Steal the Sun (42 page)

Nim frowned and faced Daniel as well. “Now, see, he was perfectly reasonable when I was playing with her. He was cheering me on. Please don’t hurt yourself. He won’t cause her pain. I promise. We’re not like that. We just want to have a little fun. We’ll let you watch if you like.”

The new guy’s eyes rolled but it was not from sarcasm. They rolled back and he became a different person entirely. When he spoke, his voice was deeper and smoother. It was a voice that could pull you in if you weren’t careful. These eyes were way more interested in Daniel than me. “Nim, my dear, don’t you know vampires tend to not share? He’s been trying to trick you.”

Nim glanced at Daniel. “Trick me?”

The man chuckled indulgently. “Yes. He was trying to trick you into releasing him, though I doubt he would have hurt you. He’s an odd sort. He has very firm ideas of morality, and you triggered his kinder impulses. This one is his companion. Am I correct?”

For a moment there was silence as we waited. All I could hear was that dog barking again. The dark man narrowed his eyes as he looked at my vampire.

Daniel’s voice was hesitant, as though he were responding not entirely of his own free will. “She is my companion. No. I do not share her. I was willing to go along with Nim in the hopes that she would free me and I could run with my wife.”

Coal black eyes considered me carefully. “I thought so. Tell me something. Were you going to hurt Nim?”

Daniel immediately answered, his voice a rough monotone. “No. She’s no threat. She’s quite nice. I would have spared her life, but I would have taken my wife from here. I can talk all I like, but I don’t want anyone but myself or my partner touching her. I suffered it because I thought she might take me out of the chains.”

Well, that explained a lot. “Daniel, it’s going to be okay.”

Daniel didn’t seem to hear me. All of his attention was on the new guy. “How did you know she’s my companion?”

“She glows,” he replied. “Of course, all living creatures glow for me, but her shine is quite different. She’s luminous. She’s rare. I’m sure her blood is exquisite for you. Don’t be upset. Calm yourself, vampire. I have no intention of trying it for myself. I was merely making an observation. How many vampires did you kill to keep this one?”

“I’ve never fought a duel for her.” Daniel had stopped fighting and was still, but in a way that made me wary. His entire body seemed to have gone limp. “No one would dare. If you choose to be the first, I’ll be more than happy to fight you once you take these chains off.”

There was a dark, seductive laugh. “I assure you, I don’t need those chains to keep myself safe from you. Right now, consider them your protection.” He turned back to his girlfriend. “So you bought me a vampire to play with.”

She smiled and sat up on the bed, her eyes a playful invitation. “I thought you would like him. I lucked into it. I got the girl for me and Roarke and the vampire for you, sweetie. I know they’ve become rare on the Earth plane.”

“I would enjoy the female as well, Nim. Roarke isn’t the only one who enjoys sex. I simply think we should think about using this one.” He looked back to Daniel. “Vampires are rare indeed. I remember when there was an army of undead warriors. It couldn’t last, of course, but it was something to see. You, my lover, have brought me something even better than a mere vampire.”

“What is he?” Nim asked, curious.

Masculine lips turned up in a smile. “I think he’s a king.”

“Seriously?” Nim looked at Daniel with renewed interest.

“How do you know that?” I was deeply uncomfortable with the way that man stared at my husband. Very few people outside of vampire society understood what the word “king” meant in our world. This man seemed to grasp the term fully.

“I know everything about him, companion.” He reached up and touched Daniel’s face. I expected Daniel’s fangs to flash, but he went unnaturally still. I didn’t like the vacant look in his baby blue eyes. “I know he died in a vehicle seven years ago. You were his final thought before his human life ended and the first when his vampire life began. He has killed…oh, has he killed. He’s a death machine, as all kings are. What’s wrong with his heart?”

“How did you know?” I asked, my voice shaking a bit. “What are you doing to him?”

