Steal the Night (29 page)

“You’re telling me this Donovan fellow is willing to give up absolute power over the strongest, most well-organized race of supernaturals, to give werewolves and Fae creatures a seat at the table?”

“He’s a modern man, our king,” Marcus replied. “While I find the situation a bit uncomfortable, I can see that rationally it’s the proper time to make this move. Civilizations that don’t change with the times tend to burn out. Our small society is reaching a breaking point. I believe if we follow the path Louis would set for us, we will be eradicated by war.”

“That’s been our assessment, as well,” the soldier replied, warming to his subject. “We’ve been running several scenarios involving all-out war between the vampires and the other supernaturals since we started tracking the loss of several alphas in the large werewolf packs across Europe. Someone’s been trying to make sure the wolf packs are fractured.”

“Yes.” That had been Marini’s plan. “But you will note that the North American packs recently chose to make their allegiance to an alpha named John McKenzie. There will be no fractures in our wolves. Daniel has made great strides with the various wereanimals and shapeshifters, as well. We also have an ironclad alliance in place with the Unseelie.”

The soldier thought about this for a long moment. “How did we miss this? Our assessment of Donovan was completely wrong. We have him as a two-bit criminal who might, and let me emphasize might, be a death machine. Nothing in our files indicates Donovan is capable of doing anything like this. How could we have been so wrong?”

“I felt it best that Mr. Donovan be allowed to develop on his own,” a soft voice with a lilting British accent said from the supposed to be closed and locked doorway.

We all turned quickly and Lee pointed his semiautomatic straight at the newcomer. The oracle stood in the doorway wearing a T-shirt, well-worn jeans, and Converse sneakers. Jacob focused his attention on Terry. “If the Order had known what His Highness was planning, there would have been pressure to push him one way or another. We’re at a crossroads, Terry. I didn’t join the Order to watch it manipulate things to its own liking. Our mandate is to watch and only step in when we absolutely have to. Had some members of the Order known the importance of the Donovans, they would almost certainly have either tried to influence the royals or tried to assassinate them.”

I laughed outright. “I’d like to see them try to take out Danny.”

Jacob’s eyes were very grave as he regarded me. “Daniel Donovan is not the only royal of import. In fact, it would be much deadlier for the creatures of this plane had someone managed to assassinate you.”

“You can put the gun down, Mr. Owens,” Marcus said warily. “It won’t do any good. The oracle is unlike anything you’ve encountered before.”

“He doesn’t smell human.” Lee kept the gun trained on the young man.

“He isn’t,” the vampire replied. “I’m not sure he ever was.”

“But the host is human, right?” I thought perhaps we were dealing with either a demon or something that took human form.

Jacob smiled softly. “Do you believe I’m a demon, child?”

“Or an ascended god,” I admitted.

His brows rose over those endlessly dark eyes. “What do you know of ascended gods?”

“My goddess knows much of them,” Bris said from behind Jacob. He’d crept up quietly and held Dev’s SIG Sauer in his hands. He seemed to have dressed hurriedly and wore only a pair of jeans. Dev’s gorgeous body was on full display, but his eyes were not his own.

Jacob’s face broke into a full show of joy. “I truly love it when I’m surprised.”

“Explain why you’re here and what you want with my goddess, Apollo,” Bris demanded.

Neil sat back, just enjoying the show. “But he said his name is Jacob.”

“I’ve taken many names over the years and had many faces.” Jacob didn’t seem to care that two guns were aimed at his head. “Awhile back, I called myself Apollo and there were some kind people who chose to worship me. At the time, it was advantageous to me, so I allowed it. I prefer to take on no followers now, though I enjoy the company of humans as do you, Bris. As for what I want with your goddess, I must confess, I didn’t realize she was your goddess.”

