by Lexi Blake
I might not know Italian, but I know when someone calls me a whore. “These rounds are silver, Marcus. I will shoot you. When I get done filling you up with silver, I’ll let Neil finish you off.”
“It should be interesting to see how many shots you can get off before I take your lover’s head,” Marcus offered.
“As amusing a situation as this is, I have to ask you not to shoot him, Z,” Daniel said as he walked out of the bedroom. He’d put his jeans on but that was all. He rubbed his forehead with his palm. “I actually think I have a fucking hangover. The sound of gunfire might crack my skull. Dude, how can you drink that much and still stand up?”
“It’s a gift, and I did more than stand. I performed quite heroically.” Dev relaxed behind me. He seemed comfortable that Daniel would handle the situation.
I just stared at Danny, my eyes wide with wonder.
Daniel yawned and scratched his chest. “Got into trouble, Z? I’m sure it was Dev’s mouth. He’s gotta learn to tone it down.”
“I have authority issues,” Dev admitted. “Marcus there has some issues of his own. He plans to kill me and wolfie here and set his place up as your pleasure palace. He thinks our girl needs some training.”
Daniel looked around as I lowered my weapon, and Neil sat back on his haunches. Marcus looked from Daniel to Dev, a confused expression on his face.
“I get Dev, man. There have been plenty of times I wanted to kill him, but why Neil?” Daniel asked.
I just stood there with my mouth open, waiting for someone to figure out what was wrong with this picture. Why were we talking about Marcus when there was a much more pressing issue?
“I caught your wife and her lover.” Marcus looked at me long and hard, his eyes traveling the length of my body. “The wolf tried to protect her lover. He is obviously involved in their deception. He should have killed the interloper. I am sorry you must discover the truth about her in this fashion.”
Daniel stared at Marcus. “Neil is supposed to protect my property. My wolf does his job. He stopped you from damaging that which belongs to me. Or do you claim rights to all I own?”
Dev piped up and pulled the collar of his robe back, showing off the fang marks on his neck. “Just one of the questions you should have asked, asshole.”
“You have taken the faery as your lover?” For the first time since I’d met him, Marcus seemed genuinely shocked.
Daniel faltered, uncertain how to answer that question, but Dev didn’t have a problem with it. “Zoey has certain fantasies Daniel likes to indulge. I come in handy from time to time. I assure you Daniel and I observed all the rules of a devil’s three-way. There was no eye contact. We managed to communicate through a series of hand gestures. Put your mind at ease, Marcus. We were all about the girl.”
“Is anyone going to comment on the fact that Danny is awake at three in the afternoon?” I asked quietly.
Everyone stopped. Neil was suddenly a very naked human male standing next to me.
Dev came to my other side, a satisfied look on his face. He crossed his arms across his chest. “I’m a badass.”
“Zoey, this is what we’ve been waiting for.” Marcus’s prior rage morphed into something like excitement. “This has been his weakness. Daniel, I told you she could make you strong. I told you her blood and her sex would make you strong. Whatever you did to him last night, companion, keep it up.”
I thought about that strange magic of Dev’s that filled the room to bursting last night. Vampires can use sexual energy to strengthen themselves. Dev’s magic was all about sex. “I don’t think it was me.”
Daniel and Marcus turned their heads to Dev, who had gotten himself a new drink and was smirking as he relaxed on the sofa. “Oh, it was definitely me. There’s no question of that.”
“How?” Marcus asked.
“I’m a priest. You know about Fae priests, I assume. Apparently all Daniel needed was some extraordinarily powerful sex magic.” Dev crossed his legs, looking very proud of himself.
“You are Miria’s son, the wild one?” Marcus asked. “I knew your grandfather. He was extremely powerful. He used to be able to simply walk by a group of men and women and they would be overcome with lust.”
“That was Granddad,” Dev acknowledged. “He was always a good time. I really hope everyone used protection in this hotel last night, otherwise there’s a lot of stuff that happened in Vegas that won’t be staying in Vegas.”
“It was a fertility ritual? That is very powerful.” Marcus looked at Daniel with thoughtful eyes. “You have chosen your friends very carefully, Daniel. If this one is who I think he is, he can be very useful. You can make inroads to Faery with him. His brother will take the throne one day. It’s said his brother would do anything to mend the rift between them. He’s a powerful pawn.”
“He’s more than a pawn, Marcus,” Daniel said. “He knows the rest of the supernatural world. He can advise me in a way that you cannot. He can get me meetings with people who wouldn’t talk to you.”
Marcus nodded, but hadn’t taken his eyes off me. I was aware that I was half naked and standing around with a pistol.
“I can accept all of that, Daniel,” Marcus continued. “I am finding it difficult to accept that you would whore out your queen to bring him into the fold. Surely some other arrangements could have been made. If you needed a third, I would have been more than willing to indulge her perversions.”
Suddenly the pistol was a welcome weight in my hands because I’d had just about enough of Marcus. I stepped over the couch not caring what I revealed because I needed to make that vampire understand something. I shoved the muzzle of the gun under his chin and he stilled. “Look here, Vorenus, Daniel didn’t choose Dev, I did. I’ll put this in terms you can understand. He is mine. If you even look at him the wrong way again I will kill you. I know you seem to think that a companion is a submissive piece of ass to be dealt with as you please. I can’t change thousands of years of history, so you need to stop thinking of me as a companion and start referring to me as your queen. I will not submit to your will, Marcus. Is that understood? And if you call me a whore again, I won’t be responsible for my actions. I’ll get that silver sword my husband, who I also choose to sleep with, carries and I will separate your head from your body. Do I make myself clear?”
“As crystal, mio regina,” Marcus replied with a savage smile.
Daniel took me by the arm and looked at his patron. “I would like to speak with my wife now. Can I trust you not to kill my advisor?”
Marcus straightened his tie. “Yes, I did not understand the relationship. My instincts took over my good sense. I can certainly work with the prince. Please go and speak with your queen while I smooth over this situation.”
Daniel stopped, his eyes finding Dev’s and a moment passing between them. “Dev?”
My boyfriend’s lips curved up in a soft smile, his eyes on me even as he spoke to Daniel. “I’ll take care of things, Dan. I don’t think you need any more disturbances this afternoon. Enjoy the sunlight.”
“Thank you. I will. And Neil, go put on some freaking pants. What’s with you and pants?” Daniel pulled me back in the bedroom. He turned me around and looked at me seriously. “That was a mistake, Z. He’ll want you even more now. Your forceful personality is the reason Marcus is interested in you. That was practically foreplay in his mind.”
“That’s not my fault. Am I supposed to let him walk all over me? He tried to kill Dev. I’m not going to sit back and let that happen because defending my lover might get him off.”
“I just think you should be careful around Marcus,” Daniel explained. “Just know what he wants from you and be careful. He’s not a bad man, but he is a product of his time. Can I kiss you now?”
I looked at him, surprised at the turn of his thoughts. “I thought you would be upset about last night.”
“I don’t have time for that, Z. Unless you’ve decided to forget this whole insane plan to save Sarah, I c
an’t waste time worrying about the fact that we had a threesome last night, and we aren’t in college anymore so we can’t call it experimentation. All I know is you came back to me last night. We have to work things out, but we have to do it later. Have you changed your mind?”
“No, I have to do this.”
“Then let me kiss you and, god, go over to the window and let me see the sun hit your hair again.” Daniel pulled me close. I let my hands feel the warm skin of his chest, and it was all right because Dev was fine with this. Last night had changed something, and it didn’t feel wrong to show Daniel I cared. “I can see the sun, Zoey.”
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 ne
ver 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.”