Steal the Night (53 page)

I slammed the bathroom door behind me and barely made it to the toilet before what little I had in my stomach came heaving up. I sat there on the cold floor completely miserable, my body shaking with grief and sickness. When I finished, I laid my head down on the cool marble.

“Zoey,” I heard Trent’s Boston accent through the door. “Are you all right? Should I get a doctor?”

“I’m fine,” I lied, pushing myself up. I felt something move against my chest and I reached down.

I pulled out the fake Blood Stone and was grateful no one thought to undress me. I held it up to the light. It would pass inspection, but not if Louis studied it closely. It didn’t have the same shine as the original but I just needed it to hold the Blood Stone’s place for long enough to let me get away. I needed a place to hide the fake Marcus had given up his freedom to get to me.

I forced myself up and opened one of the cabinets, looking for a place to hide it. There was a big box of tampons. I doubted any man—human, werewolf, or vampire—would think to look for something there. I put the fake in and covered it up. I rose and caught sight of myself in the mirror.

The face that stared back was a shock. I was older, weary. This was the face of a widow.

I shoved my grief as far down into my soul as I could. I had a job to do. I had living people who needed me. This was what Myrddin meant. I had to push aside my pain and do the job. I had to live because if I didn’t then Dev had died in vain and Lee’s sacrifice meant nothing.

I memorized the face in the mirror and I was ready to go to work.

Chapter Thirty-Three

I ate every bit of the eggs and bacon Trent brought me thirty minutes later. I ignored the coffee but downed the orange juice and forced myself to finish off two buttery croissants and a bowl of fruit. While my soul might not be interested in food, the two boys growing in my belly were insistent on it. I was famished and my fingers just kept on putting food in my mouth.

Trent watched closely. I was sure I was an odd sight. My face was puffy and my eyes red. I’d gotten back into the jeans and T-shirt I’d worn the night I was kidnapped because I saw no evidence Rose had been successful in her mission of buying me clothes. In fact, I saw no evidence of Rose or Robert at all. Had she been sold while I was sleeping?

“Where is Rose?”

The Boston wolf leaned forward and kept his voice low. “Are you feeling up for this, Your Highness? A lot has happened since…”

“Since my husband was murdered,” I finished for him. I steeled myself because I was going to have to be tough. I couldn’t give in to the urge to wail every time I thought of Devinshea. I had to hold it together until I was in Daniel’s arms again. When that happened, I could grieve and cry all I wanted and Daniel would grieve with me.

“Yes, ma’am,” Trent replied carefully. “A lot has happened since then, and I don’t think you’re going to like some of it.”

“I don’t like anything that happened in the last several days, Trent,” I said bitterly. “Is Daniel alive?”

“Yes. Yes, ma’am,” Trent replied quickly. “Your husband is alive. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like that. The king is alive and well and giving the Council hell.”

Something inside me released and I realized I was just waiting for someone to tell me Danny was dead. I had to keep faith. I nodded and poured another glass of orange juice. Despite sleeping for a day and a half, I found myself exhausted. I hoped it was the aftereffects of Marcus’s magic and not another symptom of my pregnancy. “Tell me everything.”

“Almost all of Marini’s strong supporters are now in the catacombs,” the wolf told me. “Donovan started picking them off one by one, neat, clean executions. Now they’re all hiding here, plotting what to do next. There are plenty of vampires who are staying neutral and the king has stated as long as they offer no aid to the Council, he won’t touch them. The rest of them are with Daniel in London. As far as I can tell, every living academic has either gone into hiding or they’re in the Order’s headquarters. Marini is pissed. He’s sworn to kill them all.”

“And Rose?”

“Rose is missing,” Trent replied, holding his hands up to let me know it was a mystery. “She and her manservant left to go shopping in the city. Marini couldn’t afford to give her a full escort. The vampire sent with her lost track of her. He searched all night but couldn’t find her. Marini thinks Donovan snagged her in retaliation for him taking you.”

