by Lexi Blake
Steal the Night
Thieves, Book 5
Lexi Blake
Steal the Night
Thieves, Book 5
Lexi Blake
Published by DLZ Entertainment, LLC
Copyright 2014 DLZ Entertainment, LLC
Edited by Chloe Vale and Kasi Alexander
eBook ISBN: 978-1-937608-31-6
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights.
Acknowledgments
Steal the Night marks the end of a journey for me—and the beginning of a new one. When I finished this book, I realized I had to stop pretending that writing was just a hobby. I had to find the courage to try to make it a career. And it does take courage. It’s hard to put our words out there for all to judge, but the ones who find it will also find that there is a beauty and pride that comes from trying to follow your dreams. For all you writers out there—keep trying, keep hoping, keep dreaming.
A deep and special thanks for the people who believed in this series from the beginning, without whom these books might not have come out from under my bed—to my agent, the amazing Merrilee Heifetz, who signed me when she read Steal the Light, to Liz Berry, my friend and champion to authors everywhere, to Kim Guidroz who was there from the moment I had the idea, and to my husband who inspired it.
Thanks to my beta readers, Stormy Pate and Riane Holt, and to the bloggers who have helped get the word out.
This book is dedicated to my daughter whose birth began what I call my second life. This book is for my Zoey.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Author’s Note
Excerpt from Lexi Blake’s Ripper, Hunter: A Thieves Novel, Book 1, Coming Soon!
Excerpt from A View to a Thrill, Masters and Mercenaries 7, Coming Soon!
About Lexi Blake
Other Books By Lexi Blake
Chapter One
Neil howled his pain to the world, the sound chilling my soul. I turned, my weapon in hand. Too far. The distance between us was too great. There was no way I would ever be able to get to him in time. I stood on the blood-stained floor, looking at my trusted friend, and there was nothing I could do to save him. He would fall beneath the strange creature, and I would never see him again. It was sad because our adventures felt as though they had just begun.
If only we hadn’t gone into the dungeon. We’d been too trusting. We should never have listened to the wizard. He’d promised us great treasure if we only managed to get through the dreaded dungeons of Darkmoore Keep. We ignored all the signs that foretold our doom. The five of us had laughed mightily at the old woman who pleaded with us not to continue on. She warned us, but we were young and arrogant. That treasure could make our reputations and our fortunes would be set. We’d been so sure of our strength. It was going to cost us now.
At least one of us would fall.
The enormous creature screamed his rage and Neil tried valiantly to raise his sword and vanquish the foul beast. Beside me I felt Dev attempt a spell. He called forth his magic and sent it slamming into the huge bear-like creature trying to take our Neil from us. Nim wept at the unfairness of it all. She sent an arrow into the monster’s torso, but that only made it angrier. Zack threw a knife and it hit the beast in the leg, but it barely noticed. His odd, beaked face opened and emitted a sound of pleasure as he tore into Neil’s flesh and his blood began to spill out upon the floor.
“OMG!” Neil shrieked, pulling me out of my imagination. “I would never be killed by anything called an owlbear. What the hell is that anyway? That’s the stupidest thing I ever heard.”
“Dude.” Daniel’s head fell back, his exasperation obvious. It wasn’t the first time he’d gone over the rules to the game. “You missed your saving throw. You’re dead. You needed a ten and you rolled a seven. You died in the dungeons because the owl bear ate you while protecting its treasure.”
Neil frowned and looked down at the offending die. “I don’t want to be eaten by a weird thing.”
Dev giggled. “After all the crap you eat, it’s fitting.”
Neil turned on Dev. “You were supposed to use a spell and save me. What kind of mage are you?”
“A drunk-ass one,” I posited, which once again sent my husband into a fit of laughter. I attempted to stare him down, but I don’t think he cared.
“He can’t roll either.” Danny seemed to be even more drunk than Dev. “This is the worst campaign I’ve ever run. Dev sucks. He’s not even following the storyline. He just keeps fucking around with his mini.”
Dev looked up, his gorgeous green eyes mischievous. He had taken the miniature that represented my character and put it in some very tawdry positions with his own. “I want to know when my character gets to fuck Zoey’s character.”
“I told you, man. It’s not that kind of game,” Danny explained like he’d been through this a thousand times. “Seriously, do you think I’d invite Neil and Zack along if we were playing sex games with our wife?”
“Our characters don’t have sex?” Nim asked, her lips curving into a naughty little smile. “That is disappointing.”
Danny gave the thousands-of-years-old nymph a drunken smile, his dimples on full, heart-stopping display. “Sorry. You know we like to keep those things a little more on the private side.”
Dev sighed. “I can’t get Dan interested in public sex. There’s even a club here in Dallas. He won’t let us go.”
