Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(78)

“I’m pregnant, Declan.” I planted myself in the chair he held out for me. “I’m not an invalid. I’m not the first woman to find herself in this condition. Trust me, if all pregnant women spent nine months in bed doing absolutely nothing, the world would grind to a halt.”

“She-wolves work until they can’t stand the labor pains anymore,” Zack supplied helpfully. “I was told my mother was a strong bitch. She gave birth to me in between shifts at the casino. She was a blackjack dealer.”

Lee smiled, nodding. “No drugs for our mom. She bit the bullet. Literally, she bit down on a bullet so she wouldn’t be heard. She was paranoid about the medical establishment. She thought they would find out what we were and experiment on us.”

I stared at him in horror. “Well, I’m not going that far.”

“Zoey is not some peasant,” Declan pointed out.

Neil had an answer for that. “Sure she is. Just because she married nobility doesn’t make her a blue blood. Face it, man. Dev married a commoner.”

“Hell, Dev married a criminal.” Lee smiled broadly, enjoying Declan’s discomfort. “Has Dev told you about the time he and Zoey got hauled in by the cops? He has a record, you know.”

Declan’s eyes were wide as he looked at me.

“They’re teasing you, Dec,” I promised him. We worked hard to make sure none of us had records.

“Well, I should hope so,” Declan said. “My brother is a royal. He is not some common criminal. I would hate to think the authorities on the Earth plane would have a mistaken impression of him.”

“Oh, there’s no mistake,” Neil said implicitly. “Dev is definitely a criminal. He has some sticky fingers, that one. He’s just not a common criminal. He was in on that awesome hijacking that made like every newspaper in the country. I wish I’d been around for that one. I bet he would run a great long con, too. He’s an excellent liar.”

“Unlike some,” Lee grumbled.

“And he totally doesn’t have a criminal record,” I assured my brother-in-law. “The Council cleaned that up for us. The only record of our crimes is with the Vampire Council, though I’ve been told it’s pretty long and detailed.”

Declan stared at me. “When you told me you were a thief, I assumed you stole from various shops to enhance your wardrobe. Even some noblewomen here get a thrill from it.”

I rolled my eyes. “I don’t shoplift. I steal certain arcane objects for a select clientele.”

“Select?” Neil snorted.

“I turn people down from time to time. The point is I’m a pro, not some amateur trying to jack lip gloss. Why is everyone looking at me?” I had noticed that all the people in the room were whispering, and they kept stealing glances before turning their attentions back to their soup bowls and mugs of ale.

It was weird to be the center of attention. On our plane, I tried so hard to blend into the background.

Declan seemed surprised by the turn of the conversation and he looked around. It only took him a moment to get his bearings. He smiled slyly at me.

“Word of Dev’s magic has made it to the village, then. I thought it might have. The magic itself might have made it this far. Do you want to know what they’re whispering about? They’re wondering what you’re doing to my brother that six lovely Fae women couldn’t do.” Declan leaned in, his voice all soft seduction, and I knew he was making a conscious effort to sound like Dev. “I’m wondering, too.”

His seduction was interrupted by Lee smacking him upside the head. God, I loved Lee.

“What was that for?” Declan practically shouted the question, rounding on my guard.

“Don’t hit on the boss,” Lee growled as Ross returned with several steaming bowls of stew. He set them down in front of the men, but I was full and couldn’t see me fitting anything else in, so I waved him away. “If you want to be part of the crew, then you have to follow certain rules, and one of the rules is don’t hit on Zoey.”

“Well, I do not want to be a member of anything called a crew,” Declan claimed. “And apparently you do not follow your own rules closely because I know my brother was on the crew before he married Zoey. I doubt they stayed pure until their wedding night.”

I shot both of them dirty looks, and they were smart enough to shut up. I looked up at Ross, who placed a tall glass of water in front of me. “Thank you, Ross. Do you happen to have a woman named Hildie working for you?”

The satyr nodded. “Why, yes, Your Grace. She’s in the kitchens right now.”

“Bring her out, then,” Declan ordered, pulling his bowl of stew closer to his body as Lee made quick work of his second lunch. Declan huddled over his stew as though he expected one of the wolves to steal it. “Her Grace has a few questions for the wench.”

“Wench?” I had never thought of her that way.

“’Tis a common term for a person who works the kitchens.” Declan shrugged off my evil eye.

“I’ll let her know you wish to speak with her,” Ross acknowledged and headed back to the kitchens.

“Do you have to be so rude?” It seemed to be my brother-in-law’s stock-in-trade.

“I didn’t think I was rude,” Declan said, looking surprised. “She is a kitchen wench.”