfort of her world had been stripped away, and she had no choices left. Neil swore and he stepped between us.

“Not gonna happen, lady,” he growled. I looked down and saw his claws were out.

“Chima, you don’t have to do this,” Nim said but she sounded uncertain. “Arawn…”

“…would already be here if he could,” Chima completed the thought. She reached into a pocket on her trousers and there was a small knife in her hands. “They undoubtedly already have Arawn and the Hunter in custody or on the run. You know how they protect their hosts above all else. It’s their primary instinct. We can’t count on them.”

“The vampire,” Nim offered.

Chima laughed bitterly. “One vampire against two hundred red caps? I don’t think so.”

“You didn’t see the way he fought before,” Nim argued.

Brown curls shook. “No, Nim. He has spent too much time in Arawn’s company. And it’s daylight, if you haven’t noticed.”

“What do you mean he’s been around Arawn too long?” I asked. “Daniel can daywalk. It isn’t easy for him but he’ll do it to save us.”

“You don’t understand anything, Your Grace. We’re f*cked,” Chima bit out. “Nim didn’t bother to mention that Arawn has been drawing energy from your vampire, did she? Has the vampire been overly hungry? Has he been on the edge of control? Has he made decisions that didn’t always make sense? I can see from your expression that he has. It’s because Arawn has effectively been feeding off him. Why do you think Nim wanted a vampire? Arawn likes the feeling. It’s like a drug. The death god has been getting high and your vampire needs time to recover, time that we don’t have.”

I turned to meet Nim’s guilty countenance. I could see the truth of Chima’s words in her violet eyes.

“I’m sorry, Zoey,” she offered weakly. “I didn’t mean any harm. It wouldn’t kill the vampire. It was just for fun.”

“Everything is fun with you, Nim,” Chima said sadly.

“I can come up with a spell.” Nim nodded, determination on her face. “I just need a few things.”

“We don’t have that kind of time,” I pointed out, hating what I was going to have to do. “Neil, you have to let me go with Chima.”

Neil turned, his lovely face savage all of the sudden. “No. Why is he more important than you? Why do you have to sacrifice yourself for these people? They haven’t done anything for you.”

I smoothed back a stray blond curl. “Sweetie, I have to. That’s a child out there. I can’t watch them kill a child, certainly not one that belongs to Dev.”

“Chima…” Nim implored.

“Not a word, Nim,” Chima replied. “This is all your fault. You stay out of it. Her Grace wants to do the right thing.”

“It’s right for you,” Neil shot back at her. He looked at me, his heart in his face. “Don’t do this. Please. Dev wouldn’t want you to do this. Dev loves you. Danny loves you. You owe them. I love you. Let’s just run.”

“And leave Danny behind?” I tried to soothe my friend with logic. “What do you think they would do with him even if running was an option? I’m sure they have the place surrounded. How far would we get before they ran us down?”