“I’m surprised that escaped you.” Bris brought the gun down. He nodded to Lee, who lowered his weapon as well. Bris gestured that he wanted me to come to him. I stood and joined him. “My goddess, this is a prophet. He’s walked the Earth plane since…well, long before I came into being. He’s a creature of great wisdom, though for the most part he uses his wisdom for his own betterment.”

Jacob’s eyes narrowed as he shot Bris a perturbed stare. “I haven’t seen you in thousands of years, Bris. While you slept and waited for your perfect host, I’ve been here with the humans, watching them and guiding them. Allow that thousands of years’ congress with these beings may have changed me.”

Bris’s hand slid to my wrist, like he was waiting to pull me or push me out of danger. “I’ll believe it when I see it. Now, I’ll ask again, why are you here?”

“Your goddess took one of my men prisoner,” Jacob replied.

“You came to spring me?” Terry sat up a little straighter and a grin lit his face.

“Despite what that fertility god will tell you, I don’t leave my men behind,” Jacob replied. “I admit that I also wanted to speak to the female again. I meet so few true nexus points.”

“The
bean si
called me that,” I said quietly as Marcus said something under his breath in Italian.

“Is this true, Oracle?” Marcus asked, his mouth a tense line.

“It is,” Bris replied for Jacob, who was staring at me. “I’ve found it terribly amusing that everyone is so concerned with the vampire when the truly important one was standing right in front of them.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked the god in my husband’s body. I was getting the same panicked feeling I’d gotten when the washer women had called me that. I hadn’t understood it all at the time. I had my mind on other things that night.

Lee crossed his arms. He didn’t like the mystical crap. “The washer women said something about her having no fate.”

“She is fate,” Jacob said with a small laugh. “Everything on this plane rests on her small shoulders. If she succeeds, we all get to live another day. If she fails, this plane will run red with blood.”

Bris sent Jacob a dark look. He felt my panic. He took my hands in his and rubbed them briskly because I was suddenly very cold. “A nexus point is like a blank space in the fabric of history, my goddess. It merely means that you have no particular fate written for you.”

“And because of that you change the fates of those close to you,” Jacob continued. “Someone with the power of prophecy can see the way a person’s life will most likely go. Nothing is for certain, but we tend to be correct most of the time. I can look at the British woman upstairs and tell you that in forty years’ time, she will die in a plane crash. Her vampire lover will miss her terribly, but he’ll take a companion ten years later and be very happy with her. I can look at the faery Bris currently inhabits and know that he should be dead many times over. He entered this plane with a death wish. He’s impulsive and prone to rages that should have gotten him killed on at least seven different occasions, but he got close to the nexus point and now his fate is tied to yours.”

“And Daniel would have lived if he hadn’t been involved with me,” I said, repeating what the
bean si
had told me.

Jacob nodded. “Yes. Donovan would have lived a nice, simple life as a boring IT guy who would have been far too old to be effective when he turned. Daniel Donovan needed to turn in the prime of his life.”

We were all looking at the prophet now. There was something about the way he said the words that made me wary. This Jacob had been watching us for a very long time. He’d been the one to send Marcus to protect my grandmother. Just how much of a hand had he had in our lives?

“Did you kill Daniel?” Neil asked because he never prevaricated.

Jacob held his hands out, trying to bring the intensity level down. “I did not. I merely see patterns and play the odds. I knew that it was likely Donovan would die young if he had a companion in place. You’ll find latent vampires tend to die young when a companion is right there, ripe for the taking. Something deep inside tells them to end their human life and begin to walk the night. I didn’t have to kill Donovan. I’ve only made three moves in this little chess game.”

“You sent me to protect Zoey’s grandmother.” Marcus offered one of the moves.

“Yes,” the boy agreed. “And I introduced Harry Wharton to his best friend, George Donovan. I also chose to keep Donovan off the Order’s radar. I feared if the Order knew about Donovan, they would figure out what Zoey was and then all hell could break loose.”

