Steal the Moon (23 page)

I found myself unwilling to praise him for his liberated attitude. I was far too busy wondering if I could get that little box out of his hand. It had been a while since I played the pickpocket, but I figured I could still do it.

Marini laughed, easily discerning my intentions. “Don’t even try it. It’s not the only one tuned to the proper frequency. I would advise you not to try to remove the device either. It will only cause it to engage. Do the job.”

“And then what?”

“And then you will do the next job and the one after that,” Marini answered. “Would you prefer I lie and tell you I’ll give you the box after you do this one little job? I doubt you would believe me. I promise you I’ll treat you fairly, Zoey. I’ll call you Zoey from now on because I think we’re past formalities. Make yourself useful to me, Zoey, and we will get on well. You can keep your husband and your lover and other than the occasional job, you’ll be left in peace.”

I doubted that, but what was I supposed to do? I needed to survive the interview first and foremost. When I got out of this room intact, I could start worrying about how I was going to get that thing out of Daniel’s body. Then I could figure out how I was going to kill Marini. I nodded my reluctant consent. One minute Marini was on the couch and the next he was invading every inch of my space.

“Then we have a deal.” His face was so close to mine I heard the light snap of his fangs as they popped out. I tried to take a step back but the wall was against me, and there was nowhere to go. “We should seal the deal, little thief. In your world you would do it with a handshake. We’re not in your world.”

I held myself still as he rubbed his face against my neck, breathing in the scent. I felt the sharpness of his fangs graze my vulnerable flesh and shrank back. He chuckled and pulled his head away, his body still pinning mine against the wall. He obviously enjoyed my discomfort on a base level.

Still laughing, he pulled my left wrist to his mouth and there was a short, sharp sting before his tongue licked the blood he had spilled. When he was done, he let me go.

“You are so sweet. It’s truly intoxicating. You should run away now, Zoey,” he said softly. “Before I change my mind and decide your blood is worth more than your talents.”

I was out of the room before he could say anything else. As I shut the door behind me, I ran directly into Chad.

“Are you all right?” He had to hold on to my shoulders because I was anything but steady.

“Where’s Dev?” I didn’t really want to answer his question. I was so past all right it was ridiculous. I was shaking and my wrist hurt. I wanted to go home and forget the evening ever happened.

“He’s waiting in the limo,” Chad explained, taking my hand and leading me down the hall. “I had to convince him not to tear up the place looking for you. He wants to have a few words with Marcus about leaving you.”

I would have a few choice words for Marcus when I saw him tomorrow as well. “Did you know Marini was going to corner me?”

Chad’s face was blank as he decided how to answer me. “I did. I thought it best you went in cold. I have to play things close to the vest when I’m around him and I’m almost always around him. I’ve become valuable to the Council,” Chad said, helping me down the stairs. “Until everything is ready, I would suggest you play along with whatever Marini wants. I’ll do what I can from this side to help you.”

“He’s sending someone with some information for me in a few weeks,” I told him. “If there’s any way…”

“I’ll try, Zoey,” he agreed. “I think he trusts me enough. Watch your back and find my boy.”

I nodded and then we were in the lobby. I practically ran out of the club, slamming the door behind me. The heat of the night should have been oppressive, but I let it fill my lungs as I took my first deep breath in hours. In a second, Dev was out of the limo and wrapping his arms around me. He took me back to the car and securely locked the doors but made no move to tell the driver to leave. It was comforting to know I didn’t have to ask. He would rather wait all night than leave Daniel here.

I sat in Dev’s lap, feeling safer than I had in hours, and told him everything. I didn’t leave out a thing, even the fact that I was supposed to steal something from his mother’s kingdom. I told him about the tiny bomb on Daniel’s heart. It was such a relief to talk to Dev because I knew he would immediately start working on the problems and I could concentrate on what I do best.

I was half asleep, resting on the limo’s plush seat, when Daniel finally opened the door. The minute he was seated, the car pulled away, and I heard the two talking softly. Daniel tried to keep his voice down so as not to wake me, but there was no mistaking his fury.

“Give me one good reason, Dev,” he said in a low growl. “Give me one reason I don’t go back there and kill that son of a bitch right now.”

“Well, for one, he’ll press a button and your heart will explode,” Dev pointed out. “We should probably come up with a way around that before you go berserker on him.”

“I’ll do it during the day. After the way I fed tonight, I’ll be up by noon.”

“Even if you could find his resting place—and I think he’ll probably hide—we have no idea what safeties he’s put in place with that device. He could have any number of ways to kill you if he’s suddenly gone. Then there’s the fact that if we take out the Council now, we run the risk of all-out war that would risk the human population. Get your alliances in place and then we can move. Get the wolves and I’ll get Faery and then we can kill them all.”

Daniel cursed and sat back, but he knew Dev was right.

“I’ll contact Declan tonight,” Dev said. “I’ll talk to him in the morning. We meet with the wolves in a few weeks. It could all be over by the end of summer.”

“Dev, you know what to do if he uses that thing,” Daniel said.

“She’ll be protected,” Dev assured him. “I’ll make my brother understand. I’ll get consent one way or another, and then we won’t have to worry about it. If they try to come for her, they can fight all of Faery.”

I watched, my sleepy eyes loving every bit of them, and I knew I would do whatever it took to protect my men. I would play Marini’s game, but I was going to find a way to change the rules.

Chapter Fourteen

Zack was on me before I even closed the door to the office the next morning.

“You want another shot, Zoey? You want to try to take me out this morning?” Zack gave his chest a masculine thump as he advanced toward me. “Let’s try it again and see who ends up unconscious on the floor.”

I grinned down at my former bodyguard because I found the situation entirely amusing. “Wow, Zack. That little nap did nothing to help your disposition. Maybe I should tranq you again.”

