Steal the Sun (39 page)

Yet another reason I was happy to live on the Earth plane. “That’s shitty. I wouldn’t ever cede my power.”

“We know you wouldn’t, Z” Neil said as Daniel stood again.

Danny reached down and helped me up. “We’re climbing.”

I groaned but got my butt off the log. I looked down at my Nikes. They were good for running and supposedly something called cross training, but I doubted that included complex mountain climbing. I’d also noted the snow started about halfway up to where we needed to go. I doubted my jeans were going to prove a good barrier against that frigid white powder.

I was more of an urban thief.

Lee was already taking off his shirt and he gave me a frown. I turned around so I wouldn’t see anything I’d already seen in action. Neil didn’t care. He passed me his polo to fold and then his jeans. He never bothered with anything as silly as underwear. When he was ready, he smiled and waved and changed in the blink of an eye, his transition from man to wolf a smooth slide. He barked cheerfully and ran to Lee, whose brown wolf was enormous. Lee’s wolf seemed larger than his human body. When in wolf form, Lee could give the black dogs a run for their money.

“Go on ahead,” Daniel said. “We’ll wait for you on top of the first ridge then we’ll continue together.” Danny picked me up again. He started to float and I hung on. “I can at least spare us the first leg.”

He made it to the ridge quickly and set me down. We waited, watching the wolves make their way up the rocky incline. Daniel hugged me to him, but his body didn’t provide the warmth that a human’s would. Still, I huddled close.

“It’s going to be all right, Z,” Danny said, and I heard the smile in his voice. “If it gets too cold, I’ll slit Lee open like a tauntaun and slide you inside for warmth.”

“Dweeb,” I shot back. Only my husband would be making
Star Wars
references at a time like this.

He laughed as the wolves caught up. We started the rest of the climb together.

* * * *

I clung to Danny’s neck as he dug his claws into the rock face. He tried once to swing his leg over the cave’s ridge but couldn’t quite make it. After we had gone as far as Danny could safely fly us, he’d put me on his back and made quick work of the climb. The claws he could pop out of his hands helped enormously. He’d clawed and scratched his way to the top. I was sure my weight on his back held him up, but he convinced me it was the easiest way to get this done. So I held on for dear life, my arms around his neck and legs hooked around his waist.

I felt a warm presence underneath me, and Lee pushed his back against Daniel’s legs. Wordlessly communicating, the vampire and the wolf got on the same page. Daniel stepped as lightly as possible on Lee’s back and managed to swing us up over the final hurdle. We landed in a heap and had to scramble to get up. Daniel leaned over the rock face and helped pull the wolves.

“God, he’s heavier than he looks,” Danny groaned as he hauled Lee over the ridge. “And he looks heavy.” Neil he only had to use one hand on. The wolves stayed in their furry bodies as we entered the cave, padding cautiously across the cave floor.

My hands shook as we moved carefully. I let my eyes adjust to the dark of the cave before carefully pulling out the small flashlight I’d placed in my pocket. It was a penlight, illuminating only a few feet ahead of me.

“Keep that down, Z.” Danny shielded his eyes when the small light hit them. He didn’t need anything so technological as a flashlight to see in the dark. “My eyes already adjusted and I’m sure the wolves’ have, too.”

I held the light down, shining where I was walking because my eyes wouldn’t adjust to being able to see in this blackness. It wasn’t always easy being the only pitiful human in the group. I took inventory of the cave, careful to keep my light away from preternatural eyes.

From what I could see, the cave was large, though the ceiling seemed to taper down after roughly a hundred feet. I bet we would find what we were looking for in the back of this cave. I found my footing much firmer as we hit rock. The ground was even this far into the cave, and I caught a glimpse of something metallic shining. It was just a shimmer, but that was all I needed. Bingo. X marks the spot and all that. I tripped slightly and fell to my side, hitting something kind of soft and…furry.

“Danny.” I spoke slowly, not moving at all because whatever I had hit was breathing in and out.

