Steal the Night (3 page)

I pressed the button to the elevator that would take us down to Ether.

“Um, Z…” Neil pointed to the baby blue pajama bottoms that were covered in Hello Kitty faces. Other than that I had on a very nonprofessional white tank top and fuzzy socks.

“Hey, they’re pulling me off my comfy couch, they can put up with my style choices,” I said as we loaded ourselves on the elevator.

Nim was already bouncing to the music that thudded through Dev’s office as we got out of the elevator a moment later. “I really love the club. It’s so much better than the bingo parlors Arawn used to take me to.”

I shook my head, giving Neil a little look. We were always amused at Nim’s tales of her previous life with the Welsh Death Lord.

“Do you want a gun?” Neil gestured to the safe where Dev kept a couple of handguns. The armory was below in the back of the club.

I shook my head. That was a little overkill. “No, I’m just going to tell them to get the hell out. I don’t want a major scene.”

But as I opened the door that led to the club, I realized a major scene was going to be unavoidable. From the stairs, I could plainly see the VIP room and the group currently occupying it. I thought about shrinking back, locking the door, and heading back up to the penthouse as quietly as possible. But that was a useless dream.

From his place on the elegant leather sofa, Louis Marini was holding court. He was surrounded by vampires, but he only had eyes for one person. Me.

Marini waved me down with an imperious gesture of his hand.

“Shit,” Neil said beside me.

Shit was right. My time had just run out.

Chapter Two

“Tell the Hansen party we’ll refund their money,” I said to Roman, who was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.

“Absolutely.” He gave me a deferential nod, though I couldn’t miss the way he grinned as he took in my choice of wardrobe.

I regretted it now. Every time I’d met with the head of the Council, I’d been in full armor. Designer dresses, stilettos, and full hair and makeup. I felt very vulnerable now, like he was going to see a side of me I would rather keep to myself. “Offer them use of the VIP area for free sometime next week and again on Peter’s birthday.”

Roman nodded in agreement. He glanced over to the section of the club in dispute. “Is that who I think it is?”

“Oh, yes,” I said with a sigh. Roman had managed Dev’s club in Las Vegas during the last big vampire meeting there. He hadn’t had the misfortune to meet the vampires’ leader. “That’s Louis Marini, head of the Vampire Council. He’s possibly the oldest vampire still walking the earth. I take it they persuaded the wolves to not throw them out.”

Roman frowned. “They convinced my best two freaking bouncers to try to take the rest of the night off. They were just going to walk out in the middle of their shifts. It’s all right. I caught them. One of the waitresses is a pretty decent witch. She’s clearing them of the influence.”

“Just let them know to keep their distance. I doubt Marini will start a scene as long as he gets what he wants. I’ll handle it from here.” The last thing I wanted was someone getting hurt.

I watched the crowd part as Michael House walked toward us. Michael was a vampire who had risen on the battlefields of World War One. He was Daniel’s friend and an ally.

“Zoey,” Michael greeted me with a polite inclination of his head. “Mr. Marini requests the pleasure of your company. Won’t you please join us?”

I let Roman go back to work and moved close to Michael. The clean-cut vampire leaned forward. He would be intensely formal until he knew he was among friends.

“It’s all right, Michael,” I said, keeping my voice low. “You know Neil, and Nim is an ally.”

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t give you a heads up.” Michael smiled blandly, nodding his head. He was trying to make everything look merely friendly. Michael lived in the area, so it was natural we would be acquainted. He was supposed to be spying on Daniel for the Council, but Danny had brought him to our side several years ago. “They showed up on my doorstep at sundown and I only had a chance to get a call out to Justin.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. That was one problem taken care of. The Council had no idea Daniel had been finding latent vampires and bringing them over by himself. When Daniel wasn’t around, Justin had taken a leadership position. He would make sure everyone stayed in tonight. If strange vampires had turned up partying at Ether, it might have given away our game.

My other problem was Michael himself. Michael was blood oathed to Daniel. He’d taken a vow to protect Daniel and everything that belonged to him. Michael took that promise very seriously. He would consider protecting me a big part of that bargain. I’d noticed in the past that Michael had some trouble with his temper. He had no companion and was still considered young for a vampire. If Marini pulled the same shit on me he had in the past, Michael might explode.

I needed to get rid of Michael.

I looked back at Nim and winked. She nodded, letting me know she would go along with anything I had in mind. I didn’t think she would have a big problem doing this favor for me.

There was enough distance between us and Marini that I could at least speak somewhat freely. The club was loud so as long as I acted friendly, I could talk to him. “Have you been ordered to stay close to Marini all night?”

“He merely requested that I accompany him to the club and then fetch you,” the vampire replied. “I don’t know what else he wants from me. Obviously he’s not expecting me to act as his security. He brought Ivan and the boys for that.”

Michael started to lead us through the club. I could see the big, burly Russian from my vantage point. He was enormous and stuck out like a sore thumb in his dark suit and those ridiculous sunglasses. Someone had been showing Ivan too many movies. Other than Ivan, I counted four vamps, though I didn’t recognize them. They were pure muscle from the looks of them. And then I heard Neil gasp slightly as vampire number five gracefully leapt over the sofa and took his place next to Marini.

Chad Thomas looked like a rock star. He was so different from the rest of the clean-cut, conformist vampires. In my experience, vampires tend to be uniform in their appearance and the way they act. There’s something about their training that teaches them to follow the crowd. Even Daniel had been a very typical vampire after he’d come home from the Council. I realized now that his conformity had been a part of his defense against the people who tortured him.

Chad looked so different that I worried his individuality was cause for concern.

“He didn’t come home,” Neil said softly, looking at his lover.

