Steal the Night (5 page)

“Yes,” Louis said in that dark seductive voice vampires used when they went into persuasion mode. All vampires had the talent, some more than others. “Allow us to pass. Your mistress is in no distress. We’re…good friends, she and I.”

Erik smiled suddenly and let us pass. “Good night, Zoey.”

I hated the blankness in his eyes. Sometime in the near future he would come out of it and wonder what had happened. He would remember very little.

“Why don’t you just do that to me?” I asked as I led the vampire upstairs. In some ways it would be simpler. I wouldn’t have to remember that I’d given Marini my prize.

Marini’s voice was filled with amusement at the thought. “You really should have spent more time in our society, Zoey. You would know that my talents in persuasion would never work on you. My greatest skills lie in strength and my abilities to kill even other vampires. I would never be able to get past your husband’s hold on you. His blood is your protection.”

I supposed that made sense. I pulled the keycard out of my pocket, but Marini took it from my hand. He swiped the lock himself and ushered me inside. I shivered as the door closed behind us and we were alone.

“Marcus, on the other hand, could have had you at any time.” Marini walked around the office, his eyes taking in everything.

“What do you mean?”

Marini’s well-manicured hand ran along the spines of the books on the shelf. This was where I often found Dev sitting in his comfy chair reading. I hated that Marini was getting such a private view of him. “Marcus is probably the most powerful persuasive on the planet. Had he been less of a gentleman, he could have fucked you senseless and you would have been happy to do it. Your husband’s blood would be no protection against Marcus. I’ve often wondered why he did not simply take you when it’s so obvious he wants you.”

I stood by the desk, putting it between us. “Maybe he’s afraid of what Daniel would do to him when he found out, and he would find out.” I needed Marini to really think about that. On some level, he feared Daniel.

“Perhaps that’s the case.” He didn’t sound like he believed it. The look on his face softened slightly, and he smiled a little. I think he was trying to be charming. “He would change his mind if he could see you now.”

“I doubt it.”

“Oh, no,
mon ange
. Don’t discount how sweet you look like that,” he said quietly. “You look soft and ready for bed. It’s a revelation to see you like this. No one dressed you for the occasion. It’s what you’re comfortable being. You look younger without the makeup. You look vulnerable.”

“Your companion is young.” I wanted to get him off the subject of me looking like prey.

He shook his head. “I should never have bought her. I should have waited. She was too young. She’ll never be a true companion. A true companion used to be a partner. She was a lover and fighter, someone a vampire could be proud to say he owned. When the companion’s blood is strong, a vampire will do anything to please her, to make her happy. We used to trust our companions with everything, taking them with us even into battle in some cases. Then they became so rare we simply protected them at all costs, including the sense of contentment that came with the bond.”

He seemed sad as he said it, and I wondered if he’d felt that bond before. If he had, it had been so long ago it couldn’t mean much. Unlike Marcus, Marini continually kept a companion. When one died, he merely found another, not wanting to go through the withdrawal a vampire felt when he no longer had companion blood in his system. A vampire with a companion had an advantage over the other vampires, but it came at a cost. The vampire was completely addicted to companion blood. One taste was all it took to make the vampire crave it.

“You shine so brightly,” Marini whispered. “You should be able to see yourself.” He shook his head as though to bring himself out of his haze. “Go on then, Zoey. I’ve waited long enough. It’s time for you to finish the job. You’ll note I didn’t ask if you were successful. I have complete faith in your abilities. Give me the Blood Stone.”

I didn’t want his praise. I wanted the man gone, and the only way I was going to accomplish that was to give the bastard what he demanded. He’d sealed off all my exit routes and I was left with no choice. I moved to the wall safe and pushed aside the painting that covered it. I likely wasn’t showing him anything he hadn’t already seen for himself. Marini had used Chad to spy on Dev, Daniel, and myself one night and I’d been told he’d poked around in Dev’s office before they made their way to the penthouse. I dialed the code for the safe and it popped open. I felt Marini step in right behind me, crowding me with his big body as he got a good look at what was in the safe. Luckily, Dev had moved anything even vaguely incriminating to a more secure location. Still, I heard Marini’s surprise at the large stash of cash and gleaming guns in the safe.

