Steal the Day (36 page)

I kissed him, and he held me for the longest time. After a while I walked to the heavy drapes and pulled them open. Daniel stepped back out of habit, but we were facing the east so there was no direct light this late in the afternoon. I opened the balcony door.

“Come on, baby,” I said, asking him to come outside with me.

His shielded his eyes from even the indirect light but after a moment he was used to it. He stood behind me and rested his chin on my head, his arms going around me. “It’s so beautiful. I never thought I would see this again.”

I squeezed his hands in mine and thought about the fact that this might be the last time I saw this. I was so glad I got to spend this time in the warmth with Daniel. I was grateful for every moment with Danny and Dev and Neil, and if I was successful, Sarah would have a chance at this again. There was a part of me that wished I could walk away from her and just enjoy my men and my friend but I couldn’t. I would feel her loss the rest of my life. I would spend it knowing that she suffered while I sat back.

“Shh, Zoey,” Daniel said, brushing my tears away. “We’ll get her back. It will be all right.”

We stood there together until the sun finally left the sky, and it was time to get ready for the night. Daniel was right. We would get her back or we would die trying.

Chapter Twenty-Two

The thing about having a really good plan is realizing, no matter how carefully you have constructed the design, no matter how you have planned for every contingency, something will always happen to fuck up your previously perfect plan. It’s even worse when that perfect plan you should have come up with is actually a half-ass plan that requires an enormous amount of improvisation. Improv might work well for a comedy routine, but it sucks when planning a theft.

As I looked at myself in the mirror just hours before the heist, I realized how much I couldn’t control about tonight’s operation. The best heists run something like a play. All the actors know their lines and when to enter and exit. There is only one plot and it follows through. Tonight there were enough plots to confuse even the most avid follower of the theater, and I wasn’t even aware some of them had been written into my play.

As Kelly dressed me and instructed the hair dresser how to fix my hair, I considered all the things that could go wrong. The list was close to endless. The first pitfall I thought about was how I was going to leave the party and enter the Hell plane. I doubted there would be a neon sign blinking “exit” so I was going to have to figure that out on my feet. Once I got onto the actual plane, I had no idea how big it was. What if I had to walk for miles? There were so many variables I couldn’t account for that I had to admit there was a high probability of this plan falling on its over-bloated ass. I was going to have to be prepared to call the whole thing off.

“Or you could just have a little faith,” a soft voice said behind me.

I looked up at the hairdresser who I had previously paid no attention to. Felicity Day’s face smiled down at me. “Hey, don’t move, you’re going to ruin my curls.” She directed my head to face forward. “Demons aren’t the only ones who can sense doubt, Zoey.”

“It’s an insane plan,” I said, looking at her reflection in the mirror.

“Yes, but some of the best plans are born of desperation. You don’t have to save her, you know. Most people would leave her to rot after what she did. You could walk away, and no one would really care except you and Neil. Daniel and Devinshea are only going along with the plan because they know you would do it on your own if they didn’t.”

“I should have found a way to save her before she got dragged to Hell. She was on my crew. She was my responsibility.”

Felicity wrapped another lock around the curling iron. “No, she wasn’t. Her path was set before her birth. It only changed when she met you. She’s not your responsibility. She made her own choices. Have you considered what you are risking to save this one person, Zoey? You risk many more people for the justice of one.”

“Are you trying to talk me out of this?” I sort of needed Heaven on my side here.

“No, I am trying to make you see that this is who you are. This is your nature. Your vampire thinks of the greater good. With a singular exception, he can sacrifice much for what he believes is just. You, on the other hand, tend to think in terms of personal justice. You’re concerned with individuals. When dealing with your husband, know that your concerns are just as well. They provide balance.”

“Am I going to succeed?” I asked, knowing she probably wouldn’t answer.

She smiled. “I believe so, but it will cost you. You will possibly pay for the events of this night for years to come.”