Zack growled and seemed just about to change and chase me down when Lee pulled him away from the stairs. “Now, Zack, you should be thanking Zoey. You no longer have to spend every minute of the day following her around the mall. I thought you’d be happy to get reassigned to Quinn. Now you can worship him from up close.”

Zack gave his brother a shit-eating grin as I joined them. “We’ll see how you like having to follow Zoey. You won’t be able to prowl around like you prefer, brother. Not when you’re her primary baby-sitter. You have to keep eyes on her every minute because she’s like a two-year-old following the first shiny object that catches her attention.”

I rolled my eyes. “That’s not true.”

“Is, too.”

“Is not.”

“Both of you stop it.” Lee got in between us and turned his attention to me. “Zoey, hold still.” He walked around me, lifting his head and breathing in long passes, filling his lungs up. “I need to get your scent.”

Werewolves make a big deal about scents. They’re connoisseurs of smells. What smells awful to a human is merely different to a wolf. They don’t make judgments or play favorites. Scent is simply a way to view the world or, in Lee’s case, a way to do his job.

Zack crossed his arms over his chest and watched with glee as Lee invaded my space. He rubbed his nose in my hair and across my neck, causing me to get goose bumps wherever he ran his sniffer. He held his arms tightly to his sides, not allowing himself to touch me at all.

Pure amusement lit Zack’s eyes. “You want Lee, you get a serious wolf. I swear he’s more wolf than human sometimes. He’ll smell you like this three times a day.”

“You would, too, if you wanted to be serious about your freaking job, Zack,” Lee grumbled. “She’s my responsibility. Her scent should be around me all the time. I should know it like I know the smell of my own home. I should be able to track her for miles because I know every nuance of her. You rely on that damn vamp blood, but it can’t replace memorizing every goddamn inch of her body. Now be quiet. I’m concentrating.”

I stood there and let Lee sniff me, feeling only vaguely uncomfortable as he ran his nose down my arms and into my arm pits. I’d cleaned up and used all the products a hygienic female should use, so I tried to be tolerant. I tried not to let Zack know how weird it all felt until, damn it, Lee just had to drop to his knees and go there. He put his damn nose right in my girl parts. I slapped his curly brown head.

He frowned up at me as Zack laughed out loud, practically bending in half. Lee’s eyes were impatient, and he looked at me like I was an idiot. “It’s the place where your scent’s the strongest. Why do you think dogs try to get their noses there?”

“It’s private,” I said, blushing.

“Not if I’m guarding you, it isn’t,” Lee replied, now starting on my legs. “Don’t you think I’m trying anything funny, sister. I assure you I don’t have any designs on you. The last thing I need in my life is some high-maintenance princess with a criminal mind and two damn husbands.”

I chose not to mention that I only had one husband. Dev was just my boyfriend. Lee continued on his quest to embarrass me to the fullest extent possible.

He sniffed my feet and then glanced over at Zack. “You should try it sometime. You would be able to tell all kinds of things about the client. It’s harder for them to lie when you really know their scent.”

“Please try it on Dev.” I would really love to see how my green-eyed boy handled a sniffing wolf.

“So what’s the report on the brat?” Zack ignored me completely.

“Well, there’s citrus, both soap and body lotion. She used something minty on her teeth. Shampoo, conditioner, and some other product but not hair spray. There’s the faint hint of sandalwood, but I bet that’s from Quinn. She likes her coffee black. She had something for breakfast with maple syrup. Her clothes were washed with soap, not dry-cleaned.” Lee was just warming up. “She had sex with Quinn this morning, probably in the shower, but she was with Donovan last night, maybe both. She isn’t completely human, by the way.”

Zack looked interested in that last bit. I was trying to deal with the fact that my bodyguard was always going to know when I had sex. I hadn’t really minded when it was Neil because I would have talked about it with him, but Lee wasn’t my gay husband.

“She’s a companion.” Zack leaned in now and I tried to pull back. He took a deep whiff. “You’re right. I’ve smelled that before. She smells a little like…”

“Felix Day,” Lee pronounced, and the brothers nodded at each other, obviously satisfied at solving that mystery. I chose to try to move past the morning’s embarrassing incident. There was a reason I smelled like Felix Day. A companion has strong angelic DNA, but I didn’t want to hear a bunch of crap about how unangelic I acted, so I kept my mouth shut.

“Well, I’m glad for you, Zack,” I said. “I think you and Dev will be very happy together. Now you can kiss his ass all you like.”

“I’d rather have you kiss my ass, lover,” Dev announced, walking into the club. He was followed closely by himself. Declan was in full-on Dev mode, appearing to be wearing the same suit, with the same shortish hair. “I’ll just let Zack save it on occasion, but I assure you, your lips are the only ones allowed to touch me there.”

I walked across the room and faced him with my hands on my hips. God, my heart beat harder the minute he walked in the room, and something fell in place for me. I needed him the way I needed Daniel. But I wasn’t going to let him know that. There were things that had gotten lost in the craziness of the previous evening. “What about those six priestesses your brother kept going on about? Are they not allowed to kiss your assets?”

“I have been informed I was horribly mistaken about those priestesses,” Declan said smoothly. “Please forgive me for the mistake. Devinshea left them behind when he left his temple. He has only one goddess now and intends to keep it that way.”

So the boys had their stories straight now. I wouldn’t be able to break them up. “He better keep it that way because he doesn’t want to piss me off. I consider it cheating even if it’s part of a religious ceremony. Those priestesses are going to have to find another priest.”

“Of course, my mistress,” Dev said with a smile. “Consider thousands of years of Fae tradition tossed aside.”

“See that it is,” I replied before turning to the other one. “What did I tell you about the glamour, Declan? I can’t handle two of him.”