“Z, what the fuck are you doing? Get up. We have work to do.” Daniel moved close, reaching out to me.

I scrambled up and away from the now shifting body.

“Shit,” Danny said as an enormous eye opened. Even in the dark I could tell it was red and angry. It glowed like a stoplight.

The leprechauns had neglected to mention their enormous guard.

Chapter Twenty-Three

All of the trolls I’ve ever met personally are the type who could almost pass for human. They tend to be of Scandinavian descent. They’re not the only trolls to come from the north countries. There are a small number of trolls who used to rule Norway and Sweden before the humans hunted them down and they passed into legend.

I fell into one of those legendary frost giants, and when he sat up, the mountain moved.

“Holy shit,” Daniel yelled as the frost giant stood up.

The giant had to be at least twelve feet tall and he weighed what an eighteen wheeler would. Daniel looked like a leprechaun next to him. Lee growled and Neil moved in beside him, the hair on his back standing at rigid attention.

Daniel reached into his pocket and pulled out his handgun. I was wondering what he was going to do with it besides annoy the enormous frost giant. The bullets would be like mosquitoes to the giant. “Move your ass, Z. Get what we need so we can get out of here.”

I stepped back from the gigantic shadow against the cave wall. My penlight could only help me see bits and pieces of the enormous creature. He had white, mangy fur that looked like it could use a good conditioner and a blow out. As I moved the light up, I caught a glimpse of razor-sharp teeth. The giant took way better care of his choppers than the ogre had. They looked like his pride and joy. It was easy to see why the leprechauns had felt their treasure was safe here. Even if a thief could find their hiding place, they would have to deal with the frost giant—who did not like having his nap disturbed.

“What are you going to do?” I asked Daniel as the frost giant regarded us carefully with his red eyes.

“Distract him,” Daniel said with more confidence than I would have had.

“How?”

“I don’t know. I’m probably about to do a nice impression of a toothpick. Could you hurry up this heist?” Danny held the gun in his right hand and aimed it at the frost giant, who was still curious about the odd creatures who had invaded his home. He reached down and plucked Daniel up, hauling him into the air.

“Now would be a good time!” my husband yelled as he fired off three quick rounds.

The frost giant’s howl shook the world. Seriously, I think it moved my liver around.

I picked up the pace and started to the back of the cave. “I would aim for the eyes if I were you.” I shouted my helpful advice over my shoulder.

Daniel shot off four quick rounds. The giant roared again. Exactly as I knew would happen, the bullets just stung him and pissed him off because Danny hadn’t hit him in the eye. The whole cave shook with the force of the giant’s rage, and I had to clasp my hands over my ears because the sound was so loud. The echo after it did nothing to assuage the assault on my hearing.

I couldn’t see more than snatches of the fight. I heard something hit the ground with a low huff.

“Did you hear the stuff about the eyes?” I shouted my question as I caught a glimpse of Daniel rolling away from the giant’s attempt to squash him like a bug. I heard Lee’s growl and briefly saw Neil nipping at the giant’s heels. The cave shook as the giant’s fist narrowly missed its target.

“I heard you,” Daniel yelled irritably. “Woman, I am working here. Give me a break.”

I rolled my eyes. Men never listen to good advice. They have to make all the mistakes on their own because they just know better. “Fine, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. I tried all this stuff with the ogre. The only thing that worked was cold iron straight through the eye, into the old brainpan, and this guy is way bigger than the ogre. So shoot him in the damn eye.”

“Did I ask for your advice?” Daniel screamed.

There was a volley of gunfire and another gut-shaking roar. I jumped back as a bullet whizzed past me. I turned to my husband.

“Nice, Danny,” I said with some irritation of my own because I warned him about the dangers of bullets on large faery creature’s bones when I told him how I killed the ogre. “Ricochet. Do you listen? I told you that could happen.”

“This is why I don’t drive anywhere with you, baby.” Daniel growled through the darkness. I could hear he was on the run. “I don’t know how Dev handles it with you constantly giving him instructions.
Speed up, slow down. Why are you taking the scenic route?
It’s annoying, Zoey. It makes me want to pull out my hair.”