Danny was so still that I knew something was wrong. I struggled against the damn ropes holding me down. The man looked at me and there was no white left in his irises, just black orbs. I knew those eyes. I’d seen them before. They were emerald green when my husband’s god took over and brown when the Hunter was present. There was only one other ascended god I knew of in either
sithein
. He was the one who terrified me. I stopped struggling because it wouldn’t do me any good. I decided to see if Death had a heart.

“Please,” I begged. “Please don’t hurt him.”

Arawn, the Welsh god of the Dead, turned to me and smiled.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“My Lord, I have word that there is a small party moving toward our position,” a young man said from the doorway. He didn’t seem concerned that his master had a naked woman tied to the bed or a chained vampire in the corner. He didn’t give a damn that I’d been pleading for my husband’s life.

“That will be Herne,” Arawn explained shortly. “He’s on his way to discuss our current situation in regards to the Seelie. He’ll be joining us in our journey to the palace to meet with King Angus. See that his needs are met.” The black-haired Lord of the Dead frowned down at his servant as there was another long volley of barking from outside. “Is there a reason the dogs are so loud?”

“It’s not our hounds, My Lord.” The servant wrung his hands in defeat. “There’s a stray dog in the yard. I’ve tried everything I can think of to get the dog to go away, but he just comes back. He just stands out there looking at the house and barking.”

“I’m sure Nim fed him at some point,” Arawn said with a long-suffering sigh. “We’ll never get rid of him now. Well, perhaps if you let our hounds out he’ll be frightened off.”

The servant nodded and left, closing the door behind him. I wasn’t concerned with Arawn’s animal control issues. I had much bigger problems.

“What did you do to him?” I strained to see my husband. His head was slumped forward now and he was still.

Arawn sat down on the bed. He was on one side of me and Nim on the other. Unlike his girlfriend, he was respectful enough to keep his eyes on my face. “He’s only sleeping, companion, as he should be during the day. Even those with the power to daywalk must rest for a time. He was emotional. It cost him much to pretend to be all right with what Nim was doing to you.”

Nim stiffened. “I didn’t hurt her.”

Arawn ignored her. “I gave him respite. He will wake when the sun goes down and he will feel more like himself. It will be no more than thirty minutes.”

“We lost a whole day?” It had been night when Gilliana had taken us hostage and sent us into servitude. Every day we lost brought us closer to Devinshea being in battle and potentially killed. I was on a timer and it was moving fast. I had to find a way out of this cozy domestic situation I found myself in.

Nim smoothed back my hair. She seemed intent on calming me down. “It’s all right, Zoey. Arawn won’t hurt your vampire. As for losing a day, well, travel can be difficult. I know you had to come across the plains, and that is a long journey. Now you can rest and relax and know that I’ll take care of you.”

“Yes, you can relax and tell me what is wrong with the vampire’s heart,” Arawn commanded softly.

“So you can use it against him?”

Arawn shook his head and he and Nim shared a long look. “She’s not very trusting.”

Nim shrugged her slender shoulders. “She was sold into slavery. I suppose that could make you wary. Perhaps if I untied her she would believe me that we don’t intend her harm.”

Jet black eyes looked down at me and after a moment, he made his decision. “We’re going to unbind you, companion. Behave yourself. I would prefer to not have to punish you.” He sighed inwardly. “Yes, Roarke, I know you think it would be fun to spank her, but I have different objectives. There will be time for your games later. Can I trust you not to try anything?”

“For now,” I agreed, wanting much to get the feeling back in my hands. I was willing to bide my time.

Herne was on his way. Hopefully he wasn’t too pissed about the whole being-blamed-for-crimes-he-hadn’t-committed thing. He knew who I was and that I wasn’t a slave. Then, again, I knew the way the Hunter thought. He might advise Nim to wash her hands of the whole thing. She couldn’t get into trouble if no one could find our bodies.

I was untied and finally able to sit up. My wrists ached and I wondered just how long Daniel had enjoyed watching Nim play with my unconscious body. Nim reached over to her nightstand and pulled out a jar of some kind of oil. She dabbed some on my wrists and began to rub away the chafing the heavy ropes had caused.

