Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(13)

“Fine,” he said with a pout.

I took his hand as the royal guard began to herd us toward the exit. We would walk to the palace surrounded by a phalanx of guards. Lee pulled his quarry behind him and Danny and Dev argued about how to prove Dev’s ex was behind everything. I held Neil’s hand and looked up at the white palace that got closer with each step.

“I already want to go home, Z,” Neil admitted.

I sighed and squeezed his hand because I knew the feeling.





Chapter Four





“She gave us three different rooms?” I asked the small creature who had guided me to what I assumed was our dressing room. Now I looked around and saw that only my luggage had been delivered.

When we’d reached the shining palace, we’d been divided up. Daniel had met with Padric and the two had decided the first order of business was to take the prisoner to the “holding cells.” They actually used those words as they looked at me like they didn’t want me to know there were dungeons. As I planned on visiting the dungeons later, I didn’t see how they were going to keep it from me. I had some questions for my would-be assassin that I would like answered, too. With Daniel, Lee, and Zack following Padric, Sarah and Felix were shown to their room. Dev had been told he had business with Declan, and that left me and Neil looking down at my brand new social secretary.

The small troll bit her lip and looked about, wondering how to respond to me. She was dressed in the same flowing skirts as the Seelie around her, though the style swallowed her small body. She had brown hair and eyes and her long tail peeked out from under the skirt. Even as Mara had introduced her to me, she seemed nervous and on the verge of tears. She reminded me of a scared little mouse.

It looked like Mara had decided to play games with me. I should have expected it. I’d been warned by my brother-in-law that the royal court was a place of back stabbing and mind games, but I’d been hoping for something better. I hadn’t missed the way Mara and her friends had laughed behind their hands as they introduced me to Bibi. I bet the rest of the royals didn’t have trolls for their social secretaries.

“I am sure that Mara wanted you to be comfortable, Your Grace. You have the whole room to yourself. Perhaps she thought you would like that.” Bibi’s voice was tremulous.

I began to understand that becoming a social secretary to the human wife of a high priest had probably not been her idea. It was Mara’s idea of an insult since the troll was obviously ill equipped to be involved in organizing a high-society social life. I wondered where Mara had picked her up. From the dirt under her nails, I suspected the gardens.

“I’m sure Mara wanted me to feel alone,” I murmured, looking around. The room was airy and magnificent. Every inch of the palace was natural stone, mostly white marble. It was stunning, but it wouldn’t do because I had no intention of being away from my husbands. It had been so long since I slept alone I doubted I would remember how to do it.

Neil jumped onto the bed. “Look at this, Z. It would barely hold you and me. What are these people thinking?”

He was right. The bed was maybe a queen when we were used to the oversized king in the penthouse that required specially made sheets to fit it. That bed was a monster but then it held me, Danny, and Dev, and occasionally Neil when he whined enough and Dev let him in. Neil wasn’t good at sleeping alone, either.

I cocked an amused eyebrow at Neil as I walked over to the window. The view was like a painting. Everything was vibrant and green, with slate-colored mountains touching the brilliant blue sky. I could see the snow-capped peaks in the distance, but here in the valley it was summertime and the air was gauzy and sweet. I let the sunlight warm my skin for a moment before getting back to the problem at hand.

“I think you’re going to have to sleep with Zack, babe. Three in a bed looks like it’s going to be hard here, much less trying for four.” Zack wouldn’t mind. Lee was the odd wolf who preferred to sleep alone, but Zack would think nothing of Neil crawling into bed with him. It was like that for werewolves. There was nothing sexual about it but they preferred a lot of physical contact.

Neil walked up to me and threaded his hand through mine. “That’s okay. I like Zack.”

I turned to him, and my question was laced with just a bit of fear. “You like Zack, or you like like Zack?”

I hoped that wasn’t it. He and Chad seemed happy the one night they’d had together in Colorado. Chad was due to come home from the Council in Paris in a few months, and he would expect his boyfriend to be waiting. Vampires don’t like it when you break up with them. They tend to be possessive creatures.

He rolled his eyes and contorted his face to let me know I’d said something distasteful. “No. Ewww. He’s like…”

My heart warmed because I knew what he was thinking. For the first time in his life, Neil had wolves around who didn’t hurt him or make him feel less. He had a small pack and it made him happy. “…a brother?”

“A real, actual one,” Neil said with a shrug, trying not to get too emotional. “I guess Zack is what I thought a brother should be like. He annoys me with his butt kissing and his perfect obedience. Most of the time, I want to throttle him. But then I know he has my back. I like hanging out with him. We might not have a ton in common, but that’s okay. I’m totally going to get him back for the arrow thing, though.”