Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(143)

Zoey Donovan-Quinn is growing restless. After months of searching, her crew hasn’t been able to locate the resting place of the one man who could save Daniel. While they frantically continue their quest, Zoey is still struggling to recover from the devastating losses she suffered in Faery. In the midst of her grief and worry, Louis Marini appears and demands the Blood Stone he forced Zoey to steal. Zoey has no other choice than to hand it over.



When the giant ruby’s true nature is revealed, Zoey discovers she has given their greatest enemy a weapon of unimaginable power. Equipped with the Blood Stone, Marini intends to dominate the supernatural world and, on a more personal note, claim Zoey as his companion.



Desperate and on the run, Zoey, Dev, and Daniel forge an unlikely alliance with an old adversary who claims he can lead them to the wizard who can free Daniel from Marini’s clutches and help him claim his throne. As they race to solve a thousand-year-old mystery and gather their forces for the ultimate battle, Zoey prepares to do what she does best.



If Daniel and Dev are to have any hope of victory, she will have to do the unthinkable... surrender to Louis Marini and steal back the Blood Stone.





After a long while, he went still and turned to us and a slow, satisfied smile crossed his face. “It’s here, Your Highness.”

Nimue went to stand next to the demon and gestured for Daniel to stand beside her. “We need the sword now.” She took it in her hand and frowned, looking the slightest bit nervous. “Now we find out if I did my job properly.”

“What do you mean?” Danny asked.

She tugged at her bottom lip with her teeth. “Well, there’s always a test with things like this.”

“Like the sword in the stone?” I remembered my Arthurian lore, or at least the Disney movie.

Nim nodded. “Yes, that was the test for the boy. I set up the test for this king a very long time ago. I didn’t know exactly why I chose this method because at the time it seemed odd, but something told me this was the proper challenge.”

“Why a test?” Neil asked. “You’re the Lady of the Lake. Don’t you just know who to give the sword to?”

“Think of it as a fail-safe,” the nymph replied. “If I’m incorrect, Excalibur in the hands of the wrong person could prove very bad for us all.”

“But Daniel already has the sword,” Dev pointed out.

Stewart chirped up to answer that question. “Oh, he won’t for long if he doesn’t pass this test. If he fails, we all die. Well, all of you die. I just go back to the Hell plane and resume my former life. But I would mourn you all terribly.”

“What’s the test, Nim?” Daniel asked.

Nim smiled a secret little smile. “It’s simple, Daniel. I thought at the time it was too simple, but now it’s very fitting. I’m sure it will all work out. The world needed Arthur’s strength so his test was one that proved it. The world needs something different from you.”

Daniel sighed. It always came back to that. “Where am I supposed to bleed this time?”

“Take the sword, please,” Nim instructed. “Give it to me and stand right here where the veil is the thinnest and the door can open.”

Daniel did as instructed and the minute he was in place, Nim’s hand came back and she sent Excalibur straight into Daniel’s gut with a horrible twist.

All hell broke loose. Zack leapt forward, his semi pointed straight at the nymph’s head. Lee pulled me back even as I tried to run toward Daniel. Dev made it to our vampire first. Daniel had fallen to his knees, his blood spilling all over the green grass, but before Dev could reach down to haul him up, he put an arm out to stop him.

“I’m fine,” I heard Daniel growl, clutching his middle.

“She gutted you,” Dev yelled as he turned his face accusingly to Nim. His gun was on full display. “Give me one good reason I don’t put a bullet in your skull, Nimue or Vivienne or whatever the hell your name is.”

“If you’re going to shoot me, you should step back to do it, Devinshea,” Nim announced even as I felt a wave of energy flicker across my skin. Lee cursed softly and I knew he felt it, too.

“The veil is opening,” Stewart said. “Someone should get the king back unless he wants to be ripped in two.”

Dev put his arm under Daniel’s shoulder on one side and Zack took the other. They started to hurry him away from the site.

“Didn’t I just get ripped in two? Sure as hell felt like it,” Daniel muttered as they made their way to me.

Lee let me go and I went down on my knees even as Daniel hit the ground.

I knelt beside him feeling for the already healing wound. I expected it to be deep and still bleeding, but it was already closing. In moments there wouldn’t even be a scar. “Do you need blood?”

He nodded. “Not you, baby. I already took my share from you.”

Dev didn’t hesitate. His sleeve was already rolled up, as though he anticipated the need, and he came in behind Daniel, offering his wrist. He didn’t hiss at the pain. There was only a slight tightening around his eyes to show he felt anything at all as Daniel began to draw from him. I didn’t even yell at Danny for not pulling Dev in. That was a private thing and they wouldn’t do it in front of anyone but me.