The Lord of all things Dead looked at me impatiently.

I was still wary. He obviously had powers over my husband that I never imagined possible. I hated the feeling. I wasn’t used to Danny being vulnerable. Daniel was my Superman. I just hoped we hadn’t walked into a whole mess of kryptonite. “How do I know you won’t use the knowledge to harm him?”

“I’m merely curious.” Arawn spoke evenly, as though we were talking about a simple science experiment. “I’m interested in all things dead. He’s an amazing specimen. I’m afraid I always indulge my curiosity. If you refuse to tell me I’ll simply open the vampire up and discover the truth for myself.”

“Well, that makes me feel better,” I spat at him while Nim threw him a dirty look.

“Don’t scare my pet,” Nim demanded.

“Yeah, don’t scare her pet,” I agreed. She was working on my feet now. I decided Arawn was serious and proceeded cautiously. “It’s a control measure. It’s a device filled with injectable silver. They had it surgically implanted on his heart shortly after he died and rose as vampire.”

“‘They’ being the Council, I assume,” Arawn murmured, looking at Daniel. “I’ve always been interested in the vampires. They’re fascinating creatures. Their bodies are dead, only reanimated by the blood of those they feed upon. They’re so much more interesting than other dead things. They have an entire society and laws that are different from the living. Most undead creatures are solitary, but the vampires have formed their own little world. Is that Frenchman still in charge?”

I nodded. He was up to date on his politics. “Yes, Louis Marini still heads the Council. He placed the device on Danny’s heart. If he wants to, he can push a button and that device will pump silver through his system.”

“Very efficient,” the death god said. “I suppose he wanted to keep the king from reaching his full potential while still using him as an asset. I never liked that Frenchman. He’s arrogant and ambitious. I suppose the device has fail-safes.”

I nodded and raised my voice because it didn’t sound like the hounds were driving off that dog of Nim’s. The barking had gotten louder. “If we try to extract the device, it will go off.”

“Have you considered staying on this plane? I assume the detonator only works in close proximity.”

Of course, I’d thought about it. We could be safe here but everyone on the Earth plane would end up under Marini’s dominion. Daniel was the only one who could stop Marini. “We have people we care about back on the Earth plane. Marini has plans. That army of vampires you talked about, well, Marini wants to revisit the good old days. He’s preparing for war, first against the other supernaturals and then the humans.”

“Yet another reason to stay here,” Arawn said reasonably.

“No.” I’d had this argument in my head a thousand times. “We have to go back and we have to fight. I won’t allow them to take my home and my people. We were given the tools and strength to fight back and we will damn well use them.”

“And probably die in the process.”

“Probably.” At least we would go down together.

Nim crawled up the bed and kissed my cheek. Her soft hands tried to smooth the tension from my shoulders. “Now she doesn’t have to. She can stay with us and we’ll protect her and pamper her. Why should something so pretty have to fight?”

“Because she believes,” Arawn said, and there was suddenly respect in his voice. “I wish you luck against the Frenchman. He’s more formidable than he looks. You must solve the vampire’s heart issue, though. It will be the death of him.”

“He doesn’t believe it.” Dev and I took the issue more seriously than Danny.

A dark brow arched. “I am the Lord of Death. I can see all possible deaths for a person. Right now, if you continue on your course, the most likely event is the vampire dying from his heart exploding.” Arawn reached out and touched my face lightly. I was surprised his touch was warm and not cold. I held still but it was hard. My skin tingled where he touched me. “His death leads to yours. You will die at Marini’s hands, attempting to avenge your husband.”

“She won’t if she stays here,” Nim insisted.

Arawn ignored her. “It’s what I see. You must get that thing off his heart. It’s an interesting quandary. I shall think on it for a while. Stop pawing the girl, Nim. She’s obviously not a slave. There’s been a mistake. The vampire is important. I can feel that and she’s important as well.”