Dev and Daniel continued arguing about someplace called Sanctum, but my brain was somewhere else. Two months had passed since we left Faery, and every day I worried a little more. We’d come home to Ether and settled back into the penthouse. Dev and Daniel agreed to take two weeks to get our lives back in order before we decided on what to do with the Blood Stone I’d found in Faery. Time runs differently in a sithein and though we spent roughly six weeks on Dev’s home plane, a full nine months had passed on the Earth plane. Time always moves more slowly there, but sometimes it’s a couple of days longer and sometimes whole months can pass. Dev had to dive back into his businesses and Daniel had to make his contacts aware he was back at home.
It was supposed to take two weeks, three tops, they promised me and then we would head to England. Nim had left the Faery plane in order to lead us to Merlin’s tomb. It turned out sh
e was the legendary Nimue, who had imprisoned the wizard Merlin. She’d also been known as Vivienne, the Lady of the Lake from Arthurian legend, and she’d decided Daniel was the next warrior worthy of carrying the sword Excalibur.
Nim was sure Merlin could help. We were hoping the old guy would be happy enough to be freed that he would be willing to solve Danny’s little problem. The only trouble with that scenario was the fact that Nim was having trouble remembering exactly where she had stashed “the old goat.” Apparently the British Isles had changed a little in the past millennium.
The waiting made me anxious. There was a small device on Daniel’s heart. It was filled with silver and if Louis Marini wanted to, all he had to do was press a button to kill my vampire. I only knew about the device because Marini was using it to blackmail me into working for him. I’d completed my first assignment. The Blood Stone Marini forced me to steal from the Faery plane was secure in the safe in Dev’s office. After numerous Internet searches and questioning everyone I could safely question, I still knew very little about the jewel. I could call Marcus Vorenus, Daniel’s patron and a Council member, but he wasn’t answering his phone. It was starting to drive me a little crazy.
So we were all in a holding pattern. Daniel was working with his small army of vampires. Dev was bringing in the cash. I was waiting for it all to fall apart.
And now Neil was dead and Daniel’s plan to get his friends and family into role-playing games was going very poorly.
Dev smiled. “We could make a better game, Dan. It could be all about sex. We roll the dice and that’s how many orgasms we have to give Zoey.”
I threw my hands up. “I give up, boys. What’s going on with Dev? Who gave the faery hard-core drugs?”
It was the only explanation. Dev could drink all day and never show a single sign of being trashed. Over the course of the last two hours, Dev had downed a single fifth of Scotch in an attempt to help Danny get his drink on. Dev drank, Daniel fed, and a good time was had by all. We’d taken a break about thirty minutes before so Daniel could have his faery snack. When the boys had returned to the game table, they’d both been wasted.
“Don’t look at me.” Neil sipped his glass of Pinot Grigio. “I didn’t help him go all Trainspotting on us.”
Zack glanced between Dev and Danny and then back to me. “I just smell the Scotch, Zoey. Are we breaking up then?” Poor Zack had put on a brave face, but I knew he was anxious to get back to his apartment two floors down where his girlfriend, Lisa, had just moved in. I was pretty sure Zack couldn’t care less about role-playing games, but he would never tell his master that. Zack was nothing if not a good and faithful soldier.
I shot Zack a pleading look. “Don’t go yet, please. I don’t think I can get either one of them to bed if they pass out.”
Dev laughed long and hard. “Oh, my lover, I will always come to bed for you. Just leave a trail of your pretty little underthings and I will follow.”
Daniel thought that was hilarious.
“Seriously, I want to know what’s going on.” I gave them my best “nagging wife” look. “Nim, you didn’t smuggle something fun out of Faery, did you?”
Nim’s violet eyes narrowed. “Nothing I gave to the boys. Does Devinshea really believe he can perform as plastered as he is?”
Dev pointed at the nymph. His gorgeous face was a mask of outrage. “That is a ridiculous question. I promise you, I can perform. I can perform right now.” He looked down and something caught his eye. “Look, Daniel, my little painted character has managed to get Zoey’s little painted character into a perfect sixty-nine. Quick, give me yours and I’ll work him in.”
Daniel laughed as he passed over the little resin figure he used when he played. I snapped my fingers in front of the vampire’s face and he turned to me. “Hey, baby. Have I ever told you how hot you look in Hello Kitty PJs? It makes me think of pussy.”
“I am serious, Daniel,” I said harshly, not pointing out that just about everything made him think of his favorite part of the female anatomy. “What did you do to Dev?”
His blue eyes were sleepy even though it was only two in the morning. He should be at full strength, but Daniel had never been able to handle his liquor. Becoming a vampire hadn’t changed that. Dev might be able to perform, but my vampire was going to pass out soon. “It’s no big deal, Z. It was just a little experiment.”
“Shut up, Donovan,” Dev shouted, looking like a five-year-old who was about to be told on. “We’re not supposed to tell our wife about that.”
Neil looked up from his wine, gasping in anticipation. “Oh, god, Dev and Daniel are experimenting. Someone get a camera. I’ve waited for this day all my life.”
Dev snorted as he laughed. “Not that way. He would always have to be in control. I would always have to catch. He would never let me pitch.”