“Are you telling me you joined the Order seven hundred years ago so you could protect one girl from people trying to influence her?” Terry asked, awe in his voice.

“It was a long game.” Jacob sighed with satisfaction. “And now it’s almost over. I’m very interested in seeing how it all turns out, but alas, I must watch the play from the cheap seats, as the Americans would say.”

Bris’s eyes were wary. “You mean to leave her alone now?”

“I do. I fear if I stay, the temptation to interfere will be too great, and I have promised to allow things to play out as they will from this point on,” Jacob insisted. “I merely came back to retrieve my Australian friend. It’s time for me to travel again. The Order is well established. They will act as a check on the demonic influences on the plane and, if Zoey succeeds, they’ll represent humans on the new Council.”

“And if she doesn’t succeed?” Lee asked, his mouth tight with worry.

Jacob shrugged. “Then nothing will matter, will it?” He turned to Terry. “What do you say, Terry? Would you like to play Sancho to my Don Quixote?”

The Australian seemed confused. “I got no idea what you mean, mate.”

“Not a big reader then,” Jacob mused. He hit on the right phrasing. “I’m going walkabout. Want to come with?”

Terry nodded over at the prophet who had once been a Greek god. “Count me in. I want to get as far away from this war as possible.”

“Not so fast,” I said. “I still have questions.”

“I’m sure you do, Your Highness,” Jacob replied. “But they’ll have to wait for another time. As for you, Vorenus, I see the way you look at me. You think I lied to gain your cooperation, but I assure you this is not the case. You’ll have your death, vampire, and sooner than you think.”

“Wait,” I insisted as Jacob went to stand by Terry.

“I can’t,” he replied with an enigmatic smile. “And you have a phone call to answer. Tell Donovan he’ll need the sword if he wants to wake the wizard, but remember a demon is always a demon no matter how helpful he seems.”

He put his hand on Terry’s shoulder and then they winked out of existence. One minute they were there and the next they were gone.

Just then Lee’s cell phone rang. He flipped it open and answered it before holding it out to me.

“It’s Nim,” he said. “She found Merlin.”

Chapter Eighteen

“And these people speak English?” Neil asked as we passed the sign for the ferry to Ynys Ennli.

We’d stopped for directions since the ones Nim had given weren’t the clearest. We were on the coast of Wales, and it had become very clear to me that the Welsh did not, in fact, speak any type of English I understood. Everything that came out of their mouths sounded like it had been stuck at the back of their throats for a while.

“It’s all right, Neil,” Daniel reassured the werewolf. “I’ve listened to it for long enough now. I can translate.”

Dev drove the Mercedes along the lonely road. We’d been driving most of the night and dawn was close now. I was glad that vamps picked up on languages quickly because when the Welshman had opened his mouth to tell us what road to drive on and where to turn, I’d just stared openly, trying to figure out what the heck the dude was saying. Our vampire, however, made a nifty universal translator. It made travel so much easier when all I had to do was wait for Danny to soak up enough local speak that he could order another beer for me without having to refer to a handy basic phrase book.

Daniel sat in the front seat with Dev. I looked out the back and saw that Zack and Lee were keeping up nicely in their car. There had been almost no traffic at this time of night. We left Hugo’s home at dusk and spent the night on the road. It would have been faster to let Daniel fly, but I put the kibosh on that idea. We needed to stick together from here on out. I didn’t want Daniel facing things on his own while Marini had the Blood Stone.

During the day, while I sat waiting for all our travel plans to come together, I had been struck by one of my awful, terrible, shouldn’t-even-consider-it plans. Jacob had made it very plain to me that this was my show. Danny might be the king and Dev might be the man with the plan, but they weren’t a nexus point. I was. If the fate of the entire Earth plane was up to me, then that could only mean one thing. Someone, somewhere needed a thief.

If I was going to save us, I would have to steal that damn Blood Stone back. I didn’t think either one of my husbands would like how I was going to have to do it, though.