Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(63)

It struck me that the baobhan sith’s residence could have been any number of houses in the woods from faery stories. Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding Hood, all could have been set in these woods, and it wasn’t just the structures. There was a feel to the forest here in Faery. It was as though it was a living creature all on its own and it hungered. It called to the wild things of the world and let them know they had a home here.

I suddenly felt very much a stranger in this strange land. Despite my misgivings, I forced myself to follow Neil.

We moved quietly forward. I was aware that both of the men in the house had crazy strong senses. It remained to be seen if those senses came into play when under the baobhan sith’s spell. The rest of the Hunter’s personality and will had seemed to go by the wayside, so it was possible, but we had to be careful.

Neil moved silently though the thick trees and I followed, doing my best to move as quietly as he did. The dogs caught on to the game and became serious. One took to my side, Shuck, I think, and the other stayed with Neil.

Flattening himself against the side of the cottage, Neil made his way around toward the door. When he reached the open window, he stopped and took a careful peek in. When he turned back, his eyes were wide and he motioned me to come over. He leaned close and whispered straight into my ear. “Forget what I said earlier. I know why the chicks dig Lee.”

I moved in, getting close to Neil. There was a fire in the hearth, and it gently illuminated the windows of the cottage. Lee was standing in the middle of the room. Oh, holy crap. I knew why they liked Lee, too. Lee might be a werewolf, but he was hung like a horse. It took everything I had not to giggle at the erotic tableau before me. It was like walking in and finding your dad with his girlfriend. I finally understood why Lee freaked out when he caught me without my clothes on. I tried looking anywhere but at that pretty damn big part of him.

The vamp was having some fun with her newly acquired harem. Apparently this part of the woods was clothing optional. The female vamp was kissing Lee, her tongue plunging into his mouth while she held his head back with one hand. With the other hand, she stroked that part of Lee the ladies liked, and it was ready to play.

The Hunter, for his part, watched the scenario in a daze from one side of the bed. Since he had no creepy vampire to play with his junk, he was flying solo. He had worked himself into quite a state. I didn’t want to see that either.

“He’s going to kill me,” Neil said under his breath.

“What does he expect us to do? Leave him there?”

“He would probably prefer death to you seeing him like that.”

“Too bad,” I said because that wasn’t going to happen. “I have a promise to keep.”

I walked around to the door and kicked that puppy open with the flat of my foot. All eyes flashed around to me.

“Hey, how you doing, guys?” I said with a cocky smile.

I’ve found that when faced with weird creatures that are probably going to kill you, it’s always best to go in with a positive attitude. Pessimism doesn’t do anything but bring you down in a fight, so I put on my happy face and held my gun out. “Surprised to see me? Well, Vampira, I told you I want my wolf back. Why are all you faery bitches trying to steal my stuff? You want a wolf? Go find your own. That one is taken.”

If he hadn’t wanted me to claim ownership, then he shouldn’t have made a blood oath to serve me. That oath went both ways. It was an old vampire ritual, but I took it seriously and I knew Lee did, too. Lee had promised to follow me and lay down his life in service of me. I promised to treat him fairly, and part of fair in my book was saving him from a lifetime’s slavery to a vampire chick.

“I’m shocked you managed to get away, though I see you found some help,” the aforementioned vampire chick hissed as she turned and looked back and forth between me and Neil. She stared at Neil, and it made me think twice about having brought him along with me.

The black dogs moved to their master. The Hunter seemed dazed, but let his pets come to his side even as he moved to protect his new friend. He and Lee took up protective stances around the sith.

The vampire smiled now, her lips turning up in a sly grin. She gestured toward Neil with an exceedingly confident smile. “Another hunter looking for prey. We’re not so different, little girl. We both use men to do our bidding. We both know they’re but helpful tools to be used and discarded.”

Neil snorted. “That’s Zoey’s problem, lady. She can’t discard any of them. She just keeps marrying them. If she doesn’t stop soon, we’ll be looking for a bigger place.”

The vampire was paying close attention to Neil, who was already obligingly naked for her. She held out her hand and the boys let her pass. She wasn’t doing anything threatening and I’d already killed once this evening. If I could talk her into giving up Lee, I would still leave without firing a shot.

“What’s she doing?” Neil never took his eyes off the baobhan sith as she started to sway her hips and move toward him. Her body rolled in an impossibly sensuous dance and, for the merest of moments, I worried. She called to hunters and Neil was a hunter. He was a predator. Despite his sweet looks, he had the heart of a wolf beating inside his body, and I wasn’t so sure she wouldn’t call to that.

“Sweetie,” I heard myself saying as I laid a hand on his arm to start to pull him away. The last thing I needed was Neil to find the hetero within. I already had one wolf to save. “Maybe we should stash you somewhere.”