I snapped my fingers. “Focus. What experiment?”
Previous experiments had included shooting Daniel to see how quickly he would heal, Daniel flying Dev into the upper atmosphere to see how fast he passed out from oxygen deprivation, and the infamous “is Daniel really faster than a speeding bullet” incident. I had lost a good set of china to that experiment. I blamed MythBusters.
I turned to Zack, who all too often was the guy making notes as Dev and Daniel acted like idiots for their version of science. Zack pressed his lips together in a mulish show of male solidarity.
Shaking my head, I played the brand new card I had against Zack. “I’ll just have to ask Lisa. I’m having lunch with her tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll have lots to talk about.”
Zack’s eyebrows formed a perfect V in the middle of his brow. “That is so…how am I supposed to respond to that?”
“Don’t tell her, Zack,” Dev said as he found new ways for minis to fornicate. “Don’t give her the upper hand. You’ll never get it back.”
“Don’t tell me, Zack,” I repeated with a grim resolve. “I’m sure Lisa would love to hear about all the dangerous stuff you have to do. You know women. We need to vent every now and then. I’m feeling the need to bond with your girlfriend.”
Zack’s eyes widened in desperation. Yeah, I had him on the ropes. “Zoey, I can’t go against my master.”
“Your master passed out.” Neil pointed to Daniel, who was drooling a little on the table where his head was currently resting. “I don’t think he’ll even remember tomorrow.”
Sighing, Zack stood up and stared down on his vampire master. “It was just a little experiment. Dev can’t get drunk and he thinks it looks like fun. So Danny had the brilliant idea to, you know, take a little too much blood when he fed. Danny got more alcohol. Dev got a nice buzz.”
“From blood loss!” I was astounded at the idiotic lengths men would go to for a little high.
“I’ll build it back up,” Dev said nonchalantly, standing up. He swayed a little and Neil got to his feet to catch Dev’s six foot five inch, two hundred pound body should he fall—from blood loss. “I think it was a successful experiment. We’ve proven that you can get buzzed if a vampire takes one pint too much. Make sure you write that down, Zack.”
“Zack, carry Danny back to our bedroom, please,” I requested as the werewolf lifted Daniel easily over his shoulder. Zack was solidly built, but I doubted he would have been able to handle Danny’s powerful two hundred twenty pounds of pure muscle had he not had all that werewolf strength to back him up.
I walked around to my faery. He swung his arm over my shoulders and leaned heavily against me. I peeked back at Nim and Neil. “Why don’t you guys have another glass of wine? I’ll be back after I get the boys settled down in bed.”
“Don’t expect her to be back anytime soon,” Dev shouted over his shoulder as he shuffled along. “I intend to prove that I can still perform. I’m sure I’m even better like this.”
Groaning as Dev stumbled along, I seriously doubted he would be able to waylay me for a little sexy fun. Even if he had enough blood to get hard, he would almost certai
nly pass out because his brain needed blood, too. “Are you sure I shouldn’t call a doctor?”
Dev shoved me up against the wall outside our bedroom door.
Zack walked out of the bedroom. “Do you need a hand with him?”
“No, she doesn’t need a hand with me,” Dev protested as he crowded me with his inebriated affection.
I sighed and sent Zack on his way. If Dev fell, he could just sleep where he landed. As soon as Zack was out of sight, Dev proved that he actually could function with all his available blood in his penis.
“Baby,” he groaned in my ear, grinding that hard part of himself against me. “I want you. I love you so much. You’re so fucking gorgeous.”
I had to smile. At least he was a sweet drunk. “I love you, too.”
“I don’t need anyone else.” He cupped my face in his hands and stared down at me. “You and Daniel. You’re my family. You’re the ones who understand me.”
“We love you, Dev.” My heart ached for him. Our trip to Faery hadn’t gone the way Dev had hoped. He’d looked forward to reconnecting with his brother and mother, but it all fell apart when he sacrificed the ascended god inside him to save Daniel.
Bris, the fertility god Dev had bonded with, had made the sacrifice willingly and was still hanging around waiting for the strength to reintegrate, but it hadn’t been enough for his brother. Declan had been so angry Dev was willing to risk his people’s fertility that the twins hadn’t spoken more than two or three words since.
Dev leaned down and kissed me, his tongue playing softly along my lips. “Let’s make a baby, Zoey. I want a real family for us. I want a whole bunch of kids. I want little boys who look like me and little girls with red hair and sticky fingers.”
I pushed against him and he glanced down, surprised I had stopped the play. “Dev, we talked about this. It isn’t the right time.”
“I know. I just…” He stopped for a moment but then got his footing back. His lips tugged up in a seductive smile. “Well then, my wife, I’ll just slip into something a little uncomfortable and then we’ll be safe to practice all we like.” He kissed me again, his hand wandering down to cup a breast and rub my nipple until it was a hard little point. “Come on, Zoey. Let’s go to bed. I rolled a ten last, so I owe you ten orgasms.”