There was a loud thud and then the giant roared.

“Dev is a gentleman,” I continued once it got quiet enough to talk again. That last roar had made me drop the flashlight and it had gone out. I got on my knees and felt around for it. What Dev was really good at, I admitted to myself and myself alone, was tuning me out. When we drove somewhere together, his conversation consisted of saying “uh huh” and “yes, dear” a lot.

“Neil,” Daniel screamed. “Go with her! Get the freaking job done. If you don’t, she’s just gonna stand there and bitch at me because I’m not working fast enough for her.”

I frowned in the darkness. Put like that, I did seem kind of controlling. I had to admit I was harder on Danny in these situations than I would have been with Dev and that wasn’t exactly fair. Danny deserved praise, too. Right?

“I think you’re doing a wonderful job, baby.” I used my best cheerleader voice. I found the flashlight and now Danny crawled up the creature’s torso and was trying to punch him in his probably sensitive nose. “Just like a shark,” I commented, letting my appreciation for his technique show through. “Very clever.”

Daniel groaned as he was tossed off and Neil was there growling at me, looking thoroughly annoyed. He used his nose to push me forward.

“Fine.” I knew why he was mad. He wanted in on the kill, and he’d never tasted frost giant before. “I was only trying to help.”

Neil and I made our way through the cold darkness. The cave’s ceiling eventually sloped down and I had to stoop as I got closer and closer to the back. I moved the flashlight around, searching for the glint of metal I’d seen before, but I couldn’t quite remember exactly which direction it had come from.

Neil scented the air and then put his nose firmly to the ground. He looked up at me and yipped shortly. It was an order. He had the scent he wanted. I trained my flashlight on his white tail and followed. When I heard his happy bark, I knew he’d found what he was looking for.

Even in the gloom of the cave, I could see the gleam of gold. Wherever my light hit, the color washed across the walls, glittering in the darkness. The leprechauns had been right to be worried. This was some cache of treasure.

“God, Z, it’s like a pirate treasure.” Neil was suddenly a naked man. He still didn’t seem to mind the cold. He reached down and picked up a handful of gold coins and let them drip from his fingers. “We’d never have to work again.”

“No, we wouldn’t,” I commented with amusement. He was forgetting a few truths about the leprechauns. “We would never have to work again because we would meet with some nasty accident before we could ever spend it.”

Neil pouted up at me. “That sucks. If we’re smart enough to steal it we should be able to spend it.”

“Doesn’t work that way, buddy, at least not in Faery. Those leprechauns will be in here soon making sure I didn’t take anything we didn’t agree on. If they find a single coin missing, they’ll be after us.” I looked at the chest in the middle of all that glorious gold. I ran my hands over it. It was solidly built and there was a heavy chain around it. I felt the well-made lock holding the chains together. It whispered to me, like all locks do. It begged me to wiggle it and play with it and pick it open.

“I want my own money, Z.” Neil looked forlornly at the wealth around him. “I’m not married to Dev. He shouldn’t have to give me an allowance. I would rather he just let me pick his pocket. At least I would feel like I was working for it.”

I heard another volley of shots as I pulled my lockpicks out of my pocket. Daniel was obviously having a good time with the frost giant. “You are working for it. He’s paying you to be my bodyguard. It isn’t an allowance. It’s your salary.”

“Lee is your bodyguard,” Neil said with a sigh. “I’m just your playmate. I don’t even cook anymore. Albert kicked me out of his kitchens. I just hang around the house and go shopping with you.”

“And take arrows in the ass to save my life.” I rubbed my hands together vigorously to get some feeling in them. I needed my hands warm and working to feel the give and take that came with raking the lock and holding the pins in place. Lockpicking is a delicate business and requires a deft touch that one doesn’t normally get from frozen hands. “The minute we get back, I’ll look around for a job. I’ll make it small time so it can be just you and me.”