So Rose had gotten her chance and she’d taken it. I smiled, thinking of Rose running. She would run straight for her mother and she wouldn’t look back and she’d managed to save Robert in the process. She would feel the sun on her face again and know her mother’s arms around her. She would get her life back, and I was so grateful for that.

“That’s marvelous,” I murmured. “How’s Marini taking all of this?”

“He’s this close to losing control,” Trent said, holding his thumb and forefinger very close together. “He’s been violent and cruel. I worry he’s going to take it out on you.”

“I think you’ll find a companion has many talents,” I said enigmatically. I would have to sooth the vampire and I hated the prospect, but I couldn’t have his beast loose. I swallowed twice before I got the next question out. “Has Daniel…does he know about…Dev?”

Trent frowned. “I think so. I haven’t heard, but I can’t communicate every day. This is the part I don’t think you’ll like. Marini sent the magician and two other vampires to deliver the prince’s body to the Order’s headquarters last night. Only Thomas came back. He said they were ambushed and only he got away. I don’t know why, but I think he was lying about something.”

“Naturally he survives.” I hated Chad with everything I had. Before all of this was done, I was going to kill that vampire. I knew Neil would be upset but I wouldn’t let Chad get his hands on my best friend after what he’d done to Dev. I would protect Neil by avenging my husband. “How long do I have before sundown?”

Trent checked his watch. “Fifteen minutes. If you’re all right, I need to get down to the dungeons and check something out. This morning a couple of the guards found a wolf prowling the sewers. He won’t leave his wolf form, and they couldn’t chase him away. It was like he was tracking someone and wouldn’t give it up. I think he’s sick but I need to figure out if he’s a friendly before Marini up and kills him. Maybe I can get him out.”

My hands started shaking. “Is he white?”

“I think so,” Trent said.

I was running for the door before Trent could get up.

* * * *

“Neil?”

My voice was hushed in the gloom of the dungeon. I forced myself to go in. I was pretty sure that my every nightmare would take place in this dark prison from now on. The first thing I saw when I entered the dungeons was Dev, that big body of his hitting the floor with a resounding thud. He wouldn’t get up again. I hated the fact that when I closed my eyes and thought of my husband, this was the image I got.

I shook the thoughts from my brain and rejoined reality. A white wolf lay on the stone floor of the same cell where my husband had died. He was so still, his fur matted and drab, and I feared I was too late again.

“You know this wolf?” Trent was careful now because there was a shifter watching us.

I nodded. “He’s my friend. He was tracking me. I have no idea how he managed to get all the way here, but I’m sure he was looking for me.”

“Marini will be thrilled to find out he got close enough to sniff out his companion,” the shifter muttered. I was almost certain he would shift into a large snake. There was something about the eyes even in human form that reminded me of the cold dead eyes of a snake.

“I need to get in there with him.” I forced myself to concentrate on Neil and not the predators that surrounded me.

“No,” the men said in perfect harmony.

“Please,” I begged. “He isn’t dangerous.”

“I’m not taking that chance,” the shifter said. “The master is going to be pissed enough we let him get anywhere close to us. The last thing I need is him knowing I let his companion into a cell with an unknown wolf.”

Neil’s white head struggled as he tried to look around for me.

“I’m here, sweetie,” I said through the cell bars. I moved to the cell and shoved my hands through. I was able to get close and Neil whimpered as he finally caught my scent and realized it wasn’t a trail but the destination. His clear blue eyes turned and found mine, and I cried as he crawled toward me. “It’s all right, Neil. I’m here. It’s going to be okay.”

I didn’t know why he wouldn’t change, but I didn’t care. He often stayed in wolf form when he felt vulnerable. I just let my fingers run through the soft fur of his back. He crawled close and turned over to offer me his belly, a sure sign he needed comfort. I rubbed him and murmured reassuring words to him.

That was how Louis found us some time later.

