Steal the Sun (Thieves #4)(88)

“The time can’t be right until I get out of this bed.” He’d made that clear. My time as an invalid was at an end.

“Excellent,” Oliver said and he stood up. “There’s one more thing I was asked to speak with you about, though it is all connected, of course. Felicity is worried about her charge.”

“Devinshea?”

Oliver nodded. “If this war is allowed to rage, she believes he will die. This war could be bad. If the faery dies…”

“No babies for me.” It wasn’t hard to figure that out.

“He’s your mate, Zoey,” Oliver said. “Your life is hard, but allowances have been made for you. Daniel can’t provide you with children, so you were granted a second soul mate. Be grateful. Most people have a hard time finding one.”

I smiled a real, true smile and I leaned up impulsively. I kissed Oliver Day right on Felix’s cheek. “Thank you, Ollie.”

“Don’t call me Ollie,” he groused. He shook his head and grinned anyway. “I picked you, you know. Worst mistake I ever made.”

“You get to pick, huh?”

“Yep. The odds on you were like 200 to 1. The others thought I was crazy. Do you want to know what the odds are now?”

“Probably not.” I never wanted to hear the odds against me. They were usually phenomenal. “They let you gamble in Heaven?”

“Yeah, it’s that or harp playing, and I could never get my fingers to do that,” he explained. “The odds are now 20 to 1. I am damn good, Zoey. I picked you because I knew you would beat those odds. I can be an ass sometimes, but I’m an ass who has faith in you. Now, get off your butt and do what you were born to do.”

“And what is that, Oliver Day?”

“Change everything.” He smiled and gave me a wink.

The door to the bedroom opened. “Are you ready, Z? Albert has everything we need. We should be leaving in an hour or so. Oh, hello, Felix. Sarah is looking for you,” Daniel said as he walked into the room. He looked beyond tired. His skin was looking ashen.

“That was weird.” Felix shook his head and seemed to be Felix again. “I thought I would be able to listen in, but I found myself in a waiting room. There was coffee and cheesecake and a radio tuned to someone playing Britney Spears’s greatest hits on a harp.”

“What is he talking about?” Daniel asked.

I grinned at him, and Daniel’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’ll tell you all about it, but there’s something I need from you first.”

“What’s that?” He was ready to do anything I asked.

“I need you to eat, Danny.” I looked at Felix. “He hasn’t fed in days, has he?”

Felix shook his head. “We’ve all offered, even Lee offered.”

Daniel’s eyes avoided mine. “I wasn’t hungry.”

I moved to him and forced him to look at me. I knew why he hadn’t fed. He was in a fight with Dev and he thought I was too fragile. Feeding was an intimate thing for Daniel. He would rather go hungry than share that with anyone else. My vampire was faithful even when it cost him. “You were heartsick, baby. I know the feeling, but we’re going to be okay. Felix is going to go tell Albert that I need a cheeseburger and fries and you’re going to have a nice snack. I need you strong because we have work to do, my love. And I have something that will make you feel like fighting again, babe.” Tears fell again, but they were happy because I suddenly had faith and hope where before there had been none. I had faith that I would meet my sons, faith that my daughter was out there living a good life. “Felix, you should probably go now if you don’t want to see me naked because I’m dropping this gown in five seconds.”

The door slammed in three. I tried not to take it personally. Daniel pulled the gown off for me.

“What happened to you, Z?” he asked, dragging me into his arms.

“I just needed a little divine intervention, baby.” I let my head fall back so the line of my neck was arched and long. Daniel groaned as he accepted everything I had to give.





Two hours later, I’d told Daniel everything and we stood outside the “war room” with a feeling of great sadness. The palace was one big ball of stress. There were warriors everywhere, and they were all itching for a fight. I had to wonder—if this was what everyone wanted, why did absolutely no one seem happy? There was a specter of doom hanging over everything as I stood waiting to see my husband. The throne room was doubling as the war room. From what I understood, Devinshea had been sleeping in there, when he slept at all.

“Come with me.” I held my hand out to Daniel.

He stood back with our little raiding party. We’d decided to travel light. We weren’t exactly sure where this quest would take us, so we thought a smaller group would be best. It was me and Danny and Neil and Lee. Albert, Sarah, and Felix were staying behind and had instructions to keep their heads down. Zack was sticking to Dev like superglue. He had strict orders to not let his boss die.

“He won’t want to see me,” Danny insisted. He understood that I needed to see Dev before we left, but he didn’t want to start another fight. There was a horrible distance between them that I hated.

“You don’t know what he wants. He’s in a bad place, Danny. He should know we’re here even if he doesn’t want to see us.” Dev and I had made it clear to Danny that we wouldn’t leave him even when he was being an ass. It was Dev’s turn to be a stubborn idiot, but I hoped Daniel was willing to stand beside me.