Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(129)

“Drain him?” I didn’t like the sound of that. Anytime the word drain is used in the same sentence as vampire, something has gone wrong.

Roarke nodded. “When Arawn is in danger, he tends to pull energy from anything he can feed from that happens to be within range. It’s an instinct. This time he pulled so much energy from the vampire trying to fight off the red caps that it put the vampire in a comatose state.”

“How do we get him out of it?” I asked.

Black eyes rolled forward and Arawn finally made an appearance. “You do not, Your Grace. I’m afraid I pulled far too much energy from the vampire. He won’t come back from it.”

My heart beat against my ribs. “What the hell do you mean?”

The death god had the good grace to look ashamed. “I thought we all were going to die. I reached out without thinking and by the time I realized what I’d done, it was too late. It didn’t matter anyway. The goblins were prepared for death magic. They easily fought back against everything I tried. They had charms and spells prepared for me. They apparently hadn’t planned on the fertility god showing up.”

“Are you trying to tell us Daniel is dead?” Lee asked the question Dev and I could not.

“He isn’t,” Zack insisted. “I still feel him, Zoey. He’s in there. He’s just trapped and he’s getting weaker by the second. Try giving him blood.”

I turned to try because I would open all my veins if it would wake him up.

Arawn’s hand came out to stop me. “It won’t help. You’ll merely weaken yourself. He won’t be able to take the blood. You, wolf, try to feed your master. Your mistress won’t believe until she sees it for herself.”

Zack got a stubborn look on his face. He pulled the knife from his boot. “I’ll feed my master. Once he has some blood in him, you’ll see that he’s still with us. I would know if he was gone.”

Neil watched Zack with a compassionate look on his face. Zack quickly, and without a single grimace to show the pain he caused, drew the knife across his wrist. Blood welled, rich and thick and it spilled over Daniel’s mouth. Even if Daniel had been in his sleep state, he should have reacted to that blood. His mouth should have opened and let the blood work its way down his throat. Daniel was perfectly still and Zack’s blood ran across his closed lips and down his face. Zack cursed as his wrist closed and he tried again.

“Zack, it’s no use.” Lee said, his gravelly voice filled with sympathy for his only brother.

Zack frowned. “I have to try.”

“No, Zack,” I said quietly, feeling tears start to run down my cheeks. “We need to find another way.” I wasn’t willing to give up.

“He won’t be able to feed,” Arawn stated relentlessly. “He’s only alive now because of what he is. Had he not been a king, he would be dead. As it stands, he will fade. It will not be painful for him.”

“It will be goddamn painful for me.” I hated him in that moment. I looked to Dev. “We have to get him home. Maybe Marcus knows something. Maybe Sarah knows something. There has to be a way to save him.”

“Perhaps I can be of assistance, goddess,” Bris’s gentle voice offered. He stared down at me.

“You can’t be serious,” Arawn said, looking at the fertility god inhabiting Dev’s body. “That’s insane.”

I ignored him. Nothing mattered except our little family. I looked into Bris’s emerald eyes. “Can you help him?’

“I believe I can.” He brushed the tears from my cheeks. There was the saddest look on his face as though he wasn’t sure it would work and he feared what would happen if it didn’t.

“Why?” Arawn asked, genuinely shocked at Bris’s offer. “Why would you do this for them? You’re an immortal god. They’re nothing compared to what you have seen and done. Why risk it?”

Bris considered the death god with a sad shake of his head. “You have walked the planes of existence for millennia, Arawn, and yet you still have no comprehension of what it means to be alive. There is no point to life without love. Love, at times, requires risk. It would not be worth having if you never had to sacrifice for it.”

“What are you going to do?” The way Arawn was talking made me think that whatever Bris was going to do would be hard on him.

“Make you smile again, sweet goddess.” He bent down and planted a simple kiss on my forehead, then his hand shot out and he covered Daniel’s chest with his palm.

Daniel’s body jumped like it had been struck with electricity. Dev’s body kind of crumpled to the floor as if all the life had gone out of it. I heard my little scream as I tried to figure out which one to touch first.

I dropped to my knees as Daniel’s eyes flew open.

“Zoey,” he said before he could see anything.

“I’m here.” I put my hand over his heart. He was warmer now, so much warmer than he’d been before. Life had been rushed into his body, a warm wave that brought him back to me. Bris had done this. Bris had saved me and then brought Daniel back.

“What happened?” he asked, trying to sit up. “Why am I covered in blood?” He wiped his hand across his mouth and then drew his fingers onto his lips. He tried to focus, but I could tell it was hard. “Zack, are you all right?”