“I see you woke up,” the vampire said, staring down at me as I kneeled by the cage. Even with some distance between us, I could feel his rage. “And you found a friend.”

I kept my expression as soft as I could. Louis’s beast was dangerously close to the surface. Daniel’s plans were working. Marini was losing control and he was more prone to make mistakes when he panicked. Unfortunately, he was also more likely to beat the shit out of me. I had to avoid that at all costs. “You remember Neil.”

He should since he was the one who had given Stewart permission to cart him off to the Hell plane.

“I remember the wolf,” Louis said with not a whit of concern in his voice. “He was given to the demon as payment for the demon’s betrayal. He looks worse for the wear.”

“I need to get him out of there and take a look at him,” I said quietly. “He needs food and water.”

The vampire’s dark eyes were calculating. “I think not. The faery’s body didn’t seem to move Donovan much. He killed another two of my vampires while you slept and he stole Rose. I was going to use her as payment to a loyal subject. Now I have to come up with something else. This one was his servant. Perhaps his death will mean something to the king.”

“He won’t care,” I lied quickly. “He and Neil haven’t worked together for a very long time. Neil turned his back on Danny and Danny won’t forgive him. He only lets Neil stay around because he’s my pet.”

Louis laughed, a nasty sound. “Of course. So I get to be the bad guy once more. It seems to be the role you have me cast in. You blame me for the prince’s death and now it seems I am cruel even to your little pets. I don’t think I can win with you, companion. Perhaps it’s time I cut my losses.”

Some big part of me panicked at that thought. He could do it, and I had always known he could. He could decide I was far too much trouble and slit my throat and toss me on Daniel’s doorstep, but I doubted he would do it himself. He would let one of the guards do it because no vampire would waste what I could give them. Then again, the sun had only been down for a few minutes. He must have run to find me so quickly. I had to gamble that he was trying to get the upper hand.

Pushing down the bile that threatened to rise at the thought of what I was about to do, I stood. Neil whimpered at my feet and it was a sad, pathetic little sound. I glanced down and I could have sworn that wolf winked at me. He knew what I had to do and he would play his part, too.

I walked up to Louis and got close enough so I knew he could smell me, hear my heart beating in my chest, see the pulse quickening at my throat. My voice was slow and the words honeyed. “If you’re going to kill me, Louis, please make it quick. I would prefer not to suffer. I haven’t done anything to you but give you my blood, my body. I think I deserve a quick death.”

I stood there as he watched me like a hawk watches a fluffy bunny right before she becomes dinner. His eyes told me he wasn’t thinking about how to kill me anymore. “If I allow the wolf to live, what do I get, companion?”

“Louis, you don’t have to negotiate with me,” I replied, my voice soft. “I’m already yours.”

Louis looked around and realized the two guards were listening to everything we said.

“Out,” he barked and the shifter and Trent walked away, closing the door behind them. I knew in that instant that I had him. If he didn’t want to look weak in front of his employees, then he wasn’t really thinking about killing me.

The vampire walked around me and toward the cage where Neil lay. He regarded the wolf seriously. “He doesn’t look like he’s doing well.”

“Yes,” I explained. “He isn’t on vampire blood and he wasn’t the strongest wolf to begin with. As you can see, whatever Stewart did to him has weakened him further. Oh, Louis, he isn’t a threat to anyone.”

He stared for a moment and seemed to come to a decision. “If I allow him to join you in your rooms, you would vouch for his good conduct?”

Neil’s tail started thumping and I nodded my head vigorously. “I promise. He’ll be good. I’ll be good. I’ve lost so much. Please, just let me have this one thing.”

The vampire’s hands found my shoulders and he held me carefully. He glared down at me, the full extent of his will my way. “No more grieving, Zoey. I’m sick of tears. You’ll do your job. You will warm my bed and you will do it willingly. You just laid beneath me the last time. I found it unsatisfying. I want your passion. I want what you gave to Daniel.”