Chad should have been allowed to return to the territory of his choice after his year’s training with the Council was finished. When we returned from Faery, the first thing Neil did was go looking for his boyfriend. Chad’s house in the country was empty and there’d been no explanation why he was still out of town. I didn’t like the fact that our spy seemed so awfully chummy with our worst enemy.

Now I had the added problem of Neil mooning over his lover. Neil is my best friend and the most loyal person I’ve ever met. He would lay down his life for me, but he doesn’t lie well.

I stopped in front of the bar. “Neil, I need you to go back upstairs and wait for me in the penthouse.” Neil stared at me like I’d lost my damn mind. “You can’t be serious. There’s a ton of vamps over there. You can’t expect me to let you walk in there alone.”

“And you’re going to do what?” I wasn’t trying to be a bitch, but I needed to point out some weaknesses in our current situation. Neil hadn’t had vampire blood in over a year. While he was still strong, he wasn’t going to be able to take out one old vamp, much less four or five. “Sweetie, I love you, but you’re outnumbered.”

Neil glanced back toward the relative safety of Dev’s office. “I’ll go force Daniel to get up.”

I shook my head. “Danny’s down for the count and so is Dev. I’ve got to handle Marini myself, and that’s going to be a hell of a lot easier if I don’t have to worry about you.”

“Why the hell would you worry about me?”

Sighing inwardly, I handled Neil the best way I knew how. I wasn’t going to point out how weak he was. That would only make him feel like crap and put him in a place where he might try to prove me wrong. I had one option. “Neil, what happens when Marini starts asking questions? What happens when he asks what we’ve been up to lately?”

His face fell. He knew he wasn’t a good liar. He also knew how dangerous that little imperfection was in our current situation. “God, Z, let me go get Lee.”

I shook my head. My personal bodyguard was an even worse risk. He’d wanted to get his hands on Marini for a long time. I doubted Lee would sit back and let me handle the vampire. “Neil, you either trust me or you don’t.”

“Fine. I’ll be in the penthouse. Call me if you need me.” Neil turned and stalked off, but I saw him talk to the bouncer at the stairs and knew he was telling security to keep an eye out for me.

One down and two to go. I nodded to Michael that I was ready to continue. He stepped up the stairs that led to the VIP room of the club. It resembled a very plush living room with leather couches, plasma televisions, and a dedicated bar and waitstaff, though I was sure they wouldn’t be making much off bottle service this evening.

Marini stood up. The Frenchman was tall and well built. Like most vampires, he was incredibly attractive. He had dark hair that was slicked back and his skin was like fine porcelain, though it didn’t make him look even vaguely feminine. There was nothing about the head of the Council that didn’t scream dominant male. His eyes were dark, and they heated up with satisfaction as Michael led me to him. His lips quirked up, and he raised an eyebrow at my state of dress. He’d never seen me less than perfect. I could only hope he found casual Zoey unattractive.

“I wasn’t expecting company,” I said by way of explanation.

Marini held his hand out. Unfortunately, I knew exactly what he wanted. It was a little formal greeting between vampire and companion. Forcing myself to stay calm, I allowed my hand to find its way to his. He towered over me and gracefully flipped my hand over in his palm so the wrist was exposed.

He leaned over and sure enough, I felt the little sting of his fangs. “As always, Mrs. Donovan, it is a pleasure to greet you.”

I looked around and saw that the bastard had brought his companion with him. He’d just tasted me in front of her. Most of the companions I’d met were as possessive as the vampires they belonged to. I expected her to look at me with hate, but there was only sympathy in her brown eyes as she watched the scene. Marini’s companion reminded me of a little mouse the last time I had seen her. Now she was a little mouse someone tried to dress up. She was wearing a designer gown. Vintage Versace if I was right, and it was meant for a much fuller figure. She was wearing four-and-a-half-inch heels that I would be shocked if she really knew how to walk in. Someone had done her hair and makeup, but she seemed like a little girl playing dress up.

I smiled at her to acknowledge her presence, and she lit up like no one ever noticed her. Then Marini glanced back and her eyes were downcast again.

“You know Rose,” Marini said as if it didn’t really matter if I did or not.

I didn’t. I’d never heard him say her name, but I nodded anyway. I knew how she must feel, the lone female in a room full of predators. “Hello, Rose. It’s nice to see you again.”

“Hello, Zoey,” she replied shyly and I was surprised she had a very British accent. “I like your pants. I like Hello Kitty, too. They look warm and comfy.”

“Kevin,” Marini barked and one of the vampires moved forward. “Take your mistress home. I no longer need her.”

Rose stood up obediently and tottered on her heels. So young. I couldn’t imagine she was past twenty-one. She should be in college, figuring out her life, not obediently following her master’s wishes. She nodded as she passed with her vampire escort.

Marini obviously forgot about her the instant she walked away. “Why don’t you introduce me to your friend, Zoey?”

It was time to get rid of my other two problems. I’d felt Michael tense behind me when Marini had greeted me. Michael hadn’t liked it, but as a member of the Council, he had the right. I was more worried about the inevitable time when Marini tried taking rights that didn’t belong to him. I would just have to give the man something better to do than watch over me.

Smiling brightly, Nim moved forward. “Hello, I’m Nim.” Marini introduced himself but made no move to touch her. She frowned at me. “Is he not going to do that thing with his tongue to me?”

I fought not to smile. Nim was very straightforward. “I think that’s a vampire/companion ritual.”

“That sucks,” Nim protested, looking very disappointed. “When I heard there were a bunch of vampires hanging out, I was hoping I could get one to bite me.”

I turned to Marini. I needed to set my plan in motion right away before he offered up one of his own men. A little light flirting was called for. “Louis, I was hoping you could help me with that little problem. You see, Nim is very curious. I was thinking Michael could…well…”