“Want to give me an example?” I really hate the way angels and demons like to talk about all the crap they know is going to happen in the future, but then they never go into the specifics. They always say something like “If you pursue your present course there will be many consequences.” Like I don’t know that. Just once I would like for one of these warning to include something like “Hey, don’t take a left at Brown Street because a car’s going to hit you.”

“Just know that you control the outcome, Zoey. Your will is the strongest weapon you have. And know that forgiveness is the greatest gift you can give yourself.”

I turned to complain about her deeply nonspecific warnings, but she was gone and another woman was curling my hair. She pronounced me finished when I heard the yelling from the living room area.

“This is bullshit!”

“Calm down.”

I rushed out. Neil was shouting. He was on one side of the room and Daniel and Dev were on the other. Everyone was dressed for the evening. Daniel was in a classic tux, Neil in an expensive suit and Dev just looked like sin. He was in a black three-piece suit without the jacket. The suit fit perfectly, and he’d eschewed a tie in favor of leaving the shirt open to show off his throat and the beginning of his sculpted chest. It was a conscious display of skin. At this type of event, servants dressed conservatively and lovers showed why they were lovers.

Daniel’s jaw was a straight, harsh line. “You knew this would happen, Neil. I have to present the Council with proof that their plan can work tonight. If I don’t, I risk exposing all of us.”

“It doesn’t have to be him,” Neil shot back.

“Oh, god.” I realized who we were talking about. The men all turned to look at me.

Neil rushed over, a glint of hope in his eyes. “Zoey, tell him no. Tell him to use someone else. Don’t let him send Chad to the Council. Justin can go. Justin is older. Just go over there and change his mind. Please.”

I looked at my friend, who was panicked at the thought of his lover being sacrificed to the Council. I was horrified, too, but I wasn’t sure there was anything I could do about it. I’d been kept in the dark about all but the vaguest of plans. Now I realized why. I would have said no. I would have tried to change their minds. I looked at Dev, who would be the easier of the two to persuade. “It should be someone else.”

He shook his head. “It’s too late. It’s already in motion.”

Daniel looked at us with sympathy. “Chad is the only choice. He is stronger by far than the rest of them. He can do the job. I am sorry this upsets you, Neil, but sacrifices must be made.”

Neil rounded on him. “You would never make this sacrifice, Daniel. You told me once you would never ask anything of me that you wouldn’t do yourself. Tell me, Your Highness, would you sacrifice Zoey to protect your secrets? The answer to that question is hell no.”

Daniel’s face hardened. “This was Chad’s choice. I didn’t order him to do it. He volunteered.”

“How can I know you’re not lying about that? You won’t let me see him. You kept this hidden from me,” Neil pointed out. “How do I know you didn’t convince him to do this? You could have threatened him.”

“I didn’t,” Daniel shot back, his face flushing with emotion. “I didn’t threaten anyone. And I didn’t hide a damn thing from you. Chad asked me to keep it quiet. He knew how you would react.”

Neil ignored that line of reasoning. “How about you Dev? Are you going to sacrifice your girl for the greater good?”

“I would never have made that promise to you, Neil,” Dev replied, his arms crossed. “It was a naïve promise made by an inexperienced royal. Of course he will ask things of you he won’t do himself.”

“It’s not the same thing, Neil,” Daniel tried to explain. “He’ll be back. I’m not sending him off to his death or anything. It’s one year of training that every vampire goes through. I’ve prepared him for this.”

“You’re sending him to the same Council that turned you into an emotionless automaton for years. You’re sending him to spy for you, and if he gets found out they will kill him, Daniel.” Neil faced Daniel, caught between tears and rage. “I’ve been your faithful servant for years. I’ve protected the woman you love with my life. I’m asking, begging you to protect the man I love. When I made my oath, you promised me protection. Chad made that same oath. Please keep the promises that were made to us.”

“Daniel, we can’t send Chad.” I knew Chad. I liked Chad. It couldn’t be Chad.