“Just how wealthy is your new husband?” Marini muttered the question, running his finger along a thick stack of hundred dollar bills. There were several piles of gold coins he had used as currency when we were in Faery as well.

“He does all right.” I reached into the back. I wasn’t about to give Marini a detailed accounting of Dev’s numerous business holdings. His human father had left him a multinational company that produced god knew what. I only knew that it produced cash and Dev took it and turned it into even more cash.

“Yes, I can see that. No wonder Daniel is willing to share. Vampires as young as Daniel usually struggle for money, but he’s found a way around that. It seems the prince has more wealth at his disposal than I could have imagined. And all that wealth would come to you, his wife, should anything happen to him,” Marini said, finally backing off me as I turned and handed him the small velvet bag that contained the Blood Stone.

Marini quickly had it opened and was holding the red stone up to the light to inspect it carefully. His dark eyes were possessive as he stared at it. I closed and locked the safe while he was distracted with the stone.

“It’s been a very long time since I held this stone. I suppose there is only one way to make completely certain.”

The vampire held his left palm open and shoved the pointed tip of the stone into it with a violent force. He grunted as he pierced his own skin with the stone and shoved it in even further. I watched as the stone pulsed slightly and seemed to lose just the slightest bit of its luster.

When I looked up at Marini, his eyes were completely black. He dragged a long breath in and steadied himself. It was like he’d taken a nice hit off a particularly good bong. He smiled as he let his head fall back.

“I had forgotten,” he said more to himself than to me.

“What is it?” I hoped he would tell me the truth since he seemed a little out of it.

“Just a taste of what your husband feels every day,” Marini said enigmatically.

He growled and there was no way to miss what it had done to his fangs. They peeked out from behind his lips. I took a step back. His hand shot out to stop me, and I finally realized just how much danger I was in.

“Yes.” Marini licked his lips. “I can hear your heart beating. You’re terrified. It’ll make your blood even sweeter.”

I managed to twist my arm out of Marini’s hand. “You forget yourself, Mr. Marini. I belong to Daniel.”

I could see plainly that the stone had done something to him. I thought maybe it was bringing out the beast that seemed to reside in every vampire. I could handle Daniel’s beast because Daniel loved me. Marini didn’t love me. Appealing to vampire laws was the only shot I had.

“Do you know who Daniel belongs to, sweet little Zoey?” His voice was slightly slurred and his accent heavier than before.

I shook my head but took a guess. “Marcus. Marcus is his patron.”

“No, companion,” Marini said, his face hard. “The
Nex Apparatus
is mine. He made his oath to me. He’s my creature.”

I knew that ritual well but hated the thought of Daniel being forced to go through it with Marini. Still, I knew what it meant and what had been promised. “If you’re truly Daniel’s master, then you owe him as much as he owes you. You’re supposed to protect him and everything that belongs to him. I belong to Daniel.”

He snarled my direction. “Don’t seek to tutor me on my duties. You know nothing. I’m the oldest vampire in the world. You’re the brightest companion I’ve ever seen. Why should a seven-year fledgling have you? It rankles, Zoey. Do you know what I was doing seven years after I turned? I was serving my master. I was his creature to do with as he wished. I was his to beat, to ignore, to fuck as he wished. That’s where your Mr. Donovan should be, but no, I have to tread carefully. I have to elevate him and treat him with respect. I’m supposed to respect his claims. You should belong to me. Daniel should have given you to me in hopes I would not crush him. He’s my vassal and he owes me.”

“You’re not his king, Marini,” I spat and very quickly realized my mistake.

Louis Marini got very still. “Does Daniel believe he can take the crown? Does he seek to take what’s mine?”

“What are you talking about?” I had used the exact right word to piss the man off. I had to play as ignorant as possible. My heart thudded in my chest so loudly I wouldn’t be surprised if they could hear it thundering downstairs. I wanted out so badly. “You said he was your vassal.”

