Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(48)

I accepted all of that. It must be difficult to have such power yet be forced to deal with the limitations of a human host. The Hunter could strengthen his host, could give him amazing powers, but he was still limited. “Why does he want to meet with me?”

“We need you,” Herne said firmly, trying to convince me of his point. “You are the only one who can stop this war. If you will aid us, I believe we can have everything settled by morning.”

I sighed, wanting to believe him. I wanted to think that there was something I could do to fix this. I was just like the rest of them. I needed to feel like I was doing something useful, but holding hands in the dark and hoping someone from beyond would show up just wasn’t my thing. Herne was offering me another option. “Fine. My wolf and I will go with you.”

“No, it must be the two of us alone,” he explained quietly and with compassion. “I’m sorry but that’s the way it must be.”

“You want me to lie to my husbands and ditch my guard to run away with you?” I said the words and they were improbable even to my own ears. The last time I’d done that I’d gotten into big trouble.

“It’s the only way to deal with the problem,” Herne insisted. He frowned and looked down at me. “Zoey, Devinshea is my friend. I’ll do anything I can to aid him. I promise that I intend no harm to you.”

I sighed because I knew what he was doing. Promises are important to the Fae. Bad things tended to happen when they broke their vows. If Herne lied to me, then I could call the Wild Hunt and they would aid me, even against their master. If he was willing to make an oath, then I had to consider his proposal. “I have your oath?”

“Yes, Your Grace, I give you my solemn oath that I mean for no harm to come to you,” he replied with all the sincerity he could muster.

“I want his, too.” I wasn’t taking any chances. I wasn’t sure how the rules worked concerning ascended gods and their hosts, but I was going to cover all the bases before I trusted these two.

Brown eyes blinked. “You have my oath. I intend you no harm.”

“Then I will go with you.” I looked at my party. Even with all the activity going on around them, Daniel and Neil were looking my way every couple of minutes, likely wondering exactly what I was saying to the Hunter. “How am I supposed to get away?” Daniel and Dev would be working on the whole Ghost Whisperer episode they were about to enact. It wouldn’t be so hard to get away from them, but Neil was an entirely different story.

“I do not know. That is your dilemma,” the Hunter said with no sympathy. “I will be at your windows in an hour. Be prepared for a walk in the woods.”

The Hunter made his good-byes and departed.

So, he was going to be helpful. I watched him close the door. I faked a yawn and let myself sink onto the couch. It was time to make the whole “knocked up” thing start working for me. I looked at Dev and smiled my tired soldier smile.

“Sweetheart, you look exhausted,” Dev said soothingly as he fell right into my trap.

“It’s been a long day.” I managed a nice yawn while gesturing at the activity in the living room. “How long do you think this will take?”

His mouth turned down in chagrin. “The better part of the night, my goddess. I’m afraid it isn’t a good place for you.”

“No pregnant ladies!” Sarah shouted from across the room. “Sometimes non-corporeal beings look for new bodies, and a tiny soul is just too tempting. Zoey needs to stay in the palace.”

“Oh,” I said, mustering my disappointment. “Really?”

“You heard her.” Daniel frowned. “They’ll have to make do without us. We can just go to bed and they can tell us all about it in the morning. You need your rest, baby. You’ve had an emotional night.”

“Danny, I’ll be fine.” I started to panic a little. There would be no way to get away from Daniel. None. He would be a brick wall, and there was a good chance he would behead the Hunter for even suggesting I leave with him.

“Actually, I need you, Daniel.” Sarah instructed Felix on which herbs to ask Albert for and then turned to complete her thought. “If things get bad, I have a spell to banish just about anything but it requires a certain type of magic. You’re the only one here with a plentitude of death magic.”

“And I wanted to be loved for my good looks,” Daniel muttered. “Fine. Lee hasn’t gotten back yet. I expected him back before now. How far could a kid get? Anyway, Neil can stay with you.”

“Of course,” Neil said, sitting down beside me. “We’ll pop some corn and watch some E. Oh, yeah, we’re in ‘medieval world’ where they don’t have TVs. Trust me. It will be so easy to watch Z since I don’t have anything else to do.”

“See that you do,” Daniel said, his voice a low rumble. Neil turned his eyes away, and I could see his mouth was tight. I decided that after I saved Dev, I was going to go to Felix and set up some family therapy because the cold war between Danny and Neil was starting to get to me.

I patted Neil’s hand and tried to look pathetic. “I just want to go to bed, sweetie. I need some alone time. I need to process, if you know what I mean.”

“You need to cry,” Neil replied quietly. “You know my shoulder is always there for you. I’ll stay out here. Do you want to know a secret, Z? I smuggled in a battery operated DVD player. If you need something to take your mind off things, I brought along some movies.”