Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(61)

The black dogs, satisfied they had done their job, let go of their prey and came back to me, thumping their tails happily. They sat back on their haunches and looked up at me, probably hoping for a treat. I’d made a serious error not smuggling in Snausages.

Neil changed again. Now he was a lovely human coated in thick ogre blood and so obviously not happy about it. “Thanks, Z. I look like Carrie at the prom.”

“Again with the sorry.” I watched the ogre sway back and forth. He tried to pull his body up to reach the rope but he was a tubby ogre despite his obviously low carb diet. His arms just wouldn’t reach. The rope creaked, though, and I was worried it wouldn’t hold his massive weight for long.

I approached the swaying ogre, his blood flow slowing but not stopping. As a creature of Faery, he had decent healing powers, but the cold iron I had managed to pump into his body affected him. He groaned and when he looked at me his eyes were sad, like he didn’t know quite what was happening but he knew it was bad.

“Don’t you dare, Z,” Neil said, coming up behind me. “That thing tried to kill all of us. Just because he bats those big, ugly eyes now doesn’t make him any less a killer. Get it over with.”

I knew Neil was right, but I still felt bad as I leveled my Ruger and took aim. If he’d been left alone, he would be at home in his Unseelie forest where everyone knew not to roam about. He would have been fed and taken care of. Here he was a pawn and like all pawns, I had to sacrifice him.

I squeezed the trigger and the cold iron entered the ogre’s brain through his large eye. There was a mighty twitch and the tree holding him shook. Within seconds, the light that animated him was gone, leaving nothing but blankness on his face.

Lowering the weapon, I sank down to the ground and finally took a look at the wound in my leg.

“How bad is it?” Neil asked, wiping blood off his face with the back of his hands. He knelt down and took a look himself.

“It’s already healing.” That vampire blood I took from Daniel every couple of days always did the trick. The bullet had torn a hunk of flesh out of my thigh but it was closing nicely.

The dogs jumped happily around Neil, and he smiled as he batted them down. They had enjoyed the play and liked running with him.

“Down, boys,” Neil tried commanding in his best alpha voice. The dogs just licked at him. Neil isn’t and never would be an alpha. “Fine,” he said, giving up. He walked back toward the pond. “I’m going to get the ogre blood off me and then we can discuss how we’re going to save Lee from his new lady friend.”

Neil walked off with the dogs and they all jumped into the pond.

I watched the ogre sway and wondered how many more unique creatures would be sacrificed before we uncovered the traitor. I only hoped one of them would not be my husband.





Chapter Fifteen





“Why do I have to carry them?” I asked, following Neil through the forest carrying his precious vintage pajamas. They had looked kind of starchy since Neil liked his clothes perfectly pressed, but the fabric was quite soft. Chad sprang for the best for his boy, so it seemed.

Neil stopped and the black dogs followed suit. All three were quiet for a moment, scenting the air and looking for those clues that completely got past the old human sniffer. I stood there, holding my cargo, completely unnecessary at the moment. It was kind of nice though. With Neil there had been no discussion of going back for reinforcements or dropping me off someplace safe. In his mind, I was the reason his ass was out here in the first place so I was damn sure coming along for the ride. I was also being forced to play the role of sherpa. It was a trade-off. Neither Danny nor Devinshea would ever have asked me to lug their crap around, but they would have fought like hell against me coming along on the “let’s save Lee from the creepy chick” mission.

“You have to carry them because I need all my senses. So stop your bitching.”

“No, you don’t,” I shot back because I liked my bitching. I was good at it. “All you need is your nose. Have you caught it yet?”

He pointed in a direction that led across the woods and up a steep hill. “I’m getting the distinct scent of cheap beer and laziness coming from that direction. It smells like home.”

He began trudging his way to his destination, not caring that he was walking perfectly naked through a strange forest with two dogs at his heels. I felt much more self-conscious, but that had nothing to do with my clothing and everything to do with the scary undead thing at the end of this quest. I could only hope she’d done what she promised and kept my wolf alive.

“What’s Lee’s place like anyway?” Unlike Neil, I’d never been invited in. Lee lived in the same building I lived in, but the boys and I had the penthouse and Lee had a single two floors below us, next to Zack’s apartment. Dev owned the building so the small apartment was one of the perks of working with me. Actually, now that I thought about it, I kind of owned the building, too. I was married to Dev, so that made me Lee’s landlord. I was going to have to rub that in.

After I rescued him.

“It’s about what you’d think. There’s lots of beer, an old television. The only real furniture he has besides a bed is a Lazy Boy. It’s surprising he keeps the women just coming on through,” Neil commented. “I guess he’s packing some serious heat under his lazy exterior. I offered my design skills, but he politely turned me down. Well, he growled a lot and told me to mind my own business.”