“Then who, Zoey? Who is it going to be?” Daniel exploded. “You tell me because you obviously know what you’re doing. You have absolutely no interest in what I have to do on a daily basis until you disagree with me. I can’t do this with you. I can’t fight them and fight you whenever the whim takes you. I like Chad. Do you really think I want to send him into a dangerous place? I don’t. Do you think I want to disappoint you, Neil? I don’t. I don’t want to do any of this, but if I don’t no one will and then all of us will suffer. You think I don’t make sacrifices, Neil? My whole fucking life is a sacrifice.”

“Then understand how I feel,” Neil pleaded.

“I can’t afford that, Neil,” Daniel replied, his voice tired. “I can’t afford to protect your feelings. Chad and I made this decision. It’s already in motion. It can’t be stopped at this point. It’s the right decision. It stands. I’ll take you with me to Paris when I have to go. You’ll be able to see him. I’ll make arrangements. He’ll be allowed to return in a year or so. You have to be satisfied with that.”

“Then I’ll see you in a year, Daniel,” Neil said bitterly. He turned away to move toward the door.

I actually felt the room swell with Daniel’s rage. I took a step back and suddenly Dev was at my side pulling me close, and I knew there was a real chance that this was going to get violent.

“You think to break your oath to me, wolf?” Daniel’s voice took on the tone of that beast that slept inside him.

Neil turned on his heels, his hands shifting back and forth from claws to fingers, not quite deciding which one would be of use. “You’ve already broken it. This is what everyone warned me about. You just use the people around you. You don’t really care about any of us. You aren’t capable of caring about anything except your own ambitions. I owe you nothing.”

“I’ll decide what is owed to me, and never doubt that I will claim my due.” There was such will behind Daniel’s words that I didn’t doubt it was a threat.

“Daniel, what are you doing?” I tried to pull away from Dev. I needed to stop this fight before someone got seriously hurt. The idea of my husband and best friend going after each other made my heart hurt. “Let me go.”

Dev trapped me in his arms and whispered in my ear. “You’ve done enough damage, Zoey. Be quiet now. He’s doing what he has to do. Neil is being unreasonable. Don’t make this worse.”

Neil looked back at Dev and me. His eyes took on his beast. They were a winter, glacial blue, but there was no mistaking the rage in them. “Hold her, Dev, while you can. You made a mistake last night. You let him in. Do you really think he’ll share her with you for any length of time? He’s using you to get back into her bed. I assure you, some handy accident will be coming for you. Zoey’s grief will only make her vulnerable. She’ll turn to him. Can’t you see that? He’ll never share his precious blood with you.”

“Enough,” Daniel roared. He held his hand out, and Neil’s body jerked, limbs twitching in an odd, ungainly manner. “My blood is in your veins, and it will run true. You will obey me in this. You will protect your queen and guard your mouth tonight. Is that understood, my servant?”

I watched as Neil tried, really tried, to form his own words, but what came out of his mouth was, “Yes, master.”

“Now go and stand guard at the door,” Daniel commanded.

Neil walked away to do as he was ordered. His movements weren’t graceful, as though he was fighting the compulsion.

When he was out of the room, Daniel looked at me, obviously anticipating a fight. His hands were shaking slightly with the force of his anger, but he stuffed them in his pockets. “Get her dressed. It’s time to go.”

“What the hell was that, Danny?” I dug my heels in the carpet, unwilling to ignore what had just happened. Had Daniel really taken control of Neil?

Daniel stalked toward me, gesturing to the door Neil had walked through. “That was necessary. What am I supposed to do, Z? Am I supposed to let him go? Am I supposed to leave you unprotected? He knows everything. All he has to do is open his mouth and this evening becomes an execution. Do you want to watch as your husband and your lover are decapitated? Don’t expect Marcus to save you. His head will be right beside ours. They’ll leave you alive, baby. Remember that ceremony you witnessed? If Neil opens his mouth, you’ll be sold tonight. I have no doubt your price will make Meredith look like a value meal from McDonald’s.”