But Marini was already pulling that little box out of his coat. He held it up for me. It was the tiny box that haunted my nightmares. “I’m his god, Zoey. I have the power to kill him in an instant and then perhaps I can simply take what should always have been mine.”

“Please,” I said breathlessly, praying he wouldn’t press down. I knew we were in range. Daniel was completely helpless, and I was the only one with any hope of protecting him. “Please, don’t.”

“And what do I get for forgetting I can solve my problems with the single push of a button, companion?”

“I gave you the stone,” I insisted. “I did the job. I’ll do the next one. You promised that you would deal with me fairly.”

He shook his head. “I’m not feeling very fair tonight. And there is the problem of your lies. You were supposed to call me the minute you returned from Faery. I think you were trying to find a way out of our deal. That’s unacceptable. You will not defy me like that again. Now what is your punishment to be? Should I press the button or can you think of another way to placate me? I think perhaps we should play a little game, you and I.” He slipped the box back into his jacket along with the stone, then he took the jacket off and laid it over Dev’s desk. He rolled up his shirt sleeves. “I think a little exercise is called for. I would run if I were you.”

It was the one time I decided to take the bastard’s advice. I ran for the door. If I could get it open, I could scream. Someone would hear me, even over the loud music. Our security guards were all creatures with impossibly good hearing. I just had to make it to the door and I could jump. I would land on the dance floor and it would hurt, but I would heal. Anything was better than being in this room and submitting to whatever Marini had in mind for me.

I didn’t even get my hand on the door before he caught me. He wound my ponytail around his hand and forced me to my knees. Pain flared along my scalp and tears pierced my eyes. There would be no reason to scream. Dev had soundproofed the room because the club could be so loud. I was alone and at his mercy, and I was pretty damn sure he had none.

He smiled savagely as he sneered down at me. “Are you going to beg?”

“Would it do me any good?” I knew the answer.

“You’re such a smart girl. It’s one of the things I admire about you.” He got to his knees in front of me, his obsidian eyes on my throat. He wasn’t settling for a little taste this time. I felt the force of his will and I fought against it. He tried to pull me in. The last thing I wanted was an ounce of pleasure from him. I used every bit of strength I had to pull back, and he just laughed. He seemed unconcerned with my small struggles. “Have it your way, then. It will taste the same to me.”

He struck, the force of his fangs an agony. I heard myself cry out. He drew heavily and held me so tight against his body, I thought I would stop breathing. How do I describe the pain of a brutal feed? There’s a quality to it I haven’t felt from broken bones or penetrating wounds. No arrow can make you feel like those fangs do. Helpless, hopeless. Like a rabbit in a lion’s mouth. The pain that comes from fangs ripping into your throat doesn’t even compare to the humiliation of having something as private as your blood drained without permission or care.

I tried desperately to take myself somewhere else, to not think about the vampire and what he was doing to me.

My eyes caught on Dev’s desk. So many memories had formed around that desk. It was the first place Dev and I had made love. It was the first place the three of us had sat and talked about our pretend ménage that turned out to be so true. I had so many happy memories of this office, and now I would just remember this one.

I tried to relax and think about the picture Dev kept on his desk. Neil had taken it. We’d gone to a baseball game. It was me and Danny and Dev smiling, our faces pressed together so we could get into the picture. Dev had tried to convince me that hot dogs were good and didn’t have anything to do with cats, but I’d had a bad experience with some troll street vendors and wasn’t willing to risk it. Daniel managed to catch a fly ball using only a little bit of his superpowers. Sarah and Felix had been with us. It had been right before we left for Faery. It seemed like forever ago.

I was shaking by the time Marini released the vein. The flesh of my neck felt raw and open. I didn’t think I was going to need a transfusion, but he’d definitely taken too much. When he released his hold on me, I slumped back, having no strength to remain upright.

“God, I never imagined.” He was on his knees over me, looking down. His face was flushed and he swayed slightly, like he was drunk. “I’ve never had anything like it. Not in all my companions. All these years.” His eyes were filled with a mad desire. “Zoey, do you know what we could do together? Don’t you understand, if you handled me properly, I would be your slave?”